Using store bought grapes

[nursejohn]

First of all, forgive me if this question has already been covered before, but I was wondering if you can make a good wine from store bought grapes. Just curious. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks, John.

 

[vcasey]

You can make wine from store bought grapes, but you may make a little better wine from the canned grape juice and an even better wine from some nice local fresh fruit.
VC

 

[grapeman]

There are two basic types of grapes. One would be Table grapes-the kind the stores sell. The other would be wine grapes. Table grapes are moderate in levels of sugar and without adding sugar would yield about 6-9% ABV. They taste sweeter because there is low acids in them, which would make for a flabby wine. There are no tannins to speak of because there are usually no seeds. All these things can be overcome, but often they are lacking even in flavor.


The second category- Wine grapes would be a much better choice for wine obviously. The stores don't generally sell them. They are normally higher in sugars and acids. They also have tannins from the skins and seeds. You would be much better off buying a kit or pails of juice than store bought grapes.

 

[smurfe]

You can make wine from just about anything but it has been addressed, not everything makes a good wine and most table grapes are in that category as Rich mentioned. I have tried it and was one batch I dumped. It wasn't nasty, it just wasn't good.

 

[Wade E]

Some stores will sell Concord which makes a decent wine. The normal table grapes make a very blah wine!

 

[nursejohn]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll stick with the kits and fresh fruits for now.