New to wine making!

[Kiwigardener]

Hi I have just started my first ever homebrew wine kit (muntons from Wilkies)... I really hope I have done everything right... I'm hoping to hone my skills in time for my grape harvest as I have a bumper crop this year... Any tips would be gratefully received!!!

 

[joe1002]

Welcome to the forum :

I'm not a wine brewer myself so can't offer any advice.

 

[oldbloke]

Timings on kits tend to be optimistic, allow longer for all stages.

 

[godfrey]

hi and welcome :

I have been making country wines all summer

I have a small vine but no press :-(

it is high on my list of things to get...

as you can see in my signature you don't need to make wine from grapes

there are plenty of great recipes on the forum

plumbs, elderberrys and blackberrys are all ready to harvest now :-)

my next few brews will be turbo ciders and kit beers

next year I will have my press and my wines will be all the better for having it :thumb:

 

[oldbloke]

Grapes grown for wine are generally different to those for eating, though of course you can use whatever's to hand. What varieties do you have?

 

[Kiwigardener]

The variety is unknown, I worked in Dartford as a gardener before having kids and had the privilege of pruning the Dartford grapevine, so I took a cutting and voila... Masses of grapes! I know the Dartford locals make wine from the vine and they seem too bitter to be good table grapes. My cousin in NZ recommends using champagne yeast? ... But I'm a complete novice so I don't even know where to get this!!!

 

[godfrey]

check out the forum sponsors you will find everything you need to get going

 

[Kiwigardener]

There's some great sites AND I can pay with PayPal even better, I'm really glad I've found this forum! BTW my local Wilkies (Chatham) still have a few 30 bottle wine kits: Muntons premium cellar (no need to add sugar) for £5!!!