Newbee first grape wine

[Mandaree]

Well we started our first wine two weeks ago, a plum that is in secondary at the moment. My husband was telling his co-worker about it and the next day the guy brought a us 50 lbs of grapes and said they were going to be bird food unless we made wine with them. But no one knows what kind they are. We picked out as many green ones as we could and de-stemmed with our hands then I let my kids press them (big time mom win.) I intended to make a red since the grapes are dark and we like dry reds best, but after sulfiting for 24 hours I don't think it looks like I am going to get anything red at all. So, I guess maybe I will press and make a rosé? The juice is very light and fruity, I can't see it standing up as a red anyway. So, I guess I am looking for ideas on how best to proceed from here. Hydrometer right now reads 1.086 and my acid is .65 tartaric.

Hopefully I will get pictures to upload and you can get an idea for what I have =D

 

[Mandaree]

Here are the grapes

 

[Mandaree]

And here is the juice.

 

[TexasWine]

I have no words of wisdom, just words of encouragement. So I must say this looks like a really fun project! You might want to peruse Jack Keller's website for information on next steps. The website can be a little difficult to navigate, but if you stick with it I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for.

 

[tokerlund]

They look an awful lot like the Beta Cross I got from my neighbor. I just used Jack Keller's recipe for Muscadine and it worked out great. This year I picked about 32lbs and am making a 5gal batch. The wine came out VERY red, almost purple. It was great, with a nice bite and some good back flavors. I had to wait 9mo for it to be good.

Probably didn't help much, but I think you have Beta cross. They are a from of wild concord I believe.

 

[bama_new_wine]

Who is Jack Keller, and how do I find his muscadine recipe? We have muscadines and scuppernongs in abundance in this area, and an acquaintance has offered to trade some.

 

[TexasWine]

Who is Jack Keller, and how do I find his muscadine recipe? We have muscadines and scuppernongs in abundance in this area, and an acquaintance has offered to trade some.

Straight off Google.

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques15.asp

 

[tokerlund]

Jack Keller is great. You don't have to know what he is talking about. . . just follow his steps to a T and you are likely to come out with great wine. I have done it several times with different fruit and grapes and each one was awesome.

 

[Mandaree]

Thanks for all the suggestions. They do look a lot like the cross! I asked the guy to bring me some leaves so I can compare. The only thing is mine are sweet. The sugar and avid were okay without anything. I decided to follow the yeast choice--actually that is what I had thought I would use and will follow the directions except for adding sugar water. The must tastes lovely as-is. Pitched the yeast and everything is fermenting away happily. Hopefully it will make something good. And it is getting really dark. I was surprised!