Ahh that's right . I remembered them using ours to graft , couldn't remember the finer details. Thanks for the refresh.
homemade wine?
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Last: 5 days ago by oh no
My dad grew a patch of mustang grapes on a terrace in his garden. Use a piece of cattle panel for a trellis.
I have no idea if being on the terrace was crucial other than to ensure good drainage. Planted in black soil. East Bell County. No maintenance other than training the vines.
I remember a night in 2000 when my dad, a couple of college my buddies and I finished off a bottle of 1980 mustang grape wine. It was the end of a long night of 42 and drinking. We were out of booze when my dad said, "I'll be right back."
My buddies and I were waiting for him to bring out a bottle of Jack. Nope. 20 year old homemade wine. The bottom inch of the wine was sediment, so my dad filtered it into a tea pitcher. It was so good. Very port like.
The vine came from my great uncle's place in Troy. We harvested his place for years when my dad decide it would be much easier if the grapes were in the backyard, and didn't require an extension latter.
I have no idea if being on the terrace was crucial other than to ensure good drainage. Planted in black soil. East Bell County. No maintenance other than training the vines.
I remember a night in 2000 when my dad, a couple of college my buddies and I finished off a bottle of 1980 mustang grape wine. It was the end of a long night of 42 and drinking. We were out of booze when my dad said, "I'll be right back."
My buddies and I were waiting for him to bring out a bottle of Jack. Nope. 20 year old homemade wine. The bottom inch of the wine was sediment, so my dad filtered it into a tea pitcher. It was so good. Very port like.
The vine came from my great uncle's place in Troy. We harvested his place for years when my dad decide it would be much easier if the grapes were in the backyard, and didn't require an extension latter.
Anyone care to post a step by step on how they make fruit wine? I've tried multiple times and have only had a decent result one time. Of course I didn't write down how I did it though. I always have a metric ton of PP tunas and shame to waste them by not turning to wine. I have tried several web step by step but never seem to get a decent wine.
Honey Mead is a pretty easy, quick and yummy alternative.
My dad always told me east bell county.
dtrAg08
Reel Aggies said:
Anyone care to post a step by step on how they make fruit wine? I've tried multiple times and have only had a decent result one time. Of course I didn't write down how I did it though. I always have a metric ton of PP tunas and shame to waste them by not turning to wine. I have tried several web step by step but never seem to get a decent wine.
Worked with some guys that made cactus tuna wine, still have an unopened bottle. The only comments I remember about the quality of that wine was that after drinking 2 glasses one of them said he couldn't feel his legs. My bottle will remain decorative.
Man you brought a good memory back for me.
My dad and his three brothers bought places at Lake LBJ when it was still called Lake Granite Shoals.
There was a secluded cove up towards where the Llano River and Colorado River came together that had a steep wall that was covered by mustang grapes.
My dad and mom would take his 14' DuraCraft and spread a tarp over it and go up under those vines to get the grapes. They would then make wine and give it to the whole family. Dad also made Peach wine.
I was just a kid so they would just let me have small samples. I never learned how to do it from them and they are both passed now.
Thanks for the memory.
My dad and his three brothers bought places at Lake LBJ when it was still called Lake Granite Shoals.
There was a secluded cove up towards where the Llano River and Colorado River came together that had a steep wall that was covered by mustang grapes.
My dad and mom would take his 14' DuraCraft and spread a tarp over it and go up under those vines to get the grapes. They would then make wine and give it to the whole family. Dad also made Peach wine.
I was just a kid so they would just let me have small samples. I never learned how to do it from them and they are both passed now.
Thanks for the memory.
As a homebrewer of 20 years, if you're interested in making wine/mead/beer a great place to start is your local homebrew club. Most of those that have been doing this awhile have fermented just about everything.
People love to share what they have, mostly because we just make too much. 1st tip is, don't take advice from anyone who's hooch you haven't tried.
You don't need much in the way of fancy equipment, but in TX fermenting temp is a really big deal. Doesn't matter how good the recipe and ingredients are if you can't control ferm temp. You can create long chain alcohols that will give you a wicked hangover.
The absolute easiest to start with is dry cider, and you can pick this up at the grocery store.
You need a food grade bucket, or carboy (Better Bottle), and then a way to package it, bottles or kegs.
Look at craigslist/marketplace or talk to local homebrewers who may have used equipment to sell.
Should be able to get going with $200-500 in start up costs. If doing wine a floor corker will be needed. As well as a press for removing wine from skins.
https://www.morebeer.com/products/plastic-carboy-6-gal.html
If not adding skins. This is great for ciders/beer/Mead.
https://www.morebeer.com/products/fermonster-carboy-6-gal.html
Larger opening.
For wine you need to degass the must, and also acid balance it when complete.
Mead is a little more tricky due to the nutrient cycle you have to add.
Beer is by far the most complicated for equipment requirements as well as fermentation and packaging to avoid oxidization.
People love to share what they have, mostly because we just make too much. 1st tip is, don't take advice from anyone who's hooch you haven't tried.
