Carniolan Queens are usually black and all of their offspring are darker making the whole colony look dark.
Step by Step
Home Winemaking
Home winemaking is simple, easy and fun! Here are a few steps to get you started. How to make dry or sweet fruity red wine. How to make dry or sweet white wine.
Step by Step Winemaking - Red
The main difference in making red wine and white wine is that red grapes are fermented on the skins and when making white wine the grapes are pressed first and only the juice is fermented. This article shows how to make 5 gallons of sweet or dry red wine....
To make 5+ gallons of dry red wine:
Click here for sweet red wines...
 |
 |
- Step 1 - Pick, crush and de-stem about 2 bushels (80lb) of grapes such as Foch, Baco, DeChaunac or Frontenac. We have a grape crusher-stemmer available at the vineyard.
- Step 2 - Put the crushed grapes, now called "must" in a large wide mouth container, such as a food grade 10-15 gallon plastic pail. The pail may be loosely covered with a top or just a cloth to keep the bugs out.
- Step 3 - Check and adjust the sugar level. This is done with a hydrometer and a sugar conversion chart. The sugar in the grapes will ferment into alcohol and the conversion chart will show you how much sugar (if any) to add. Fill your hydrometer with juice and read the "specific gravity" where top level of the juice is floating the hydrometer. For an example if the specific gravity was 1.074 (or 18 degrees balling) the must will ferment out to 9.9% alcohol. Read across on the chart and if you want a 11% wine you will add 2.5 oz/gallon sugar (or honey). This is a typical sugar level - our 80lb batch of wine will need (5 gallons x 2.5 oz/gallon) about 12-13 oz of sugar. Mix the sugar in reall good and re-check the gravity.
(If you do not have a hydrometer, just add about 1lb of sugar and you will be pretty close.)
- Step 4 - Add camben tablets (sulfite). Camben tablets will help keep your wine from browning and turning into vinegar. Crush 5 to 10 tablets and mix them into the must. Some people prefer not to use sulfites and this step is optional.
I have never made a batch of wine without protecting it with sulfites.
- Step 5 - Wait about 24 hours and add a packet of wine yeast. I like to use a cultured wine yeast such as Montrachet (a general purpose yeast) or Pastuer Red - but you can experiment. Just sprinkle the package over the must and stir it in just a little bit. The reason for waiting the 24hrs is to let the sulfites reduce some of the wild yeasts and let the cultured yeast take over. I you do not use sulfites you can add the yeast on day 1.
- Some winemakers do not like to add anything - sugar - sulfites- or yeast - The wine will still ferment ok, but you take a chance of low alcohol, browning, oxidation and vinegar creation.
 |
 |
 |
- Step 6 - Let the red wine ferment on the skins. Push the floating mass of grapes (called the "cap") down once a day to expose all the grapes to the liquid. If you have removed most of the stems you can let it ferment a week or two. If you did not remove the stems, only let it ferment 2 or 3 days. Long contact with the stems will add too much tannin and make the wine bitter. Keep the container loosely covered to keep out the fruit flies.
- Step 7 - After the fermentation is mostly completed (a few weeks) it is time to press the must and put it into carboys. The must can be put into a press or you can use a large cheescloth type bag to separate the juice from the pulp. Do not fill your carboys (I prefer glass) to the top - leave a few inches of head room. The wine may still be fermentin and overflow the container. After the fermentation stops you can fill the wine to the top. Put air locks on and let the new wine settle for a few months.
 |
 |
- Step 8 - 2 to 3 months later you can rack the wine. Take a siphon hose and siphon the clear wine from the original carboy to a new one, leaving the "lees" the dead yeast and debris on the bottom in the old carboy.
- Step 9 - About 3 months later the wine will be ready to bottle.
To make 5+ gallons of sweet fruity red wine:
We will use the same instructions we used for the dry red wine above with some slight variations for making fruity red wine from concord type grapes such as concord, price, buffalo or steuben.
Things to keep in mind:
- You can mix and match any of the fruitier grapes to make some very unique wines.
- Sometimes the fruitier grape are better picked slightly under-ripe - the labrusca flavor will not be as strong.
- For making concord wine many people like to dilute the juice about 20 to 50% with water. You will have to adjust the sugar level with your hydrometer and sugar additions. A quick start would be: 1.5 bushels of concord (60lb) + 1 gallon water + 5 lbs sugar.
- If you want a sweeter - high alcohol wine, the easiest way to do it is to start off with more sugar and keep adding it in small amounts throughout the fermentation. Eventually the alcohol will kill the yeast and leave some residual sugar. If you add too much at once the wine may be too sweet. At any time during the fermentation, taste the wine - if it is dry add sugar until it is sweet again. Repeat this until it does not ferment anymore.
- Another way to make a sweet wine is to ferment the wine dry, sometimes using a yeast such as Cote des Blancs that does not like high alcohol. After the wine is stable, I sweeten it to taste, add 1 to 1.25 grams/gallon Potassium Sorbate, 2 cambden tablets per gallon and rack it. If it does not re-ferment I bottle it after a few months.
