Reuse White Skins?

[Jbu60]

Anybody ever reuse pressed white skins? Second wine? Adding to another batch? Pouring juice on top? Anything? Or, straight to compost?

 

[winemaker81]

There is no reason you can't use the skins. Instead of a second run, try what I did last year and recently bottled -- add the skins to a kit. We did red, but doing a white is no different. This fall we're planning on adding the pomace to juice buckets instead of kits.

We used post-fermentation pomace, but pressed white skins still have a lot of goodness in them. You may get more like an orange wine, but that's ok.

 

[Cynewulf]

My white (Itasca) and red (Marquette) hybrids are ready to harvest around the same time each year and I add the pressed white skins to the red must. I currently get about twice as many pounds of red grapes as white and I’m very happy with the results. I don’t have control batches to compare it to, but I believe it contributes some tannin and helps stabilize the color, in addition to allowing me to extract the remaining juice from the white grapes. I’ve seen other red hybrid wines brown a little after a relatively short period of time following fermentation and I have not experienced that, even though I don’t add SO2. There are other things I do like a significant percentage of whole cluster fermentation that likely also contribute, but cofermentation with white grapes is known to stabilize red color.

 

[Jbu60]

Very interesting, thanks!

 

[Hazelemere]

flood them with 24 hour settled sediment from 1st run with a bit of sulphite plus pectic enzyme for 48 hours and repress. Don't add any water. You can chaptalize the pressed juice if the SG is too low. I do this all of the time unless the skins have any powdery mildew.

 

[wood1954]

My white (Itasca) and red (Marquette) hybrids are ready to harvest around the same time each year and I add the pressed white skins to the red must. I currently get about twice as many pounds of red grapes as white and I’m very happy with the results. I don’t have control batches to compare it to, but I believe it contributes some tannin and helps stabilize the color, in addition to allowing me to extract the remaining juice from the white grapes. I’ve seen other red hybrid wines brown a little after a relatively short period of time following fermentation and I have not experienced that, even though I don’t add SO2. There are other things I do like a significant percentage of whole cluster fermentation that likely also contribute, but cofermentation with white grapes is known to stabilize red color.

I think I’m going to try that, maybe the Marquette will pick up some flavor from the itasca.

 

[Sailor323]

Anybody ever reuse pressed white skins? Second wine? Adding to another batch? Pouring juice on top? Anything? Or, straight to compost?

I have used pressed skins from Vidal and Seyval, added water and sugar. Unfortunately my notes do not tell how long I macerated them but they do note that the result was very tannic. I would think that adding white skins to pressed red skins and adding water and sugar might result in a palatable wine.

 

[Jbu60]

I have used pressed skins from Vidal and Seyval, added water and sugar. Unfortunately my notes do not tell how long I macerated them but they do note that the result was very tannic. I would think that adding white skins to pressed red skins and adding water and sugar might result in a palatable wine.

That is interesting - adding white skins to red skins…. I’d see myself throwing a pail of juice on top.