Chardonnay grapes, newbie wine maker

[LJPelletier]

I have over 50lbs of Chardonnay grapes that I just got for free. After my failed attempt with grape juice, I am nervous about getting this right. Does anyone have an easy recipe or recommendations as to exactly what to do with these grapes?

 

[JohnT]

If it were me, I would do the following..

1) QC - pick through them. If you got them for free I would be skeptical about their quality. Remove any rotten or moldy grapes, leaves, or sticks.

2) CRUSH - crush them removing the skins and stems. I would crush the juice into 5 or 6 gallon buckts. Your total yield should be just about 3.5 gallons.

3) TEST - once crushed, I would measure the sugar content (with a hydrometer) and measure the acid.

3) ADJUST - adjust the acid as needed. I tend to NOT adjust sugar.

4) PREPARE - add a dose of Potassium Meta Bisulfite directly to the crushed grapes. A good amount would be 1/4 teaspoon for 3.5 gallons. I would also consider adding a dose of fermax yeast neutriant. You can pick this up on line or at any local beer/winemaking supply shop.

5) COLD SOAK - cover the bucket with plastic and let stand for 24 hours. This is to allow the Potassium meta bisulfite to vent. Place the bucket in a warm area (70 degrees F would be great).

6) RACK - after 24 hours, there should be some sediment at the bottom of the bucket. I would try to syphon the juice into another bucket and disguard the sediment.

7) INNOCULATE - After you rack the juice, you can then add yeast. For good results, you should use a good quality wine yeast. I would recomend Lalvin D-47. Some swear by activating the yeast first, but I never had a problem simply adding the yeast right from the packet. Allow the yeast to simply float on top.

8) COVER - once you add the yeast, cover loosly with a sheet of plastic. At this point, Air is not the enemy.

9) MONITOR - check the wine often. After 2 days, it should be obvious that the wine is fermenting. check the sugar levels using a hydrometer.

10) RACK - when the sugar levels are down to about 1 or 2 percent, transfer the wine into glass jugs and seal with a stopper and fermentation trap. Like before, one goal in this step is to syphon only the liquid wine and not the sediment of dead yeast in the bottom of the bucket.

Let the wine sit for several weeks, until you see the wine clearing with a layer of sediment in the bottom of each jug. Rack the wine again (syphon out of each jug, leaving the sediment behind). After a couple of months, you should have something drinkable.

 

[winemaker_3352]

+1 to what John said.

Once you transfer into the glass jugs, you will want to rack again once fermentation is complete ( 3 consecutive days of the same SG reading ) and you can stabilize at this point as well.

 

[Dugger]

Process for Wine from Grapes

John - very good info
John and/or Moderators - how about cleaning this procedure up for generic grape handling and put it in tutorials as a sticky? Additional details on leaving the skins in for red wine would be helpful as well.
I recently got some concord grapes from my sister and made a small batch (2 gal) but didn't really know what I was doing and something like this would have helped me. I would have asked on here but I was going away hunting for a week and had to do something that night. It ended up as a blush ... but a very pretty blush!
Anyway, this would be helpful for those of us who might get a few pounds of grapes and want to try a small batch.
Can you freeze grapes and hold them like fruit?

 

[LJPelletier]

Thank you John! Great info.

Today I went through the grapes, washing them, and removing bad grapes and stems, and they are now all in a covered 20Gal bucket.

I have some pectic enzyme that I thought I needed to help break down the fruit. Is that not needed because I will be extracting only the juice for my must?

 

[JohnT]

Thank you John! Great info.

Today I went through the grapes, washing them, and removing bad grapes and stems, and they are now all in a covered 20Gal bucket.

I have some pectic enzyme that I thought I needed to help break down the fruit. Is that not needed because I will be extracting only the juice for my must?

Pectic enzyme is used to help "loosen the fruit up". It helps to break the fruit down so that juice extraction is mad easier.

In future, I would not wash the fruit. This will add water to the juice and end up lowering your sugar and acid levels. In the PREPARE step (number 4) you are adding a sterilizing agent (potassium meta bisulfite) that should kill and nasty bacteria. Any dirt or grit will settle out and be remove during racking.

One question I have... Do you have a press? I know a real cheap way to make a press using just a couple of 5 gal buckets and 4 bolts.

 

[robie]

Pectic enzyme is used to help "loosen the fruit up". It helps to break the fruit down so that juice extraction is mad easier.

