Spiders

[Bruce53]

What can I tell my wife or mother about the possibility of spiders, earwigs, bird poop, etc in the must? They were horrified to hear that commecial vineyards do not wash grapes before crushing and that I should not wash my grapes either...

 

[winemaker_3352]

That they exist

I have a utility sink - I fill it up with grapes and wash away before crushing. As soon as the water hits the grapes - the spiders start crawling up the sink.

 

[Airplanedoc]

I worked in one of the worlds largest corn/soybean processing facilities. There were Rats that made house cats look small. The rats actually would stand their ground to a human. The company would turn ferrets loose in the plant yearly to drive out the rats/mice. When the rats were gone the ferrets would vacate as well. With the exception of fresh produce there is almost nothing in a grocery store that did not have a product of that plant in it.

If you have ever worked in a food plant or restaurant kitchen a spider is no big deal. In fact I would bet most of our own kitchens would not pass a county health department inspection, I am confident they would not pass a USDA inspection for a meat plant.

So a few spiders don't really bother me.

 

[Bruce53]

Spiders...

That I did and thoroughly enjoyed the reaction. But I was surprised to hear that you DO wash before crushing. Is that generally done? Some texts I have read said to forget it....

 

[abigtroutt]

I washed my grapes first. Just could not grasp not washing them first.

 

[winemaker_3352]

Not sure about "generally done". If i had 4 tons to do - i might not wash them either. But doing 270 #'s - yeah i wash them.

To each their own - nothing wrong with not washing them. Not only will it aid it getting rid of ants, spiders, bird dung, etc - but pesticides, sulfur spray, etc.

Again - you don't have to - this is just my 2 cents - take if for what its worth.

 

[Rocky]

What can I tell my wife or mother about the possibility of spiders, earwigs, bird poop, etc in the must? They were horrified to hear that commecial vineyards do not wash grapes before crushing and that I should not wash my grapes either...

What is the problem? It is just a little exta protein in the wine. In addition to the extraneous material that you mention above, you can add field mice, chipmunks and an occasional ground hog that was not fast enought to avoid the mechanized grape picker/scooper. If you happen to be a strict Catholic, you should not drink the wine on Fridays during Lent.

 

[KSmith3011]

I never ferment a wine unless the BJ meter hits .033. BJ is an essential part of all wines since the beginning. Bug Juice meters should always read between .031 and .054. If you dont have those readings you dont have a quality wine.

 

[docanddeb]

I'd say you got more advice here than on the "other" forum... LOL

Debbie

 

[buddy]

If your wife is squeamish about an occasional spider then she likely hasn't heard about the guy who makes his wine from caterpillars.
Here is the link with the caution that it is exactly as it sounds.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HEEOM8cizw[/ame]

 

[docanddeb]

I saw a snake wine too...nasty stuff.

Debbie

 

[tonyt]

In that video it looked like the yeast energizer bottle had a FVW label. Does that make George complaisant?