- A third way to make a sweet wine is to sweeten the wine and then filter out the yeast cells with a wine filter and it will not re-ferment. A wine filter can be a usefull tool.
Step by Step Winemaking - White
When making white wine, only the fresh pressed juice is fermented. This article shows how to make 5 gallons of sweet or dry red wine....
To make 5+ gallons of dry white wine:
Click here for sweet white wines...
 |
 |
- Step 1 - Pick, crush and press about 2 bushels (80lb) of grapes such as Seyval, Cayuga or Niagara. We have a grape crusher-stemmer available at the vineyard but not a press. We do have mesh bags that the crushed grapes can be put in and squeezed - but a press is much better.
- Step 2 - Put the juice in 5 gallon containers. At this point a carboy is preferred by anything will work - just make sure the top it loosely covered to keep out fruit flies.
- Step 3 - Check and adjust the sugar level. This is done with a hydrometer and a sugar conversion chart. The sugar in the grapes will ferment into alcohol and the conversion chart will show you how much sugar (if any) to add. Fill your hydrometer with juice and read the "specific gravity" where top level of the juice is floating the hydrometer. For an example if the specific gravity was 1.074 (or 18 degrees balling) the must will ferment out to 9.9% alcohol. Read across on the chart and if you want a 11% wine you will add 2.5 oz/gallon sugar (or honey). This is a typical sugar level - our 80lb batch of wine will need (5 gallons x 2.5 oz/gallon) about 12-13 oz of sugar. Mix the sugar in reall good and re-check the gravity.
(If you do not have a hydrometer, just add about 1lb of sugar and you will be pretty close.)
- Step 4 - Add camben tablets (sulfite). Camben tablets will help keep your wine from browning and turning into vinegar. Crush 5 to 10 tablets and mix them into the must. Some people prefer not to use sulfites and this step is optional.
I have never made a batch of wine without protecting it with sulfites.
- Step 5 - Wait about 24 hours and add a packet of wine yeast. I like to use a cultured wine yeast such as Montreal whatever (a general purpose yeast) or Cote's de blanc - but you can experiment. Just sprinkle the package over the must and stir it in just a little bit. The reason for waiting the 24hrs is to let the sulfites reduce some of the wild yeasts and let the cultured yeast take over. I you do not use sulfites you can add the yeast on day 1.
- Some winemakers do not like to add anything - sugar - sulfites- or yeast - The wine will still ferment ok, but you take a chance of low alcohol, browning, oxidation and vinegar creation.
- Step 6 - The wine should start ferment in a day or two. Do not fill the 5 gallon carboy to the top or it will foam over after the fermentation starts. Lower the level about 1/4 but transfering some of the must into a smaller (such as 1 gallon jug) container. After a few weeks the fermetation will slow down and you can add the extra wine back in totop up the carboy.
- Step 7 - 2 to 3 months later you can rack the wine. Take a siphon hose and siphon the clear wine from the original carboy to a new one, leaving the "lees" the dead yeast and debris on the bottom in the old carboy.
To make 5 gallons of sweet white wine:
We will use the same instructions we used for the dry white wine above with some slight variations. I like to have a soft-slightly sweet finish in most of my white wines.
Things to keep in Mind...
- You can mix and match any of the grape varieties to make some very unique wines.
- Sometimes the fruitier grapes are better picked slightly underripe (such as Cayuga, Canadice, Niagara, etc.) - the flavor will not be as strong.
- If you want a sweeter - high alcohol wine, the easiest way to do it is to start off with more sugar and keep adding it in small amounts throughout the fermentation. Eventually the alcohol will kill the yeast and leave some residual sugar. If you add too much at once the wine may be too sweet. At any time during the fermentation, taste the wine - if it is dry add sugar until it is sweet again. Repeat this until it does not ferment anymore.
- Another way to make a sweet wine is to ferment the wine dry, sometimes using a yeast such as Cote des Blancs that does not like high alcohol. After the wine is stable, I sweeten it to taste, add 1 to 1.25 grams/gallon Potassium Sorbate, 2 cambden tablets per gallon and rack it. If it does not re-ferment I bottle it after a few months.
- A third way to make a sweet wine is to sweeten the wine and then filter out the yeast cells with a wine filter and it will not re-ferment. A wine filter can be a usefull tool.
Baco noir
From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Baco noir (pronounced BA-koh NWAHR; Baco noir is also called Baco 1) is a hybrid red wine grape variety produced from a cross of Vitis vinfera var. (Folle Blanche, a French wine grape) and an unknown variety of Vitis riparia (an indigenous North American grape species). Baco noir was first created by French wine hybridizer Maurice Baco (hence the name of the grape).
At one time Baco noir was commonly grown in France, but by European Union regulation, the commercial use of hybrid grape varieties is restricted. In 1951 the variety was brought to the cooler viticulture regions of the United States, such as New York, Michigan, Mississippi,
Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. In New York there are an estimated 240 
hectares of Baco noir currently grown. In 1955 the variety was brought to Canada, where the "George" clonal variety is commonly used. Within Canada, Baco Noir is far more commonly grown in Ontario than in British Columbia.
