Wine from Just plain grapes?

Hi guys, just joined the forum a couple of days ago. It has always been my dream to make my own wine. I just ordered some grapes, but was told I should wait until the end of the summer (EVERYTHING is seasonal where I live), so I'm preparing all my equipment and stuff before I get started.
Anyway, my dream is to make wine the way they did for thousands of years. With just grapes. I don't want to add sulfites, sugar, yeast or anything else. No additives, just grapes. Is that possible? And if yes, how? I've looked all over the internet and every how to guide has one type or another of additives. I just want to squeeze grapes into wine. Any help?

Sure, you need approx. 20lbs of grapes per gallon. Break the skins, squeeze the juice out of them. Throw the skins in if you want them, otherwise just save the juice. Put it in an open container should start fermenting in a few days. If you get a hydrometer, you can measure how much alcohol it should make and use it to tell if the ferment is still going on. It is not an ingredient, just a tool to help measure and let you know what is happening. When it gets towards the end of the ferment, put it in a carboy of some kind to finish out. Let it sit til it clears and enjoy. And welcome to the forum. Arne.

What about spoilage or horrible tastes due to bad yeasts?

Good luck with that...

Remember, "thousands" of years ago, people died at 30 years old.

mennyg19 said:

Hi guys, just joined the forum a couple of days ago. It has always been my dream to make my own wine. I just ordered some grapes, but was told I should wait until the end of the summer (EVERYTHING is seasonal where I live), so I'm preparing all my equipment and stuff before I get started.
Anyway, my dream is to make wine the way they did for thousands of years. With just grapes. I don't want to add sulfites, sugar, yeast or anything else. No additives, just grapes. Is that possible? And if yes, how? I've looked all over the internet and every how to guide has one type or another of additives. I just want to squeeze grapes into wine. Any help?

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Yes, it is possible to make wine from just grapes with no additives, it is risky to eliminate the use of sulfites, which protect your wine from spoilage during its creation as well as time in the bottle. It's the one additive I'd never leave out. Many of the procedures we put our grape wines through increase our odds of success and the ultimate quality of the wine.

As far as the "how?" question, I suggest that before your grapes arrive that you read a few books on winemaking from grapes, understand the activities that occur during wine making, aging and bottling, how they occur and why. The internet is certainly a good resource, but there are numerous books out there that are quite comprehensive and informative. Perhaps even do a few "learning" batches from a wine kit or frozen grape must, there is plenty of proficiency to develop along the way.

If you want to make good wine from grapes, understanding Brix, Ph, and TA, being able to measure them and adjust them as needed are important both for taste and wine stability. Become a student before you attempt to practice.

The good news is, assuming the grapes are wine grapes, you should have the acidity, alcohol potential and tannin which aid in the protection of the wine. SO2 is also an aid to protect the wine from oxygen, but acts to protect from bacteria spoilage. Keeping your equipment and environment super sanitary will be important. On a small batch, I plan on 20 pounds of grapes per finished gallon of wine.
There is a reasonable chance that you can make something drinkable, but won't age. Using sulfites, engineered yeasts, yeast nutrients increases the odds, gives you a repeatable process and provides confindence the wine will age. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

3 versus 1 on the vote, so I guess I'll go for it.
One of the perks of where I live is that seasonal fruits and vegetables are dirt cheap (they literally pay me to take watermelon sometimes). So there isn't so much of a risk factor involved.
I have to order some equipment from America though. That'll take some time to get here

Welcome to the forum and the hobby!

I use the fewest chemicals possible, but still need yeast and kmeta.

Welcome Menny!

like the others, it will be interesting to follow your attempts. I hope all goes well and you get to enjoy the fruits of your labors. But since you a brand spankin newbee to all this I thought I should mention that watermelon is one of those wines that even experienced wine makers have problems with. It spoils so fast that even with chemicals the results are almost always undrinkable. So, maybe not watermelon with your no chemical plan?

Pam in cinti

A thousand years ago..

Doctors believed that bloodletting could cure most ailments,
most humans did not bathe,
and sanitary conditions were non-existent.

People honestly did not know what was happening when grape juice was converted into wine.

Why not benefit from the thousands of years of winemaking advancement?

No harm in trying, but I think you are opening yourself up to a lot more risk.

cintipam said:

Welcome Menny!

like the others, it will be interesting to follow your attempts. I hope all goes well and you get to enjoy the fruits of your labors. But since you a brand spankin newbee to all this I thought I should mention that watermelon is one of those wines that even experienced wine makers have problems with. It spoils so fast that even with chemicals the results are almost always undrinkable. So, maybe not watermelon with your no chemical plan?

Pam in cinti

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Oh, im using grapes. I was just mentioning that during the summer round here, watermelon (random example) is basically given away for free...

