Taste-less muscadines

[gametec]

I have made 25 gallons of muscadine wine using a recipe that I have used
many times with same process and have always had great results. However I newly acquired some property with the muscadine vines on it. I'm not sure why but but the muscadines have absolutely no sweetness or flavor.

I probably should not have even tried to make the wine because before I started it I knew the grapes were like this.

My Question is that is it possible to salvage this wine at all?
Maybe add concentrate or flavor of some sort.

Thanks for Help!!!

 

[jamesngalveston]

are they sour tasting, slimy when crushed..

 

[gametec]

Not really sour just taste like water or no taste and they seem
like the middle or insides are hard. I have another vine on my property
next door and they taste great like they should. I don't know if its the variety of
muscadines or because the vine hasn't been cut back.

I will figure that part out but What can I do with this wine it taste like alcohol and water.

 

[jamesngalveston]

maybe take some of the good muscadines and add sugar and cook them down, drain off the pulp, etc and add the extracted juice to the wine.
how many gallons are you making and has it went dry yet, are primary are secondary.

 

[gametec]

Thanks James,
That's what I was thinking but never had no experience doing it.
I'm making 25 gallons and yes it has went dry and in secondary.
I tasted at 1 rack and new it wasn't going to be good.
I have some scupadines that are really sweet.
How many pounds should I add and how much sugar?
I did not test with hydrometer because I'be made many times
Same recipe.
Should I add yeast and let it work again or stabilize and
Add extract and sugar to taste.

Again thanks

 

[jamesngalveston]

I would stabilize and add extract/sugar to taste.
For a 5 gallon batch i would use a few pounds of the dines and about 2 1/2 cups sugar, cooked on med/low for about and hour..your making a syrup.

 

[jswordy]

You seem to say that you tasted the grapes and they had no taste. Making wine from tasteless fruit does not improve what you started with.

If you had a lot of rain in your area, or if you harvested your grapes after a bunch of wet weather, that will dilute the flavor considerably. That's why there are good and bad vintages of wine.

Next year, if it rains like crazy, try to wait for a dry spell that is at least 7 days and preferably 10 days long, then harvest your grapes in the morning. The dry weather forces the plants to reclaim some of the liquid in the grape, and some transpires, so the flavors are then concentrated.

You're on the right track with tasting. Grab a few berries and if they do not taste right, let them stay longer until they do.

With this wine you have made, I would definitely consider it for a juice base blending. Go to homewinery.com and look over their list of juices. Buy the grape you like that compliments the muscadine flavor you have. When the 1/2-gallon arrives, put it in your fridge for 3 weeks, so it will settle. Then pour off the cleared upper contents into a sanitized carboy, and rack your wine onto that.

Allow to settle and mature as if it were the original wine. You'll love the results. With 25 gallons, using 1/2 gallon juice concentrate per 5 gallons, you can do as many as 5 variations.