Baco Noir was the victim of a vine-pull program in Canada in the early 1980s, which means that there are few older plots of this varietal left in Canada. Despite this Baco Noir (single varietal or in blends) remains a commonly produced wine in many Canadian wineries; notable current examples of finely made Canadian Baco Noir include Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery's and Lakeview Cellars' "Baco Noir Reserve". Baco noir produces a medium body, deeply tinted, acidic red wine which is fruit forward and often carries aromas of black fruits and caramel. Ageing potential is 5-8 years on average for good examples of this wine.
White Wine Making 2006-2008
White Wine Making - Over a few Years - We made more wine this season that we usually do....
Our winemaking depends on how big our crop was and what we have left.
The above picture shows about 5 gallons of St. Pepin, 10 gallons of Seyval Blanc and about 10+ gallons of Cayuga. About a week later we made another 10 gallons of Niagara.
All of the grapes were pressed soon after harvest, the specific gravity was checked and the wine was sweetened with honey to ferment out to 10 to 11% alcohol. Cambden tablets (sulphite), about 1-2 per gallon, were crushed and added to the juice.
A yeast starter was prepared with a gallon of fresh juice, boiled (to kill any wild yeasts), cooled and a package of Cotes de Blanc yeast added. This started fermenting real soon and the day after pressing and sulphiting the juice it was added in roughly equal amounts to all of the 5 gallon carboys.
In a few weeks the fermentation will be finished and the containers will be combined and topped up to remove and air spaces on top which will cause oxidation and vinegar.
In about 3-4 months we will rack the wine, sweeten it slightly, and more sulphite and some potassium sorbate to retard fermentation.
3-4 months later, if it is still stable and not started to ferment again we will probably bottle it.
January 2007
White Winemaking - The story continues!
Last fall we crushed and press several batches of white wine - Seyval, Cayuga, Niagara & St. Pepin. We recently moved them from our barn (to keep them from freezing) to our basement where we bottle honey and make candles.
We were surprised when after a few days they all started fermenting again. I had thought that all the fermentations were complete because they were very clear and stable, but the warmer temperatures of our basement caused a little more activity.
My intention is to sweeten them and add sulphite and potassium sorbate - but I will have to wait a bit.
This is probably very good, as I do not want them to start fermenting again after bottling.
March - April 2007
White Winemaking - The story continues!
What does my Weight Watchers Mug and Niagara have in common.
Last January I wrote that I moved all of this white wine to my worktable in our honey/candle workroom. At this time we were supposed to rack, sweeten and bottle the wine.
As things typically go around our place, this has not been done yet.
However we have been doing lots of wine sampling.
In the process of racking the wine last fall, we consolidated the carboys somewhat so that they would be full and air not get in and cause oxidation. In the process we end up with a few 1 gallon carboys. These have been great for tasting and winter consumption.
Pat & I would decide that some Niagara (or lately Cayuga) would taste quit nice. I go downstairs with my trusty 32 oz mug and siphon off a quart of wine. Adding about a 1/4 cup of sugar to the mug and mixing it in and its ready to go.
TASTES VERY NICE!!
The bad part of doing this is it lets air into the carboys. When we have done this before sometimes the wine starts to oxidize before we get around to racking it and it becomes spoiled.
I guess the moral of this story is that winemaking can be very flexible and fun and all we want to do is make a delightful and interesting beverage - Home Winemaking is not for the Elite or Pompous.
By the way - 1 glass of white wine is 3 points on the Weight Watchers Program.
White Winemaking - The story continues!
More white winemaking notes - We just finished bottling the rest of our niagara. We gave a lot of it to our neighbor for plowing snow when our tractor had some problems.
The St. Peppin has been sweetened and is now ready to bottle, it is very nice. Now all we have left of our 2006 vintage is the Seyval and Cayuga.
White Winemaking - The story still continues - (it should end soon)!
More white winemaking notes - The St. Peppin has been bottled and partially consumed as we write this. When nice and cold it reminds us of a Piesporter German style wine.
I sweetened the 6.5 gallons of Cayuga with 4lbs of sugar and added some potassium sorbate and cambden tablets. The specific gravity was about 1.022 which was just a little sweeter than I liked. (The niagara was sweetened to 1.010)
We did a little taste testing by mixing part of the very sweet cayuga with part of the dry seyval blanc. The result was very nice.
We decided to rack the 6.5 gal of cayuga into a 5 gallon carboy with the remaining going into another 5 gal carboy. Then we will add some unsweetened seyval to it to fill up the second one (also adjusting sorbate & sulfur). Then the remaining carboy of seyval (we started with 10 gal) will also be sweetened slightly.
So we will end up with:
- 6.5 gallons of sweet cayuga
- 5 gallons of a cayuga/seyval blend
- 5 gallons of slightly sweetened seyval
This is what makes winemaking REALLY FUN!
For further information view our downloadable "Winemaking Booklet".
