Waldo’s Muscadine/Grape Wine

[Waldo]

Thanks Martina. I am just hoping the wine will be worthy of the label. Worse case scenario is a Christmas gift in mason quart fruit jars to the wino's under the Broadway street bridge in NLR

 

[peterCooper]

So basically you're saying I have to travel all the way up to Broadway Street?

 

[Waldo]

 

[Waldo]

Racked and stabalizedmy Muscadine/Grape this evening to free up my 6 gallon carboy. SG was at .980 and I tried something different. I racked off 1 gallon first into a 1 gallon jug then I racked4 1/2 Gallon into a 5 gallon carboy. I mixed up 4 campden tablets and 2 tsp of Sorbate in my Magic Bullet

I added the Campden and Sorbate to the 5 gallon carboy and degassed it.

I then dissolved one more campden and 1/2 tsp of Sorbate, added it to the gallon jug and degassed it and added enough of that to the 5 gallon carboy to fill it. Why did I do that? Well, now all of the wine in my 5 gallon carboy has been degassed.I had no drawn off reserve that had not been degassed added back to my carboy. What was left in the gallon jug, I finished racking what was leftfrom my 6 gallon to it. Was not quite a full gallon so I topped it off with some of my muscadine and put an airlock on it.

 

[Hippie]

Good job Waldo!

 

[Waldo]

Racked my Muscadine/Grape wine this morning and I am well pleased with the development thus far.

The Muscadine is definately going to be the dominant flavor on this blend but the grape does add a subtle taste of vino that I think added a pleasing/different character to the wine. I think a little more acidity would help give itmore body but I am going to leave it as is. I think I will still be on schedule to bottle this around the first of the year if it cotinues clearing at its present rate.

 

[NorthernWinos]

So, how is this wine coming along now??
You mentioned in another post that you were going to buy more plants...? I Googled Mescalines and it looks like they are a wild grape...right??? [I wouldn't know as I live in the frozen tundra of Minnesota] I was just curious as to what they were....
Anyway, grapes are very easy to propagate and I would think in your climate that you could make more plants from cuttings and layering.
Layering....Does the vine has tendrils along the vine where the leaves grow????? then....Take a long vine and just bury that portion of the vine that has some tendrils in the soil a few inches deep, let the end of the vine breathe and in a few months there should be roots forming at the tendril area that is burried...... give it some time and then sever the plant end of the vine and let the buried roots grow a bit more on their own, then in 6 months or so ....you have a new plant, just like the mother plant.
Cuttings, you can take...probably in your part of the country...anytime of the year. Cut a piece of the vine, cut pieces of that wine that have a few leaf nodes, remove all leaves and place them in a good potting soil/perlite mix in a plastic pot, put a plastic bag over the pot and place in a saucer, water regularly and keep in bright light, but not direct sunlight....floresent lights are good....maybe in time the cuttings will take root...more plants next spring.
If you know a gardener, ask them to propagate you more plants....they should root pretty easily if they are related to grapes.Good luck!!Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[Waldo]

Thanks Wino...I will check in to that. As for the wine, it is doing great and will probably be bottling it in the next week or so if I can find the time. Gets really hectic this time of the year so it may just bulk age until after the first of the year.

 

[Waldo]

Racked my Muscadine/Grapeyesterday and thinkI may have left the oak cubes in a tad too long but don't think it will be a problem. It has continued clearing nicely and going to let it continue bulk aging in the carboy until sometime after the first of the year.

 

[Waldo]

Well, it didnt quite make it to the new year before bottling but it was ready so I bottled it yesterday. Still a bit tannic but with some age I believe it will be a good wine.

Edited by: Waldo

 

[Harry]

Good job Waldo Sure looks good

 

[Waldo]

Thanks Harry. Will let you know more about it sometime around the first of July

Edited by: Waldo

 

[Hal Maulden]

Waldo,


I too am a muscadine/scuppernong fan. I have made several batches all with a very severe bite, even after one year in the bottle. So, I started doing some research and found out why. They are very heavy in Malic acid. This year I am added MLF bacteria to soften the Malic by converting to Lactic. See my post under Chemicals and testing. I believe this will greatly improve my muscadine. Also, I did a scuppernong this year by pressing the juice and not fermenting on the skins. I will let you know how it turns out.


Hal

 

[Waldo]

Thanks Hal...Will be interesting to see how it does off the skins