Beginner information

Mike, Try this link.... Courtesy of Lum Eisenman John Dixon

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I'm not familiar with Millot grapes. If they are red grapes, here is a general-purpose "recipe" for making red wine.

36 pounds of grapes should yield about 2.5 - 3 gallons of wine. You will need a 5-gallon bucket with a lid, a clean 2x4 or 4x4 wooden post, a hydrometer and sugar. An acid test kit and acid blend would be helpful. You will also need 2-3 one gallon jugs and some smaller glass bottles. And some Saran (cling) wrap, and a few rubber (elastic) bands 1) Thoroughly wash the 5-gallon bucket, lid, and post. Wash them in bleach or ammonia, and then rinse thoroughly. 2) Rinse the grapes (or not, as you prefer --- there are arguments pro and con), remove the stems, and place the destemmed grapes in the clean 5-gallon bucket. 3) Take the wooden post and (using a butter-churn-like stroke) pound the grapes. The goal is to break most of the grapes open. This will be a little difficult as you progress, because the (unbroken) grapes will try to float. If you have another bucket, you can pour off the juice as it accumulates, which will make the task easier. If the grapes are seedless, you can run them through a food processor instead. 4) Once the grapes are crushed, measure the sugar-level with a hydrometer. Then estimate the LIQUID volume of the must by dividing the height of the liquid and crushed grapes in the bucket by the height of the bucket. Then subtract 15% from this figure to allow for the solids.

Using the estimated liquid volume of the must, and the measured sugar-level, determine the amount of sugar to be added by looking it up in a table such as this:

You want to shoot for an initial specific gravity of 1.095-1.100, which will give you a 12-14% alcohol level, depending on other factors.

5) After adjusting the sugar, it's a good idea to test the acid with an inexpensive ($5-10) acid test kit, and adjust the acid to about 0.65-0.80%.

If the acid is too low (and it usually is), add tartaric acid or acid blend at the rate of 1 tsp/gallon for each .15% increase. You can also use lemon juice (4 Tablespoons = 1 tsp of citric acid).

If the acid is too high, add water at the rate of 1:50 for each 1% reduction. The water should be mixed with sugar to a measured SG of

1.095-1.100 before being added.

6) It's a good idea, but not essential, to add 1 tsp/gallon of DAP (diammonium phosphate) or "yeast energizer".

7) After crushing, and before performing the additional steps listed above, you should prepare a yeast starter, so it will be ready at this stage. First, fill a glass jar with 1/4 cup 95ºF water, add a package of yeast, and swish the water around. Cover the jar with a tissue or cloth held in place with a rubber band. After 5 minutes, add 1/4 cup of the grape juice, a dash of DAP, swish it around, and cover it again. By the time you've finished sugar and acid adjustments, the starter should be bubbling and foaming. You should use a good wine yeast.

8) Pour the yeast starter atop the must, cover loosely, and relax. Within 3-12 hours it will begin fermenting, and within 12-18 hour it will start foaming. It might foam over, so make sure that there is something under your bucket to catch the foam, and check it periodically so you can clean up any spills immediately.

9) As soon as fermentation begins, the "cap" (grape skins and such) will rise. It is important to "punch down" the cap several times a day, so it doesn't dry out and attract bacterial growth. Since stirring the must will accomplish this, and aid in extraction of colour and flavour, stirring with a large spoon, stick, or piece of pvc pipe is a good way of accomplishing both task.

10) Within 3-5 days fermentation will slow down, the cap will become soft, and won't reform as quickly or float as high. Now it must be watched very carefully. When the cap "sinks", it is time to press!

11) If you don't have a wine press, take another (clean) 5-gallon bucket, insert one of the nylon straining bags which are sold at paint stores, and pour (or ladle) the fermented juice and solids (must) into the straining bag. Then pick up the bag (by the ends) slowly, allowing the juice to drain out. Twist the ends of the bag around a stick, and twist the stick to tighten the bag and squeeze out as much juice as possible. This squeezing should be done slowly and gently.

12) Now, estimate your final volume by measuring its height in the second 5-gallon bucket. Determine how many gallon jugs and smaller bottles you will need, and thoroughly clean them.

13) Add one crushed campden tablet (or 1 tsp. 10% potassium metabisulfite solution) to each gallon jug, and proportional amounts to smaller (or larger) containers). This is a good time to add oak chips as well, if you so desire.