This is a booklet that we hand out at our farm to help winemakers get started.
Winery Locator
On this page we have links to various wineries that make and sell wine using some of the varieties sold at our farm. It is always nice to pick some grapes, make some wine and when it is aging, buy a commercially made sample of the wine. IF THEY CAN MAKE NICE TABLE WINE -- SO CAN YOU!! This page is only a small sample of the wineries using Eastern Grapes. If you know of any other winery that carries these styles of wine and should be included here, please let us know.
"Simply Red", "Simply White" or "Blue Heron" from St. Julien Winery in Michigan is a typical blend of many of the red or white wine grapes grown here.
Red or white blends can be easily purchased in Michigan from local wine shops and grocery stores or may be purchased on line from:
- St. Julien Winery (Simply Red, Simply White, Blue Heron, Concord, Niagara)
- Peterson & Sons - Natural Wines (niagara)
- Garvin Heights Vineyard (St. Pepin blends)
- Good Harbor (Harbor Red - Blend of red French Hybrids) (Vignoles and Seyval is in many of their white blends)
Michigan laws keep changing regarding shipping wine in from other states - consult theses outstate wineriesabout shipping or visit them to purchase this style of wine.
We do not sell wine or vines. Please go to our resource page for a listing of nurseries.
What do I bring when I come to the Farm? For Grapes? For Honey? For Candles? Take a Digital Tour of the Farm...
- What do I bring when I come to the Farm? Take our Digital Tour (Below)...
- For Grapes -We are a 100% U-Pick Farm. Bring your own bushels, pails and buckets. We do have 1/2 bushel bags available and grape harvest knives (
although many people bring their favorite pruners). We no longer sell grape juice, but we do have a crusher-destemmer available and pails with nylon strainer bags.
- For Honey - We offer Wholesale Pricing on Quarts, Gallons & Pails of Raw Honey! We also have Comb Honey and many smaller sizes.
- For Candles - We have lots of our candles available at the sales stand - tapers, votives, tea lites and some pillars, however many people visitour online catalog and email ahead and we will have them ready.
Tour the Farm with your Computer!{imageshow sl=2 sc=2 /}
(Click on the image arrows or the image icons to go forward)
(Refresh browser to return to beginning)
Latest Newsletters...
View Up to Date Ripening Info...
Step by Step Winemaking - Red
The main difference in making red wine and white wine is that red grapes are fermented on the skins and when making white wine the grapes are pressed first and only the juice is fermented. This article shows how to make 5 gallons of sweet or dry red wine....
To make 5+ gallons of dry red wine:
Click here for sweet red wines...
|
|
|
- Step 1 - Pick, crush and de-stem about 2 bushels (80lb) of grapes such as Foch, Baco, DeChaunac or Frontenac. We have a grape crusher-stemmer available at the vineyard.
- Step 2 - Put the crushed grapes, now called "must" in a large wide mouth container, such as a food grade 10-15 gallon plastic pail. The pail may be loosely covered with a top or just a cloth to keep the bugs out.
- Step 3 - Check and adjust the sugar level. This is done with a hydrometer and a sugar conversion chart. The sugar in the grapes will ferment into alcohol and the conversion chart will show you how much sugar (if any) to add. Fill your hydrometer with juice and read the "specific gravity" where top level of the juice is floating the hydrometer. For an example if the specific gravity was 1.074 (or 18 degrees balling) the must will ferment out to 9.9% alcohol. Read across on the chart and if you want a 11% wine you will add 2.5 oz/gallon sugar (or honey). This is a typical sugar level - our 80lb batch of wine will need (5 gallons x 2.5 oz/gallon) about 12-13 oz of sugar. Mix the sugar in reall good and re-check the gravity.
(If you do not have a hydrometer, just add about 1lb of sugar and you will be pretty close.)
- Step 4 - Add camben tablets (sulfite). Camben tablets will help keep your wine from browning and turning into vinegar. Crush 5 to 10 tablets and mix them into the must. Some people prefer not to use sulfites and this step is optional.
I have never made a batch of wine without protecting it with sulfites.
- Step 5 - Wait about 24 hours and add a packet of wine yeast. I like to use a cultured wine yeast such as Montrachet (a general purpose yeast) or Pastuer Red - but you can experiment. Just sprinkle the package over the must and stir it in just a little bit. The reason for waiting the 24hrs is to let the sulfites reduce some of the wild yeasts and let the cultured yeast take over. I you do not use sulfites you can add the yeast on day 1.
- Some winemakers do not like to add anything - sugar - sulfites- or yeast - The wine will still ferment ok, but you take a chance of low alcohol, browning, oxidation and vinegar creation.
|
|
|
|
- Step 6 - Let the red wine ferment on the skins. Push the floating mass of grapes (called the "cap") down once a day to expose all the grapes to the liquid. If you have removed most of the stems you can let it ferment a week or two. If you did not remove the stems, only let it ferment 2 or 3 days. Long contact with the stems will add too much tannin and make the wine bitter. Keep the container loosely covered to keep out the fruit flies.
