Sweet Concord Wine
Description
Can you make a drinkable sweet concord wine from grocery store ingredients?
I've read mixed reviews on the success of using [Welch's 100% grape juice](https://www.walmart.com/ip/2X-Welch-s-100-Concord-Grape-Juice-64-fl-oz/8658415927) as a wine base. Some rave about the ease and simplicity of it; some claim a bland and watery result. But my husband asked for a sweet concord wine, and considering the very low cost of a bottle of juice, I figured it was worth a try.
It took me three attempts to get it right, but this is my holy grail recipe for store-bought grape juice. I've also used this with black cherry concord grape juice from Welch's, and it's pretty impressive with a little bit of age.
Ingredients
* 128 oz Welch's Concord Grape Juice (That's two bottles of 100% juice with no calcium added )
* 4 c water
* 3 c sugar
* 1 t yeast nutrient
* 1⁄2 t wine tannin
* 1⁄2 pk Premiere Rouge Yeast
* 1⁄2 t acid blend (be generous)
Instructions
Pour grape juice into wide-mouth fermenter or bucket. Make a simple syrup with water and sugar. Add to grape juice.
Added yeast nutrient, tannin, acid blend. SG should be around 1.090 - 1.094. Try for a PH of about 2.8 - 3.0.
Made a yeast starter from yeast and 1/3 cup of warm water. Allowed to sit for about 20 minutes. Added yeast to must and stirred gently.
With this particular yeast, it may take 12 or more days to ferment to dry. Rack as needed.
This wine is usually back-sweetened with simple syrup, but I've also used a wine conditioner with decent results. Filter, stabilize, sweeten and bottle around day 60.
Notes
My original recipe used only 1 bottle of Welch's grape juice. I found that this was not enough liquid to result in a full gallon without topping with too much water. Later batches used more starting volume, and rather than topping with water, I usually have some extra wine from the first racking that I keep in a smaller container.
I've used Cote de Blanc, Montrachet, and Premier Rouge yeast with this recipe. Cotes de Blanc will ferment it faster, but I prefer Premier Rouge for the finished taste.
End Results
Let this simple wine age for 6 months, and you'll find it is very drinkable, especially if you love the flavor of classic concord grapes. I don't sweeten it to the level that some commercial wineries do, but it's been an overwhelming success, considering the main ingredient is a bottled juice from the grocery store. I'll continue to make this recipe.
I've also used the same recipe with other varieties of bottled grape juice, like Plum and Pomegranate Concord.