# frozen grapes



## reisjdmd (Jul 21, 2010)

i've been told that it is a bad idea to freeze grapes befoe crushing because it ruptures the seeds and makes the wine bitter. i've also been told that ice wine is picked after the grapes have beenfrozen. is any of this true? any thoughts??


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## JimCook (Jul 22, 2010)

Brehm Vineyards has a good chunk of their business selling frozen grapes to winemakers. The wine that I have made from their frozen grapes did not show any sign of harsh tannins commonly associated with seed breakage. There's a much higher water content outside the seed than there is in the seed. I don't recall seeing any of the thawed seeds and finding them to be broken as concrete would after water gets into a crack and freezes over the winter. The seeds looked just like the ones from the fresh (non-frozen) grape wines I have made. 
Are you planning on freezing fresh grapes for a particular pursuit? In most cases, cold soak and/or extended fermentation will help extract what you need from the grapes without having to freeze them, although I personally haven't seen a downside to this. 


- Jim


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## Nick (Aug 23, 2013)

I have grapes ripening before I can get to the wine making. I've never made wine before but have begun to gather equipment with hopes to do a black currant. I've frozen my currants as well. Can I freeze the grapes and keep them until I'm ready to make grape wine? They are concord.


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## jswordy (Aug 23, 2013)

I have frozen grapes. The seeds don't rupture, and the wines don't taste bitter. But I get a lot more juice out of frozen grapes, because freezing DOES rupture the cell walls of the fruit.

In fact, I recommend first freezing almost any fruit to be used in winemaking.

Ice wines are indeed commonly made from late grapes that have been frozen once on the vine before they are used. "Ice wine" is also a term sometimes used for wines that have been frozen to remove some of the water (as ice), thereby concentrating the alcohol and flavors. The first usage is the older one.


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## GreginND (Aug 23, 2013)

I will be freezing about 700 pounds of Marquette this year. I have no choice. I won't have my licenses in place until probably December, so I can't make the wine when the harvest comes in. I plan to crush and destem and freeze the must. Is that typically preferred to freezing the whole clusters? I would think it would be easier to crush and destem before freezing.


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## jswordy (Aug 23, 2013)

That'll work. My grapes are destemmed and frozen as whole berries. Freezing the must would be the same as buying frozen must.

That should yield 365-375 bottles of 100% juice wine, if my experiences prove true to your situation and I calculated right.


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## Beckyrnc (Sep 6, 2014)

Do you add sugar prior to freezing?? If so, what ratio?


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## garymc (Sep 7, 2014)

I always freeze mine if i can.


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## BigH (Aug 18, 2016)

Howdy all, just me resurrecting another 2 year old thread. Any thoughts on freezing whole clusters vs de-stemming before freezing? Do you add any sulfates during freezing?

fwiw, I would think that nature designed the seeds to survive being frozen without cracking so they can overwinter in the wild.

H^2


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## Spikedlemon (Aug 18, 2016)

jswordy said:


> Ice wines are indeed commonly made from late grapes that have been frozen once on the vine before they are used. "Ice wine" is also a term sometimes used for wines that have been frozen to remove some of the water (as ice), thereby concentrating the alcohol and flavors. The first usage is the older one.



In some parts of the world: it's illegal to sell as Icewine if it's been artificially frozen (Germany, Austria & Canada IIRC)


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## Johnd (Aug 18, 2016)

BigH said:


> Howdy all, just me resurrecting another 2 year old thread. Any thoughts on freezing whole clusters vs de-stemming before freezing? Do you add any sulfates during freezing?
> 
> fwiw, I would think that nature designed the seeds to survive being frozen without cracking so they can overwinter in the wild.
> 
> H^2



I would imagine that running the grapes through a destemmer after freezing would be a mess, I'd destem/crush and then freeze.

All of the grape wines I make come from frozen must, which I order "destemmed, crushed, and frozen with no sulfite". When they thaw, you adjust the must as needed and pitch yeast.


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## BigH (Aug 18, 2016)

Johnd said:


> I would imagine that running the grapes through a destemmer after freezing would be a mess, I'd destem/crush and then freeze.



Thanks for the response. I will be destemming by hand (this year anyway), 5-10 gallons at a time. 


H


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## GreginND (Aug 19, 2016)

I crushed and destemmed before I froze my grapes. The thawing was beneficial as it was like a cold maceration before fermentation. The wine turned out great.


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