Cabernet Sauvignon Recipe

[jmac1961]

I recently contacted a small local winery about buying grapes. He has Cabernet Sauvignon grapes still on the vine he is willing to give me (I just have to pick them). I need a recipe or a recommendation for a recipe book. The last recipe book I bought was not very good. I made some peach wine and it told me to use way too few peaches. I will not know how many grapes I can get until to go up to the vineyard, but I am hoping to get enough to do six gallons. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Wade E]

There is no recipe. You adjust ph and ta and add yeast along with nutrient and enymes like Opti Red. Do you have the means of testing for ph or ta?

 

[jmac1961]

I do not have the means now, but I am sure I could pick it up at the local shop.

 

[Tom]

Then do it,
You will need
TA kit
Hydrometer
Pectic Enzyme
Yeast nutrient
Sorbate
K-meta
Clearing agents
Degasser
careboy or barrel
etc...

 

[JohnT]

There is no recipe. You adjust ph and ta and add yeast along with nutrient and enymes like Opti Red. Do you have the means of testing for ph or ta?

Wade,

I have to admit that I worry when I see something about a Cabernet Recipe. Glad to see this "No-Recipe" response!

johnT.

 

[jmac1961]

I am sorry if I offended you. I am new to home brewing and so I might not know all your termonology. I call information such as how many pounds to make a certain quanity a recipe. I thought posting in the beginners forum I might find someone who would take a moment and provided valueable information instead of making me feel stupid. You could have pointed me towards a book for more information like I mentioned in the original post.

 

[ffemt128]

I am sorry if I offended you. I am new to home brewing and so I might not know all your termonology. I call information such as how many pounds to make a certain quanity a recipe. I thought posting in the beginners forum I might find someone who would take a moment and provided valueable information instead of making me feel stupid. You could have pointed me towards a book for more information like I mentioned in the original post.

I haven't really made anything from fresh grapes but I beleive I saw were you needed roughly 100 lbs of grapes to get enough juice for 5 gallons of wine. Not sure, someone will chime in who has made from grapes.

 

[lhunkele]

jmack - I'm new to wine making myself so I don't have a lot of experience to assist you however I did pick up a book I found recommended here called;

Home Winemaking Step by Step, A guide to Fermenting Wine Grapes by Jon Iverson, that looks like you might find helpful.

A quote about the book; "The single best resource I've found for making wine from grapes...straightforward, concise, and lay-oriented, loaded with procedures, tables, insights, and resources all will find useful." Jack Keller

p.s. totally envious of your local find - Enjoy!!

Linda

 

[Brintk]

I haven't really made anything from fresh grapes but I beleive I saw were you needed roughly 100 lbs of grapes to get enough juice for 5 gallons of wine. Not sure, someone will chime in who has made from grapes.

The yield will vary based on such things as how much rain the vines received over the growing period, what kind of soil they were grown on, among many other factors. Having said that, I usually figure that 15 lb (+-3) of vinifera grapes will make about 1 gallon of wine.

 

[jmac1961]

Thank you for the information. I will pick up the book and check it out.

 

[mmadmikes1]

I just finished juicing 100 pounds of Syrah and have about 7 gallons of must. That should finish out about 6 gallons of wine +- alittle

 

[jmac1961]

mmadmikes1,

Thank you for that information. That gives me an idea for how many lbs I will need to yield a specific amount. I appreciate the information. I am planning of visiting the vineyard tomorrow afternoon and I am certain I will be able to gather more information on the specific yield of their grapes. I am getting the before mentioned book tonight and will read it before I move forward.

 

[Wade E]

jmac, didnt mean it like that so sorry. Mostly 12-14 lbs of red grapes will end up with 1 gallon of wine. 16-18 for whites as you dont ferment on the skins so you dont get as good juice extraction. Basically what youll want to make 6 gallons is 3 lugs {3 crates of 36 lbs each} You will crush and destem them and put it all in a bucket and this bucket will need to be about a 22 gallon to allow for the fermentation which will push all the crushed grapes (cap) up above the wine which then need to be pushed back under 2-3 times a day to keep them wet so that they dont dry up or get moldy and also so that the enzymes that you put in the unfermented wine (must) can do their job on them and extract color and the juice and tannins from them. You do this until the specific gravity (sg0 is down to about 1.0 or there abouts and then you press into carboys. Basically you want to sulfite the juice right after you crush and destem to let the sulfites watrd off the wild yeasts and then add a wine yeast about 12-24 hours later. You also want to use nutrient and the enzymes in the very beginning also.

 

[jmac1961]

Thank you for the information. I got the book this evening and have started reading it. I think it is going to help me a lot. THANK YOU Again!

 

[JohnT]

jmac,

If I have offended you, please accept my appology. I did not understand what you meant by "recipe". I am a bit of a purist when it comes to wine. The cabernet grape is a very sacred thing to me. There are some that want to try adding all sorts of things to there wine to make them a little different. I am sure that they come up with some very interesting flavors, but the fact still remains that a well made cab sav is a treasure worth protecting.

I ahd one case (not anybody on this site) that a person decided to top off his cab sav with welches grape juice (canned - from a supermarket). I was gob smacked!!!

In short, I took the word "recipe" as a desire to add additional things to the cab sav. All I was trying to do is agree that cab sav should stand alone and never be blended with anything (except, perhaps, some merlot). I honestly did not mean to make you feel stupid.

Again, please accept my appologies.

 

[jmac1961]

Its ok. I agree with your take about the wines. I joined this forum so I can learn from people like you. I am still learning the process and I am counting on all of you for support. While there are a lot of small wineries in my area, I do not know anyone else that is into home brewing a quality wine (It seems most home brewers where I live are into ales and beers). A good wine is something very special and I am not trying to make spiked fruit juice. I hope to become one of those who does create such a treasure as a good Cab Sav. I understand it is very difficult to do, but I have to start somewhere.

 

[sly22guy]

another book i enjoyed was " From Vines to Wine" That book really went into detail on testing and has alot of nice tables too. Wish i could find some free grapes around my area!! Maybe ill call a couple of the local vinyards

 

[closetwine]

The greatest resource I've found is right here. No one meant to sound condescending. Almost everyone on here is really friendly and helpf0ul, if not a lot stubborn.

 

[Runningwolf]

The greatest resource I've found is right here. No one meant to sound condescending. Almost everyone on here is really friendly and helpf0ul, if not a lot stubborn.

ok its getting way to mushy in here now, I think its time for a drink!

 

[closetwine]

ok its getting way to mushy in here now, I think its time for a drink!

I'll drink to that, cause you guys helped me make it... hic, I love you giys... hic, no, seriously... hic, you guys ROCK!