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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 8/13/2013 8:14:20 PM   
khmark7

 

Posts: 11420
Joined: 7/6/2008
From: Chicago suburbs
Status: offline 		Grapes getting ripe.

Marechal Foch is 18 brix and the seeds are brown. Many other vines almost as ripe, and nearing the time when I will pick.

The Bluebell grapes are my mother's house are 14 brix and maybe a week away from being used in making jelly. (grapes for jelly are usually only around 16 brix)

Concord vine is starting veraison.

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Post #: 361
RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 8/13/2013 9:03:36 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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From: Upstate New York, California born.
Status: offline 		Not much happening on my vines, except things are slowly ripening. Unusually cool and overcast today. Have yet to net the bottom row of PG grapes. I did buy a 4 gallon allotment of Finger Lake Riesling for pickup after the harvest is done. Probably in October as things are really behind schedule here. If some of my PG make it into late harvest I may add them to the blend.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 8/17/2013 10:14:47 AM   
khmark7

 

Posts: 11420
Joined: 7/6/2008
From: Chicago suburbs
Status: offline 		Unsure if I will pick Sunday morning for the processing of wine. May wait until Tuesday morning to give my Lacrosse grapes a few more days to ripen further. My Frontenac Gris is at 21 brix, and the Marechal Foch and St. Pepin are either similar or just below.

Will pick grapes for making jelly Sunday morning. Hoping to make 3-4 batches between my Bluebell & Marechal Foch vines.

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Post #: 363
RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 8/17/2013 12:58:15 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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From: Upstate New York, California born.
Status: offline 		Uneven ripening on the Pinot Gris. 2 large clusters should be ready in about 2 weeks. Nicely darkening. The FG is darkening at a slow pace. Dry weather with no waterings this year. May have to soak them today. Would like the Chardonnay berries a touch bigger before harvest time. I still think that's a month off because of a solid 2 weeks of cool weather.

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Post #: 364
RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 8/20/2013 12:47:02 PM   
khmark7

 

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Joined: 7/6/2008
From: Chicago suburbs
Status: offline 		Decided to pick my grapes this morning. Brix levels were between 15-21 depending on the cluster, which is fine for making jelly, but I would have left everything on the vine another week or two if I had enough to make wine, which I didn't. Most plants ended up with only around 0.5-2 lbs of grapes, despite having quite a few clusters.

If anyone has any questions on making homemade jelly let me know. Next year I am hoping to utilize some different grapes, and with increased production I won't have to blend together 6 different grape varieties to make a batch.

Will be able to try my 2 batches sometime soon, after the jelly sets. My Concord vine is still not ripe, so when it does get ripe I will have to go looking for additional grapes in the Farmer's Markets so I have enough to make another batch.



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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 8/20/2013 8:03:55 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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From: Upstate New York, California born.
Status: offline 		Still need to look up how to test brix in the fields. I have done it in the past buy eating a few grapes. The Finger Lakes people usually like it at 24 Brix, as long as the acidity is there. I'll expect that because we have had a few weeks of cold nights. I am a little worried being that I'll be gone for 8 days starting Friday. The FG are darkening nicely. Some of the PG are darkening up, but most of the grapes really need a few more weeks.

I haven't watered any of the grapes, except for the new plantings at all this year, and I'm hoping the roots go deep into the limestone/clay. I am thinking of giving the vines a good soak tomorrow, as I can't count on any rain while I am gone. Anybody see any harm in that? My berries are still quite small, which on the chardonnay (Dijon clone) is to be expected.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 8/21/2013 7:59:48 PM   
peeks13

 

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Status: offline 		Going to borrow a friend's refractometer to check brix. It'll be a war of attrition between me and the birds if I need a lot more hang time.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 8/21/2013 9:11:12 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: peeks13

Going to borrow a friend's refractometer to check brix. It'll be a war of attrition between me and the birds if I need a lot more hang time.


I was wondering as 200ml of juice to check specific gravity would really deplete my grapes quickly.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 8/22/2013 10:14:28 AM   
khmark7

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: champagneinhand


quote:

ORIGINAL: peeks13

Going to borrow a friend's refractometer to check brix. It'll be a war of attrition between me and the birds if I need a lot more hang time.


I was wondering as 200ml of juice to check specific gravity would really deplete my grapes quickly.


http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1311.R1.TR12.TRC2.A0.Xrefract&_nkw=refractometer&_sacat=0&_from=R40

I just use a handheld type like these ones being sold on Ebay. I just squeeze a few drops of grape guts onto the lense and look through the eyehole.