- Step 7 - After the fermentation is mostly completed (a few weeks) it is time to press the must and put it into carboys. The must can be put into a press or you can use a large cheescloth type bag to separate the juice from the pulp. Do not fill your carboys (I prefer glass) to the top - leave a few inches of head room. The wine may still be fermentin and overflow the container. After the fermentation stops you can fill the wine to the top. Put air locks on and let the new wine settle for a few months.
|
|
|
- Step 8 - 2 to 3 months later you can rack the wine. Take a siphon hose and siphon the clear wine from the original carboy to a new one, leaving the "lees" the dead yeast and debris on the bottom in the old carboy.
- Step 9 - About 3 months later the wine will be ready to bottle.
To make 5+ gallons of sweet fruity red wine:
We will use the same instructions we used for the dry red wine above with some slight variations for making fruity red wine from concord type grapes such as concord, price, buffalo or steuben.
Things to keep in mind:
- You can mix and match any of the fruitier grapes to make some very unique wines.
- Sometimes the fruitier grape are better picked slightly under-ripe - the labrusca flavor will not be as strong.
- For making concord wine many people like to dilute the juice about 20 to 50% with water. You will have to adjust the sugar level with your hydrometer and sugar additions. A quick start would be: 1.5 bushels of concord (60lb) + 1 gallon water + 5 lbs sugar.
- If you want a sweeter - high alcohol wine, the easiest way to do it is to start off with more sugar and keep adding it in small amounts throughout the fermentation. Eventually the alcohol will kill the yeast and leave some residual sugar. If you add too much at once the wine may be too sweet. At any time during the fermentation, taste the wine - if it is dry add sugar until it is sweet again. Repeat this until it does not ferment anymore.
- Another way to make a sweet wine is to ferment the wine dry, sometimes using a yeast such as Cote des Blancs that does not like high alcohol. After the wine is stable, I sweeten it to taste, add 1 to 1.25 grams/gallon Potassium Sorbate, 2 cambden tablets per gallon and rack it. If it does not re-ferment I bottle it after a few months.
- A third way to make a sweet wine is to sweeten the wine and then filter out the yeast cells with a wine filter and it will not re-ferment. A wine filter can be a usefull tool.
Sugar Addition Chart
This is a handy chart used by winemakers to find the correct amount of sugar to add to their wines. Just measure the specific gravity of the must and add sugar to the level of alcohol you wish.
|
Conversion Chart For Use With Hydrometers
|
|||||||
|
Brix or Balling
|
Specific Gravity
|
Potential Alcohol
|
Sugar To Add In oz/gal To Get X% Alcohol
|
||||
|
9%
|
10%
|
11%
|
12%
|
13%
|
|||
| 6.0 | 1.0236 | 3.3% | 10.9 | 13.1 | 15.3 | 17.5 | 19.7 |
| 7.0 | 1.0277 |
3.9% |
10.2 | 12.4 | 14.6 | 16.8 | 19.0 |
| 8.0 | 1.0317 | 4.4% | 9.5 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 16.1 | 18.3 |
| 9.0 | 1.0359 | 5.0% | 8.8 | 11.0 | 13.2 | 15.4 | 17.6 |
| 10.0 | 1.0400 | 5.5% | 8.1 | 10.3 | 12.5 | 14.7 | 16.9 |
| 11.0 | 1.0441 | 6.1% | 7.4 | 9.6 | 11.8 | 14.0 | 16.2 |
| 12.0 | 1.0483 | 6.7% | 6.7 | 8.9 | 11.1 | 13.3 | 15.5 |
| 12.5 | 1.0504 | 6.9% | 6.0 | 8.1 | 10.4 | 12.6 | 14.8 |
| 13.0 | 1.0525 | 7.2% | 5.3 | 7.4 | 9.7 | 11.9 | 14.1 |
| 13.5 | 1.0546 | 7.4% | 4.6 | 6.9 | 9.0 | 11.2 | 13.4 |
| 14.0 | 1.0567 | 7.7% | 3.9 | 6.3 | 8.3 | 10.5 | 12.7 |
| 14.5 | 1.0589 | 8.0% | 3.2 | 5.4 | 7.6 | 9.8 | 12.0 |
| 15.0 | 1.0610 | 8.3% | 2.5 | 4.7 | 6.9 | 9.1 | 11.2 |
| 15.5 | 1.0631 | 8.5% | 1.7 | 3.9 | 6.1 | 8.3 | 10.4 |
| 16.0 | 1.0653 | 8.8% | 1.0 | 3.2 | 5.4 | 7.6 | 9.7 |
| 16.5 | 1.0674 | 9.1% | 2.5 | 4.6 | 6.8 | 9.0 | |
| 17.0 | 1.0697 | 9.4% | 1.7 | 3.9 | 6.1 | 8.3 | |
| 17.5 | 1.0719 | 9.6% | 1.0 | 3.2 | 5.4 | 7.6 | |
| 18.0 | 1.0740 | 9.9% | 2.5 | 4.7 | 6.9 | ||
| 18.5 | 1.0762 | 10.2% | 1.8 | 4.0 | 6.2 | ||
| 19.0 | 1.0784 | 10.5% | 1.1 | 3.3 | 5.4 | ||
| 19.5 | 1.0806 | 10.7% | .7 | 2.8 | 5.0 | ||
| 20.0 | 1.0828 | 10.9% | .2 | 2.4 | 4.6 | ||
| 20.5 | 1.0851 | 11.3% | 1.6 | 3.8 | |||
| 21.0 | 1.0873 | 11.6% | .8 | 3.0 | |||
| 21.5 | 1.0895 | 11.9% | .1 | 2.3 | |||
| 22.0 | 1.0918 | 12.1% | 1.6 | ||||
| 22.5 | 1.0941 | 12.4% | .9 | ||||
| 23.0 | 1.0964 | 12.7% | .3 | ||||
| 23.5 | 1.0986 | 13.0% | |||||
| 24.0 | 1.1009 | 13.3% | |||||
| 24.5 | 1.1032 | 13.5% | |||||
Sugar Addition Chart
This is a handy chart used by winemakers to find the correct amount of sugar to add to their wines. Just measure the specific gravity of the must and add sugar to the level of alcohol you wish.
