I have 89# of grapes. What now?

[zack67360]

This year I harvested approx. 89 pounds of purple grapes from my vines. Quite surprised actually as I had black spot and started spraying them early on. Figured I'd loose the whole lot of them, but came out better than expected. Of course I washed them well with plenty of fresh water and pulled them from the stem and now have them frozen in freezer bags, double wrapped. Now what? I have two choices here. Thaw them and buy a rotarey food press to press the grapes, or just press them by hand and put them in my large ss pot and boil them, and put the whole mess in primary to ferment; grape mash, seeds and skins. I plan on using Lalvin 1118 yeast and 8 # of sugar for 5 gallons of wine as I have found that 8# will make a strong wine with all the sugar being converted to alcohol. I seem to like the fruit and lighter wines better than the dark so far that I've made using canned fruit and bottled grape juices. This will be my first attempt using fresh grapes. I also have a 5 gallon batch of raspberry and a 5 gallon batch of blackberry going from fresh berries. My question with the grapes is how to extract the juice and flavor from them. As stated, I can purchase a rotarery food press locally for very little, or I can boil them. Advice is appreciated. Also, I am reading the book "Vines to Wines" by Cox to also help improve the quality of my wine.
Thank you in advance.
zack

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

Congrads on the harvest. Before adding sugar, I would test the specific gravity. Press them, then ferment the skins with the juice. If you want a lighter wine leave the skins out. Depending on the type of grape, you'll get about 5 to 6 gallons of wine.

 

[zack67360]

So you say press them with the conical food press and then put the grape flesh and skins back into the juice to ferment. Do I pick the seeds out? Will the seeds afffect the flavor?
Thank you.
zack

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

as long as you don't crush the seeds they will drop to the bottom. For that amount I have crushed them by hand, all you really need to do is pop them open. Once frozen a lot of the work is done there too.

 

[bob1]

I think you will break to many seeds with a conical food press. You may want to just bag them in a paint strainer and press using 2 buckets the lower one having a spigot.

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

I agree on not using the conical, for that little amount of grapes, just put on some rubber gloves and grab a handfull, and mash them over a bucket and drop them in, go for the next handfull..etc......
Once in the fermenter add some petic enzime and some campden tablets ( one crushed per gallon) wait 24 hours add yeast. knock the cap ( skins) down two to three times a day with a gental stir. If you see any grapes that have not been poped do it.

 

[grapeman]

Whatever you do- DO NOT BOIL THEM. You already have destemmed them and freezing them will break them down a lot. After, thaw them out and put in the fermenter. Bring sugar to the level you want, add yeast, some yeast nutrient and let it ferment for a few days, skins and seeds in it. That will form a cap which you push down (Use a potato masher with holes in it) a couple times a day. After it has fermented for a few days, the seeds will be at the bottom. You take the liquid out and that is considered free flow wine. You can press what is left lightly and that gives you the fuller flavored wine with some solids in it. Finish fermenting them together with your small amount, rack it and finish off as you normally do.

That is the very basics of it and will make a decent drinkable wine. Naturally you can make many tweeks along the way which can improve the wine a bit (but can also ruin it if you do too many screw ups). Have fun and foremost- RECORD EVERY STEP OF THE WAY INCLUDING ANY ADDITIONS. That way you can make chaqnges if needed next time.

 

[zack67360]

Thank you everyone. I will hand press then and not bother buying the food press. I have a strainer I can use to remove the skins after a few days in the primary.
z

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

do you have a hydrometer?

 

[saramc]

Do you know what type of "purple grapes" these are? Congrats on the harvest. I agree: whatever you do, do not boil the grapes, the freezing of the fruit has helped immensely and the ferment will take care of the rest.

 

[zack67360]

Doug, yes, do have a hydrometer and use it to tell when to rack to a carboy from the primary. Wait for it to hit 0.9 or sometimes 1.0 if it seems stuck. I like stout wine so I always add 8# sugar and am sure to stir once a day and add plenty of yeast nutrient and energizer if the fermentation seems stuck.

Sara, I wish I did know what type of grapes they were, but it's been so long ago since I planted them I have forgotten. I pretty much let the the vines go once the gazebo fell apart and then when I got into wine making started tending them again. Last year was a bust with the drought, bugs and black spot. This spring I trimmed them back, sprayed for the black spot and watered. The grapes I did get seem to be quite sweet; the skins have a bit of a bite but not an unpleasant one so hope I get a good batch of wine from them.
zack