Welch's Grape Juice
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FROZEN GRAPE CONCENTRATE In a previous posting of this recipe, I said, "I haven't made a frozen grape concentrate wine yet..." and then added that the recipe was given to me by a friend who uses it exclusively to make killer wine. I have since made this wine, but had to greatly reduce the amount of sugar the original recipe called for. A reader made the wine using the original recipe as published and achieved a starting specific gravity way too high, just as I did when I made it. I have since called the originator of the recipe and found he was making a very sweet, high-alcohol wine. This is not what was originally implied and so I have therefore modified the recipe to make a 12%-13% alcohol wine. There are numerous Welch's frozen juice products. This recipe calls for either the Welch's "Juice Maker's" 100% Frozen Grape Concentrate or the Welch's 100% Frozen Grape Concentrate from Concord Grapes. You could also use Welch's 100% Frozen White Grape Concentrate from Niagara Grapes. A word of warning is in order. Welch's is a very fine company and delivers, in my opinion, a very good product. But 100% grape concentrate means you concentrate the grapes you get. Thus, the natural sugar content of one batch of juice may differ from that of another batch just as grapes vary from year to year and vineyard to vineyard. Reconstitute the juice and measure the specific gravity of your juice with a hydrometer. Then use the table at http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/hydrom.asp to determine if the amount of sugar called for in this recipe is too much, too little, or just right for your juice. You should, in fact, do this with every recipe, as the natural sugar in all fresh fruit varies to some extent. Welch's Frozen Grape Juice Wine
Bring 1 quart water to boil and dissolve the sugar in the water. Remove from heat and add frozen concentrate. Add additional water to make one gallon and pour into secondary. Add remaining ingredients except yeast. Cover with napkin fastened with rubber band and set aside 12 hours. Add activated wine yeast and recover with napkin. When active fermentation slows down (about 5 days), fit airlock. When clear, rack, top up and refit airlock. After additional 30 days, stabilize, sweeten if desired and rack into bottles. [Author's adaptation of a friend's recipe] The name most associated with grape juice in America is Welch's. Welch's grape juice is either Concord (red) or Niagara (white). This juice is sulfited to prevent fermentation in the bottle and may be difficult to start fermenting, but it can be done. It is much easier to use Welch's 100% Grape Juice Frozen Concentrate, as it does not contain sulfites. However, the recipe below contains instructions for building up a fermentation that should overcome the sulfite problem. WELCH'S GRAPE JUICE WINE
In a quart jar, activate yeast in ¼ cup of grape juice and ¼ cup of warm water with ¼ teaspoon of sugar and 2 pinches of yeast nutrient dissolved in it. Cover and set aside to develop a vigorous fermentation. Pour grape juice in primary and float a hydrometer in it to determine sugar content. Add sufficient sugar to raise specific gravity to 1.095 (see hydrometer table at http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/hydrom.asp) and stir well to dissolve sugar and assist sulfites (sulfur dioxide) in dissipating. Add remaining ingredients except yeast. Cover primary and set aside 12 hours. Every 2 hours add ¼ cup of grape juice to the jar of yeast starter. After 12 hours, add activated wine yeast and recover primary. When active fermentation slows down (about 5-7 days), transfer to secondary and fit airlock. When clear, rack, top up and refit airlock. After additional 30 days, stabilize, sweeten if desired and set aside 10-14 days to ensure refermentation does not ensue. Carefully rack into bottles and age at least 3 months. [Author's own recipe] WELCH'S WHITE GRAPE AND RASPBERRY FROZEN CONCENTRATE I made this wine last year and like it a lot as a social wine, although it goes well with a light lunch or fruit salad. It is easy to make and indeed could be made stronger, using more of the concentrate. However, it serves my purposes well as is. If you use more concentrate, use your hydrometer to determine the sugar requirement. WELCH'S WHITE GRAPE AND RASPBERRY WINE
Bring 1 quart water to boil and dissolve the sugar in the water. Remove from heat and add frozen concentrate. Add additional water to make one gallon and pour into secondary. Add remaining ingredients except yeast. Cover with napkin fastened with rubber band and set aside 12 hours. Add activated wine yeast and recover with napkin. When active fermentation slows down (about 5 days), fit airlock. When clear, rack, top up and refit airlock. Wait 30 days and rack, top up and refit airlock. After additional 30 days, stabilize, sweeten if desired and rack into bottles. [Author's own recipe] WELCH'S WHITE GRAPE AND PEACH FROZEN CONCENTRATE I made this wine twice last year -- first as an experiment and then because I like it. Like the Welch's White Grape and Raspberry Wine, it is more of a social than dinner wine, although it goes well with a light lunch or fruit salad. It is easy to make and indeed could be made stronger, using more of the concentrate. However, it serves my purposes well as is. If you use more concentrate, use your hydrometer to determine the sugar requirement. I sweetened the finished wine to 1.006. WELCH'S WHITE GRAPE AND PEACH WINE
Bring 1 quart water to boil and dissolve the sugar in the water. Remove from heat and add frozen concentrate. Add additional water to make one gallon total and pour into primary. Add remaining ingredients except yeast. Cover primary and set aside 12 hours. Add activated wine yeast and recover. When active fermentation slows down (about 5-7 days), transfer to secondary and fit airlock. When clear, rack, top up and refit airlock. Wait 30 days and rack, top up and refit airlock. After additional 30 days, stabilize, sweeten if desired and rack into bottles.
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