|
Conversion Chart For Use With Hydrometers
|
|||||||
|
Brix or Balling
|
Specific Gravity
|
Potential Alcohol
|
Sugar To Add In oz/gal To Get X% Alcohol
|
||||
|
9%
|
10%
|
11%
|
12%
|
13%
|
|||
| 6.0 | 1.0236 | 3.3% | 10.9 | 13.1 | 15.3 | 17.5 | 19.7 |
| 7.0 | 1.0277 |
3.9% |
10.2 | 12.4 | 14.6 | 16.8 | 19.0 |
| 8.0 | 1.0317 | 4.4% | 9.5 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 16.1 | 18.3 |
| 9.0 | 1.0359 | 5.0% | 8.8 | 11.0 | 13.2 | 15.4 | 17.6 |
| 10.0 | 1.0400 | 5.5% | 8.1 | 10.3 | 12.5 | 14.7 | 16.9 |
| 11.0 | 1.0441 | 6.1% | 7.4 | 9.6 | 11.8 | 14.0 | 16.2 |
| 12.0 | 1.0483 | 6.7% | 6.7 | 8.9 | 11.1 | 13.3 | 15.5 |
| 12.5 | 1.0504 | 6.9% | 6.0 | 8.1 | 10.4 | 12.6 | 14.8 |
| 13.0 | 1.0525 | 7.2% | 5.3 | 7.4 | 9.7 | 11.9 | 14.1 |
| 13.5 | 1.0546 | 7.4% | 4.6 | 6.9 | 9.0 | 11.2 | 13.4 |
| 14.0 | 1.0567 | 7.7% | 3.9 | 6.3 | 8.3 | 10.5 | 12.7 |
| 14.5 | 1.0589 | 8.0% | 3.2 | 5.4 | 7.6 | 9.8 | 12.0 |
| 15.0 | 1.0610 | 8.3% | 2.5 | 4.7 | 6.9 | 9.1 | 11.2 |
| 15.5 | 1.0631 | 8.5% | 1.7 | 3.9 | 6.1 | 8.3 | 10.4 |
| 16.0 | 1.0653 | 8.8% | 1.0 | 3.2 | 5.4 | 7.6 | 9.7 |
| 16.5 | 1.0674 | 9.1% | 2.5 | 4.6 | 6.8 | 9.0 | |
| 17.0 | 1.0697 | 9.4% | 1.7 | 3.9 | 6.1 | 8.3 | |
| 17.5 | 1.0719 | 9.6% | 1.0 | 3.2 | 5.4 | 7.6 | |
| 18.0 | 1.0740 | 9.9% | 2.5 | 4.7 | 6.9 | ||
| 18.5 | 1.0762 | 10.2% | 1.8 | 4.0 | 6.2 | ||
| 19.0 | 1.0784 | 10.5% | 1.1 | 3.3 | 5.4 | ||
| 19.5 | 1.0806 | 10.7% | .7 | 2.8 | 5.0 | ||
| 20.0 | 1.0828 | 10.9% | .2 | 2.4 | 4.6 | ||
| 20.5 | 1.0851 | 11.3% | 1.6 | 3.8 | |||
| 21.0 | 1.0873 | 11.6% | .8 | 3.0 | |||
| 21.5 | 1.0895 | 11.9% | .1 | 2.3 | |||
| 22.0 | 1.0918 | 12.1% | 1.6 | ||||
| 22.5 | 1.0941 | 12.4% | .9 | ||||
| 23.0 | 1.0964 | 12.7% | .3 | ||||
| 23.5 | 1.0986 | 13.0% | |||||
| 24.0 | 1.1009 | 13.3% | |||||
| 24.5 | 1.1032 | 13.5% | |||||
Red Wine at the Farm
Many years we are so busy, and the grapes are sold so quickly we tend to take whatever is left for our own wine. Once a few years ago, I decided that I wanted some Baco-Foch red wine so I had some picked before our customers picked them first. This is the story of that wine....
 |
 |
We started with about 4 bushels of 50% Baco and 50% Marechal Foch black grapes. These are crushed, de-stemmed and 15 cambden tablets were crushed and added to the must. "Must" is the winemakers term for the mass of crushed grapes.
 |
 |
The grapes are put into a large fermentor. Almost anything will work except metal, although stainless steel is great. Many people use new plastic containers or barrels with the end off.