Not arguing with you John. I bet you are right. There are a few reasons why I want to try no additives. First of all is my dream (obviously). Second is health concerns. I am on a very strict diet for gastro issues and most additives give me problems. A little wine here and there doesn't bother me too much, but if I'm making my own, i will probably be getting into the actual drinking part a bit more. Don't want to complicate the issues.
Oh and btw, Abraham lived for more than 100 years

mennyg19 said:

One of the perks of where I live is that seasonal fruits and vegetables are dirt cheap (they literally pay me to take watermelon sometimes). So there isn't so much of a risk factor involved.

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mennyg19 said:

Oh, im using grapes. I was just mentioning that during the summer round here, watermelon (random example) is basically given away for free...

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May I ask what kind of grapes you expect will be available to you? Table grapes do not make good wine, in case that is what you are targeting.

They sell all types of wine grapes here. I live in Israel. Theres a huge wine industry here. I spoke to my local fruit stand owner and he said he'll be able to get me some cab sauv

Cab Sauv is a big grape, providing a lot of tannin and requiring time to have the tannins smooth. Since your wine may not be age worthy, you may want to remove the juice from the must early on to limit the tannin in the wine. If you could get Grenache or Mourvedre grapes it would give you an early drinker with less astringency.

NorCal said:

The good news is, assuming the grapes are wine grapes, you should have the acidity, alcohol potential and tannin which aid in the protection of the wine. SO2 is also an aid to protect the wine from oxygen, but acts to protect from bacteria spoilage. Keeping your equipment and environment super sanitary will be important. On a small batch, I plan on 20 pounds of grapes per finished gallon of wine.
There is a reasonable chance that you can make something drinkable, but won't age. Using sulfites, engineered yeasts, yeast nutrients increases the odds, gives you a repeatable process and provides confindence the wine will age. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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Thanks for bringing up the 20 lbs. Don't know what I was thinking when I said 10. Will change it to 20. Arne.

mennyg19 said:

Not arguing with you John. I bet you are right. There are a few reasons why I want to try no additives. First of all is my dream (obviously). Second is health concerns. I am on a very strict diet for gastro issues and most additives give me problems. A little wine here and there doesn't bother me too much, but if I'm making my own, i will probably be getting into the actual drinking part a bit more. Don't want to complicate the issues.
Oh and btw, Abraham lived for more than 100 years

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I applaud and admire your spirit of experimentation.

My advice, is to attempt to buy the best grapes you possibly can. If it were me, my first concern would be purchasing grapes with the best PH level. I would advise to get a simple acid test kit and, perhaps, you could test the acid levels before making an attempt at wine. You could also get a light refractometer to measure the sugar level of the grapes again before you purchase or making a wine attempt. Testing would help you purchase the best grapes possible. There is a lot of literature out there that can give you an idea of what the best sugar/acid levels are per grape varietal.

Good luck and please let us know how you are making out...

Thanks John. I will look into it.
Right now I'm waiting to buy grapes. I was told that the best season for it here in Israel is towards the end of the summer. Around August time. I have off from my studies then so I might make an activity out of it and go grape picking up north in the Golan Heights with my wife and kids. (Don't know how excited she'll be, she's not so excited about my dream of winemaking).
In the meantime I'm reading as much as I can. I plan on going shopping on Amazon for equipment within the next couple of days. I have family coming from America in the coming months who can bring the stuff.

mennyg19 said:

3 versus 1 on the vote, so I guess I'll go for it.
One of the perks of where I live is that seasonal fruits and vegetables are dirt cheap (they literally pay me to take watermelon sometimes). So there isn't so much of a risk factor involved.
I have to order some equipment from America though. That'll take some time to get here

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good idea! All my attempts to reinvent the wheel have generally resulted in a flat tire experience!

While you are waiting try to round up some buckets and glass jugs...you can make wine from all kinds of fruits and vegetables like watermelon...there is a recipe section within this forum. Do some reading, make your shopping list and buy in bigger amounts to save on shipping. Keep reading, August will be here before you know it!

mennyg, your dream should work, heck people have been making wine for thousands of years, just buy or pick the best tasting grapes you can, if you are going to make red wine you will need to keep the skins in the must till fermentation is done, you get lots of flavor and tannins from the skins and that is were the wild yeast will be is on the skins. If white wine you will need to press it and just ferment the juice so it stays white. You must keep everything very clean and keep the fementating must covered to keep out critters like fruit flys so you dont end up with vinegar. A tee shirt works good if using a bucket. Because you are not going to use any sulfides you will not be able to keep your wine for long term storage mainly because the alcohol level will be low because of the yeast. Good luck.

Just for the record, white grapes can also be fermented on the skins if so desired. These are referred to as "orange" wines.