Got the opportunity to make some wine this year, a neighbouring allotment owner has told me I can have all the grapes off his vine (4x 20 foot long).
Grapes are a mixture of three rows of red and one row of white.
Do I need to use wine yeast to start the process off or rely on the natural yeast? What ratio of sugar works best?
Made Cider before so have some kit and up on keeping everything sterile, I have four demi-johns so far & air locks, any idea how many grapes I will need to crop to fill them? (4 gallons).
But apart from that I don't have a clue what I am doing, can grapes be stored for a week or so before crushing or are they best picked and crushed on the same day. Sorry I have so many questions 😉
P.S. if anyone has any demi-johns spare they don't want and are based near Birmingham 😉
My lad produced some wine from water a while back.
lol
😉
You'll be needing this...
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[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Steps-Winemaking-C-J-J-Berry/dp/1854861395/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254820414&sr=8-1 ][/url]
About 15 yrs ago we rented a property that had a load of pears, so started making wine to use up the pears.
If you make no other wine, try the rice wine in that book - it is absolutely lethal
TBH i do not have a clue either but we have made some cracking plum wine with the aid of this book
£1.72 well spent
first up, how many kg are you looking at?
Red wine is a bit easier than white wine, so I'd bung them all in together, ideally on the day you pick them.
Destem them into a big bucket, 3/4 full. Natural yeast should do the trick. Keep it warm. Plunge the cap that forms 3 times a day.
Are you still reading?
3 times a day!
hmmmmm
No wonder he has no interest in using the grapes 😉
If you want colour, then yeah.
When it's dry, it won't form a cap any more.
Press it off into your demi johns & try to keep them full. If you don't have a hydrometer, check the sugar by taste. If it tastes a bit flat, you might want to add a gram or 2/L of tartaric acid.
Do you want more?