The sugar is now adjusted. The brix was 18 (specific gravity of 1.074) which would ferment out to about 9.5% alcohol and I wanted to correct it to make a 11% wine. Going to the sugar conversion chart it showed that I needed 3.9 oz per gallon of sugar to add. I estimated about 10 gallons of final wine = 10 x 3.9 = 39 oz or about 2.5 lbs. In this case I went over to our bulk honey tank, put 2.5 lbs of honey in a pail, added a gallon of the juice, mixed it together so the honey is dissolved and then added it to the must.
Then I checked the sugar level again with my hydrometer to make sure that it went up to the 1.090 or 20 brix that I was aiming for.
So, now we have the crushed and de-stemmed grapes with the sugar adjusted and sulphite (cambden tablets) added to kill wild yeast and to help keep the wine from turning into vinegar. At this point many people also check the acidity and sometimes adjust it. I did not do that at this point - it can be done later if necessary. The must is covered with cloth or a top to keep the fruit flies off.
I usually recomend waiting 24 hrs for the cambden tablet to weaken the wild yeast and then adding cultured wine yeast either directly or using a yeast starter.
As things happen around our place, I was so busy that I forgot the wine for a few days and did not add the yeast the next day. 2 days later when the light bulb went on I ran back and added 3 packages of Pasteur Red wine yeast (mixed in a cup of water to re-hydrate the yeast slightly) and mixed it in. The must may have started to ferment already - I wasn't sure.
Anyway, a few days later the must, either fermenting with wild yeast or my cultured wine yeast (or a little of both) was happily fermenting away. The cap, the mass of grapes on the top was pushed back into the juice every day. This keeps these grapes covered with juice and allows the color and flavors to be extracted properly.
 |
 |
 |
 |
After about a week of fermenting on the skins and pushing the cap down it is ready to press.
The grapes are removed with a pail and poured into our old press. We use fiberglass bags in it to help keep the pulp from going through the slats of the press.
The new wine is then poured into 5 gallon carboys with a lot of head space for the foaming wine.
After a few weeks the fermentation slows down or stops and the carboys are now filled to the top to keep air away from the wine. Extra wine is left in smaller containers also filled to the top.
This is as far as we have gone with this wine this year. In a few months we will rack the wine (siphon it off of the sediment on the bottom).
A Few Moons Later..... Sandy Paetz, our MSU wine student (just a kid in his 50's), and I were sampling some of the wine and decided that it needed some treatment.The wine was a little high in acid to taste. (I did not really measure it like I should of - but tested it by tasting.) We decided to treat the wine with Calcium Carbonate to reduce the acid and also add some ground oak chips for a little oak flavor.
This year (Fall 2011), we did the same treatment to some Frontenac we had - It also tends to run high on acidity. I think with the treatment and some malolactic fermentation in the summer it will be just fine.
|
|
 |
We used a wine thief and some fancy glasses (1/2 pint jelly jars that I use for honey) to same the wine. The carboy on the right was racked into both of the lower 5 gallon carboys. This ensures that everything is mixed ok.
 |
 |
 |
|
1 camben tablet (sulfur) per gallon (10 total) is is crushed in a little water and half is put into each new carboy.
25 grams of Calcium Carbonate is measured and added to the wine.
 |
 |
 |
|
25 grams of oak chips are measured and added to the wine.
The second carboy is racked into the two new ones and they are topped up with some smaller bottles of the wine that we previously set aside.
Both the Calcium Carbonate and the oak chips were added only to the carboy on the right. Later on we will taste the wine and most likely blend them together.
After another 6 mos to a year of aging the wine is now ready to bottle. The two 10 gallon carboys are racked the final time and blended together.
|
|
 |
 |
 |
Wine bottles are soaked and washed in a sink.
People ask us where we get our bottles - We always tell them to go to a wine store and buy them (full) and drink the free wine that comes with the bottle that you purchased. After a few years of drinking wine you will have plenty of bottles.
The bottles are washed with a simple bottle washer that can be purchased at any winemaking supply store.
We made these bottle draining racks many years ago. You can really use anything you want.
 |
 |
 |
 |
We recycle (save old corks) and re-use them. It is a good idea to soak them in boiling water to soften them before use. The wine is racked into individual bottles and then corked. -- Lately, we have been using a lot of screw cap bottles as they are easier to use and just as good.
The finished product. This wine ended up being a nice light red wine of about 11% alcohol.
