making wine

[CellarRat]

I'm not quite sure off the top of my head how much alcohol to add. If memory serves me right, we used 10 bottles of everclear in a thirty gallon batch. The first desert wine I made we just added the alcohol to taste. For such a small batch of wine, I would probably only add one 5 gram pack of yeast, if that. You want a slow fermentation so you can monitor the sugar levels. Definately take the grapes off of the rachis. It shouldn't take too long to pluck each berry off. You also want to take a small knife and split each berry. I've never crushed by hand like that, but I know people how have. As far as time goes, all total probably 2-3 weeks. Fermentation should probably only take a couple of days. I made a cab that took 3 weeks to ferment. My late harvest syrah too 3 days to get to 10% residual sugar. Your most important tool is your pallet. Keep tasting and make the wine that you like.

Oh, don't bottle immediately after you add your spirits. You want to give your wine at least a week to settle.