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Fall Bright, The Winemakers Shoppe, 10110 Hyatt Hill, Dundee, NY 14837
HOURS: We are open all year round! We have always been closed on Mondays.
November to May 31: Tues-Fri: 10-5 Eastern Time Weekends (Saturday or Sunday) by appointment 607-292-3995
June to harvest Tues-Fri : 10-5 Saturday 10-4 Eastern Time
Harvest (Sept-Oct): Tuesday to Sunday 10-5 Eastern Time
Free catalog, mail order of supplies but not grapes and juices.
Basic understanding and applying it to making fruit wines.
Welcome to the world of winemaking. YOU can make your own wine! You could not live in a better area for winemaking than in the Finger Lakes Wine Region in central NYS. Agriculture abounds with fruits surrounding us. This is the location of a very major and growing winery and vineyard industry. We basically provide the amateur winemaker with the grapes or grape juices and winemaking supplies and know-how to make his own wine. Our vineyards (Pa'tridge Run Farms) overlook the Bluff from Hyatt Hill on the east side of Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes Region, NY. Established in 1977, Pa'tridge Run Farms is a family owned vineyard dedicated to growing quality wine grapes and providing quality juices for the amateur winemaker. It was partnered with a modern juice plant and supply shop, Fall Bright, The Winemakers Shoppe, in 1978. In addition to fresh grapes and juices, we also have a full line of winemaking supplies, including, but not limited to carboys, airlocks, books, hydrometers, yeast, barrels and buckets, plus some supplies for the amateur brewer.
So do you want to know HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN WINE? Want to make fruit wines while waiting for our grapes to grow and ripen?
Now that it's almost summer and you're thinking about making wine, how about making wine from the many fruits available throughout the summer: strawberries, peaches.... Let us help you with your fruit wines! Most winemaking books will include a chart with recommendations for various fruits. These charts indicate how much sugar, acid, and yeast nutrient to add per pound of fruit. It is nice to have a guideline but please take them cautiously. Approach fruit wine making with a basic understanding of the 2 most important factors in winemaking: sugar and acid content of the juice.
For instance in grapes with the many different varieties (30) that we handle, we see readings in acid and sugars vary widely. The same will be true of say - strawberries, depending on variety and ripeness. A chart in Enjoy Home Winemaking by Frishman, recommends adding 4.5 cups of sugar and 1 teaspoon of acid blend to 3.5 pounds of strawberries and water to make 1 gallon. Without knowing the percentage of sugar in the fresh fruit/water combination and the resulting acid, how can one rely on a "recipe" to add sugar and acid? In general winemaking we adjust acids up or down according to an acid (test kit) reading to around .7or.75(%) TA (total acidity). We adjust the sugar after taking a "reading" on a hydrometer to 21-24% or Brix, depending on the desired finish: dry, semi-dry, or sweet.
For best results, take an acid reading on your fruit and water mix with an Acid Test Kit and adjust accordingly, slowly and retest. One of our favorite winemakers adds half of what acid he calculates he needs and retest. Citric acid does not reverse. Once there is too much citric acid, it needs to be diluted to reduce. Tartaric acid may be reduced somewhat by exposure to cold (20-25oF) temperatures.
Sugar will also vary. It's easy to test for sugar before fermenting with a hydrometer. This is an inexpensive but necessary tool. If you add too much sugar, the yeast will ferment until the wine is too high in alcohol and too toxic to support yeast life. This wine is hot to taste and could still be too sweet. Once you have your beginning sugar reading it is easy to calculate an increase. To use your hydrometer, float it, weighted end down in a sample of juice in the clear plastic packing tube or in a hydrometer jar, and read it at the top. The numbers will indicate the sugar percentage or balling (brix), or the potential alcohol, or the specific gravity depending on which scale you have and/or read.
We use corn sugar as it is a simple sugar, readily available as a yeast nutrient and it dissolves instantly. Sucrose, if used, should be heated in your juice, as the acid and heat convert it to simple sugars. If using honey instead of sugar, boil and skim to remove impurities.
Marcy Mitchell www.fallbright.com Fall Bright, The Winemakers Shoppe, Keuka Lake East, 10110 Hyatt Hill, Dundee, NY 14837 phone: 607-292-3995 Welcome to the world of making your own wine.
