Table grape wine?

[BernardSmith]

Are all aspects of grape wine making covered in this section? I gotta question about making wine from table grapes. Just by way of experiment and the experience one obtains from hands on learning. I have some old wine making books that deal with country wines but they include a few "recipes" for making wine from dessert grapes (I assume that given the other recipes and the audience for whom the books were written. My question: I know that table grapes are not going to have the flavors, the sugars, the tannins, and the acidity of wine grapes but has anyone used such grapes to make a wine (I am thinking perhaps a gallon). Is it likely to be undrinkable or just fifth or sixth rate compared to eg, kit wines? I generally do not make kit wines but prefer to focus on meads and country wines (from figs and dates to apple to zucchini and even tea wines...)
And if I want to make table grape wine - what volume of grapes am I likely to need - about 15 lbs for a gallon? (perhaps concentrating the juice by freezing and then collecting the first 1/3 - 1/2 volume and thus concentrating the sugars and flavors) - Thoughts? Thanks

 

[salcoco]

15 lbs per gallon is correct. the method you propose to get juice is good. the tab;e grapes will probably be short on tannin so a powdered tannin addition of about 1/2 tsp per gallon would be warranted . Acid and sugar adjustments will also need to be made.

 

[BernardSmith]

Thanks salcoco, But will this make something pleasurably drinkable or just something wet that can be drunk? If you get the distinction.

 

[salcoco]

if you add the tannin, sugar to a sg=1.092 and acid so ph=3.1-3.4 you should have a good wine. Use a 71B yeast.

 

[BernardSmith]

Those were indeed the metrics I was aiming for and 71B is one of my "go to" yeasts. So again, your help is very much appreciated.

 

[winemaker81]

I've tasted a few wines made from seedless table grapes. Decent wine can be made from them, much as any other fruit. One caveat is that the wine probably won't have the vibrant flavors of wine made from wine grapes, as the table grapes don't typically have much in terms of distinctive character.

I have made wine from scuppernong that grew in my parents' yard and from muscadine purchased from a farmers market. Neither was grown as wine grapes (the scuppernong was wild, the muscadine was table grapes). Both produced an ok wine that was recognizably wine, but there was not enough character to even guess at the variety.

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

I've made wine from all sorts of grapes, most of which I have no idea what kind they were as they were picked off of friends' home vines. I use them in Dragon Blood wines as my fruit and they always come out awesome. Some I mix with berries or fruit juice but I've made them from only grapes as well. As per the recipe, I do add tannins. Granted these are more light, sweet wines but with around a hundred pounds picked last year (and only using 12 pounds in a DB batch), I make a lot of wine with them!

 

[robert81650]

You need to look at the muscadine grapes you bought at farmers market. There are several wine making Muscadines that makes excellent wines!! You must have bought the eating kinds.

 

[pete1325]

Grapes are grapes. I've made wine from wine juice that came out iffy. The key is; what are you trying to accomplish? You can ferment any fruit and some guys even ferment tomatoes for wine, Yuk!! I wouldn't think twice about making wine from a quality table grape. There are several things you can add that will improve the taste as you go, tannin, oak, etc. I say; if you have'em, ferment'em.

 

[winemaker81]

You need to look at the muscadine grapes you bought at farmers market. There are several wine making Muscadines that makes excellent wines!! You must have bought the eating kinds.

I'm sure the muscadine I purchased were eating grapes. It was an impulse buy -- I hadn't made wine in a few years, saw the grapes at the farmers market, and bought 'em!

Wineries east and south of Raleigh NC grow native grapes (muscadine, scuppernong, etc) and some hybrids from Florida. Anything else they produce was grown elsewhere.

Everything I've tasted has been good quality, far better than what I made. But yeah, the commercial wines grow for wine, not eating. That makes a tremendous difference.

BTW, both the University of Florida and Florida A&M University perform grape research, specifically for grapes that will grow in FL and the south east USA.

 

[Johnd]

Grapes are grapes. I've made wine from wine juice that came out iffy. The key is; what are you trying to accomplish? You can ferment any fruit and some guys even ferment tomatoes for wine, Yuk!! I wouldn't think twice about making wine from a quality table grape. There are several things you can add that will improve the taste as you go, tannin, oak, etc. I say; if you have'em, ferment'em.

I’m not opposed to anyone fermenting and making wine from anything that pleases them, it’s a personal preference and choice.
I do want to take issue with your first sentence, “Grapes are grapes.” While I’m sure folks can make drinkable wine from table grapes, great wine requires great wine grapes, and all grapes are definitely not created equal.

 

[Dédé Philippe]

I've never made wine only from table grapes. But I have used them as part of muscadine wine. I live in Louisiana, we have wild muscadines growing literally all over the place. I personally love a tart muscadine wine, but many of my friends (from the city) find it too potent. So I sometimes make a batch of half muscadines and half table grapes. The table grapes sort of mellow out the muscadines, producing a milder wine that my picky friends seem to enjoy.