First time grape wine

[Hedley]

Hi Brewers,

I have got a load of red grapes in the freezer from a mate's vine and am going to make some grape wine for the first time.

The impression I got from reading pages 195-99 of C. J. J. Berry's First Steps book is that for best results I should ferment the juice pure (that is, without adding water), I also see there is a different table for SG and measuring sugar on page 199 (different to the one I usually use on page 81).

I don't think I have enough grape juice for a full gallon but my plan was just to treat the grapes as I would other fruits (e.g. Blackberries) and extract as much of the juice as possible, add water to make up a gallon, clear with campden, add some grape concentrate for body, take an SG reading, then add enough sugar as per the table on page 81 before adding yeast and nutrient and leaving for a few days before adding an airlock.

Is this likely to turn out okay? Any pointers much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Ross

 

[ajrod27]

For red grapes, you'll want to ferment the grapes whole; skins, seeds and juice together. Unless you're making a rose, which then you'll press off the juice and ferment the pressed juice only.

First and foremost, sanitize and sterilize all equipment! For a red wine, de-stem and crush the grapes into a bucket or tote. Test the must for SG, TA and pH. You'll want to adjust the SG to 1.10 - 1.11, pH to 3.5 - 3.6 and TA to 7g/l (don't worry about the TA too much if the pH is in range, pH is more important for stability.) Add campden then mix; if you are going to add pectic enzyme, wait 12 hours after adding the campden. 24 hours after campden, make a yeast starter and pitch your yeast and nutrient into the must. As the yeast starts to do it's work, the CO2 generated will push the skins to the surface of the must. Punch the skins back down into the wine twice a day to prevent mold from forming on the surface. At 1/3 sugar depletion, add more nutrient. Before the must reaches dryness, press the must off the skins and into a closure with an airlock. When the wine reaches dryness, rack off of the gross lees and pitch MLF culture. When MLF is complete, add campden and proceed with clearing. Rack the wine off the lees every 3 months until clear, adding campden at every other racking. Bottle when clear.

 

[Hedley]

Cheers ajrod27,

You mention I should adjust the must to SG 1.10-11. That seems very low for a starting SG. For country wines I usually aim to have a starting SG at 1095 (aiming for a dry wine a little under 13 per cent).

I have never tested for PH before. I am guessing you can get kits to test and then add citric acid if too alkaline. What to you add if too acidic?

I will leave the skins on during primary fermentation, and remove them when I move to secondary (airlock) fermentation, as you advise.

Cheers,

Ross

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Are these table grapes or wine grapes?
If you need to adjust the acidity, you'll want to use tartaric acid not citric acid, tartaric is the natural acid in grapes.

 

[Hedley]

Cheers pumpkinman2012

I am not sure what the variety is.

Kind regards,

Ross

 

[ajrod27]

Cheers ajrod27,

You mention I should adjust the must to SG 1.10-11. That seems very low for a starting SG. For country wines I usually aim to have a starting SG at 1095 (aiming for a dry wine a little under 13 per cent).

I have never tested for PH before. I am guessing you can get kits to test and then add citric acid if too alkaline. What to you add if too acidic?

I will leave the skins on during primary fermentation, and remove them when I move to secondary (airlock) fermentation, as you advise.

Cheers,

Ross

An SG of 1.10 - 1.11 will give you a potential alcohol of 13.5 - 15 percent. You can definitely go lower if you prefer.

Test kits are widely available for pH and TA. Instructions should come with the kits. You'll want to add tartaric acid if too alkaline and calcium carbonate if too acidic.

I assumed your grapes are wine grapes, so they should be at about 22 - 26 brix, or SG of 1.09 - 1.11. If they are below 20 brix, SG <1.08, you probably have table grapes, which will probably need tannin added. Tannin promotes color stability, age-ability and that puckering sensation on the palate. Table grapes (Vitis Lambrusca) are lower in tannin than wine grapes (Vitis Vinifera.)

 

[Hedley]

Ah sorry I wrongly interpreted 1.10 - 1.11 as 1010-1011, instead of 1100-1110!

I'm not sure of the variety. My friend brought a house with a vine in the garden. They are red. I will measure the SG of the juice tonight and report back. I'm not going to be able to get hold of a pH or TA kit until the weekend, and I'll have added the yeast by then. Can pH and TA adjustments be made later down the line?

I do have tannin so I can add some if the SG is <1.08.

Thanks!

Ross

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Ross,
Wait until the wine starts fermenting before adding tannins, the fermentation process will help to extract tannins from the skins.

 

[Hedley]

Cheers all,

I squeezed out all the juice tonight, and the SG reading was 1060, so guessing these are table grapes based on ajrod27's advice. It is a beautiful deep purple colour. I was 40oz short of a gallon, so added 245g of grape concentrate and 40oz water, then took another SG reading (1055) then added sugar to give a starting SG of 1092. I then popped the grape skins and seeds back in, and added the yeast and nutrient (although I noticed after that the nutrient was a year out of date).

After about a week, stirring daily, I will strain into a demijohn with airlock. Will I be okay testing for pH and adjusting acidity at that stage? I could also add some tannin then too.

Kind regards,

Ross