Wine from grapes - Concorde

[adrianvas12]

Greetings.
I am back to the forum with the new grapes season. This year I am making wine from Concorde and I was wondering if i can ask for your advice and help again.
I did it last year and things did not go too well - did not add anything; just crushed and pressed into a carboy. I would like to follow the "rules" but with less chemicals as possible.

Currently, the grapes are crushed, with stems on - no chemicals added. About 500 lbs of grapes. We are planning on pressing Wednesday.

I was thinking to add sugar and yeast; not sure what type to be hones.
What do you think?

Thank you.
Adrian

 

[grapeman]

To get the dicussion rolling I would say the first thing you need is to know the sugar level in the grapes to determine if you need to add any. I would also try and get the stems out as they will give the wine a "green" taste. I don't crush Concord right away but ferment it on the skins for a while to get a better color. I add the yeast to it the second day and punch down the cap for about a week before pressing and letting it finish fermenting.

 

[dralarms]

What grape man said.

 

[adrianvas12]

Thank you for your reply.
I will definetively check the sugar. We did not remove the stems since that will be a lot of manual work - the crusher that we have cannot do that. We did let the must ferment for about 4 days now.
Also I did not add any yeast at all - will it be OK to add it after pressing was done?

 

[grapeman]

No it will not be OK. It weill be relying on wild yeast which will give unknown results. A packet of yeast is cheap. Get one now and add it. You normally add yeast before pressing reds.
Yes it is a lot of hand work but should be done. You can use a course mesh screen placed over a barrel, put the must on it and gentle work it back and forth and the grapes drop through and catch the stems.

 

[Runningwolf]

I agree with Grapeman, get the stems out of their and add Yeast now. What is your brix? Concord are usually picked from 15-18 brix. You'll need to add sugar to make up the difference. Crushing Concord before pressing for color is a good idea if you're picking early. Later in the harvest you get more color when pressing. I just pour enzymes on them the day they are picked, then crush and press the next day.