anyone know how to make home made wine?? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

85drtysthbenz · #1 12-09-2003, 03:01 AM

i have some friends that had relatives who made muscadine wine...and a bunch of us got together and drank a few bottles one night....that stuff is GREAT...and i want to know how to make it myself...the only thing is,i cant ask the people who made the wine i drank,because they have recently passed away...my friend's grandfather left him a couple of cases of wine when he died,and he shared a few bottles with some close friends...

does anyone know how to make muscadine wine?? and if so,hows about comin off the recipe?

Botnst · #2 12-09-2003, 08:47 AM

Essentially you get grapes or (some other fruit) and crush them up and add yeast to the mixture.

For red wine you leave peals in the goo.

For white wine you take the peels out.

You have some control over flavor by choosing the yeast and grape variety. There are also some chemicals and flavoring extracts you can add.

As a general rule, the longer you leave the mixture fermenting the longer its local ecology will work on the substrate increasing flavor complexity. You can use a hydrometer at the beginning to estimate the sugar content and then monitor the change in fluid density to determine when fermentation has ceased and also what your alcohol content is. You can boost alcohol content somewhat by boosting the sugar content. But there is an upper-end for sugar content beyond which yeast will not ferment and you end up with something Manischewitz (www.manischewitzwine.com/products/products.htm) might sell.

Once its filtered and bottled it is fairly stable, depending on how much and what kinds of contaminating bacteria are present.

Its easy to produce a modest sweet wine. Its much more difficult to produce mediocre dry wine. A good dry requires a lot of effort and patience.

That's why I brew beer. Its easy to make consistent above-average beer. Lake Woebegone beer--all above average.

Botnst

MTI · #3 12-09-2003, 10:33 AM

Have to agree on home brewed beer (and root beer too!) being much more rewarding than vino. For home wine, you can buy kits with the appropriate grape juice and starter. You'll need a couple of 5 gallon dark glass bottles and some filtration and bottling equipment. Basic thing to remember, especially when fermenting stuff, make sure everything is clean.

psfred · #4 12-09-2003, 07:57 PM

Assuming you still have access to the grape vines, the procedure is as follows:

When ripe, pick grapes. Takes 'bout 20 lbs to make a gallon.

De-stem and crush into a large plastic pail. Add wine yeast (available at wine and beer brewing stores or on the internet). Check specific gravity (you want between 1.085 and 1.100), probably can just take a chance on the acidity.

Cover pail (I'll bet the equipment is still at Grandpa's unless they had an auction already...) and attach an air lock. You can just cover with cheesecloth or sheet plastic, but I believe that is too risky.

Frementation starts up in a day or so. Allow to fizz for 3-5 days -- longer gives more color. Stir the floating grapes down every day.

After 5 days, siphon off the free liquid and press the skins to get all the wine out. Gandpa had the press, too. Transfer to a glass carboy and fit airlock.

Frementation (bubbling) will stop in a couple weeks, and all sorts of crud will settle to the bottom. Siphon off into another clean carboy and fit airlock. Allow to sit for a month or so, then siphon again. Repeat until wine clears, then bottle.

There are a number of very good books around on wine making (also beer brewing) -- very rewarding hobby. Library, brewing/vinting supply store, or major bookstores will have them.

Grape juice and other fruit extracts are readily available at a variety of costs, but I suspect you won't be able to find muscadine juice -- muscadine wine is an aquired taste, I suppose, much like Concord or Niagra. NOT a typical "european vinifera" wine at all, although some people like them very much. Not enough market to produce for, I guess.

Peter

sfloriII · #5 12-09-2003, 10:53 PM

I've never tried it myself, but I know someone who makes his own.

Some friends of mine and I went out to his house last year and helped him and his wife pick white grapes for wine. It was a lot of fun being involved in most of the process: picking the grapes, squeezing out the juice (30 gallons!), and storing it in jars for fermentation.

I was amazed at all the science that goes into the process such as figuring out exactlywhen to pick the grapes based on their sugar content, etc. It's a real form of art!