Fermenting juice along with grapes

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pkeeler

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I was thinking about getting some Chilean grapes in May. Is there anything wrong or not desirable about fermenting 80-100 lbs of grapes along with 5-6 gal. of juice? It is a shortcut (and cost saver) to getting to 10-12 gal. of wine rather than getting 200 lbs of grapes. I would plan to get the same juice as grapes.

Would it be better to ferment the grapes and juice separately then combine them; rather than putting the juice in with the grapes in my big bin primary fermenter?
 
Well, I never thought of that before.
Is the juice from a kit or from a bucket of frozen juice?
Is the juice going to come from an All Juice kit source, without being reconstituted? That would make a difference in the quality of the outcome.

If the juice is not from a kit but frozen juice, mixing it with the Chilean grapes will result in something a little thinner than the Chilean wine would otherwise have been. Likely would still be good wine.

The juice from a kit will likely be pasteurized or in some manner preserved, which says it won't be as good as fresh or frozen. The Chilean grapes will be either fresh or frozen and of high quality. The Chilean grapes are likely going to make a better wine than the juice from a kit would make.

If you mix the two, whether before fermentation or after, what you will end up with is something less than the straight Chilean and something a little better than the juice.

If you are trying to get 12 gallons so you can fill a barrel, this is not a bad idea. Otherwise, I don't know if I would compromise those nice Chilean grapes.

Make them separately, then after clearing, try a blend of various percentages!
 
I'd assume it was aseptic juice from pressed, but unfermented, red grapes.
 
Just understand that mixing the two will result in the whole batch being a compromise of the two. That may not be a bad thing.
 

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