What to do with a couple pounds of Merlot grapes

[Beernik]

My Merlot grapes finally had a some what respectable production year. At least enough that it was worth it for me to go out and pick them.

I haven't weighed them out yet, but I'm guessing it's in the neighborhood of 3 - 5lbs. (It's a 3 gallon bucket in the picture.)

I also have a few pounds of serviceberries from last year in my freezer that I never did anything with.

So here's the question: what should I do with them? I could try making a small batch pyment or fruity pyment? Or should I skip wine making with them this year and make jam?

Right now I have them soaking in water. It was Snail City back there.

 

[roger80465]

I would freeze them and add them to a wine that doesn't have skins, if you make kit wines. They would make a terrific grape pack.

If you don't make kit wines, freeze them and send them to me. I would be happy to do that for you.

 

[Beernik]

I made one wine kit. It took about 6 years for it to be drinkable. I can't wait that long. That's why I'm thinking about a small batch pyment.

I'm great with brewing beer. Fair at making cider. Mediocure at making mead. And I completely suck at making wine.

Right now I'm leaning towards jelly unless I can find a really nice honey variety for the pyment. I've had some Cab. Sav. jelly that was really awesome.

I think I have just about gotten all the snails out of them. When I get home this afternoon, I'll pick the grapes off the stems, pasturize them, weigh them, and put them in the freezer until I decide.

 

[Yooper]

Hmmm. I'm not sure what I'd do. I'd probably add them to a current wine that I'm doing, like blackberry or chokecherry.

Failing that, a pyment (small batch) might be a great idea. If it's only a couple of pounds of grapes, once you press them you may not have much, though.

 

[Beernik]

I de-stemmed about half of the grapes, which turned out to be 3.8lbs. I'll start working on the other half when my daughter goes to bed.

Supposedly the serviceberries taste like a blueberry with and almond accent. So they might make an okay mix.

If I go the pyment route, I was thinking 3lbs of honey, taking the juice from the grapes, and topping off to 1 gallon with water.

I'm not wild about doing a 1 gallon mead, because it never seems like it lasts long enough. But I don't think I have enough grapes to do more.

EDIT: total weight = 7.25lb.

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Beernik,
Just to put thing in perspective, 36 lbs of grapes will make 2.5 gallons of wine. If my math is correct, the 7.25 lbs should give you somewhere in the neighborhood of a 1/2 gallon.
That said, if you add the grapes, slightly crushed to the Pyment, I agree, the flavor, tannins and color that can be extracted from the the grape skins would be far more beneficial than just taking the juice, you wont be disappointed.
Just to give you an example of how much the skins can contribute, I make 2nd run wine using the skins that have already been fermented and pressed, they render a real nice wine, lighter, but very good.

 

[Beernik]

Pumpkinman2012,

I started looking at conversation rates of pounds of grapes to gallons of juice and 0.4 - 0.5 gallons is what I figured too.

I think that's what I'll do if I do the pyment. Would it be a good idea to keep the skins in a mesh bag in the fermenter since its such a small batch?

And what is a good red grape - pyment yeast?

 

[pumpkinman2012]

I would keep it in a bag, absolutely.
Keep in mind that I've never made a pyment, I've made a good deal of melomel, but I did a little research on the net. I've seen a good deal of Pyment recipes that use one of the following yeasts: 71B-1122, ICV D-47 and RC 212. When in doubt it seems that the go to yeast is EC-1118.