i know it's probably been covered....

So i'll ask anyway, can wine, good wine be made from 100% fruit juice sold in the grocery store? Any drawbacks? What should i avoid?

 

You have to read the label. Some have sorbate and/or other preservatives that will prevent fermentation.

Your best bet are cans of juice from your local home brew store.

 

I've done the whole foods apple wine recipe using red star champagne yeast which was ok a bit dry for me and not so much apple taste. i was wondering if it was possible to make something like a beringers white zinfandel or pink moscato without investing $60/5gal kit

 

Lots of people make good wine from Welches concord and Niagra, I like to get most of the sugar from the concentrate cans, up to a point you can add more than what is required to make a grape drink, but if you go to far the acids will become high, but since its tartaric it can be cold precipitated out or you can even do a little MLF. We got carried away on our last batch and had to do both and I think its not only good but great. Add a little oak. Now you have a good wine, or even a great wine, its your taste that matters. WVMJ

 

I've made a cherry/apple/black currant wine with grocery store juices. It turned out to be one of the best wines I've ever made, VERY TASTY! And it only took a year of bulk aging to get good.
Regards, GF.

 

Yikes!! 1 year bulk aging? hmmmm i guess if i'm going to consider this i need to look into another fermenter or even a cask.

 

Yes, you definitely need a bulk container for aging. By cask, if you mean barrel, you need to be prepared for sealing-maintaining, etc. Plus, you would really want a neutral barrel for bulk aging. Many people prefer glass carboys for bulk aging, and many use the BetterBottle, or similar, carboys for bulk aging. I use bucket for primary, carboys for the rest of it. And one year is common, even longer if you make mead.

 

Well that would explain why my young mead tastes blah and bland. As far as cask i meant like a 5g metal cask.

 

I found this a while back. Worth a read. I made the wine to have something to drink while I was waiting for a kit to age. It was not bad considering the cost. It probably would have gotten a bit better with age.

http://www.washingtonwinemaker.com/blog/2009/07/06/welchs-wine-cheap-quick-and-surprisingly-good/

 

Loved your elderberry farm. We planted four elderberries, the birds gave us quite a few more, and we abscond from the side of the road, by tying ribbons and sheer curtains over the "pre-berries". I learned about elderberries (jelly and uncle's wine) in my youth, in Michigan. Now I live in Southern Mississippi and no one here even knows about them and there are bazillions!!! Anyway, didn't mean to hijack a post, just thought I would let you know what a cool farm you have!