Can you make wine from wild grapes?

Question

We have a lot of what looks like wild grape vines growing around our property (we just moved here). We're not too far from the Prince Edward County wine region, so I don't doubt that the soil here is good for grapes. Has anyone had any experience using wild grapes for wine or preserves? The grapes themselves are very small and they seem to grow in small clusters about 3-4 inches across. I have only seen them unripened as I think the birds tend to eat them.

Answer 1

Well, yes of course you can make wine from them.



But the resulting product may not be pleasant drinking.



There is a very good reason why virtually all commercial wines are made from the European Vitis Vinifera species.



You may need to add sugar as many native grapes don't have enough to get decent alcohol levels, but there are some native American grape varieties that are used to make wine, and one or two make good wines (e.g. Norton)



You grape vines may be a new variety, it may be a natural hybrid between a native variety and a vinifera variety, you may have discovered a wonder grape.



So why not give it a go? What have you got to lose?



You may need to net the grapes to keep the birds off -- youneed really ripe grapes.

Answer 2

Absolutely.

I make some of the most delicious /potent(kills everyone who drinks it-kidding) wines ever, from wild grapes. The process is the same as domestic grape. leaving the skins on will give you a dark purple wine so using a separator(mechanically separates the meat of grape from skins) before pressing, will give you a nice red wine.

**It is very important NOT to pick your grapes until after the first good frost. This activates the sugars in the grape. If you notice blue colored bird droppings around the plants it's time to harvest.

They have a large seed so you'll need lots of them

Then follow your favorite recipe and use a good yeast. ( I've used bread yeast w/ good success too -in a pinch)

Be sure to wrack/ filter them several times

You can barrel them and obtain that nice woodsy flavor/aroma. I use new U.S.A made white oak charred barrels from ILL.they can be used several times keep them clean and do not mix red wine barrels w/ white as they will pick up flavor/color. keep red in red white in white.

I also make dandelion, strawberry, peach, apple(I grow 8 varieties) blackberry, raspberry, from fruits I orchard on my 1 acre property I've even made pineapple wine from some that were going south(over ripe).

Enjoy!

Answer 3

Most certainly. Any product containing a substantial amount of sugar can be fermented to make an alcohol and grapes have an added benefit... theres a natural flora of yeast on the surface of the grape skin which can ferment grape juice (must) into wine. It can be a lot of fun to crush berries and watch them ferment, but I don't know if I would recommend drinking the product. Are they green berries or red berries?

I would also recommend that if you are going to ferment them, to add a yeast culture to the mix as you may not have very nice natural yeasts on the berries.

Answer 4

Yes, you can make wine from wild grapes. I have made wine from potatoes, watermelon, peaches, plums, asparagus.



Sugar will ferment any vegetable or fruit into wine. Will that wine be comparable to one you buy--no. Will that wine be something you can drink? Yes. Will you like the taste? Maybe not--but the potable you concoct will definitely be "one of a kind".

Answer 5

Be careful, make sure they are actually grapes. Canadian Moonseed is a vine with berry's that are commonly mistaken for wild grapes and are poisonous.

Answer 6

It probably can be done. If you are interested in making wine you may want to look for a local store that sells the equipment. My parents gave me their old equipment and I plan to use it to make wine from literally a ton of pears that my neighbor lets "dispose of" for him.

Answer 7

you can mate u need a crusher ,the trick is to keep crushing them over and over again after you have done this let it sit in a container or barell for 5-6 weeks and you will taste the difference hope i helped you out

Answer 8

no youcant make wine out of wild grapes , you need wine grapes , i have thse little grapes too and this man told me that you cant make wine out of wild ones.

Answer 9

I think, theoretically, you could, but I wouldn't recommend it.