Concentrate vs supermarket grape juice

In message , Ray Calvert writes

Well, TBH I wouldn't know a Concord grape if it bit me. But the juice tastes pretty similar to, though obviously less concentrated than, the red SolVino concentrate from the homebrew shop, which is what set me off on the train of thought.

cheers, robin

In article , Robin Somes writes

Yes, supermarket grape juice, either red or white, is unconcentrated but it is quite suitable for use in less specialised winemaking. I find it a very convenient way of solving the air gap problem after racking.

i often top up with juice too, i hate adding more water to my wine! as i said it is usually sunpride brand grape juice that i use as it seems to be the best quality altho supermarkets do make there own which is from unknown grapes the sunpride juice that i use i get from asda (owned by walmart) and it states the grapes it uses on the carton, i think both red and white have a blend of at least 3 grapes in them and next time i am in the supermarket i will note down the grapes as i have none of the juice on me. from memory i do believe that there was sum merlot juice in the red.

Not exactly correct. Grape juice may or may not increase body. After all, grape wines may be high or low in body. Grape juice is added it improve the balance (hopefully) and the vinuosity of the wine. What is vinuosity? Well it means the wine is more wine like. Real clear, huh!

As far as using supermarket juice, it depends on the juice. Some grapes may make a poor wine and you don't necessarily want that. Here in the states, concord grapes are used for most red or purple grape juice. Some people like the taste of concord wine, many don't. It is a very powerful taste and it can dominate the other fruit if you use too much. Niagara is common for most white grape juice and it blends very well with fruit.

My suggestion is to make a small batch of wine from nothing but the store-bought juice and see how it comes out. Then see how it blends with your fruit wines. Then decide if it will work. Visit Jack Keller's site for recipes using frozen store bought grape concentrate.

Incidentally, the most accepted fruit for improving body is banana. It does not seem to impart much flavor on it's own but really boosts the body. Use cheap overripe bananas that the store is discounting.

Ray