Winemakers often mix fresh water and sugar with leftover grape skins to make a second-run wine. The Italian grappa is distilled out of such second-runs. There’s some flavor in the pressed stuff, and yeast. You get a light, quickly-finished wine out of it. But I do something with grape pomace that makes my fellow home-brewers wince. I take a bucketful of those squashed skins and mix them with other fruit juices. This mixture ferments and becomes a fruity wine that’s ready to drink in a few months. I’ll mix peach nectar, goiaba, or pomegranate, or apple-cranberry juice with leftovers of Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon or Reisling. Result: delicious. Just off-dry, a dark rose that should be chilled before drinking. Yet the other winemakers grit their teeth when I describe the process. These are the same guys that refuse to sanitize their equipment; I don’t get why mixing juices grosses them out. You get a bigger bang for your buck and an entirely new, original, delicious wine.
Today I bottled a gallon of Merlot with Apple/Cranberry juice. It was a problem, refraining from empying one of those bottles by myself. But you judge how it looks:
And sitting in a spill of sunshine, it looked so pretty…
Thank you for that tip mimi54. My husband and I made a second run last year and it Rastas like watered down wine. I am trying to get creative in what to do in adding another flavor or ingredient to this finished second run Cabernet. Next time we make second run, we will add nectar or a fruit juice and let it ferment together. What a great idea! Any suggestions on what to add to this second run wine before we bottle it?
Thank You,
Debbie
Hi, Debbie,
What’s the ABV of the second-run wine? If you like, you may be able to convert some into vinegar by adding a bottle of organic vinegar with the “mother” in it. Depends on the alcohol content, which should be at least 8%.
But making it drinkable will take a little more time. I’d add one of these juices: apple, pear, plum, cherry, pomegranate, peach – to taste, and experiment with1/2 tablespoon of oak chips per gallon in one of the carboys, as well. Keep notes for future ref. It might re-ferment, so to be on the safe side you’ll have to put it all back into airlocked carboys. The juices will throw some sediment, so you’ll have to rack at least once again. But the extra work is worth it for a pleasant “pop” or sangria sort of drink which will have matured much sooner than the first run. Since your second-run is finished, it shouldn’t take more than two, maybe three months for the two liquors to marry and settle down.
Best, though, is to ferment the second-run together with the added fruit juice. If managed carefully – not allowing too high an initial SG so you don’t get rocket fuel in the end – these blends can produce wines with an adult character. I’ve learned to press the grapes the second time by fluffing them up and running the fruit juice through them in the press, not water.
Another option is to make a pyment – mead based on grapes. Dilute honey with warm water in the proportion of 1:3 (don’t boil it) and use that as your second-run flavoring.
In all cases, just ferment and rack as usual. I keep one large bucket for fermenting the second-run wine, and don’t use all the pressed grapes from the first run either. I only have so much energy and so much room in the house – if you press all the grapes a second time, you’ll make so much second-run you’ll never get around to drinking the best stuff.