The Use of Grape Juice Concentrate for Winemaking

Today, winemakers often use grape juice concentrates in their winemaking efforts. They do so since the concentrates are versatile and not just ideal for a base for the final product. A quality concentrate also can supplement non-grape wines or improve the flavour of grape wines. Concentrates offer the same fruitiness, complexity and flavour as the whole grapes do of the same species and at times, you may not be able to purchase the fresh grapes locally.

The Process for Making Grape Juice Concentrates

Typically, the process for making this concentrate involves boiling the juice under pressure to remove up to 80 percent of the its natural water content. Concentrates do vary in quality between brands so in order to receive full benefits from one you will need to buy one from a reputable company.

How to Make Wine from Concentrates

With concentrates, you skip the juice extraction stage of traditional winemaking. You will need to re-hydrate the concentrate by returning its lost water content to it. After this, you proceed with the rest of the winemaking process by restoring tannins, trace elements, pigments and other elements that are in the skins of the grapes through the use of additives. Of course, do not forget the proper amount of wine yeast for your particular batch of wine so that the fermentation can take place in the correct manner.

Take Non-Grape Wines to a New Level with Concentrates

Wines from other fruits can benefit from the addition of grape juice concentrates. For example, add red grape concentrate to plum wine to increase its mouth feel, acidity and sugar content. Another example is that you need to add white grape concentrate to gooseberry wine to improve its flavour and quality.

Improve the Flavour of Grape Wines

When grape wines lack body, have a lower than desirable sugar level, are not as well-flavoured as they should be or are too low in acid they can benefit from a boost from grape juice concentrates. Blending a quality concentrate with a low-quality batch of wine can, in some cases, make the batch marketable in our opinion. You must be certain that the concentrates are compatible with the type of wine that is in need of rescue to ensure optimal results.

Concentrates Are Readily Available

Another benefit of using grape juice concentrates is that they are readily available even when a certain grape is not grown in your area. This expands the list of wines that you are able to create.

For all your winemaking supplies, machinery and equipment, rely on Grapeworks Consumables. With our products, you can create quality wines that will delight your palate.