Blending grapes with concentrate?

[skyfire322]

Hey everybody!

I was just named the assistant winemaker at the winery I work at. The winemaker told me I could snag some clusters from our vineyard to make my wine at home. The amount of grapes I can take wouldn't be much (approx. 20-30 lbs), but it would be a start.

I've never used the wine kits before, so I was curious if blending the grapes into the concentrate would be a bad idea.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Some kits actually have grape packs in them, and I added a grape pack to a low-dollar kit to see if it makes the wine better.

I see no reason why you couldn't add fresh grapes, solids and tannins can only improve the must. The sugars and acids are already correct in a kit and I doubt a small amount of grapes would upset it.

 

[pumpkinman2012]

If it were me, I'd get a juice bucket and add the crushed & destemmed grapes to the fermenter, as the assistant winemaker, I'm sure that you you have the skills to make wine, don't waste those skills or the grapes on a kit.

 

[skyfire322]

Thanks for the responses! I'm used to making it in larger quantities (quite a bit more than 5 gallons hehe), and we try to stray from concentrate.

I'll report back, and let you know how things go!

 

[DoctorCAD]

If it were me, I'd get a juice bucket and add the crushed & destemmed grapes to the fermenter, as the assistant winemaker, I'm sure that you you have the skills to make wine, don't waste those skills or the grapes on a kit.

Kit haters gotta hate.

Waste your skills??? So it takes no skills to make kit wines? Adding grapes to kits is a waste?

Nice...got it.

 

[Yooper]

Kit haters gotta hate.

Waste your skills??? So it takes no skills to make kit wines? Adding grapes to kits is a waste?

Nice...got it.

Well, sort of. If I had an abundance of wine grapes, no way would I make a concentrate and then add that to a kit! I love my kits- and make them often- but to take perfectly good wine grapes and make a concentrate of them and add them to a kit really is a waste to me.

You can do a lot with grapes from a vineyard, and the least of my top ten list would be to "make a concentrate"!

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Originally Posted by DoctorCAD

Kit haters gotta hate.

Waste your skills??? So it takes no skills to make kit wines? Adding grapes to kits is a waste?

Nice...got it.

Who said that I was a kit hater? Or are you just trying to stir the pot?
As far as not taking skills to make a kit.....kits come pre balanced with a step by step instructions, and pre packaged meta, sorbate, yeast, and oak depending on the kit, you really have no control over what to add, when to add it, and why you are adding it..
The original poster stated that he had been promoted to Assistant winemaker at a winery, I can only assume that he has decent wine making skills, maybe I should have said "you can put your wine making skills to better use than making a kit".

Originally Posted by Yooper

Well, sort of. If I had an abundance of wine grapes, no way would I make a concentrate and then add that to a kit! I love my kits- and make them often- but to take perfectly good wine grapes and make a concentrate of them and add them to a kit really is a waste to me.

You can do a lot with grapes from a vineyard, and the least of my top ten list would be to "make a concentrate"!

I couldn't agree with Yooper more!
In order to avoid the whole" wine grapes vs. kit wine" discussion that has been beaten to death on other forums, I'll say this, I've tried kits, mid range and very expensive Eclipse kits just to see what it was all about, the biggest skill needed was the ability to read and follow directions.

skyfire322 - Would it be a bad idea? No, but I would ferment the must with the crushed and destemmed grapes, personally, if you were allowed to take 72 lbs of grapes, you could make 5 gallons of wine, a 36 lb lug will make 2.5 gallons.