Wild Grapes

[JWMINNESOTA]

Got the three gal Cote batch in bottles, finally , for first time in awhile, I have some free carboys

Just have to decide if I leave the frozen fruits in the freezer and order a few kits Ive had my Eye on or not

Did a couple special bottles wife wanted for gifts, what...me say no?

 

[Steve]

The labels look great, I need to work on my label making skills...

 

[Wade E]

Great job with the wine and the labels and Im sure what ever you decide to make will turn out great.

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

O.K., Jobe left to right, batch 1,2,3.

I think my description to you was most confusing. Thanks for the complement on the labels guys, but I got be honest, I'm the worst label maker on the forum. I only compensate by my ability to copy, paste , and print

There are some great label makers here though, and I have found they are more than happy to design you a label if wanted Steve, don't be afraid to ask them.

 

[jobe05]

I got what you said, and I like your labels! Some of us, ok....... me....... spend to much time on some of my labels and when finished they look very congested with pictures and lines and stuff, but nothing about the wine inside. I love the way Ramona finds a way to make great looking labels and still finds room to offer a description of the contents. Lately I have gotten into a bad habit of buying the wet and stick labels with the wine name on them and just writing the date on the bottle with a marker (as you will see tomorrow).

 

[Wade E]

Say it isnt so Jobe!

 

[jobe05]

Yes.... it's sad but true..........

Hi...... My name is John and I use preprinted stick on labels.............

Time has been my worst enemy lately. Off topic: With one of my offices flooded out and uninhabitable, we had to move out and store most of the furnishings etc n my other 2 branch offices, which are each 80 miles from the Winston Office, in opposite directions. I have found another building in WS to purchase. My purchase offer had a 45 day discovery period then 15 days till close. This Friday is the last of the 45 days. Everything was going well till this week when during our final inspections of the building, the A/C died, the furnace (not that we need it now) has a cracked heat exchanger, the exhaust fans in the shop building blew up and the air compressor developed a sever oil leak and blew the pistons....................... Now I am at a standstill............. All this and still driving 170 extra miles each day to and from an office in order to get my 12 hours a day worth of work done................ I have learned to deligate very well. So with all thats going on at work, home life has been just as hectic. So the past couple of weekends my wife and I have said to heck with everything and have escaped to far away place "ALONE", no kids, no worries. The first week we went to Va, just for a long drive up to Lynchburg, down 221 through the mountains to Hillsville then home, with many many stops along the way. This past weekend we went to Myrtle Beach for a weekend of sun and sand (and a few drinks)................. Now we are thinking about Saturday ????..... meanwhile the dogs are looking at me wondering when I'm going to go out and mow the lawn so they can play in the yard again.........

I say who cares!!!

 

[Wade E]

All is forgiven buddy. Sorry to hear of, well I dont know where to start there John, man thats a bummer. But ts all a good excuse to get the heck outta there with the miss's. What about your yard fruits how they doing , I know you really bent over backwards this Spring to keep them comfy.

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

Received a care package from NC today, Is in return for sending out a few of the wild grape wines I just made...Talk about being overwhelmed...and to received this quality from an experienced member is well, intimidating to say the least. Hope my little humble wild grapes can come close to living up to all this!

 

[jobe05]

Glad this package made it, I don't think the board is aware that I sent out a similar package a couple of weeks ago, and never made it, "ALL" Six bottles somehow got broke in a well packaged box (one of Georges boxes actually).

Glad you like it but you got a couple of things wrong.......... Experienced?????? Not! Only been a couple of years for me almost 3 now I guess, but still learning tons of valuable stuff. Second, your wild grape wine will be equal to or better than anything I have on the rack right now.

I can't believe I forgot to add a Scuppernong with that shipment, but as promised, I'll get one out to you. If you like sweeter wines, you'll enjoy it a lot.

The Strawberry wine is from the Mosti Mondale, all juice kit that George said was good. I have not tried it yet so I'll let you be the judge on it for us.

And I would hide that Blackberry Port or Wade and Waldo is going to be showing up in the middle of the night.

