WineXpert Adding fresh grapes to a kit wine

[Wineisgud]

I went to a local vineyard and picked late ripened bunches of St. Croix and Marechal Foch after the harvest was done. I filled a one gallon storage bag approx. 2-3 lbs maybe. I brought them home, destemmed, crushed and added (patiently) through the hole of a 6.5 gal carboy of cab sauv kit wine. I thought hey maybe this could add some complexity without altering the flavor much, it’s worth a try. I added a 1/2 tsp of pectin and two campden tabs, swirled and replaced the airlock. This was done today and its currently day 11 on the wine. I plan to rack off to secondary on day 14. I will let you know how this pans out. Experiences or recommendations on this subject welcomed. Cheers

 

[Wineisgud]

Here’s a photo of the grapes I took earlier, with a caption I’m not even sure holds true at this point

 

[Khristyjeff]

Looking forward to your impressions.

 

[winemaker81]

It's an interesting idea. Too bad you didn't move a gallon of the Cabernet Sauvignon to a different container so you could compare later.

 

[Wineisgud]

Good news I just transferred to another 6.5 gal carbon to get off the crushed grapes on day 17 (6 days on crushed grape addition) I had to add a nylon paint bag to the siphon but it was a successful transfer with minimal loss. I went from 1.120 to 1.000 so far. Honestly surprised I read I might be pushing the limits of my yeast but dang! Big wine! Lots of fruit and definitely rough around the edges this early but its truly shaping up to be a great wine. My thoughts for next time I try this are to use a bucket for primary and nylon bag the grapes.