I bought between 35 to 40 pounds of muscadines

[olusteebus]

grown here in Alabama. They are really sweet and I look forward to making a wine this fall.

I plan on freezing the grapes about 6 weeks in order to get the juice out.

I am looking for a good recipe. I have seen one in the Recipe section.

I have a couple of questions:

Is freezing the grapes an ok method for juicing?

Should I save the skins and ferment on them?

Should I oak them/ I have French medium cubes.

About how many cubes should I use if I do?

I am a newbie at this. I have 10 gallons of kits, 10 gallons of fruit and 5 gallons of blackberry SKeeter Pee.

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

grown here in Alabama. They are really sweet and I look forward to making a wine this fall.

I plan on freezing the grapes about 6 weeks in order to get the juice out.

I am looking for a good recipe. I have seen one in the Recipe section.

I have a couple of questions:

Is freezing the grapes an ok method for juicing?
Yes, 6 weeks is a bit long unless you need the time, overnight will work.

Should I save the skins and ferment on them?
Yes, flavor and color come from the skins.

Should I oak them/ I have French medium cubes.
Oak is a personal thing, I like oak so I say yes.

About how many cubes should I use if I do?
Start of with about 10 to 20, you can always add more later but can't take it out.

I am a newbie at this. I have 10 gallons of kits, 10 gallons of fruit and 5 gallons of blackberry SKeeter Pee.

good luck! thats a nice start.

 

[olusteebus]

Thanks for the quick replay.

In using the skins, should I clean the seeds out of them. Lots a work but I can do it!

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

leave the seeds, just don't break them open, they will settle to the bottom of the fermenter and they will be removed when you rack.

 

[Poormanfarm]

I have a muscadine vinyard and I make my wine from pure juice. I have black, bronze and pink/red muscadines. I have a friend who works at the wine supply store who says that he made muscadine wine with a bronze variety and he added the skins and all. He said the color was very unappealing and that he would never include the skins again if it was the bronze variety. I have never had that problem since I only use juice. Your grapes are a lot earlier than mine. They have just started turning color. I am about 3-4 weeks away from dead ripe fruit. Good luck with your wine.

 

[saramc]

I have read that many people like to add dried or fresh elderberry to their muscadine wine...it is reported to add a nice balance. Unfortunately I do not recall what ratio of elderberry to grape.

 

[olusteebus]

As a teenager, I had a pretty large fruit and vegetable stand here in Alabama. All that time I never saw an elderberry. Got to find me a source.

 

[olusteebus]

I looked to buy some on amazon. At $16 a pound, I hope the ratio of muscadine to elderberries is very, very high!

 

[dessertmaker]

For a fruity dry white wine, ditch the skins and the seeds. The lighter muscadine makes a good white wine. If you have dark muscadines you can leave the skin you'll get a red wine with a LOT of body, which some people prefer, but ditch the seeds for sure, they leave a bitter flavor, almost like acid to the wine. The tannins in muscadine wine are off the chart, making it one of the healthiest wines in the world, and obviously leaving the skins on means more tannins.

Source: The only commercial wineries in my area of South Louisiana are muscadine wineries, and my wife and I do tours every year during winemaking season.

 

[olusteebus]

These are red grapes. After juicing, I will remove the pulp and seeds from the skins (lots of work but I can do it) and leave the skins in during fermentation..

 

[Arne]

I looked to buy some on amazon. At $16 a pound, I hope the ratio of muscadine to elderberries is very, very high!

Too bad you are not a bit closer. Still some elderberries hanging on the bushes. I have tried to give them away and the only takers are the birds. They are dead ripe now, not gonna be there much longer. Arne.

 

[jswordy]

Good for you on your purchase! I have been unsuccessful in finding any this year so far.

 

[olusteebus]

jswordy, if you get near birmingham, there is a guy who sells 10 pound baskets for 10 bucks. I also bought 25 pound baskets for 26 bucks from a wholesaler (sunny day produce or something like that) better hurry as season may be running out.

 

[dessertmaker]

I'd leave the pulp until after primary.

 

[toddrod]

I looked to buy some on amazon. At $16 a pound, I hope the ratio of muscadine to elderberries is very, very high!

You can always just get some elderberry concentrate from homewinery.com.

 

[olusteebus]

You can always just get some elderberry concentrate from homewinery.com.

How much should I use

And thanks

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

The concentrate has recipes for both 3 and 5 gallons. I tell people to do the 3 gallon for more flavor, but if you are looking for quanity go with the 5 gallon.
In your case, use enough to flavor your Muscadine and make the rest up to keep a carboy full.

 

[olusteebus]

I may do that. About how much would you use to flavor a muscadine wine

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

The taste is up to you. Add some and taste.. repeat