Wine Grape Harvest '08

[Ace]

Well last year my Dad showed me how to make wine and went through the steps. It came out very good with a merlot taste and was strong. Really warmed the belly! This year the vine is producing like crazy! And this year my Dad is letting me fly solo so he can see if I've learned the process and if I'll be a wine master as well lol.

The grapes were looking ripe so today was the harvest day. I barely had to move to get enough grapes to fill one bowl! And then I noticed... the vine decided hey...that hackberry tree looks like a good place to hang out! There are grapes up there out of reach that I might eventaully have to get a ladder to collect.

So after a little while harvesting I had more grapes than I have containers to ferment them in. Seriously there is just too many! And this year I neglected the vine and the thing decides to go bonzo-bonkers! This is not even half of what is on the vines! Best part they were free grapes! Currently they are sitting in water to ferment and I'm gathering the remaining supplies to make my wine.

 

[FarmerDenise]

We get lots of free grapes, can you let us know how to make a small batch of wine? I've worked at wineries and know the basic process, but that's for making wine for sale. I would love to make some for personal use.

Ours won't be ready to pick til about August and September.

 

[Ace]

Pretty much we pick them and then get jars and fill them halfway with water. Then you put the grapes so there is a 50/50 mix. Let them sit about 11-12 days. Then you crush the grapes and strain them and the water they have been sitting into a jug or bottles. You can put the sugar in at this point and that depends on how sweet you want your wine to be. We put 1 lb of sugar per gallon of liquid for a merlot taste. We place a balloon over the top of our jugs for the fermenting process. We let them sit about 2 weeks like this last year. After that you can bottle and cork them.

 

[FarmerChick]

My father in law got a dump trailer full of older peaches and made tons of peach wine.....WHEW...that stuff was deadly. Needless to say not many drank it, I sure didn't...LOL...it was lethal. Alot of friends of his asked for many jars of it..HA HA

 

[Ace]

LOL! Was it just strong? Or was it just something with the taste? I wouldn't mind trying to make some as I have a peach tree.

 

[FarmerChick]

It was just pure alcohol. It wasn't "bad" tasting if you could get it down your throat. What a burner! LOL

I think it was the kind of stuff that could make you "go blind"--HA HA

He didn't truly know what he was doing and winged it, and wow, we have like 50 gallons of this stuff in the goat barn still. I guess it might be time to dump it...been there a few seasons.

Google making peach wine...I am sure it will be close to how you do the grapes, but at least with the info. you will be doing correct....Ralph just "tried" it his way..HA HA

 

[Ace]

LOL! Okay I think I would try to make some but would make sure to ferment maybe for the same amount of time as my grape wine. Sounds like he really fermented them and they were old already so I can imagine just how high the proof was lol!

 

[karanleaf]

Ace, those are some nice looking grapes there,
are they concord??
Sounds like you have used your recipe before?
What is the alcohol content on the finished product?
I have a few bottles left of my 1997 batch of grape and a couple of the cherry and I believe 1 of apple & 1 grape of 1998. I haven't tried one for a couple of years so I don't know if they are smoother now.
How long have you been able to store yours? Do you keep it a room temp or keep it in a cooled cellar? Sorry I'm asking alot of ???

I did try Pumpkin wine, once... It was such a beautiful light golden amber color and it smelled like a very sweet ripe cantalope.... Yum
But Boy, it could have taken paint off the walls in a few seconds Yuck

Please let me know how yours comes out .

We also have a lot of grapes on our 3 vines this year the older vine (it's about 50 years old) is loaded. I'll take some pic's and load them later it's too dark out now.
Hey have a good time with it it can be a joy to do I gave alot of ours as gifts. It makes folks happy :coolsun

 

[Ace]

My grapes are champenal. They are a bit tart the first few years but have gotten sweet this year.

Yup, this is the recipe my Dad taught me. I'm eager to see the results of my solo job. I have no idea on the content of the final product but I do know it's a bit higher than average wine.

Store.... Store? WHat...is that? LOL! The wine was about only 4 bottles worth last year and it was finished off in about 3 months time. Me and my Dad enjoyed it and so did my friends. I'm going to try and bottle and save a few bottles this year. The wine just stayed in jugs since we all sorta knew it wasn't going to last long.

Okay I think I'm avoiding the pumpkin wine as well.

I swear my best friend Warner drained a lot of the wine! My other friends got very little because he was pouring and pouring lol! We had to finally hide it.

 

[karanleaf]

If you have the chance to get some pie cherries they make a very nice wine.

We usually make ours 5 gallons at a time, after it clears off we bottle about 10-12 bottles. depends on the size of the bottles.

If you what something to really kick you in the seat use some wild grapes. Pick them after a couple of good rains and when it gets kinda warm, don't over heat yourself. But they are sweet and juicy then... The higher the sugar content the higher the alcohol.
If ya need a recipe let me know, I have a couple. or 3 or more