Managed to grow enough wine grapes to give me what appears to be a little over a gallon of juice. Odd mix of baco noir, pinot noir, and some merlot and cab frank. Have it partially crushed in a large pot sitting in my fridge, and just received kit to make a 1-gallon batch.
Juice is very tasty, seems purple and acidic, not sickly sweet. Took grapes off stems, crushed by hand in advance of impending winemaking. Will check for adequate acidity and sugar levels. However, one thing I noticed is that the juice, even with skins and seeds in the mix for more than 3 weeks now in the fridge, is not showing much if any tannin. I love tannic young wines so maybe its my tolerance for tannin that is affecting what I'm detecting...but is there a tannin level that is inappropriately low for red wines? I didn't buy any tannin supplement to add to the mix, as i never anticipated that this would be an issue.
On another note I do have some french oak chips, I assume/know that these will impart at least some tannic backbone to the mix, but not sure (a) the volume of chips that I should add to 1 Gallon of juice, (b) at what stage I should add/leave the chips in (they are pretty small so even if they expand a bit I think I'll be able to get them out of my carboy), or (c) whether they will add adequate tannin, or whether I will need to amend the mix.
Also, do I need to add a pectic enzyme to the must and let it sit for 12-24 hours before I add a crushed campden tablet and add yeast? I don't have any pectic enzyme.
And I bought a Vintner's best 1-gallon wine making kit, plus an extra 1-gallon carboy, acid test, tartaric acid, hydrometer, wine thief, french oak chips (medium toast), some RC-212, some DAP, and a nylon straining bag.
Other than these questions, I think I have all I need to get started...and think I'll have several other questions as the process moves along. Not expecting any miracles, but would be great to actually end up with a gallon or so of something that is drinkable and is from my garden.
Any help/advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Juice is very tasty, seems purple and acidic, not sickly sweet. Took grapes off stems, crushed by hand in advance of impending winemaking. Will check for adequate acidity and sugar levels. However, one thing I noticed is that the juice, even with skins and seeds in the mix for more than 3 weeks now in the fridge, is not showing much if any tannin. I love tannic young wines so maybe its my tolerance for tannin that is affecting what I'm detecting...but is there a tannin level that is inappropriately low for red wines? I didn't buy any tannin supplement to add to the mix, as i never anticipated that this would be an issue.
On another note I do have some french oak chips, I assume/know that these will impart at least some tannic backbone to the mix, but not sure (a) the volume of chips that I should add to 1 Gallon of juice, (b) at what stage I should add/leave the chips in (they are pretty small so even if they expand a bit I think I'll be able to get them out of my carboy), or (c) whether they will add adequate tannin, or whether I will need to amend the mix.
Also, do I need to add a pectic enzyme to the must and let it sit for 12-24 hours before I add a crushed campden tablet and add yeast? I don't have any pectic enzyme.
And I bought a Vintner's best 1-gallon wine making kit, plus an extra 1-gallon carboy, acid test, tartaric acid, hydrometer, wine thief, french oak chips (medium toast), some RC-212, some DAP, and a nylon straining bag.
Other than these questions, I think I have all I need to get started...and think I'll have several other questions as the process moves along. Not expecting any miracles, but would be great to actually end up with a gallon or so of something that is drinkable and is from my garden.
Any help/advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!
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