pure juice, and small quantities?

Question

I've now bottled my second year's Shiraz production, and it raises two related questions:

First, all the sources of grape juice I've found have had the PH balanced, and sugar added, in advance. Well, the whole point of this exercise is that I want to try making my own wine: does anyone know of sources for pure wine varietal grape juice I can use as a starting point, and do my own additives from the get-go? I'd rather not start with Welch's if I can avoid it....

Second, it seems like everything on the grape side of hobby winemaking is based on a 6 gallon batch, from the size of the fermenter to the size of the carboy to (most importantly) the amount of juice in a kit. Well, for me that's likely to be close to a year's red wine consumption! Since I'd like to do a lot more experimentation with the recipe (that's how the two questions are related), I'd also like to make batches more like a gallon at a time, so I can be trying things every month or so (yes, I do realize this means I'll have at least half a dozen experiments aging at the same time). Over on the fruit wine side, from what I've read it seems like gallon batches are the norm. Is there a reason for bigger grape wine batches?

Tom Kunich · Accepted Answer

You can find glass one gallon jugs all over the place and adjust your recipes to make only that amount. Three gallon carboys are also available if you want a larger quantity but less than the 6 gallon size.

Steve Peek · Answer

The problem will be the pure varietal juice. It only comes in 6 gallon buckets (as far as I have been able to find) and many (especially the South American suppliers) have already added yeast.

Lee · Answer

I made ONE batch from a kit, and then switched to the juice from Brehm Vineyards. Their website is brehmvineyards.com.

Their frozen grapes and frozen grape juice is the best on the market. They're a bit pricey, but the results are well worth it. I've won 2 "Best-in-Shows" in the Wimemaker Magazine Competition for my whites, made from Brehm's juices.

Lee

Joe Pfeiffer · Answer

Fantastic!  This is exactly the sort of information I'm looking for.I take it those are 6 gallon pails?

Joe Pfeiffer · Answer

As I continue reading, I see yes they are.

shbailey · Answer

Joe,Why don't you check on locally grown fruit, or better yet plant a fewvines of your own grapes?Don't get hung up on the "big name" vinifera varieties.  There arehybrids that will produce high quality wine (maybe with a little moreeffort than a kit) that will grow most anywhere.  If you like Shiraz,and you live anywhere from the mid-Atlantic to the mid-South to thelower mid-West, Chambourcin is hard to beat for wine quality and easeof growth/production.Stephen

Joe Pfeiffer · Answer

Hmmm, there are some good local wineries -- it didn't occur to me thatthey might just sell grapes.My history with growing plants of any kind is pretty poor!

danwiecz · Answer

danwiecz had written this in response to

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: Depending on where yuo are some grape distributers will do this for you. They usualy sell by the ton for 53 gallon barrel batches but I found some that will crush and sell by the gallon. they usualy devide the price of there batch by 53 to get a per gallon price and then add on a sharing fee (~ $10 - $30). It usualy mentions this in their price list if not it couldnt hurt to call.

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pure juice, and small quantities?

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