{"id":115,"date":"2007-10-17T06:00:19","date_gmt":"2007-10-17T13:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.washingtonwinemaker.com\/blog\/2007\/10\/17\/making-wine-from-purchased-grapes\/"},"modified":"2007-10-17T06:00:19","modified_gmt":"2007-10-17T13:00:19","slug":"making-wine-from-purchased-grapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/washingtonwinemaker.com\/blog\/2007\/10\/17\/making-wine-from-purchased-grapes\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Wine From Purchased Grapes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grapes in the crusher and burgers on the grill<\/strong><\/p>\n

The grapes I ordered<\/a> arrived on Sunday (10\/14\/07). I brought home a 24-gallon fermenter<\/a> with 100 lb (45.4 kg) of crushed Merlot grapes and two 5-gallon (19 liter) carboys, each with about three gallons (11+ liters) of Chardonnay juice. The boxed grapes arrived in a truck, and I participated in crushing and pressing them.
\n

\n\"Processing
\n

\nI rolled up my sleeves (note to self, next time wear a short sleeved shirt) and got my hands sticky. I switched out catch buckets, scooped crushed grapes out of the crusher, loaded the press, hand cranked the crusher, and poured juice into the carboys – it was exhilarating! I didn’t have to do all that. They were well staffed and would have crushed, scooped, pressed, and poured for me. I like<\/em> making wine. If I wanted to pay someone else to do it, I could just go to the store and buy some very nice wine. I wasn’t really all that tired after all that, but I was hungry. So I really appreciated the hamburgers and hot dogs they were grilling up on site. It was a nice lunch that turned the whole thing into an event.<\/p>\n

Measuring sugar and acid<\/strong><\/p>\n

After I got the crushed Merlot grapes and the Chardonnay juice home, it was time for measurements. For that, I needed a clear sample. I lowered a clean ladle into the Merlot grapes, so that juice slowly flowed into it over the edges. After a few times, I had about a cup (240 ml), which I let settle for an hour. The Chardonnay was in two carboys, free run juice in one and pressed juice in the other. I drew samples, about a cup, from both with a wine thief and let them settle along with the merlot. This is when I added the pectic enzyme.<\/p>\n

Settling for an hour isn’t going to produce perfectly clear juice, but a lot of sediment did fall to the bottom and the juice I poured off was a lot clearer than the what I started with. I think the Merlot and the pressed Chardonnay juice were clear enough to get good measurements from. The free-run Chardonnay was too cloudy, even after settling, so I didn’t use that sample.<\/p>\n

There Merlot, as I measured it, was at 25 Brix, pH = 3.63, TA = 7 g\/L
\nThe grower reported 24 Brix, pH = 3.56, TA = 5.1 g\/L<\/p>\n

For the Chardonnay, I got 26 Brix, pH = 3.15, TA = 11 g\/L
\nThat compares with the grower’s 24.7 Brix, pH = 3.27, TA = 7.7 g\/L<\/p>\n

In both cases, I saw slightly more sugar than the grower. I think this is because my samples still had a lot of suspended solids in them and that the actual amount of sugar is probably a little less than what the grower reported. I measured higher pH and higher TA in the Merlot. That may mean a higher proportion of malic acid and therefore slightly under ripe grapes. I recorded a higher TA for the Chardonnay too, but my pH reading was lower. So my juice was more acidic, but there was no divergence as there was with the Merlot.<\/p>\n

Pitching the yeast<\/strong><\/p>\n

There was nothing in those measurements that bothered me, so after giving the pectic enzyme three hours to do it’s work I pitched the yeast. I used Red Star’s Premier Cuvee, a neutral reliable yeast. I prepared a starter on Friday (10\/12\/07) by reconsituting a can of frozen grape concentrate. I could have just used sugar and water, as I described in August<\/a>. By Sunday afternoon, I had 1.5 quarts (1.4 liters) of fermenting grape juice. I gave it a good shake and added about two cups to the Merlot and one cup to each carboy of Chardonnay.<\/p>\n

Those yeast were fermenting up a storm the next day. After they do their work, it’ll be time to rack the Chardonnay and press the Merlot. That will mean a trip back to the homebrew shop, to use their press, in about a week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grapes in the crusher and burgers on the grill The grapes I ordered arrived on Sunday (10\/14\/07). I brought home a 24-gallon fermenter with 100 lb (45.4 kg) of crushed Merlot grapes and two 5-gallon (19 liter) carboys, each with about three gallons (11+ liters) of Chardonnay juice. The boxed grapes arrived in a truck, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,41],"tags":[48],"class_list":["post-115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-enology","category-winemaking","tag-nad"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t