# Washing grapes



## s0615353 (Oct 21, 2012)

When you make wine from grapes do you rinse them off with water first, or just take them off the stems and press?


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## ibglowin (Oct 21, 2012)

No washing normally.


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## Deezil (Oct 21, 2012)

Just pick em off


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## Runningwolf (Oct 21, 2012)

I've never seen a winery that washes them either.


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## s0615353 (Oct 21, 2012)

I didn’t think so, thanks for the reassurance.


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## dralarms (Oct 21, 2012)

I do wash mine ( my wife is crazy like that). However I got a 5 gal. bucket of muscadines given to me and there was a lot of "free run" juice in the bucket and I told her that I was NOT loosing that juice.


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## derunner (Oct 21, 2012)

What about grapes turning brown. do you only take the grapes that are ones you would want to eat, or do they all go in?


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## dralarms (Oct 21, 2012)

If they aint rotten they go in. You can tell the difference.


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## winemaker_3352 (Oct 21, 2012)

I usually rinse my off - but I am also not processing tons of grapes - i did 300#s of 3 varietals - just about as much as I want to do.

More than that - I am just crushing and adding k-meta in..


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## wineutopia (Oct 21, 2012)

No washing is necessary. Although slight it could lower the starting brix/S.G.


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## Bartman (Oct 22, 2012)

Since grapes grow suspended above the ground (no dirt compared to fruits that touch the ground), may be exposed to fruit flies and other bugs for a couple weeks, are fermented using 'germs' you would typically try to wash off, and end up with alcohol level high enough to kill most 'yucks', washing the grapes beforehand seems like it would have no beneficial effect and would only potentially serve to dilute the must with a little extra water.

If in doubt, I remind myself that the KISS principle with winemaking is almost always the way to go (Keep It Simple, Stupid! - don't do anymore than the basics to ensure best results, or overworking/overthinking the process is one of the best ways to screw it up). Good luck!

P.S. to dralarms - If my wife isn't helping carry the buckets full of grapes and juice up the stairs, she doesn't get to provide input into the preparation or fermenting of the grapes! If that sounds harsh, it's because my wife doesn't have much interest in the details until taste-testing time, so there isn't much debate before then!


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## JohnT (Oct 22, 2012)

Let me be subtle on washing grapes...


NEVER, EVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, EVER, NEVER!

Look, If the grapes are purchsed, and they look so bad that you need to wash them, then dont buy them. 

Washing will dilute that PH and sugar that the grape grower worked so har to produce!!! Most winegrape clusters have grapes rather tightly packed. This acts like capilaries, drawing the water inward and ensuring that you can never dry them easily. 

As stated before, take the time and pick through the grapes instead. If they are too far gone, then dont bother with them!.


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## robie (Oct 22, 2012)

JohnT said:


> Let me be subtle on washing grapes...
> 
> 
> NEVER, EVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, EVER, NEVER!
> ...



I agree, John.


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