A friend of mine has a small vineyard of (mostly) muscadine vines, and last year he convinced me to try making a batch of wine with about 25 lbs of grapes he gathered. I followed Jack Keller's recipe, but since I don't have a press we resorted to alternative (and much less efficient) methods of pressing the grapes, after which the pulp was discarded.
Last year's wine turned out pretty good, and he wants to do it again this year. I still don't have a press (and can't justify buying one for this, and there's apparently nothing available around here for rental). I've been wondering about trying a second-run with the muscadine pulp, but I don't have a clue as to how to run the batch. Can someone provide a guide or direct me to some good reference?
Bart, I've got an old edition of the book "The Art of Making Wine"by Stanley Anderson. His recipe is below. I've used it a number of times with California red grapes and was always pleased with the results. He mentions at the end of the recipe that the wine tends to be a bit thinner. I compensated by leaving the second batch of must a little longer before drawing it off the skins. Good luck.
Jim
RECIPE 45. SECOND OR FALSE WINE
Don't be deceived by the name: there's nothing second-ratea bout this wine. It gives you an excellent wine for the price of the sugar and a little effort, and at least doubles the volume of wine you get from your grapes. Furthermore, it eliminates the work of pressing the pulp and is usually ready to drink in half the time of your first-run wine.
Glance back at Recipe 41, steps 12 and 13. You have drawn off the free-run wine and in the bottom of your primary fermentor lies a mass of skins and pulp mixed with partly- fermented new wine. This is the basis for your second wine.
Now proceed as follows:
Add to the primary fermentor the same volume of water as the new wine you have just drawn off. Also add, per imperial gallon (160 oz) of water:
2.5 Ibs. sugar
3 tsp. acid blend
1 tsp. yeast nutrient
1/4 tsp. grape tannin
(The pulp is richly laden with yeast, so you don't have to add any more yeast.)
Stir thoroughly and cover.
Stir twice a day for 5 to 7 days.
When the S.G. has dropped to 1.020 or 1.010 siphon off the new wine into secondary fermentors and continue in exactly the same way as with the first-run wine. You now have double the wine for an extra 25 cents a gallon! You can repeat the whole process and get a third run of wine off the same skins. This will have just the same alcoholic content as the first two but will naturally be very thin. Still, there are many people who enjoy a light-bodied wine.
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