anonymous grapes

A friend dropped over several pounds of frozen locally grown, backyard anonymous red and white grapes (seeded grapes - likely Concord and Niagara) on Sunday. His friend was cleaning out the freezer to make room for a half a beef. I placed them into two different primaries, adding some of my own backyard Marquette grapes, to thaw and adding k-meta. It took a couple of days for them to thaw and I used a potato masher to crush the grapes and then strained as much juice as I could. I figure I left at least a gallon of juice that I had no way to easily collect. The juice is a light red color - I figure it'll make a blush colored wine.

I was able to get four gallons of juice from the grapes and I added some acid blend, tannin, and, since it came out to only 1.050, I added some sugar to boost it to 1.090. I'll have some sort of wine in a few months and I plan to back sweeten and give it away as gifts since I don't care for sweet wine. I'll be out one package of yeast and 4 cups of sugar.

I am looking at buying a handful of Marquette grape vines to see how they grow for me (central MN). It will be my first try at growing grapes. The research I have done seems to suggest that they should grow well in this area. If it goes well I think I will expand in a couple of years.

How have the Marquette plants been for you? Any advice on whether or not to go with this variety.

I like my Marquettes, but so do the birds. I had to net them to keep the Robins away and even then they became trapped under the netting. I need to spry this year - my third year -but they're hardy and make a decent wine. Better than most varieties that will grow in our zones.