You don't need much in the way of fancy equipment, but in TX fermenting temp is a really big deal. Doesn't matter how good the recipe and ingredients are if you can't control ferm temp. You can create long chain alcohols that will give you a wicked hangover.
The absolute easiest to start with is dry cider, and you can pick this up at the grocery store.
You need a food grade bucket, or carboy (Better Bottle), and then a way to package it, bottles or kegs.
Look at craigslist/marketplace or talk to local homebrewers who may have used equipment to sell.
Should be able to get going with $200-500 in start up costs. If doing wine a floor corker will be needed. As well as a press for removing wine from skins.
https://www.morebeer.com/products/plastic-carboy-6-gal.html
If not adding skins. This is great for ciders/beer/Mead.
https://www.morebeer.com/products/fermonster-carboy-6-gal.html
Larger opening.
For wine you need to degass the must, and also acid balance it when complete.
Mead is a little more tricky due to the nutrient cycle you have to add.
Beer is by far the most complicated for equipment requirements as well as fermentation and packaging to avoid oxidization.
aTm '99
I think I'm going to go for it.. THIS year.
Looks like Messina Hof and someone called En Gedi are the two closest vineyards/ wineries near my property. Hopefully one of the two can give me some cuttings of their Lenoir/ Black Spanish vines.
Looks like Messina Hof and someone called En Gedi are the two closest vineyards/ wineries near my property. Hopefully one of the two can give me some cuttings of their Lenoir/ Black Spanish vines.
Didn't end up getting anything planted this year… but I did identify some mustang grape vines already growing naturally on my property yesterday. Using barbed wire fence as its own trellis system. Will be watching this summer to see it bears any fruit.
I've had my land for about 8 months now. I didn't see any fruit this summer on any of the Mustang vines I've found on the property.. saw a lot of mustang grapes on neighboring properties in July, but only where the vines were up high in the trees.. maybe mine is male and didn't produce fruit, or maybe all the fruit on lower vines is consumed by the wildlife before I ever see it, or both.
I have also identified a big cluster of mature persimmon trees, but looks like only a few have fruit (assume the others are male?). Maybe I'll take a stab at making some persimmon wine some day
..but in my mostly wooded <100 acre property, I do have this one big open 8-10 acre hillside pasture that gets a lot of sunlight, with a working water spigot at the top of the hill and the pond down at the bottom of the hill . ..and since places like Mesina Hof have been successful in this same region, I'm going to go ahead and send a soil test to the A&M Agrilife extension this fall and attempt to get started with some black spanish vines next spring.
I only want to start a few long rows of vines to see if i can one day produce enough wine per year to get me drunk all year and to have when guests come out. Anyone have advice on protecting the crop area in the most cost effective manner? chatGPT advises me to install deer fence at least 8' tall, hot wire on the bottom for deer, coons, and other mammals, hardware cloth or mesh fencing around the vines for rabbits, bird netting the vines when fruit is present, rodent bait stations and gopher traps around the area, etc, etc., etc. ...that all sounds like a lot .. and expensive.. could it be sufficient if I just put up a cattle panel perimeter with a solar powered hot wire near the bottom, and maybe install an owl box or a hawk perch nearby to help with rabbits, mice, smaller birds, etc.? I know the deer can still hop over cattle panel, but maybe they won't discover the vines if it's inconvenient? ...i have no feeders out elsewhere on the property for deer yet, because I don't want to attract the sounders of hogs that are always passing through destroying everything on the lower part of the property.
I have also identified a big cluster of mature persimmon trees, but looks like only a few have fruit (assume the others are male?). Maybe I'll take a stab at making some persimmon wine some day
..but in my mostly wooded <100 acre property, I do have this one big open 8-10 acre hillside pasture that gets a lot of sunlight, with a working water spigot at the top of the hill and the pond down at the bottom of the hill . ..and since places like Mesina Hof have been successful in this same region, I'm going to go ahead and send a soil test to the A&M Agrilife extension this fall and attempt to get started with some black spanish vines next spring.
I only want to start a few long rows of vines to see if i can one day produce enough wine per year to get me drunk all year and to have when guests come out. Anyone have advice on protecting the crop area in the most cost effective manner? chatGPT advises me to install deer fence at least 8' tall, hot wire on the bottom for deer, coons, and other mammals, hardware cloth or mesh fencing around the vines for rabbits, bird netting the vines when fruit is present, rodent bait stations and gopher traps around the area, etc, etc., etc. ...that all sounds like a lot .. and expensive.. could it be sufficient if I just put up a cattle panel perimeter with a solar powered hot wire near the bottom, and maybe install an owl box or a hawk perch nearby to help with rabbits, mice, smaller birds, etc.? I know the deer can still hop over cattle panel, but maybe they won't discover the vines if it's inconvenient? ...i have no feeders out elsewhere on the property for deer yet, because I don't want to attract the sounders of hogs that are always passing through destroying everything on the lower part of the property.
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