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Concord grapes Hi Diane, We made some okay wine from our own Niagara (white concord) grapes a few years back. One of the first things you'll want to note is that 80 pounds isn't much to work with. With home pressing methods -- even a nice, hand-cranked press -- you may only get 50-60% extraction (more if you really work for the extra %'s) leaving you with around 40 pints (5 gallons) to ferment. In our batch, we'd harvested some 200 pounds, though the quality of the grapes was immediately in question. While fine for jams-juices, homegrown Concord may not have the level of acidity or brix required. I believe wild vinifera, such as Concord and Niagara, tend to have lower brix, on the order of 17-18, far removed from the desired 23-24 of commercially grown Pinot Noir, for example. Also, acidity was a bit lower too -- much to do with quality of soil, water, fertilizers, etc. These two variables can result in a much softer, lower-alcohol wine, which may not age well. Some home vintners choose to add sugar and acids -- definitely something I would advise *against* -- as artificially boosting levels means you're throwing off the balance of innate nutrients and acids in the must, and thus you would have to adjust those accordingly. You'll be able to immediately tell from the aromas given off by the yeast, if it is a healthy ferment or not. A nice, bready aroma means you're right on. A rotten egg aroma means, sorry, better dump in some nutrients and better luck next time. No, it is much better if you can begin with high quality grapes, and simply ferment what you have without addition of sugars or acids. I believe Jack Keller has several recipes you can look up. I remember consulting them a few years back when first vinting our own grapes... For starting vintners, you could also look to Robert Cluett's small handbook, which gives a lot of easy-to-follow pointers for those just starting off, and which is available in any homebrew-winemaking shop. A final thought... if you have never made red wine before, I might advise you to consider starting off with a recipe for white, since you won't have to deal with maceration (leaving the skins in contact with the must) or sanitation issues from having to break the "cap" that forms on the fermenting red wine. In any case, this group tends more for discussing commercially produced wines, not so much for making it. But then again, a few list crossovers never hurt anyone. Thanks again for posting, and I hope this information helps you out. - David
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