Recent content by WindyCoastWine

Looking to purchase 100-200 lbs of grapes to make a dry red wine near Yadkinville, NC.

I make a lot of muscadine wine and always use cold stabilization to remove the acid. Very effective and seems to really bring out a fruity flavor.

I make a lot of muscadine wine and I have found the best way is to cold stabilize. I have a small refrigerator that I can control the temperature down to about 30 deg. I leave the wine in there for 2 to 4 weeks and the acid will precipitate out of the wine and form crystals on the bottom of the...

JohnnyRico- There are still grapes here in southeastern NC that have not fully ripened. Just have patience and let them go until they are done. Several people here have had problems with both young and old vines taking longer to riped than vines in their prime. The variety of muscadine may also...

I don't think the green ones are Carlos. If they are, they are not ripe. Carlos turns a very dark bronze when they are ripe. The black grapes can be Noble, and if they are they make great wine. I make both Noble and Carlos wine every year.

I back sweetened my blueberry/elderberry port and put it on oak. It is very hard to tell how sweet the wine really is at this point so I played it cautious and only back sweetened to 1.015. That seems to be a little light on the sugar, but not sure what the standard is for a fruit port. The...

I have used several methods to make muscadine wine, and the best that I have found is to freeze the grapes, thaw and crush, ferment on the skins for three days, press the grapes, complete primary fermentation. This is for both red and white. Leaving the skins in the primary too long draws too...

I upped the pounds of muscadines per gallon this past year and the wine tasted very acidic. I cold stabilized and it made a world of difference. My suggestion would be to use your own taste to determine weather to cold stab. and how much sugar to add. The more sugar, the better it will mask the...

I usually cold stabilize at aprox. 30 deg. for about 2 weeks. You should see small crystals on the bottom of the carboy when the acid falls out. Make sure to put alcohol in the air lock so that it won't freeze.

I have been making wine for several years now and thought about investing in a 5 gallon oak barrel. The more that I read about oak aging, the more I am not sure about the investment. I have read that you need to keep the temp around 55 deg and humidity around 70%. I don't have the ability to...

I made blueberry wine last year with 19 lbs of fruit for a 3 gallon batch. The wine did not have good body and was a lot thinner than I was looking for. The amount of fruit is not an option this year, but I do not want to add so much fruit that it will stall fermentation. I know that local...

I tried a wonderful blackberry wine that was oaked and it add a great light vanilla flavor to it. It also seemed to give it a nice smooth sweetness compared to every other blackberry wine that I've tried. I'm not experienced with oaking, but was thinking about trying oak spirals while aging. Not...

I just picked 30 llbs of carlos variety of scuppernong grapes. Every recipe that I have found recomends making the wine the same as muscadine by fermenting on the skins. This goes against everything that I have ever been told about white wine. Was looking for some advise on what method to use-...

I have been making wine for 3 years now and have become competent with most fruit wines and several juice kits. I have tried my hand at muscadine wine 2 times now since I have access to a large number of grapes, and both were a failure. Both wines were bitter and not what I considered drinkable...

Just picked 20 lbs of Blueberries and decided to make my first Blueberry Wine. Thought that I would ask for any advice on my recipe before I started. 3 Gallon recipe: 20 lbs of Blueberries for wine 4-5 lbs of Blueberries for F-Pac Water: 2 1/2 gallons ? Enough sugar to raise SG to 1.085...