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Post #: 369
RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 8/22/2013 4:47:46 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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Status: offline 		That's awesome! I don't know if it would get to me on time for this year. I am going for a dessert wine if I can get the leaf rot fixed quickly. That week of nights in the 40's really messed up the remaining canopy on the vinegar vines. The FG didn't even notice it at all. Wicked looking weather today. Was worried about hail and winds. Must leave my babies for 8 full days. Not good at this point in the season.

FL region is back at least until October for most harvesting. I did spray sulfur/immunox combination and netting is up. Darn near go some caught in the lawn mower. That would be seriously ugly!

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As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 9/6/2013 8:44:28 AM   
peeks13

 

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From: Wilmette, IL
Status: offline 		September 5, checked brix with refractometer: pinot noir = 19%, up from 15% 1 week ago; reisling = 17%, up from 15% 1 week ago.

If I can hold off the critters how high should I pick?

I need to buy a good yeast...dry or liquid, and where? There is a brew supply store nearby but last time only had dry champagne yeast.

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Post #: 371
RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 9/6/2013 10:27:52 AM   
champagneinhand

 

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Status: offline 		I bought a refractometer and checked yesterday. Frontenac Gris were at 19 and the Chardonnay was near 30. PG varied as ripening is so uneven. With very cold nights the acids are still good, so I'm letting the fruit have all the hang time it wants. The berries are so small this year. Like large blueberries at best. Wish I had hand watered some during the season.

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As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 9/6/2013 7:19:10 PM   
khmark7

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: peeks13

September 5, checked brix with refractometer: pinot noir = 19%, up from 15% 1 week ago; reisling = 17%, up from 15% 1 week ago.

If I can hold off the critters how high should I pick?

I need to buy a good yeast...dry or liquid, and where? There is a brew supply store nearby but last time only had dry champagne yeast.


Hot and mostly dry weather predicted for the next week, so I would look at maybe next weekend or later. Riesling at 20% is fine for me, and Pinot around 20-24 is more than enough. 12% alcohol is typically about 20 brix.

My bird netting was great, very little bird damage! Best part was how easy it rolled back up.

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Post #: 373
RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 9/6/2013 10:16:45 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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From: Upstate New York, California born.
Status: offline 		A new check of the weather looks hot and dry for us as well. I am going to have to water the wines to keep the heat stress on some of the high sugar berries. It may enlarge the berries, which at this point can't be bad. My BIL, had concord grapes that looked like raisins or black currants at best. I think he needs to rip a lot of the over-laping vines out if he wants real juice next year. Hope things work out well, but may have to harvest Chardonnay earlier than the others, even though I was planning on dessert wines, because warm night and hot day with high sugar probably mean acid levels will plunge on those berries if I go longer than the next 10 days, and C-Town is in a bit over a week. If I can get the Chards to be okay until I get back I would be very happy. If not I may have to press and freeze the juice, and wait for the rest to get all late-harvest-like.

Decisions, decisions....... Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?

_____________________________

As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 9/7/2013 10:50:09 AM   
peeks13

 

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From: Wilmette, IL
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quote:

ORIGINAL: champagneinhand

A new check of the weather looks hot and dry for us as well. I am going to have to water the wines to keep the heat stress on some of the high sugar berries. It may enlarge the berries, which at this point can't be bad. My BIL, had concord grapes that looked like raisins or black currants at best. I think he needs to rip a lot of the over-laping vines out if he wants real juice next year. Hope things work out well, but may have to harvest Chardonnay earlier than the others, even though I was planning on dessert wines, because warm night and hot day with high sugar probably mean acid levels will plunge on those berries if I go longer than the next 10 days, and C-Town is in a bit over a week. If I can get the Chards to be okay until I get back I would be very happy. If not I may have to press and freeze the juice, and wait for the rest to get all late-harvest-like.

Decisions, decisions....... Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?



Should I be afraid of freezing grape juice?

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Post #: 375
RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 9/7/2013 4:15:42 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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From: Upstate New York, California born.
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quote:

ORIGINAL: peeks13


quote:

ORIGINAL: champagneinhand

A new check of the weather looks hot and dry for us as well. I am going to have to water the wines to keep the heat stress on some of the high sugar berries. It may enlarge the berries, which at this point can't be bad. My BIL, had concord grapes that looked like raisins or black currants at best. I think he needs to rip a lot of the over-laping vines out if he wants real juice next year. Hope things work out well, but may have to harvest Chardonnay earlier than the others, even though I was planning on dessert wines, because warm night and hot day with high sugar probably mean acid levels will plunge on those berries if I go longer than the next 10 days, and C-Town is in a bit over a week. If I can get the Chards to be okay until I get back I would be very happy. If not I may have to press and freeze the juice, and wait for the rest to get all late-harvest-like.

Decisions, decisions....... Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?



Should I be afraid of freezing grape juice?


