Store grapes

[Hunt]

I have been wondering if using regular grapes from a store will make a good wine or not. I work in a produce department at my local store so i have the inside on when they go on sale and can pick and chose from the freshest green and purple grapes we can get.

Anyone have some ideas on this. I also want to try out winegrapesdirect but i have to wait till i can afford it.

 

[cintipam]

Hi Hunt

can't wait to see the answers, as I had been considering throwing some fresh grapes into the Luva Bella buckets I just got. I don't know that I would want to do a whole batch from table grapes, but I thought some flavor variety and possibly some extra umph from the skins might boost things a bit.

Pam in cinti

 

[Julie]

If you are talking about table grapes that you eat, the flavor profile is light and I can't see how it would carry thru after fermentation but anything is worth a try, I would definitely add tartaric acid and tannins.

 

[Runningwolf]

Store bought grapes really are meant just to eat. I don't believe you'll get tannin's, sugar or flavor you'd be looking for. When I press grapes were picked within the last 8 hours. You would realy be better off buying fresh grapes with your pails if your supplier sells them. They'll be 2-4 days old but still better than table grapes from the grocery store.

 

[DoctorCAD]

If you have ever tasted a real "wine" grape, you would know the answer

Table grapes are bred to be sweet and light, not saying that they won't ferment, but the taste will be weak

 

[ibglowin]

Plenty of sugar, no tannin, not near enough acid.

 

[Rocky]

I realize that there is a difference between wine and table grapes but I would point out that L'Uva Bella, where I buy my buckets, sells a white Thompson Seedless bucket. I have never tried the juice but I do like the grapes. They are not overly sweet. And, of course, Concord grapes go both ways, although I am not a fan of Concord wine. A number of eastern grape varieties are eaten as table grapes and made into wine such as Concord, Delaware and Niagara.

 

[Turock]

We've made wine from Thompson grapes and it wasn't worth the effort. Hardly any flavor. I'm surprised that anyone sells a Thompson grape juice bucket!!

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I have been wondering if using regular grapes from a store will make a good wine or not. I work in a produce department at my local store so i have the inside on when they go on sale and can pick and chose from the freshest green and purple grapes we can get.

Anyone have some ideas on this. I also want to try out winegrapesdirect but i have to wait till i can afford it.

working at the local produce section - most stores reduce their fruit or throw it out because it is getting soft. For a wine maker - this is what we want !!
Either you could buy a large batch of fruit or freeze them until you had enough to make a batch with.

I have made the following
apple
pear
plum
hot pepper
pumpkin
blueberry
strawberry
pineapple

 

[Julie]

I think most people will buy the Thompson to use as a base or maybe as a top up.

 

[cintipam]

Thanks for all the experienced responses. I admit those Thompson buckets got me to wondering. They seem tart enough to add some pizazz as long as you added skins. But I'll just add some frozen gooseberries instead.

Guys, on the lid on these Luva Bella buckets the washer looks different. Are we supposed to push out that solid washer in order to later insert a standard washer that will hold an airlock? I understand I don't want to do secondary fermentation in the bucket, but for things like Dragons Blood it would be helpful.

Pam in cinti

 

[Runningwolf]

That washer is like a pressure relief valve. If the wine begins to expand from warming up or fermentation, it will relieve the pressure inside the pail. Washers for air locks are available if you ever wanted to replace it. I keep mine just the way it is and reuse the pail in the fall to pick up fresh juice from wineries.

 

[cintipam]

Dan

thank you! I never would have figured that one out. I think I will keep them as is since I already have a good supply of lids with washers for airlocks.

BTW all hubby finally decided he was impressed by the wine in process. In the past few days I did 5 buckets, in addition to the 40 or so gallons already aging. But with these buckets I feel I've upped the game considerably. So glad you all talked them up so much!

Pam in cinti

 

[JohnT]

We've made wine from Thompson grapes and it wasn't worth the effort. Hardly any flavor. I'm surprised that anyone sells a Thompson grape juice bucket!!

Once again Turock, you took the words right out of my mouth. Thompson is a high yielding grape that is really too low in acid and sugar to make any kind of decent wine.

I think most people will buy the Thompson to use as a base or maybe as a top up.

Julie, I would go further and say that it is like a "Filler" grape. since Thompson is so high yielding, they tend to be much cheaper than standard wine grapes. Some folks blend in partial Thompson to cut costs. Of course this does reduce the body and flavor of the all over wine.

 

[ibglowin]

Wonder if people buy them just to drink "as is" sorta like Welch's……. LOL