The Amarone is 2 years old and is not my cup of tea, although it's getting better, it's very ............. I don't know, off flavor for me. A freind of mine who is a red drinker and is familiar with Amarone said it was good, so again, you be the judge. Enjoy, and glad this box made it.

 

[Wade E]

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, Blackberry Port, Im on the road right now and will be there soon Jobe!

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

With temps running 20* below the norm, freezing or below predicted by morning I made one last foray to get a few of them wild grapes, figured I would share one of the spots with yall...

The ride is about 30 minutes away, then a drive around the hay field a friend from work farms....

You come to a huge plant that reaches the sky...kind of in the shape of an old windmill, trunk is huge on this one, I know its over 30 years old, friend says its been there as long as he can remember...

Closer inspection confirms...there actually is an old wind mill under that old vine

Reckon it hasn't worked in a few decades, wonder if the vines were gone could it still stand, easy to climb up, kind makes you feel like Jack and his Bean Stalk. One other good thing about this spot, theres always a big smile waiting for you on your way in or out.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Those look like they were maybe cultivated...Are you sure they are wild grapes...or...maybe....Valiant or Beta????? They are a cross with a wild grape and have been around for a very long time.


Could you show us a cluster? We have wild grapes growing here out in the woods....they have tiny little berries on tiny clusters.

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

Wish I would of seen your post before I cleaned them all NW. They are tiny little berries, on tiny little clusters...same as the other spots I get them from. I have no doubt they are a wild grape, wish I would of saved a cluster or two to show pics.






If I make it out that way this weekend I will get some close ups of fruit on the vine.Edited by: JWMINNESOTA

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

I got a call at work yesterday, seems my friends sister wanted some grapes to make jelly, not expecting much this late I met up with them after work to go take a look, and see if anything worth picking. We did have to look close, many were affected by the few days of frost last week, but , and to my surprise, we did find a lot that were still good, so of course, I got a few grocery bags full

. Didn't have camera with me, but I did manage to remember NW wanting to see them, so I dug out of freezer today.

Figured maybe a quarter could give better idea of how small these are so...

And of course, what I see at this spot everytime....

Edited by: JWMINNESOTA

 

[NorthernWinos]

Boy, they are tiny aren't they...takes many to make a gallon of wine or a batch of jelly for that matter....

 

[grapeman]

Those do make an excellent jelly don't they. It doesn't take a lot and the color is super. Sometimes if my Concord turns out a little light in color because they didn't ripen completely I will add a few pounds in a bunch and give it a deeper color. Now that I have more grapes, I don't fool with them much anymore. There tends to be a lot of variation in the taste, seetness or total sourness. They do have a ton of tannins around here also. It will make your mouth turn inside out with some of them. Glad you found some good ones there. I got a bunch from my wife's brother last year that are more like a vinifera than a wild grape and made a pretty good wine. I finished it off sweet to offset the tartness, but it has a really unique flavor to it I have never had before. If this batch ages good, I am thinking of propagating the vine. They are at least as large as a Leon Millot bunch-maybe bigger and like yours grew 30 feet up a tree(in this case). No cultivated vine would ripen as many grapes as that vine does, so I can only imagine the sugar it would produce if it was held in check.
Anyway, all the wine and jellies, etc look great!

 

[jobe05]

If those are the same grapes that you made the Jelly with you sent me, they are AWESOME!! That is the best Jelly I have ever had, truly, it's very grape tasting and smooth. I haven't tried the wine yet, I have it in a cool dark place waiting to settle down a bit after that long journey. I'll give it a couple more weeks................

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

I have one last batch of the wild grapes fermenting, this one smells really incredible. Used Lalvin K1V-1116 on this one, really vigorous ferment going on in there! Now I'm off to celebrate 23 years with my sweetheart, the reason I couldn't make Winestock...I'll try not to mention that to her today

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

Got the last batch racked to glass, stab and clear here in the next week or so,then....well, thanks to Appleman for the "how to" and to George for the cultures, there will be yet one more

, have about 40 lbs of grapes in the freezer, will try MLF on that one. No room for a vineyard, but Ma nature has been really friendly in sharing the bounty, think I'll go hug a tree today. Maybe wed start a zin/shiraz coming from George also.