Have any of you tried using black grocery store grapes either while or skins only? How do you think they would affect a Costco Argentina Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon? Its a 2x7L kit that makes 60 bottles. Would it get closer to a more premium kit with grape skins? Would there be any significant change in flavor?
What about adding tannins?
Following advice from Joeswine and a bit of experimenting, I've been adding black grocery store grapes (about 1 lb. per 5 gal batch) with most but not all of the juice pressed out to those "60-bottle" Costco kits for the past 18 months with very satisfactory results.
I shorten the water to make 50 bottles instead of 60 and leave black grape skins on the reds throughout the fermentation cycle and as long as 14 days, punching the skins down daily. I bought a Speidel fermenter with a wide mouth for this specific purpose. Also, don't forget to soak the grapes first in a K-Meta solution to get rid of the nasties.
I found that the long, finger-like black grapes are best to my taste and, if you can get them, the ones with seeds. I include a fair bit of the stems because from what I've read seeds and stems add tannin. I tried adding tannin directly but did not like the results as much.
The larger Asian markets tend to get table grapes with seeds on occasion. I used to use dried grape skins from winemaking stores or on Amazon for similar results but the price has gone from $12 a packet to $25 — ridiculous considering left over grape skins known as pomace is a costly waste problem for commercial winemakers.
BTW — I'm buying a bucket of wine grape must to make a batch of wine and freezing the skins I can salvage to add to my kit wines. I'll report back on the results.
I then bulk age the reds with a cup of American oak per 19 litre carboy, topping up and adding 1/4 tsp K-Meta every three months.
The results are excellent — not top wine kit excellent but a fantastic every day drinking wine that matches any Merlot, Cab, or Pino Noir I can buy at the LCBO (Ontario liquor store) for $15 Cnd or less. I even have a challenge with friends and neighbours to bring a $15 or less bottle to match against my Costco concoctions and all of them, wine snobs included, have given my bottles thumbs up.
I've also been adding white grocery grape skins to my Costco whites (again shorten water) to create what the industry calls skin touch or amber whites. I found five days on the skins work best with the Costco Chateau Argentia Chardonnay and again bulk aged on oak. The Master Cellar Sauvignon Blanc is okay – an improvement over following the instructions precisely – but just okay. As for the Argentia Gewurtztraminer — absolutely not. Just follow the instructions except shorten the water as noted above.
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sautéed down and in it goes good for adding structure as well as body.
