fresh pressed juice

[JackieG]

i have benn making wines from the kits, however i want to make wine from the fresh pressed juice you get from the winery. can anyone help? not sure what to put in the juice. what im asking is there recipes i can follow? i want to make chardonay and merlot.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Jackie welcome to WMT. I make wine from juice all the time and it is very easy.

Your juice will most likely be sulfited already. When you get your buckets home, allow them to warm up to about 60-65 degrees. Usually takes a few hours. Once it has reached that area add pectic enzyme. Either dry or in liquid form. I prefer the liquid. It's only 2-3 bucks. Add 3-4 drops for each gallon. Stir and allow 12-24 hours before you do anything else.

Next add yeast nutrient (1 teaspoon per gallon) then add your yeast. There are several kinds of yeast and numerous brands. I prefer lalvin. Some wineries will innoculate your juice at the time of purchase. Ask. Depending upon what kind of wine you get will determine what yeast. Red, white, fruit, high acid etc. Let us know what you get and we can help you.

From there stir freq. until dry. Rack, stabilize and clear. Then age.

 

[robie]

Your best bet is to go to the tutorial section and read up on making wine from fresh/frozen grapes/juices.

Then if you still have questions, we can help you home in.

Here is a nice document on making red wines:
http://www.morewinemaking.com/public/pdf/wredw.pdf

The same site has a doc for making white wines.

 

[JackieG]

I was told to add sugar. Should I for merlot and chardoney?

 

[FreshWineMaker]

Yes, No, Maybe

Jackie, It is good to add sugar to the Brix level that you desire that corresponds to the correct potential alcohol level. If you want an average 12% alcohol wine you need to sweeten to 21.5 Brix. (percent sugar by weight). This will give you the desired alcohol. I use corn sugar, this is really easy to dissolve, if you want to use granulated or regular sugar. Put it in the food processor for a few seconds to get it into small granules. this will make it easier to dissolve. And make sure to make a yeast starter culture while you are doing any additions or modifications to your juice. By the time your done with those you can pitch your yeast, put a fermentation lock on and sit back and watch a fermentation happen!!! Have Fun. And most of all, Relax, fermentation is easy!

 

[JackieG]

Thanks for all your help!!

 

[djrockinsteve]

Did you get your juice already and if so what is the gravity? You may not have to add any sugar.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. Making wine from juice is easy once you understand what has to be done. It's fun too.

 

[DasK]

Do most wineries sell juice? I've never thought to do this.

 

[Runningwolf]

i have benn making wines from the kits, however i want to make wine from the fresh pressed juice you get from the winery. can anyone help? not sure what to put in the juice. what im asking is there recipes i can follow? i want to make chardonay and merlot.

Do most wineries sell juice? I've never thought to do this.

Dask only the bigger wineries with large presses. You would have to check around. A large percentage of the smaller wineries buy their wine or juice from larger wineries. Note, I said a lot of them, not all of them.

Jackie, Some places like Walkers in NY will already have the juice balanced and at adjusted at 21 brix for you when you buy it. I check all the numbers after we press juice where I work and we will give you a sheet letting you know how much water to add to adjust for acid and how much sugar to add to get near 21 brix.

Living near cleaveland you have the option of wineries in Geneva, Ohio or coming to North East, PA and getting Juice. We get a lot of folks traveling 3-4 hours to come and get it.

If you can make kit wines, making wine from juice is a breeze!!!!!!

 

[JackieG]

How do I check gravity?

 

[JackieG]

I did pick up some juice rosetta. I'm making this wine as a wedding gift! Do I add sugar? The winery told me 8 lbs. I will use corn sugar.

 

[djrockinsteve]

You need a hydrometer to check gravity. Only this will allow you to acurately hit your mark for the correct amount of sugar.

 

[JackieG]

Ok I have hydrometer I got my first batch of juice. It's rosette. My reading is 1.060 I would like this to turn out semi sweet. Thanks again for all your help!

 

[vin_man]

A hydrometer.

 

[JackieG]

Not really I live by Geneva on the lake Ohio and they r the only winery in this area that sale the juice. Is alot cheaper.

 

[JackieG]

Some how I erased my threads. Lol my juice is 1.060 rosette what do I do?

 

[ibglowin]

Is that the starting SG or has it been fermenting for a day or so?

 

[JackieG]

Starting I have not added anything just brought juice home gave it two days to warm up to temp

 

[JackieG]

Mike I look at your web site! Wow! Your really good at this. Thanks so much for your help!

 

[ibglowin]

Sounds like it does need some extra help with some simple sugar to bring it up to ~1.085 or so. You will want to ferment to dry and then backsweeten with an F-Pack of sorts so make sure to hold back some juice to make the F-Pack with.