Grape skin pack

I'm a little disappointed in the local supplier where I'm getting a few juice buckets from. This will be my first juice bucket experience but other guys around said they used to sell grapes along with the buckets but this is the first year that the aren't selling grapes.
From reading on here the recommendation is to add a lug or two of grapes to make the juice buckets better. I also remember reading about grape skin packs in a few older threads. I just did a search and couldn't come up with anything recent and was wondering if these are still available or not. I search eBay and amazon like what was suggested in the older post but came up empty. If someone can point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated, thanks!

I've not bought from them yet and understand you need to supply a resale number since they are a wholesale business.

http://uselitewine.com/index.php?cPath=46&osCsid=63fcb8f6979c3c7ff513978dc361aff1

Hope it helps, Mike

I've gotten grape skin packs from USElite but you have to have a sales tax license to set up an account. They are vinifera grape packs but no idea what varietal.

Thanks boatboy. How many packs would you recommend for a 6 gallon batch? How big are those packages?

They are rather huge! I have a Cab sitting right now with one of those packs in it. I expected a quart or so and the total volume is much closer to a gallon. There are skins, juice, pulp, some tannin stuff including stems and sticks and probably even a few bugs for that "real" experience!

I won't know about the taste or body additions for a while, this batch was started around July 4th and has been racked twice. It cleared very well, considering how many solids were in the grape pack. The wine is very "thick" as in I cannot see a flashlight beam through it, but can see the lit filament from the opposite side.

I might bottle now, mostly because I have a Zin I want to get started and am down to only having room for one batch at a time.

P.S. I am using the All In One Headspace Eliminator and it has held its vacuum for 10 days so far.

Boatboy24 said:

https://www.juicegrape.com/Mosti-Mondiale-All-Grape-Pack/

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it's item number MM-AGP01 I ad 1 per 6 gallon

I am in the same boat.....bout to start some kits and would like to progress pretty rapidly into juice buckets with trap skins before buying actual grapes. The door d I've varietal grape packs sounded awsome......kinda disappointed that they are no longer available

chasemandingo said:

......kinda disappointed that they are no longer available

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But they are. See my previous post with link.

Boatboy24 said:

https://www.juicegrape.com/Mosti-Mondiale-All-Grape-Pack/

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Yousa, have you checked shipping for these? I put 5 in my cart so for a $100 order, shipping was over $51 to Colorado. Seems a bit out of line. Added a case of 6 (the only way they sell them) from USElite and shipping was $21. Far more reasonable.

Yes but I was referring to the varietals that were offered by Fior D'uva. I did some checking and it looks like the company in Quebec that was distributing them has closed permanently. I liked the idea of using some Merlot skins along with some sangiovese and cab concentrates to make a house Chianti. I think my best option at this moment is the dried grapes from uselite.

chasemandingo said:

The door d I've varietal grape packs sounded awsome

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chasemandingo said:

Yes but I was referring to the varietals that were offered by Fior D'uva.

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Ahh, I see. It appears that auto-correct induced an error. When I read your first message, I was totally flummoxed by what "door d I've" could possibly mean. I figgered you were imbibing more than a little that evening!

I recently got a new computer, and auto-correct was enabled everywhere by default. It took me a few days to realize it was not worth having this enabled. If I mistype a word, you can probably figure out what I meant. However, if I mistype a word, and auto-correct changes it to something completely different, you have no idea! Because we use terms here that are not standard English words, this problem is worse than in normal writing.

I was completely unaware of that earn auto correct error! I guess when/if I start buying lugs of grapes I can then make my own varietal grape skin packs. I live in central ohio, very far from anywhere that can grow high quality vinifera. So would buying lugs of grapes from the west coast be cost prohibitive? Do distributors buy bulk and sell regionally during harvest season and how do then ensure the grapes and at peak ripeness and still fresh by the time they are received and sold?

chasemandingo said:

I was completely unaware of that earn auto correct error! I guess when/if I start buying lugs of grapes I can then make my own varietal grape skin packs. I live in central ohio, very far from anywhere that can grow high quality vinifera. So would buying lugs of grapes from the west coast be cost prohibitive? Do distributors buy bulk and sell regionally during harvest season and how do then ensure the grapes and at peak ripeness and still fresh by the time they are received and sold?

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I've found that once I had a press, making wine from grapes was no more than making from kits. A little less, actually. Making wine from juice buckets and adding a lug of grapes is significantly less.

There is a distributor in Columbus I have seen signs that say wine grapes sold here.....just wondering if they would be frozen or fresh. I plan on growing some concord, catawba, chardonel and some kinda hearty red hybrid once I have the property. However I would like to buy some vinifera varietals occasionally to make some good wine and learn the process before then.

chasemandingo said:

I was completely unaware of that earn auto correct error! I guess when/if I start buying lugs of grapes I can then make my own varietal grape skin packs. I live in central ohio, very far from anywhere that can grow high quality vinifera. So would buying lugs of grapes from the west coast be cost prohibitive? Do distributors buy bulk and sell regionally during harvest season and how do then ensure the grapes and at peak ripeness and still fresh by the time they are received and sold?

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You can get buckets from Luva Bella in Louisville OH:
http://www.luvabella.com/
Haven't ordered from them but I know tons of folks on the forum do.

chasemandingo said:

I was completely unaware of that earn auto correct error!

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I guess it does not know the word "darn" either??

So can anyone explain how a grape distributor can source high quality grapes from the west coast, picked at peak ripeness and get them delivered to customers before they begin to degrade in terms of quality. I'm not referring to juice buckets but grapes only. I would imagine that one would have a week tops from the moment they were picked to getting them in the bucket with yeast and after that the quality would begin to suffer. I would also assume that that would only be the case if they were refrigerated. Do they flash freeze the grapes like they do frozen fruit?

Sulfite blankets and refrigeration.

Hate to keep asking questions but how many lugs are required per 6 gallon batch? Also, what would the average price be for a lug of California varietals?