Wild Grape Wine Recipes

PAW-PAW & NANA'S HOMEMADE GRAPE WINE

Steps:

• 1. Pick your grapes when they are at their ripest but not starting to dry out on vine.
• 2. Stem & wash the grapes.
• 3. Run through a Victorio strainer with a grape spiral & the pumpkin screen attached. Or, if you are up to it, play like Lucy & stomp with clean feet or squeeze by hand, but I don't recommend the feet! Don't squeeze with anything that will cause the seeds to be broken. They contain tannin & this has a very bitter taste & will ruin your wine. The Victorio strainer does not do this, nor does by hand do it.
• 4. Place in clean 5 gallon bucket, the juice & all the seeds, pulp & skins. Only fill up to about 5" from top, as it will work & rise.
• 5. Crush a campden tablet with mortar & pestle. In a drinking glass, put about 1 cup of tepid water, the Campden tablet & one package of Montrachet yeast. Stir & let set for about 5 minutes.
• 6. Now, pour into the grape squeezings. Using a clean hand & arm, stir the bucket good to incorporate the yeast mixture well.
• 7. Place black plastic trash bag on top of pail & secure with rubber band string. Place pail in a dark cool place. Put a heavy piece of cardboard under it in case of spillage.
• 8. We start ours in the am hours. This will ferment in the pail for about 4 days. Each day at the same time & twice a day, you will need to stir it with your hand & really good to keep all the squeezings working. So, we start ours at say 7:00 am & then every day for the next 4 days, we stir it at 7:00am & 7:00pm
• 9. After 4 days, using the mesh bag, squeeze the mash into clean 6 gallon pail. Discard the squeezin's.Take the alcohol potential level with the hydrometer. It should be 0% at this time. You want to bring it up to around 12%-13%. We have found that it takes about 2# sugar to each gallon of liquid to do this. You should have about 3 gallons of liquid after squeezing. Add 2 gallons of the spring water with it to make 5 gallons of liquid. Therefore, you should need 10# sugar to the 5 gallons of liquid. Stir with a long handled wooden spoon until all sugar is dissolved. At this time, take another reading. It should read about 12%-13% alcohol potential.
• 10. Place funnel on 5 gallon carbouy & pour the wine into the carbouy. It will not all fit. You need to leave room for it to work. Just bring it up to the last line before the neck of carbouy (refer to picture). Place the stopper in it. In the airlock valve, drop in one campden tablet & then the little percolator thing. Fill this half full with spring or distilled water. Place the lid on airlock valve & place the valve in the cork on bottle. It should start to perk rather quickly. Now, just put in cool, dark place for about 1 month.
• 11. After 1 month, it will slow down or stop all together perking. Ours was perking once per minute when we racked it. This means all your sugar has been turned into alcohol. You are going to RACK the wine now to get it going again. To do this, you will strain it into a 5 gallon pail that has a tea towel over the top with your string/rubber band tie. Indent it slightly in the middle like a pool. Pour wine through this to strain.
• 12. Take your potential alcohol level reading again. It should read 0% again or close. You will need to bring it back up to 10%. Don't add more water, but do add enough sugar to bring it back up. Stir until dissolved. So, if it's reading 0%, you will need about 10# of sugar to the 5 gallons of liquid to do this. If it reads 2% to start with, use about 8# & then check it until you have it where you need it.
• 13. Pour back into clean carbouy & replace the same airlock & place in cool dark place. Allow to work until it stops the perking process. This could take up to a few months.
• 14. When the perking stops, pour wine into 5 gallon pail.
• 15. Follow directions on your bentonite & add to wine in pail. Also, mix 1/2 tsp. per gallon of Potassium Sorbate. Follow directions on bottle for mixing it. Add to wine also.
• 16. Return to clean carbouy & place airlock back on. Let set for at least 24 hours, but 2 days is better.
• 17. Now, you are ready to bottle. Strain wine into 5 gallon pail that is covered with tea towel again & pour wine into pail.
• 18. Now, using a funnel, & small pan, but not aluminum or cast iron, pour the wine into bottles & cork or use the screw on lids. Store in cool dark place. It is ready to drink. Enjoy!

HOMEMADE GRAPE WINE

Steps:

• For making Homemade Grape Wine, first make sure the jar or the container used for wine making is cleaned well and sanitized. Porcelain jars or earthen pots are ideal. However, for those who cannot find a pot or jar, can go for an air tight bucket too.
• Wash the grapes well. Try to get fresh grapes to make good quality wine.
• Put the grapes in the jar or the container and crush them well so that the fleshy part of the grapes is well separated from the skin to extract the juice out of it.
• Once the grapes are well crushed, keep it closed for sometime.
• Meantime, boil water in a pan and add the sugar. Stop boiling once the sugar is completely dissolved in the water.
• Let it cool.
• Now, its time to add the sugar solution to the crushed grapes.
• To this, add 1/2 a packet of good quality yeast, preferably wine yeast and stir the mixture well with a sanitized wooden spoon.
• Close the jar or the container tightly and keep it aside for 3 weeks for fermentation.
• Stir the contents every alternate day and check if the sweetness of the solution has lessened.
• Once the sweetness is almost gone, sieve the contents using a muslin cloth. Make sure the sediments are not disturbed while straining out the contents.
• To the sieved solution, add 1/2 kg sugar caramel and let it set for another 2 weeks. Do not open the jar during this period. The sugar caramel solution is added for extra color.
• After 2 weeks, open the jar and transfer the contents to glass bottles with corks tops or air tight tops.
• Note: Do not use cinnamon sticks or cardamom to the wine as it might spoil the natural taste of it. Fermentation should be natural for a good quality wine and hence these ingredients have to be avoided. There is no need to add rum or brandy to this as the sugar itself transforms into alcohol during fermentation.
• This quantity can give you at least 5 liters of grape wine.
• :- Enjoy the homemade grape wine.

WILD GRAPE WINE

Steps:

• Choose ripe Wild Grapes, Pick them in clusters on the stems, bring them home and wash them in cold water leaving them on the stems.
• Place grapes with stems on, in water just to cover, in an enamel or non metallic kettle.
• Bring just to a boil, simmer till skins on the grapes pop, Mash the grapes in the water, Strain juice into a non-metallic container, through several layers of cheese cloth or a clean dish towel to remove grape pulp, seeds and stems.
• Reserve the juice, Throw away stems and pulp.
• Measure the juice.
• Add equal amounts of sugar and water, (ie: 1 gal juice, 1 gal sugar, 1 gal water) put wine mixture in clean crock.
• spread or sprinkle 1 cake or one pkg dry yeast on dry bread crust and allow it to float on top of the wine mixture, cover crock with a clean dish towel, let ferment for 3 days, strain wine, into non metallic container such as an enamel canner kettle, wash the crock and be sure to rinse it very well, put wine back into the crock, allow to ferment for 4 days, stirring every day and skimming the foam from top, strain the wine again as before, wash the crock again, put wine back in the crock.
• Allow to ferment 4 days, stirring and skimming every day.
• Strain the wine once more, this time it is ready to bottle.
• The older it gets the better.

GRAPE WINE

Steps:

• Mash grapes and let ferment 3 to 5 days.
• Draw off 5 quarts of juice.
• Dissolve sugar in hot water.
• Pour all into a 5 gallon jug container.
• Add water to fill jug to top.
• Cover jug opening with a small sandsack for 3 to 4 months.
• Draw off and rejug and seal jug with a tight-fitting cork or other kind of stopper.