next stage of my grape must?

[mugsey53]

hi all, yesterday a friend said i could harvest his savignon -mavro grapes from his piece of land here in cyprus.

i harvested them and stalked them and mashed them up (with the help of swmbo blender) , i got about 21 litre of must.

to this i added 5 camden tabs (crushed not shaken!) and its now sitting in our kitchen.

the OG was 1. 1003

i dont have specialised yeast only youngs generic.

my question is , i want to add water to stretch it a bit how much can i add without screwing it up?

if i need to add sugar when is the best time to add , to the must or after primary fermentation?

many thanks

 

[BigYin]

Hi Mugsey, might be a bit late now, but I've moved your post from the How To guides forum, into the here, the wine & cider discussions

What did you do eventually anyway??

I *think* the sugar should have been added for the primary fermentation??

 

[Cononthebarber]

I am also planning the same in a couple of weeks, I am off to France and down the road from my cottage a load of grapes are growing wild...I am gonna pick them and stick them in a bucket with some yeast...what else should I do to them do you think?

Having a read around I think I will blend the grapes and add the lot into a bucket...add 1 or 2 crushed campden tablets...then leave for 24 hrs...then add wine yeast and nutrient...leave this for 3-4 days and then rack into a secondary FV and leave this for a further 4 weeks or so..then bottle?

What about anything else? Citric acid maybe? Pectolase?

 

[bobsbeer]

I wouldn't add citric acid. Pectolase maybe once you have racked off the skins. Grapes have tartaric acid so if you need to add acid I would add tartaric. Check your ph before you do though. You want to be in the region of 3.2-3.5 ish.

 

[tonyhibbett]

Seems a bit early to pick them.