Yeast

[Intheswamp]

I seriously doubt I will ever make a wine, only fruit wines. The differentiation between the two may seem to be of a snobbishness but due to the balanced nature that grapes present versus that of most other fruits (which usually require adjustments/additions/careful attention) I can see how a difference in names are useful. To me, it seems that fruit wines may actually require a more masterful hand at making a good (fruit) wine than does making a (grape) wine. I mean, it's stated that grapes are "well balanced" and "meant to make wine" whereas other fruit isn't as such...so the fruit wine maker must be craftier and more observant about what he/she is doing. Does this mean fruit wine makers are smarter than the regular ol' (grape) wine makers??? Interesting...

Btw, just poking a little fun at the grape fermenters.

Btw, anybody ever made a sweet potato wine? I may have to plant a small patch of Vardaman's next year...

 

[Brucey]

Hello everyone, this is my first ever question on this site so be gentle with me please lol.
Im new to wine making and so far Ive made blackberry wine and plum wine with some pear/ginger on the go. My question is this, the wine seems to have turned out well with a low s.g. of 0.990 and tastes good but it seems to lack any body, a little thin if you understand what I mean. Is there anyway I can rectify this when I start making a new wine?

 

[sour_grapes]

Where do you get grapes from if there are not any local?

6) Join in a group purchase of grapes shipped in from far away, like California, Washington, or Chile.

 

[mainshipfred]

Where do you get grapes from if there are not any local?

Don't know exactly what's near you but the is a place in Cleveland, a couple in Pittsburg and then you have the DC area which is the furthest. If you can't find anything closer Cleveland might be your best bet since it's a straight shop up I 77. In the Spring I drive 3 hours each way to NJ for Southern Hemisphere grapes.

 

[sour_grapes]

Hello everyone, this is my first ever question on this site so be gentle with me please lol.
Im new to wine making and so far Ive made blackberry wine and plum wine with some pear/ginger on the go. My question is this, the wine seems to have turned out well with a low s.g. of 0.990 and tastes good but it seems to lack any body, a little thin if you understand what I mean. Is there anyway I can rectify this when I start making a new wine?

I am not being NOT gentle here, but a tip: You may get more, and more relevant, replies if you start a new thread of your own to post your question.

Personally, I use powdered tannins (either fermentation or finishing tannins) to "plump up" my grape wines. Not sure how that would go in your fruit wines.

 

[Scooter68]

Plan ahead for next year. Most wine grapes have been processed by now or committed we are into the trailing edge of the season now*. You might find some juice buckets freshly recently but I would bet it's a bit late for fresh wine grapes now.

*https://winefolly.com/tutorial/start-planning-now-wine-harvest-season/
This may not be an exact table but should give you some idea.

 

[Scooter68]

In the Swamp - I would venture that while more balanced than all other fruits, grapes still have a significant variation. The art in crafting grape wines is reading the grapes and knowing which vineyards will have the best grapes, combining vineyard production into a 'blended' wine (same variety of grape but different sources) I figured this out looking at the sites of several commercial wineries Northern Cal. They sourced their grapes not only from THEIR vineyards, but from vineyard in the central California vineyards. So while different "Fruits" have a very wide variation in characteristics, grapes have their own subtle differences that a true Vintner learns to deal with. These days, with rapid and controlled conditions for transport, it's far easier to move grapes from different vineyards to match up and blend with the same variety elsewhere - ending up with a balanced and more consistent wine from year to year.

 

[crabjoe]

Personally I've chosen the 5th option as I was served an outstanding glass of apple wine in Germany and could never find/purchase one in the states. So I make my own along with a wide variety of other fruit WINES to include Blueberry, Blackberry, Black Raspberry, Peach, Apple, Plum, Black Currant and more. I don't delve into some of the more unusual varieties that some folks make but I would still consider them a type of wine, within reason.

Would you mind sharing your Apple wine recipe?

Thank you

 

[Johnd]

Those folks who live well away from vineyards:
1) Grow their own, assuming they have the wherewithal to do so.
2) Find a vineyard in their area who will sell them grapes,
3) Drive to a vineyard and haul lugs of grapes back
4) Buy Buckets of juice ready to ferment
5) Make wine from local fruit.

adding on a bit:
6) Buy frozen grape must and have it delivered
7) buy grapes from elsewhere and have them shipped in fresh

 

[gsf77]

Rusty, you may want to google West Virginia wine trail. I did that here in Alabama and was pretty surprised to find so many wineries this far from Italy (lol). Where there's wineries, there's usually empty bottles for sale and maybe juice or grapes.