Taming the wild grape for winemaking.

[brokenkettle]

I recently was offered a good quantity of riparia, but chose to turn down the offer because of the super high acidity of the grapes. I later (too late) thought of the possibility of doing a semi-carbonic maceration process to modify the acids.

No knowledge of working with these grapes. Anyone out there who has some thoughts regarding the taming of the wild grape?

 

[Duster]

there are ways to reduse acid levels but few are really effictive cold crash the wine will help or blend them with another low acid fruit.
There are chemicals out there that will help but I have never used them.

 

[GreginND]

Frankly I don't think riparia is worth while, but that's my very humble opinion.

Regarding carbonic maceration, it is not easy to do right. You need to have a good sealed vessel that can keep the CO2 contained and withstand the pressure. Not easy for a home winemaker.

 

[salcoco]

I don't think carbonic maceration will help high acidity, juice is juice with high acid. what is high acidity 10 grams/liter,12? Both can be tamed using potassium carbonate at crush. ferment as normal, cold stabilize to remove more acid, then back sweeten to balance the acid. Unless flavor of wild grapes are poor , should make good wine. One issue I forgot make sure grapes are very ripe, it reduce the acid.

 

[GreginND]

Actually, true carbonic maceration in a sealed container with no oxygen and only CO2 (anaerobic conditions) does degrade malic acid and can reduce the acidity by as much as 3.5 g/L. But it is not that easy to do at home. You need to keep the temp around 35 degrees and have it tightly sealed for a week or so.