Actually, you shouldn't be afraid of freezing grape juice. The Far Niente people like to freeze their Dolce grapes and the Ice wine makers let nature do it for them. Many people buy frozen 5-10 gallon pails of decent juice, over the mass produced pressed juice from Bronco, et al.. When in sugared for its much, harder to have any tartaric acid fallout. It just need to be sealed with some neutral gas, and not kept to long.

That doesn't matter too much any longer. My wife was reading me the forecast while I was posting. Unfortunately she was on the Orlando page, as she forgot to change back to Western upstate NY. It rained today and a high of 64. It will be cooler than normal, with some rains. I'll blast the grapes with a last bit of fungicide and harvest after returning from SC.

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As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 9/8/2013 7:01:50 PM   
khmark7

 

Posts: 11420
Joined: 7/6/2008
From: Chicago suburbs
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quote:

ORIGINAL: peeks13


quote:

ORIGINAL: champagneinhand

A new check of the weather looks hot and dry for us as well. I am going to have to water the wines to keep the heat stress on some of the high sugar berries. It may enlarge the berries, which at this point can't be bad. My BIL, had concord grapes that looked like raisins or black currants at best. I think he needs to rip a lot of the over-laping vines out if he wants real juice next year. Hope things work out well, but may have to harvest Chardonnay earlier than the others, even though I was planning on dessert wines, because warm night and hot day with high sugar probably mean acid levels will plunge on those berries if I go longer than the next 10 days, and C-Town is in a bit over a week. If I can get the Chards to be okay until I get back I would be very happy. If not I may have to press and freeze the juice, and wait for the rest to get all late-harvest-like.

Decisions, decisions....... Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?



Should I be afraid of freezing grape juice?


I spoke to one grower who would pick a few grapes early and toss them into the freezer, then pick the remainder a week later and just combine everything for fermentation.



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Post #: 377
RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 9/8/2013 7:07:56 PM   
khmark7

 

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Status: offline 		Harvest is over, around 10-11 lbs of grapes processed overall (not much really). Today picked my last Concord grapes and used them to make grape jelly. Grapes and vines look clean, and so I am expecting everything to start preparing themselves for winter. Most vines are already preparing themselves with the canes maturing to a nice brown. Despite an early frost last year my last remaining vine to loose it's leaves was the Cabernet Sauvignon....go figure.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 9/25/2013 7:06:58 PM   
khmark7

 

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Status: offline 		How did everyone's harvest go??

Beautiful weather predicted for the Chicago area thru September. Last year we had an early frost, but the years before that our first frost date was very late October, so am hoping that is the case this year as well. Vines look good for now. The vines are now converting all their energy into turning the shoots brown and woody in preparation for the cold winter. My Cabernet Franc & Cabernet Sauvignon stems are all brown already which is good to see.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 9/25/2013 7:47:29 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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Status: offline 		6 large plastic tubs filled as high as I could stack them. Serious blight on the middle row of Chardonnay forced me to pick a little earlier than I would have liked.

I didn't mind as the juice I was blending with was seriously lacking in acids. I haven't heard from the Seneca Lake area about any large harvesting going on as hang time is important, but the cooler nights are keeping acid levels high, which is good. We will see how thing turn out. Probably a very good year.

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As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 9/26/2013 4:27:31 AM   
khmark7

 

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Status: offline 		Dave, for the PG & Chard about how many fruiting shoots were on each vine (on average)? 2 clusters per shoot? My Cabernet Sauvignon had very few lateral shoots, so it's production next year will be limited. When I take a few trees down in the spring that will also provide a few vines with added sunlight (although mostly in the evening)

The berries on my FG were small as well, but I think that is normal. Clusters were large.

I really need to look into a larger property west of here with good exposure for grapes. It is just so difficult to move without having more equity in my house (and living by myself)

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Post #: 381
RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 9/26/2013 6:30:45 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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From: Upstate New York, California born.
Status: offline 		My chardonnay had small clusters about 2-4 per shoot. I kept them that way as I was worried about them bursting before veraison. PG only had 2 max per shoot, but they appeared at different times. Last year the PG had shoots coming out as long as 6-7 feet. I trimmed them back after some hard frosts, but they seem to really want to put up multiple stalks up here. I fought them all year. I think I am going to let them grow that way after talking with a few winemakers, as it seem to be the norm, having multiple stalks on the vines.

Jam making toady. I forgot how hard it was to get the guts and juice separated from the seeds, but keeping the skins to get the purplish color. Too many people in the family couldn't eat the jam because it was puke green colored last year. That was okay as I loved it, and still have more left.

