Sorry for this, but I just have to because I'm
very excited (and a little tipsy)!
Okay, I've only been making my own wine for about six months now, but this is amazing to me.
About three weeks ago I started a very simple 1 gal. frozen gape juice concentrate wine. I used 2 cans of Concord grape concentrate, 3.5 cups sugar, 1 tsp. yeast nutrient. That's it.
I crushed up a Campden tab, added the juice and topped it off with tap-water (Tucson actually has pretty good tap water). I wait 12 to 20 hours before I pitch it as a general rule. This time I used a "medium" speed yeast, Red Star Premier Cuvee. I like EC-1118 usually because it's a fast ferment, but I wanted to try something different this time.
After 48 hours it was foaming up so much I decided to fit the air-lock early to avoid the mess. Fermentation settled down within a couple days but I just left the air lock on anyway (well, a clean one, but I kept it locked). After a few days there was very little activity.
I was like, what? Why did it stop already?
Convinced I was faced with a stuck fermentation, I made a starter with my trusty EC-1118 and pitched it at the two week mark.
Nothing.
So... today I decided to rack it. While I was at it I took a sample, expecting a cloyingly sweet mess. I tasted the sample and it was DONE! This thing fermented
3.5 CUPS of sugar in just 10 days! 6 days of primary and 4 days of secondary. I never saw another bubble after that! I've heard this was possible, but I've never experienced it until now.
The results? Well, I'm not big on aging. I'm never going to try to make a fine vintage. I don't have the patience to age my wines; I only make fresh wines. Also, I have a very heavy head-cold so I can hardly taste or smell right now. Yet, to me this seems like a semi-sweet Merlot. Immature, to be sure, and slightly hot. Not as much body either, but still
very drinkable (I'm on my second glass).
Oh, I should also warn you that I'm by no means a wine aficionado. To me, semi-sweet means you can feel the dryness, but it's not so dry that it makes my mouth pucker up. Maybe that's what everyone else means, and maybe it isn't. I wouldn't know. Deep down, I'm a beer drinker who got interested in making wine at home.
This was my experience. Your mileage my vary.