How many grapes do I need?

[acommonsoul]

Although I am starting with a wine kit, if I get into making wine from frozen grapes how much do I need? I see on a certain direct grape website, that they sell them in 5.25 gallons buckets...is that enough for a 5 or 6 gallon batch?

 

[Kraffty]

I haven't used the frozen but for me it works out to about 100lbs fresh for 5 gallons of wine.
Mike

 

[jburtner]

I have heard and am planning for two buckets of must for one bucket of wine (and expecting to lose some to racking / etc) and it might also vary from grape to grape and season to season - how hard you press, etc...

I am planning for excess and will rack to 3 gal / 1 gal / 750ml as needed with overflow.

Plus - I heard that you're always supposed to drink at least one bottle of new wine @ pressing...

Cheers!
-johann

 

[Scooter68]

I saw somewhere that on average it taked 80-94 grapes per pound so with 100 pounds for 5 gallons that works out to 8000 to 9400 grapes. (You don't count the stems in converting to the number to pounds) Going to take a long time to count them all if you want to get it right.



Sorry I just couldn't resist.... Shoot me, go ahead.

 

[Kraffty]

I saw somewhere that on average it taked 80-94 grapes per pound so with 100 pounds for 5 gallons that works out to 8000 to 9400 grapes. (You don't count the stems in converting to the number to pounds) Going to take a long time to count them all if you want to get it right.

You don't have an Italian grape counter?

 

[jburtner]

Ahhhh fuggeddaboutit! Dat's aboot ten tousand grappe! So now we make invoice ok??

 

[Scooter68]

Ahhhh fuggeddaboutit! Dat's aboot ten tousand grappe! So now we make invoice ok??

Gulp - So you're making a me a deal I can't refuse??? Shudda kept my mouth shut.

 

[Johnd]

If you get two buckets of frozen must, in the end, after fermentation, and all of the racking and barrel topping, you'll end up with 6-7 gallons of finished wine.

 

[NorCal]

When using my hands it takes 20 lbs of grapes to make a gallon. With my equipment, 1 gallon requires 15 lbs of grapes. Whites add another 20%.

 

[Boatboy24]

5 gallon frozen bucket of red must will yield a little more than 3 gallons. If you want a 6 gallon batch, get two buckets. But you live in CA. You should be able to get fresh grapes. I go with 3 'lugs' for a 6 gallon batch. Each lug is 36lbs. I end up with closer to 6.5 to 7.5 gallons from that, typically. After barrel aging and a few rackings, I'm at right about 6 gallons.

 

[acommonsoul]

5 gallon frozen bucket of red must will yield a little more than 3 gallons. If you want a 6 gallon batch, get two buckets. But you live in CA. You should be able to get fresh grapes. I go with 3 'lugs' for a 6 gallon batch. Each lug is 36lbs. I end up with closer to 6.5 to 7.5 gallons from that, typically. After barrel aging and a few rackings, I'm at right about 6 gallons.

Where is a good resource to locate fresh grape sources? Do I just start calling vineyards? Or is there a better way? If you live in Cali, What source do you recommend?

 

[Boatboy24]

I googled the heck out of possibilities, and actually ended up stumbling across my source almost accidentally. I'm in VA, so not sure what to tell you on CA, other than you have a lot of options. I know some growers post on Craigslist, but that usually isn't until very close to harvest. Search for local wine clubs and start there.

 

[acommonsoul]

Thanks!...hopefully my local shop will be able to guide me to some good vineyards.

 

[Scooter68]

There are a lot of vineyards in Virginia especially in northwestern VA, horses and wine vineyards. Here's one link I found:

http://www.agrilicious.org/local/grapes/virginia