Wild grapes

Question on wild grape wine.

This year making wine from wild grapes after picking I froze them. Mainly because they are picked into 2, 5 gallon plastic pails. Takes a few trips to get enough.

When they thawed I mashed them on the stems with a 2x4, pressed, added an equal amount of water on the pressed grapes and pressed again.

Ended up with about 13 gallon of juice which I fermented adding sugar and all the other stuff required. Cold stabilized after racking. :

Tasted it last night, about 3 months old now. Tasted pretty good to me al-tho I am not much of a drinker.

Is there an easier way to do this?

Also made, wild blackberry, blueberry, elderberry,elderberry/grape, and blueberry/grape.

Hi Boyd,

Yeah it would be easier just to press the grapes the one time (don't press too hard with Wild Grapes because they have quite bitter phenolics in the skin) then add your water, sugar, yeast, calcium carbonate, PMS, etc.

Sounds nice though. Glad it turned out well for you.

Cheers!

Squeezed gently so there was lots of extra juice in the grapes. Seems the water soaked it up. I wonder if freezing may have dried the stems.

I think you did well. Freezing is not a problem in my opinion if it isn't done for too long (heard of Eiswein from Germany?). Actually some people seem to think it helps improve flavor extraction.

Now you just have to be patient with the wine and let it mature for a few more months before drinking it all!

Seems there is a problem with aging.

Most of my wine is given away to people that ask for it. Seems they can't wait for a year. I they like that is fine with me.

I make it for fun. Have a granddaughter that likes to go with me to pick wild fruit/berries.

Makes it an even more enjoyable thing to do.

That and I am starting to enjoy a glass now and then although I haven't in the past drank much alcohol.

Now that I think about it I have a 2 year old bottle of blackberry in the root cellar. Going to pop the cork and try it.

I have just read your post even though it has been 6months ago. I am also enjoying picking the wild and converting it into wine or jam. I just wanted to comment that I remember picking berries and grapes with my dad as a little girl and it has been one of my fondest memories of him. That is part of why I am trying to do it now. I just wish he was still around to ask questions and enjoy it with him.

If you don't mind I may have some other questions. I am going to try elderberry too when they ripen.

Anytime.

I have been making wine from wild grapes and elderberris for to past 4 years.

Have 4 bottles of wild rape and about 20 of elderberry to pop for thanksgiving and x-mas dinner.

The wild fruit here in So. Mn. don't look promising, probably due to lack of moisture.

Where are you located?