Sunday, June 12, 2011
Need to Learn How to Make Wine
The grapevines are doing really well. We put them in last year, and they have more than doubled in size. I'm hoping to harvest some of the leaves to pickle so that I can use them for stuffed grape leaves.
Here's a closeup of 3 of the plants. We are growing 4 different varieties. Pink Reliance seedless, Cayuga a green grape, Glenora a red seedless, and Concord.
All the plants were 1 year plants when we planted them, so technically, this will be year 3 for them. And to our surprise, 3 of the plants are growing grapes! The only plant that does not have grapes is the Concord. I'm a bit bummed by that since I was hoping to make Concord Jelly. Hopefully next year. I can't wait until the others are ready to eat. I'm so curious as to what they will taste like. Hopefully they won't be sour grapes! The hubs wants to learn to make wine, he says that's why he wanted to grow grapes. I like snacking on them. Do you grow grapes for wine? If so, what type of grapes do you grow? Do you have a good wine recipe?
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Oh, these are going to be fantastic when they get older! Our friends have grape vines in their yard and it is such a treat - culinary AND visual. You have pretty much covered all possible bases in your yard - so awesome! What other surprises are you going to throw at us next? You've got fruits, veggies, gorgeous flowers...if you pull out a lilac or a wisteria I'll fall flat over. :)
ReplyDeleteWe grow muscadines. Some people make wine out of them. You can make jelly too. We just like to eat them off the vine.
ReplyDeleteYay for grapes! Can't wait to hear about the wine that will come soon(ish)!!! In the meantime, enjoy the process! How wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI planted grapes and other fruit this year to make more wine. Of all my hobbies, winemaking is by far the easiest and if you grow your own fruit, it's pretty cheap, too. The hardest part is the waiting. My varieties include Thompson, Autumn Royal, Cayuga, and a red wine grape variety given to me as a cutting. The table grapes will make an ok wine, but wine grapes are generally not for eating raw and make a more complex wine.
ReplyDeleteThere are some great winemaking resources online, as I'm sure you've found out. I would also recommend "The Joy of Home Winemaking" by Terry Garey, "From Vines to Wines" by Jeff Cox, "Home Winemaking step-by-step" by Jon Iverson, and the "Home Winemaker's Companion" by Gene Spaziani. These books may be available at your local library. I occasionally post on my wine making adventures at my blog slowtobolt.blogspot.com .
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