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As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 10/9/2013 6:59:32 PM   
khmark7

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: champagneinhand

My chardonnay had small clusters about 2-4 per shoot. I kept them that way as I was worried about them bursting before veraison. PG only had 2 max per shoot, but they appeared at different times. Last year the PG had shoots coming out as long as 6-7 feet. I trimmed them back after some hard frosts, but they seem to really want to put up multiple stalks up here. I fought them all year. I think I am going to let them grow that way after talking with a few winemakers, as it seem to be the norm, having multiple stalks on the vines.

Jam making toady. I forgot how hard it was to get the guts and juice separated from the seeds, but keeping the skins to get the purplish color. Too many people in the family couldn't eat the jam because it was puke green colored last year. That was okay as I loved it, and still have more left.


Re: Jam?? I just crushed my grapes, then added a little water and brought everything together to a simmer in a large pot for about 10 minutes, then drained the juice from the pot through a mesh strainer. That was all the filtering I needed and everything turned out fine. Made maybe 7 batches of grape jelly from my grapes or a friend's Concord grapes. It doesn't take many red grapes to color the cooked juice red.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 10/18/2013 5:25:24 PM   
khmark7

 

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Status: offline 		Still no frost yet here in town where I am at, but it is predicted in the next few days. Vines are still green, so I can't complain. Hoping the ambient city warmth will protect my yard from frost until November.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 10/19/2013 7:58:57 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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Status: offline 		While almost all leaves are missing from vinifera vines, the FG are still trying to grow, even though many of the leaves are turning yellow. This is one vigorous vine. Even the one that grew from seed, in my patch of dirt near the patio is almost impossible to pull out. I cut it and it just reappears. This is one crazy hybrid. Have you ever seen or have drunk any of the Noiret hybrid. I saw them pumping many gallons of this today. seriously dark purple stuff. I do think it has PN as its french component, but what a thick and dark looking juice. Maybe next year I will buy some dark grapes. Most grapes are around $1 or less per pound and the more you buy the less the cost per pound. I need a bigger press though. I don't know what number size it is, but it about a foot across and 18 inches tall. Its a twist press and its really hard to get the twisting part back into the press once you actually put grapes in it.

After plucking grape by grape for inspection and de-stemming, I am done with that too. I will rent the gear for $20, and use the proper industrial presses on the grapes. I don't know how I'll press these raisin like Vignerons if I decide to by a load of the next week end. I don't even know where to get the right yeast for a dried grape styled juice. It must take a very special yeast, similar to those used in Tokaj Essencia. I need to research this, but if you have any info, let me know.

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As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 10/20/2013 7:21:18 PM   
khmark7

 

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Status: offline 		My Frontenac are just taking over and I am concerned that next year I may prune them with a hedge trimmer. However, they are ahead of other vines in maturing their canes. Some vines still have a lot of green wood for this time of year, and I will be curious to see how they do when we have a few frosts. My plan next year is to keep a lot of fruit on the Frontenac to help keep the vegetative growth from getting out of hand. With regard to Noiret, yes, I do know someone growing that in Northern Illinois, but I have not tried any wine. The person growing it has been using it in a red blend.

Destemming was a pain. Will need to find more help if I process more than 50 lbs of grapes. Very tedious. My small barrel press worked well.

No idea on the yeast. Perhaps call one of the wineries?

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"a rogue Provence rouge of unknown provenance." author grafstrb

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 10/22/2013 5:06:03 AM   
khmark7

 

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Status: offline 		Hard frost with temps <26°F last night. Game over!

Will wrap a few vines in burlap and insulating foam for the winter (Cab Sauvignon & Cab Franc) and then wait until March to do my pruning. All in all a good year for my first year producing fruit from my vines. I am happy.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 10/22/2013 5:51:13 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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Status: offline 		Looking at frost in the Finger Lakes on Thursday or Friday. The lake has me insulated for a few days beyond that. All my vines are nice and brown now, so no worries. I will trim them up after consitent freezing temps, especially those unruly FG vines.

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As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

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RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 11/8/2013 5:15:48 AM   
khmark7

 

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Status: offline 		Temps expected down to as low as 18F next week, so I need to get outside and wrap up my Cab Sauvignon & Cab Franc vines. That is unusually cold for this time of year, so I am concerned that the vines will not be ready. In January yes, but not early November.

I already have my Chambourcin & Auxerrois potted vines pulled into my garage for the winter.

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Post #: 389
RE: Growing Your Own Grapes - 1/3/2014 12:03:23 PM   
khmark7

 

Posts: 11420
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From: Chicago suburbs
Status: offline 		Mid-winter check in...

Bad: Frigid temps in Chicago this winter. Was -10.5 F just last night.

Good: Was looking outside my back door today and noticed that two GIANT Norwegian Pine trees that had previously been in the yard behind me were now GONE. These trees were so tall that at times they blocked the sun from parts of my side yard. My grapes will welcome the additional morning sunlight The urban vineyard continues to evolve....

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(in reply to khmark7)
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