[Sparkie]

I have inherited two grape vines with my new allotment.  I have just returned from 4 weeks in France to find them covered in very large bunches of blue/black grapes.  They are obviously not fully ripened yet.  My question is - what on earth can I do with them?  We will not be able to eat them all and wondered if there was a very quick way to make wine with them.  Any other suggestions (clean ones only please!) gratefully received.

Sparkie :  

[Fat Hen]

You really need a press to get juice out.  This is something i'd contemplated and just bought a couple of grape vines but it'll probably be a few years before i get a decent crop.

How old are your vines.  If young some parts of the bunches need to be removed so as not to overstress it.

Wonder if a juicer would work to extract juice!

[Contadino]

Put them in a bucket and tread them (clean feet are better for this), then run them through a press (you can fabricate one using a car jack.)  Put in a demijohn and cover the top with muslin.  Wait until November 15th and bottle.  Best left in bottles for 6 weeks then drink.  The wine will be white.

This method has produced far better wine for me than noncing about with yeasts, tablets and potions.  Not one batch of aceto to date....er...touch wood.

If you're wondering what to do with the pulp, dig it in and grow fennel on the patch.  They love it.

[Sparkie]

Thanks for your helpful replies.  You have certainly given me confidence to try my hand at winemaking - hopefully in time for Christmas or New Year.

To answer your questions - I think the vines are fairly old, but not sure as to exact age as I inherited them with the allotment.

I did think of a juicer - but think treading the grapes will be much more fun.

Sparkie

[Fat Hen]

Put them in a bucket and tread them (clean feet are better for this), ]

This sounds like a fun thing for the kids to do.

[Contadino]

Unless you've got fat kids, I'd recommend a shallow bucket as you need a bit of weight.  The wife does ours (you should see my feet) and she says it's a weird feeling because the stalks are in there too, tickling.

[fatfish]

I read a book (Victorian Kitchen, something like that?) that the Vics used to cut the buches off with a good length of stem attached, then place the stem in a bottle of water to keep the grapes fresh

If my memory serves me well the grapes would last for months (!)

Would welcome any feedback from the rest of the group if anyone has tried this as I'm thinking of growing a vine

[Fat Hen]

Unless you've got fat kids, I'd recommend a shallow bucket as you need a bit of weight.  The wife does ours

Does your wife read this?

[Contadino]

Er..not yet.  :oops:   I'd better remember to edit that one before she joins.  

[Sparkie]

Well I have gone and done it.  I followed Contadino's advice and yesterday saw me with feet in large plastic box treading grapes.  It took 2 hours there were so many.  I didn't have a press so put them through a very fine sieve instead - hope this was OK.  I now have two large demi johns full of a brownish sludge!  

What I don't understand is how it turns into wine?  Does God have a hand in this somewhere?  If I don't have to add sugar or yeast, won't I just end up with Grape Juice?  However, if the grape juice does turn into wine, how come when I buy grape juice from the Supermarket and leave it in the kitchen cupboard for a while, it is still grape juice when I take it out!!!!???


 :roll:  :roll:  :roll:

Sparkie

[Contadino]

Grapes have everything needed to produce wine.  The must on the skins is actually yeast, the fruit contains pectic, tannin, sugar and water.  Fermentation should start within a few hours, but it'll be hard to tell.  After about a day it'll be more evident.  Don't worry about the colour - it'll sort itself out as the mosto settles.

[Sparkie]

OK Contadino, I believe you.  After all you do live in Italy so you must be right!  If I'm not drinking my own wine by January/February I will be over there to drink yours!!!

Thanks again,  Sparkie

[Contadino]

Ha!  And if mine doesn't turn out good, we'll have to resort to the batch of Broad Bean Barolo that I bottled up this morning, or the Pinot Peapod that's been maturing since May.

[Sparkie]

   Hi again, remember me?

Well I now have about 6 bottles of the best white wine vinegar that anyone could buy!! - on the plus side it is lovely and clear!!

Help - how can I make it fit to drink???  I only need about one bottle of vinegar so would love to be able to drink the rest.

Sparkie

[Contadino]

Oh no, I'm gutted for you.  If it's turned to vinegar, it means flies got in at some point during fermentation.  Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do to fix it.  You did cover the tops of the demijohn with muslin, didn't you?

You didn't wash the grapes before you trod them, and used clean demijohns, right?

Mine's turned out great this year and I used the same method, and you're welcome to come and try it.

You can use vinegar for loads of things other than cooking.  Contadina cleans the windows with it, and uses it in the potions she knocks up to replace all those chemical-laden household cleaning products.