home grown grapes to wine

[dwolf]

hi everyone,iv grown grapes outside (red grapes)for five to six years,and every year the crop is better than the previous.
after much talking about it ,im going to make wine out of them this year !
now the problem iv got is ,after iv crushed the grapes,what do i put the juice into (poly bucket with lid)
demi john with air lock ) ect
how long to let ferment,
add water or not.
could be the start of somthing big :>) with a little help
many thanks

[mangetoute]

do you know any one who makes wine?if so ask them if they have a wine book that boots used to do,it was full of all sorts of recipies,or try a web site for wine.

[Catso]

I too have had grapes from my vine, and tried the wine-making on several occasions.

It worked once, and did produce a very nice (for home-made!) wine. However, it has failed many more times. The problem is the 'nasty' organisms you get in with the grapes. These multiply during the fermentation, and overwhelm the 'good' yeast. You just end up with vinegar.

You have to be scrupulous about cleaning them before you start. Get all the stalks/leaves off. I'd advise you crush them, maybe even liquidise, and then try to get all the pips out. Sterilise the juice with Campden tablets before you start the fermentation (kills all the bugs).

Add proper wine yeast. Do the fermentation in a demijohn, with airlock. With UK grapes, you'll have to add a bit of sugar, or bought grape juice.

When the bubble rate dies away, it's done.

As I say, don't hold your breath...

[commoner]

...mmm...good advice there from catso but I don't think it matters about a few stalks pips etc..........do you really think commercial wine makers remove the stalks/pips etc from thousands of tons of grapes before fermenting? For every ton of grapes there must be hundreds if not thousands of insects going into the press too, never mind the leaves and stalks....especially when they are machine picked..all adds to the BOUQUET don't you know...........<G>

[Catso]

Quite true, commoner, I'm sure. But the commercial producers have access to (and probably use) more complicated sterilisation chemicals and processes than a DIYer would be able to or want to.

And, don't some forms of production just press the grapes, for the juice, and the pulp never goes in the brew?

If you're just doing it in a bucket/demijohn, with raw, whole, fresh grapes you have to be scrupulous about cleanliness and the possibility of undesirable micro-organisms.

As I said, I've had about 4 attempts at this fail, due to the wrong micro-organisms getting in.

[dwolf]

thanks for your help,im going for it,i will post the outcome ,cheers