Wine grapes in UK 55

An update.

Got 90 kg of Sangiovese today. They were in excellent condition and think they were only picked last Friday in Puglia in Southern Italy.

I have just finished destemming the lot by hand -- 4 1-2 hours of messy work. I have bagged 6 boxes worth and they are now in my 16 cu ft chest deep freeze. The other 4 boxes worth are in 2 buckets tightly sealed (and mildly sulphited) till I have recovered enough to press then tomorrow.

I am still vaguely tempted to ferment on the wild yeasts. The grapes looked so good with a heavy "bloom" on them. But I suspect that I shall use a packet yeast to have a good kick start.

The wastage on destemming was very small -- I wouldn't say that there was as much as 2 lbs of waste grapes. Most of the destemming was fairly hbuttle free just a trimming of the top of the bunch and then a stripping action from top to bottom removed most of the grape with a small crushing action as well. But it was boring and tedious -- though hardly hard work.

I am also informed that there might be some Montepulciano grapes coming to Manchester wholesale market soon! I shall be there!

This is the first time after many years of searching that I have found wine grapes available in UK. I know that you in the USA have lots of opportunities but there seems to be a different mindset here in England ( and I refer to England and not UK).

The real problem is the "Home brew" shops are tied irrevocably to the beer and wine kit manufactures. Even my good friend Allan ( a Home brew supplier in Doncaster) will not look towards the real grape market. It is a slow progress here but there are many ( perhaps isolated) winemakers who want access to real grapes. It is silly really when the whole of Europe's over production of wine grapes is so available.

Ah well -- just another of my high horses! --- and I do have a few!

-- Trevor A Panther In South Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom. Remove PSANTISPAM to reply