"mixed Grapes"?

[smikes]

A friend hunting on an old abandoned farm called me to tell me he found lots of grapes. There are Small dark blue one which do not get to 1/2 inch I think may be a wild vine that had been trellised at some point. There are larger ones that are dark that I believe taste like Concords and also a dark reddish purple that unfortunatly taste more like a table grape.Long story short, got more help pickin' than I wanted and now all these are combined.Got about 25 lbs and there is a pretty even split of 1/3 of each kind.


Destemmed them all and froze them and now looking for an idea of how to get the best wine out of this mix.


(I hope the tabley tasting ones don't screw up the taste)


I have found some receipes, but none mentiond to MLF them and wondered if I should?




Oh, an as a side note also found a choke cherry tree about 12 feet tall that is loaded,and trying to figure out how to pick them, don't think a ladder will work!


So any input on how to best work with the grapes or ideas how to pick chokes would be greatly appreciated.!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Not sure about your grape wines....The MLF is Greek to me....

Can you back a pickup under the tree??? And then use a ladder???

Got any friends at the Power Company with a Man-Lift truck????

JWMINNESOTA climbed a windmill tower last year to pick wild grapes....

The things we do for wine fruit....we should start a Thread on what we do to get fruit for wines...am sure there would be some good stories...

 

[SouthernMan]

The things we do for wine fruit....we should start a Thread on what we do to get fruit for wines...am sure there would be some good stories...

That would be a good idea, because I've got a few stories of my own to tell.

 

[grapeman]

The mix of grapes should actually produce a decent table wine. When you get ready to work with the grapes, thaw them and try to crush them good- either in the bags or by foot in a primary bucket. After you can get a good sample of the mixed juice, check the sg of the must and a test for the TA would be good also. If the acid isn't too bad and the sugar fairly close to 1.085, I would do it straight as juice. If the acid is over a TA of 1.20g/ml, then you could dilute it if you want. Then you would need to chaptilize it(add sugar) to bring up to the desired sg. When you decide which way to go, you can bring to room temperature and pitch the yeast or add one campden tab crushed per gallon and let it sit for 24 hours. I would also let it ferment on the skins since you destemmed. Then when it is down to about 1.015-1.020, rack it to the appropriate sized carboy and let it ferment to dryness(.0990-.0995). You could add some oak cubes in the carboy to taste if it lacks tannins from too many table grapes. Unless the acid is really high you don't need to worry about mlf, but if you decide to do it, don't add any more k-meta or campdens after the original. MLF won't initiate if the S02 level is too high. Hope this helps you a bit.

 

[smikes]

Thanks A.M.,


And yes,any little bit of insight helps

 

[smikes]

Pick up idea may work.! Now I have a busy weekend between trying to get those chokes and checking on remaining grapes!

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

The chokes make an awesome wine, fill the truck up if you can!

 

[smurfe]

The mix of grapes should actually produce a decent table wine. When you get ready to work with the grapes, thaw them and try to crush them good- either in the bags or by foot in a primary bucket. After you can get a good sample of the mixed juice, check the sg of the must and a test for the TA would be good also. If the acid isn't too bad and the sugar fairly close to 1.085, I would do it straight as juice. If the acid is over a TA of 1.20g/ml, then you could dilute it if you want. Then you would need to chaptilize it(add sugar) to bring up to the desired sg. When you decide which way to go, you can bring to room temperature and pitch the yeast or add one campden tab crushed per gallon and let it sit for 24 hours. I would also let it ferment on the skins since you destemmed. Then when it is down to about 1.015-1.020, rack it to the appropriate sized carboy and let it ferment to dryness(.0990-.0995). You could add some oak cubes in the carboy to taste if it lacks tannins from too many table grapes. Unless the acid is really high you don't need to worry about mlf, but if you decide to do it, don't add any more k-meta or campdens after the original. MLF won't initiate if the S02 level is too high. Hope this helps you a bit.

That my friends is all there is to winemaking. The entire proper process in a few well worded sentances. No other process will make a better or worse wine. Just the quality of the fruit is all that will change it. You read all these books on how to make wine and they will say nothing different that that paragraph says. Good post!

 

[hannabarn]

I picked the choke cherries using my Polaris Ranger! I backed it under the tree and first stood in the back and then on the roof. The pickup truck would be even better.I had a small tree spotted (about 8 ft) that was just loaded with cherries but they were still a little red. I went out and checked it yesterday and the bear had broken it off at the base and needless to say there wasn't a cherry left!!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Neighbor said the bears are working over the bushes and trees in his pasture.....

I am sure they are in the field corn too....The dogs have been barking 'crazy' all night....The homestead is surrounded with field corn this year....Animals are out there roaming, eating, molesting the crop...then suddenly they are in the yard and the dogs just freak...

Hope everyone gets more fruit....

 

[hannabarn]

I guess between me and the bears the choke cherry season is about over! What is left is really sweet but the trees are getting pretty bare (bear)!