pounds of grapes per gallon of wine?

[bryano]

This will be my first time making wine from grapes and I would like to know what the standard is for how many pounds of grapes to a gallon of wine. I found a local vineyard that I believe sells minimum of 100# of chardonnay. I will be doing 5 gallon batches.

 

[winemaker_3352]

16 - 18 #'s per gallon of wine.

 

[Tom]

Thats about right for 5 gal (100#)

 

[grapeman]

That's right. It will yield about 6 gallons and by the time it is racked, etc, you will have 5 gallons or so.

 

[Wade E]

108 lbs of Chard 2 weeks ago is at 5.5 gallons right now, maybe a little more but lots of sediment and figure just a tad over 5 gallons when racked next week or the week after. Reds will give you more though as you ferment onn them and extract a little more from them.

 

[JamMan824]

It depends on the Grapes

Rule of thumb is from 1 lug of grapes (36 lbs) you can get from 2.5 gallons to 3 gallons depending on the grapes of the particular year. Shipping has a factor as well and how long they have sat in a cooler waiting to be picked up. The longer the grape sits the smaller they will get and or mold on you. There is also a variance on what type of press you use as well if you are using a ratchet press you won’t be able to apply as much pressure as a hydraulic press. I personally have a hydraulic press which will yield a little more juice. The old vine red zinfandel grapes this year where exceptionally well and we obtained about 3 gallons per lug after racking we should end up with about 2.7 to 2.8 gallons per lug

 

[Bizzidy]

I’m in agreement with 5gal per 100#.

 

[Sailor323]

Depends partly on the efficiency of your press. I get about 1 gallon per 14-15 lbs for white wines.

 

[Obbnw]

Depends partly on the efficiency of your press. I get about 1 gallon per 14-15 lbs for white wines.

I use 3 lbs picked wght per bottle or 15lbs per gallon for my own planning. Actual yields have varied from 2.5lbs per bottle to 4lbs per bottle. Most of the variation is from powdery mildew damage grapes being tossed (worst PM year was also highest lbs per botttle), and the 2.5lbs per bottle may have been from a post destemming wght combined with a hard press.

So, my experience just about brackets every answer above, so everyone is right ; )