Bully Hill Vineyards makes a very nice red wine called "Bulldog Baco" - Maybe thats what we will call this wine.
Most of the time we do not have to take the steps to reduce acidity like we did with this wine. The grapes in 2003 had a hard time ripening and the acidity in Baco Noir tends to run high by itself.
Even though we added oak 2 times I still did not notice the oak flavor in this wine. ??Maybe the oak chips were old?? This is what makes winemaking fun - you can experiment and then consume the final product.
For further information view our downloadable "Winemaking Booklet".
This is a booklet that we hand out at our farm to help winemakers get started.
Wine Making in the East
Frequently people ask if Michigan produces a wine similar to one of their favorite California or European wine varieties. Usually the answer is yes. Cayuga White and St. Peppin are very popular for soft semi-dry wines. These wines with their prominent fruit flavor and flower bouquet are quite reminiscent of the German style of wine making. Because Germany and Michigan have similar cool climate conditions, these grape varieties have a tendency to evolve to the desired sugar and alcohol levels that provide soft, fruity and extremely palatable wines for all wine consumers.
These same varieties are also fashioned into "Late Harvest" sweet wines by Michigan vintners who have learned to utilize the Botrytis mold, caused by the Lake Michigan micro-climates, to their advantage.
Michigan wines will also please consumers who like French-style wines. Seyval and Vignoles l are produced in both the oak version of burgundy and the stainless steel finish of softer European wines.
The versatility of Michigan's grapes, particularly the hybrid versions of Seyval and Vignoles, have allowed a wide assortment of wine styles to develop from dry to sweet, other familiar "old world" tasting wines also occur from one Michigan winery to another.
Currently, consumer appeal and production emphasize the highly successful Michigan white wines. However, red wine is becoming a factor to reckon with. Marechal Foch, Baco Noir, and DeChaunac has been the backbone for most of the state's red table wine production. These wines bear many of the same desirable complexities and rich color of the more well-known Cabernet Sauvignons of California and Bordeaux. As more acreage is planted, these wines will achieve more national recognition.
Many beginning winemakers ask where they should go to purchase wine barrels. I always tell them to avoid using them unless they are making large lots of wine (50 gallons or more). A 50 gallon barrel has the proper ratio of air exchange through the wood to the wine, anything smaller may add too much oak flavor and cause rapid oxidation of the wine and cause it to spoil. Remember, if nature has it's way, grape juice will turn to wine and then to vinegar. 5 gallon glass carboys are the perfect size containers. They are easier to use and unless you are an expert in barrel use, they are much more reliable. Smaller carboys also allow you to make many different batches of wine for consumer variety. We grow over 20 varieties of grapes, and they are frequently blended into many unique wines.
Another question frequently asked is about wine yeast, sulfur and sugar. Many of our customers have a heritage of never adding anything to their wines. What makes wine making interesting is the many different techniques used, although I believe some methods should be left in the last century.
California grown grapes tend to be high in sugar, and low in acid sometimes making a high alcohol and "flat" tasting wine. French hybrid grapes grown in the east tend to be lower in sugar, but higher in acidity, adding more fruit characteristics to the wine. Home winemakers can easily correct lower sugar "musts" by slight additions of sugar or honey.
Fermenting grape juice using its natural wild yeast will usually work, but you are always taking a chance. (Did you ever hear of a baker baking bread with wild yeast's?) I always recommend adding sulfur (cambden tablets) at crushing time and adding a cultured wine yeast the next day. The sulfur will lower the level of wild yeast in the must, allowing the cultured yeast to take over. We have wine yeast and cambden tablets available at our fruit stand. Good luck with this years crush!
Simplified Winemaking
White Wine
-
Take one gallon of our white grape juice (red for rose’ wine), loosen the top to let the bubbles escape and keep insects from entering and leave it at room temperature.
-
Let it ferment (it will probably foam over slightly) for about 1-2 weeks.
-
This will become a dry white wine of about 10% alcohol, let it settle and decant it into another container.
Red Wine
-
Red wine is made with the skins of the grapes fermenting in contact with the juice. This gives it it’s color.
-
Take 15 lbs. of grapes (for 1 gal. wine). Remove stems and crush grapes into a non-metal bucket.
-
It will start fermenting in a few days. Gently push the floating grapes down into the liquid every day and keep it covered with cheesecloth.
-
After 1-2 weeks, press grapes, transfer liquid into a glass container, loosely cover.
-
Let fermentation finish and wine settle, decant into another container to remove the sediment on the bottom. This will make a red wine of about 10% alcohol. These recipes make a very simple wine and although it may be consumed at any stage it will improve with 6 months or more aging. More detailed winemaking booklets are available at the vineyard. For a 12% dry wine add 3-4 oz. of sugar or honey per gallon. For a sweet wine add 8-10 oz. of sugar or honey per gallon.
Please make any Comment or Question you desire and join in our conversation about this page or anything - Grapes or Winemaking!
(View all the Talk Around the Winebarrel Comments here...)
(View all the Talk Around the Winebarrel Comments here...)
