Wine from home grown grapes - help!

[Henwoman]

This year I have a surfeit of white grapes. Normally I would have eaten most of the bunches by now but, I am not a well woman (!) at the moment and can't.

Please does anyone have any idea how to turn my bunches of white grapes into wine at home. I have the usual "wine from fruit" making equipment just need lots of advice.

Thanks!

[frozenthunderbolt]

1. bung grapes in a bucket
2. wash feet.
3. dance on them till well crushed
4. campden taplet them if desired, otherwise add a vigorous yeast starter.
5. ferment on the pulp and knock the cap down each day, or else strain and just ferment the juice as you would any other wine.
- Depending on local conditions and the ripeness of the grapes, you shouldn't need to add anything to them to make them work just nicely.

[grahamhobbs]

..................................
5. ferment on the pulp and knock the cap down each day, or else strain and just ferment the juice as you would any other wine.
- Depending on local conditions and the ripeness of the grapes, you shouldn't need to add anything to them to make them work just nicely.

White wine is not normally fermented on the pulp because of the tannins, but it also makes it a bit more difficult, because you will need to push the cap (the skins and pips that float to the top each day) down preferably twice a day but at the same time you have to keep fruit flies away. Easier to crush and just ferment the juice in the normal way.

Depending on the grape variety and ripeness, you may need to add some acid (if desert grapes) and/or sugar depending on sugar levels in grapes.

[chadspad]

Am trying this myself today So, best to take the juice and put straight into demijohn rather than sit on the pulp? Would you then add the yeast in the demijohn or still start it off in primary/bucket? Havent got proper yeast so will bread yeast do?

[elisabeth]

I have just collected over a hundredweight of muscat grapes from one vine, and one more vine to pick. Rather than wine, which is far better in the shops than I could make, I bought 150 plastic cups for a euro in my local sumermarket, filled each one up and froze them in batches on a tray. Then when frozen packed them into bags. Now, throughout the winter I have a cup of fresh grape juice still with vitamin C content...and it's good for short-term memroy..which alcohol definitely isn't...I seem to remember! Hope it helps.

[MKG]

That's one hell of a big freezer, elisabeth.

Turning your grapes into wine means that the grape juice is preserved without recourse to a freezer, so you can use that for everything else which needs to be preserved.

And I would venture to suggest that one of those plastic cups of wine every day is better for you than anything else - but then I would say that, wouldn't I?

Mike