# A Few Questions About Wild Frost Grape Wine



## BlackDragon (Jan 15, 2014)

When making a 5 or 6 gallon batch of wild frost grape wine is opentop primary fermentation or sealed primary fermenting better? Either way I will be racking to a airlocked carboy.

Also I see conflicting information about leaving the seeds and skins(I will be destemming). I want to make a full bodied red wine. So I'm thinking of leaving the skins on and punching down 2 or 3 times a day.

Thoughts and opinions and any extra advice welcome.


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## jensmith (Jan 16, 2014)

BlackDragon said:


> When making a 5 or 6 gallon batch of wild frost grape wine is opentop primary fermentation or sealed primary fermenting better? Either way I will be racking to a airlocked carboy.
> 
> Also I see conflicting information about leaving the seeds and skins(I will be destemming). I want to make a full bodied red wine. So I'm thinking of leaving the skins on and punching down 2 or 3 times a day.
> 
> Thoughts and opinions and any extra advice welcome.



Open toped primary. Covered with a towel. Stired several times a day. 

Crushed or otherwise break the skins, but ferment on the whole grape. As long as you do not crush the seeds they will be fine. I think fermenting on the whole fruit gives a better wine. More everything. Plain juice makes a flat wine that takes longer to age out the alcohole flavor in comparison. 

Do not add any acid blend unless you test first! I assume any wild grape has plenty! All my local ones do My yeast choice would be lavin 1122. I also can't resist adding a few pounds of a different fruit. Blueberrys would go well. Any of the stone fruits would be nice as well. If the acid levels are really high adding or swaping out a low acid fruit for some of the high acid fruit will help. The grape flavore will still shine threw!


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## Arne (Jan 16, 2014)

If it was me, I would make sure I put the fruit in a ferment bag of some kind. Much easier to remove most of the pulp when all you have to do is pull a bag out of the must. A paint straining bag from one of the paint stores makes a good fermenting bag. Arne.


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## jensmith (Jan 16, 2014)

Arne said:


> If it was me, I would make sure I put the fruit in a ferment bag of some kind. Much easier to remove most of the pulp when all you have to do is pull a bag out of the must. A paint straining bag from one of the paint stores makes a good fermenting bag. Arne.



Yes!!! Ditto


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## grapeman (Jan 17, 2014)

First of all, welcome BlackDragon.

Frost grapes are a native grape and as such will be quite small with a lot of acid. Normally we recommend that you use just the must from the grapes and don't add water, but with frost grapes or riparia the acid can be too high and the tannins a bit much with all the seeds and skins. To help out add a bit of water to the must to help reduce the acid, or later blend with a lower acid wine. You can use either a closed top or open top fermenting bucket. Ferment on the skins and seeds, but I would press or strain after just a couple days and let it continue fermenting in the bucket. That will limit some of the harsh tannins from the skins and seeds.Be sure to adjust the sugar level at the start to bring it to about 1.090 specific gravity at the start.


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