In future, I would not wash the fruit. This will add water to the juice and end up lowering your sugar and acid levels. In the PREPARE step (number 4) you are adding a sterilizing agent (potassium meta bisulfite) that should kill and nasty bacteria. Any dirt or grit will settle out and be remove during racking.

One question I have... Do you have a press? I know a real cheap way to make a press using just a couple of 5 gal buckets and 4 bolts.

We are all interested in your idea for an inexpensive press. Please share it with us. Usually when we buy fresh/frozen grapes, crushing and destemming sort of comes with the package. It is the pressing that presents the problem, because we either have to rent a press or take our must back to the place where we bought the grapes. Having a cheap, easy to use alternative is what most would like.

I have my own make-shift setup, but I am always interested in "a better mouse trap".

 

[LJPelletier]

Pectic enzyme is used to help "loosen the fruit up". It helps to break the fruit down so that juice extraction is mad easier.

In future, I would not wash the fruit. This will add water to the juice and end up lowering your sugar and acid levels. In the PREPARE step (number 4) you are adding a sterilizing agent (potassium meta bisulfite) that should kill and nasty bacteria. Any dirt or grit will settle out and be remove during racking.

One question I have... Do you have a press? I know a real cheap way to make a press using just a couple of 5 gal buckets and 4 bolts.

Last night I crushed the grapes in my 20Gal bucket by stepping on them. I added 1 tsp of pectic enzyme and 1/2 tsp of potassium metabisulphite. It is now sitting, covered, at room temperature.

I do not have a press. I was planning to put a piece of cheesecloth over a pasta strainer and push it through into a 5Gal bucket. This would be a good way to extract the juice, right?

How would I go about making your press, if I had the buckets?

 

[JohnT]

Last night I crushed the grapes in my 20Gal bucket by stepping on them. I added 1 tsp of pectic enzyme and 1/2 tsp of potassium metabisulphite. It is now sitting, covered, at room temperature.

I do not have a press. I was planning to put a piece of cheesecloth over a pasta strainer and push it through into a 5Gal bucket. This would be a good way to extract the juice, right?

How would I go about making your press, if I had the buckets?

For 50 Pounds, you may want to try to make the cheap press...
Here is a crude drawing.

1) insert "strainer" bucket into "base" bucket. The bolts prevent the "Strainer" bucket from going in too far.

2) put grapes into strainer bucket.

3) insert a third bucket into the strainer bucket. this bucket will act as a plunger, applying pressure to the grapes. Some folks take a board and simply sit on the top of the whole assembly to apply good presure.

 

[robie]

This is pretty much the setup I use.

Some buckets have a ridge around the top 3 or 4 inches, which prevents one bucket from going all the way into the other. You will need the top bucket to go deeper into the drilled bucket than that. If that's yours, you can go to Home Depot and buy their 5 gallon and approx. 3 gallon food grade paint buckets. The 3 gallon bucket has the same diameter as the 5 gallon, just not as tall.

Drill the holes in the shorter 3 gallon bucket. Use the standard 5 gallon bucket as your top bucket. This way, because the 3 gallon bucket is shorter, the 5 gallon bucket will go all the way to the bottom of the 3 gallon bucket to squeeze out more juice.

As was mentioned, I put a board across the top of the top bucket and sit on it.

 

[JohnT]

This is pretty much the setup I use.

Some buckets have a ridge around the top 3 or 4 inches, which prevents one bucket from going all the way into the other. You will need the top bucket to go deeper into the drilled bucket than that. If that's yours, you can go to Home Depot and buy their 5 gallon and approx. 3 gallon food grade paint buckets. The 3 gallon bucket has the same diameter as the 5 gallon, just not as tall.

Drill the holes in the shorter 3 gallon bucket. Use the standard 5 gallon bucket as your top bucket. This way, because the 3 gallon bucket is shorter, the 5 gallon bucket will go all the way to the bottom of the 3 gallon bucket to squeeze out more juice.

As was mentioned, I put a board across the top of the top bucket and sit on it.

Robie,

On a separate note, I have seen an even more ingenious setup at the Georgia Mountain Fair one year.

This press consisted of a long log that had a trough gouged out to form what looks like a very crude canoe.

about 1 foot from the end, two notches were carved on the sides. A solid board went into one set of notches, and a fence in the other. a board and a chain are used to apply pressure.

I looked at this and thought that these guys only had to pay for a length of chain. It is so simple, its positively brilliant!

Here is a crude side view picture. I looked at this thing for hours

 

[robie]

Now that's cool! Improvisation will find a way!

 

[Angelina]

That is a great modification for a press if you don't have one. That should be a sticky somewhere if it is not already Thanks