Nuveau Wine!!

Once upon a time the French had a little secret, but now the secret is out and ready for you to enjoy. Nuveau means "new" and is usually able to be served on the Thanksgiving table from the same year it was harvested.

Michigan winemakers have been making a nuveau style of wine for several years and there is a good reason for this. Some of the grapes that are available here are excellent candidates for a nuveau wine, including Foch and Baco. It is also a surprisingly easy wine to make. For a complete and thorough explanation of the process, see Phillip Wagner's Book, Grapes into Wine.

Wine is usually made by the fermentation of grapes in the presence of air. For nuveau, the wine is partially fermented in the absence of air. The main effect is a great reduction in the acid content of the wine, making it soft and allowing it to be consumed within weeks after making it.

To make a 3 gallon batch of nuveau, here are some simple directions:

In a five gallon plastic pail, put in about one gallon of actively fermenting must or juice from Baco, Foch or DeChaunac grapes. Fill the rest of the bucket with whole, uncrushed clusters of grapes. Place the lid on the bucket, tape the edge of the lid to make it completely air tight and place the bucket in a fairly warm environment, preferably between 70 and 80 degrees. After 10 to 14 days, open the bucket and press the remaining juice from the whole clusters. Don't be concerned with how the clusters look, what is left of them will certainly not look pretty!

At this point, the wine should have about 10 to 5% sugar left in it, and you must allow the pressed wine to continue to ferment until it is completely dry. When it is completely done fermenting, top off your containers and let the new wine sit for a week or two, allowing it to go through malo-lactic fermentation. This final fermentation will show itself by a very slow but steady release of gas, CO2.

After all evidence that there is no more fermenting going on, rack with sulfites into a separate container, and place in a cool environment, like a refrigerator or cool part of the basement for a two week period.

At the end of the two weeks, take out, let it warm up to room temperature and bottle!

Remember to use sound, ripe, fruit and have fun!!

Written by contributing writer, Jim Lemire

"Jim is a friend of mine who has been active in winemaking and grape growing for more than 20 years. In the past he has operated Bailey Vineyard in Birmingham, Mi (Now the area is a subdivision named Bailey Vineyards) and has sold grapes in many markets in the area & he is an expert in winemaking from the French hybrid grapes that we grow at our farm." (editor, Bill Schnute)

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