Fall juice buckets

[scruff_farrier]

Hey everyone, this may be a dumb question but I'm new to all the different grapes and grape wines in general really. I just got a email from my local homebrew store about pre ordering fall juice buckets. I've never done one before, but did some reading on here about the possibility of them already fermenting and different things. My question is....I have no idea what the difference is in grape varietys. To my unrefined heathen palate, Concord is the only wine grape variety I've ever really liked(or tried really). Church wine, what can I say. So I geuss my question is what variety of grape red or white California or Italian would you recommend to someone who likes semi-sweet Concord? Thanks everyone.

Edit. Also thought I should mention, I'm opening to trying new things. I just don't know where to start.

 

[Rocky]

Hi Scruff and welcome to the forum. What part of "da 'Burgh?" I'm originally from Forest Hills.

Regarding your question, you can make just about any variety of grape wine and back sweeten it to your taste after it is fully fermented. Try a couple of wines from the stores to see what you like and then mimic that. There are many on this site who will gladly help you through the process.

 

[scruff_farrier]

I'm from up in Kittaning area north of city, but you know how it is around here. If you within a hour of Pittsburgh. That's were your from when you tell anyone, haha. I geuss I assumed you could back sweeten anything, just have zero clue on flavors. I've tried a few different types but when you were primarily a beer drinker your whole life the wine section can be overwhelming. Melot, Chardonnay and Pinot are on the top of the not my favorites list, haha. Just was wondering if there was a good starting point from Concord to broaden my horizons a little.

 

[Rocky]

I would suggest that you go ahead and make a Concord, Catawba or Delaware. They are all at least slightly sweet and I believe juices are available in the Erie area in the Fall. I made a concord a few years back from Welches Concord Grape juice. It was not bad and I fermented it to dry (SG 0.992), added sorbate and back-sweetened it to about SG 1.000. It was for a neighbor who liked off-dry or semi-sweet wines.

 

[Rice_Guy]

@scruff_farrier , the first question would be do you like red wine or white? Buying a bucket is an extremely low pain way to gain familiarity with vinifera grapes.
... a few thoughts on the vendor we work through ...
Overall the juice does not draw complaints and the same people order each season.
My impression of the buckets the vinters club have purchased from California is they tend to be within normal target for the named variety.
For us they are sent as frozen and by the end of shipping/ delivery they are thawed.
There is approximately a 4% risk that fermentation has started, ie it may happen in two grape varieties then skip a year. ,,, Risk of fermentation is low enough that some club members wait a day to inoculate.
The reds tend to have 10 to 20ppm SO2 and the whites a trace.
Italian varieties represent regions and I am not familiar with what the types like Nebbiolo should be.
You are not asking about Chile but what we have sourced tends to be low TA so I wonder how hot the growing region is.

 

[Bts]

Don't be _too_ concerned about the already started fermentation thing. 2 years ago I got several extra buckets half off because my local shop had some leftover buckets that didn't sell and had been sitting in the fridge for a month. Hydrometer readings suggest they were all at least half fermented by the time I got them. When they were young they tased a bit of a harsh/metallic taste compared to the "fresh" buckets I'd picked up as soon as they arrived, but now, with almost 2 years of age, that's all gone and they're quite nice.

 

[Jal5]

Welcome! You CAN get juice buckets in PGH in the strip district look up CFP online. Nice folks and a pretty good price. They can help you make a selection if youcall them. I plan on doing one or two buckets from them myself.
joe

 

[vineyarddog]

CFP Winemakers is now accepting orders for juice. Estimated arrival date 9/10