12) Using a funnel, pour (or ladel) the juice from the 5-gallon bucket, into each of the gallon jugs and smaller bottles. Fill them to within about 2" of the top.

13) Affix a rubber stopper with an airlock to each container. If you don't have stoppers and airlocks, use a piece of saran wrap and TWO rubber bands. Check the rubber bands frequently, and replace them if they appear ready to break, or if they have broken (which is why we use two).

15) The wine will continue to ferment visibly for a week or more. It will also begin to clear, and you will see the sediment slowly settling.

16) After about 2-months, all fermentation will have ceased, and there will be an inch or more of sediment at the bottom of each container. It's time to rack!

17) Syphon the contents of each container into another container. Be careful not to disturb the sediment. If you do, wait sufficient time for it to settle again. It's best to use a racking cane specifically designed to avoid picking up sediment from the bottom. Don't try to get the last inch or so of juice, because you will pick up sediment with it. Instead, pour the contents through a coffee filter and funnel into another container. Top up your larger containers (to about 1" from the top) with the contents of the smaller containers. You will lose about 10-15% volume with this first racking. Discard the sediment, or throw it in your compost pile.

18) A second racking will probably be necessary in 2-3 months, and possibly a third in another 2-3 months. You should add the aforementioned sulfite amounts each time you rack (unless you have equipment to test the sulfite levels, in which case you add the amounts indicated).

19) Once the wine is clear, no more rackings are needed. You can bottle and drink it immediately, or let it age for 6 months or more. It will generally improve with age for at least two years, perhaps more. And, it will age better "in bulk" than in small bottles.

Good luck and good vintning.

18)

Sorry, I meant 36 gallons of grapes. I was told you get about 1/3 of the total for wine.

36 gallons of grapes could be anywhere from 130 pounds (for large table grapes) to 180 pounds (for small cabernet grapes). The yield could be anywhere from .06 to .08 gallons per pound depending upon the skin:juice ratio [Larger grapes have more juice per pound than smaller grapes] and evaporation.

So, your 36 pounds could yield anywhere from 7.8 - 14.4 gallons. But, assuming they are small ripe wine grapes, I would guess it will yield

10.5 - 11 gallons, which is very close to the 1/3 figure you were quoted.

You will need a 20 gallon primary to ferment on the skins, because they will add about 20% to the volume. Once the ferment gets going, the cap will float very high, and will almost reach the top. It's better to have too much headroom (in a primary) than too little.

The cheapest place to get a 20-gallon primary is at Home Depot. Look where they have the trash cans, and get a 20-gallon GREY, YELLOW, or WHITE Rubbermaid Brute container with lid for $16. Only the three colours mentioned are food-grade, so don't get any other colour (especially green) even if it's on sale. [And make sure it is Rubbermaid Brute and not the cheaper rubbermaid product they also sell.] Restaurant supplies and homebrew shops charge considerably more for the same primaries.

While you are there, you should also get one or two WHITE 5-gallon "paint" pails (~$2 each) with lids (~$1 each) (They are a bit cheaper at Walmart, but they never have the lids) in case my volume estimate is low, and you have some "overflow". They will come in handy for smaller batches, and other purposes as well.

The Brute lids forms a adequate cover for primary fermentation without using an airlock. But they do NOT form a tight enough seal for secondary fermentation. The 5-gallon lids can be laid loosely over the bucket, or you can hammer them in place, and drill a hole for an airlock. Use a 3/8" hole and grommet, so you don't need a separate bung. I recommend just laying them loosely over the top of the bucket. It's much easier, and you are going to have to remove them and replace them 2-3 times a day to push the cap down and monitor your ferment.

You will also need two five-gallon glass carboys, and some smaller ones, to hold the wine during secondary fermentation and aging. It's a good idea to have extra carboys for racking, but you can rack into one of your 5-gallon buckets, wash and rinse the carboy, and then rack back into it, if necessary.

I assume if you are purchasing grapes by the gallon, that they may have been destemmed and crushed already, in which case you can skip those steps.

They may also have been sulphited, so check before adding any more.

It's better to take your own sugar and acid readings, but if you don't have the equipment, you can probably rely on those taken by the vinyard and printed on the buckets the grapes come in.

The rest of the instructions in my earlier post remain applicable.

Good luck and good vintning.