Will try this recipe now for a small batch. My Dad made some in 1987 using a 30 gal (new) trash can, 6 gal carboy and some "Don Cossak" vodka bottles. He kept it in the garage. In 2007(20 yrs) he brought out a bottle and said, "Taste this." I thought HECK NO!!! OMG...best I ever tasted. 10 yrs later tastes like a fine sherry. Incredibly delicious! I know he used the hulls, careful w/fruitflies, let it sit and siphon off several times. Hope I can come close to his results!

Wow, just wow...this is the most simple and spot on recipe EVER! The vine in my backyard doesn't produce every year. But, this year there were 3 types of grapes. O.M.G, everyone I work with, my friends absolutely LOVED it! I'm going to try it with pineapples & some other fruits. Thanks, cooks.com!

We made our first batch of scuppernong wine and it turned out great. Has a good taste but is a little cloudy. We're going to let it sit a couple of days and see if it clears up. If not I don't think it will be a big deal.We strained it through a old fashion tea strainer and then cheese cloth.We ended up with about 1gal of wine because we only made a half of batch. Very pleased with our first batch will be making some more with other fruits.

I use a five gallon plastic water bottle. Pour the wine making mixture into the jug then slip a thin plastic glove over the jug opening. The glove will inflate as the wine is fermenting. When the glove deflates your wine is ready. That is how we country folks do it in N.C.

This is the recipe that I have been using, its simple and works great!
Good Luck!

Muscadine

Here's what you'll need for 1 gallon:
* 6 lbs of Muscadines
* 2 lbs Sugar
* 6 pints water
* 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
* 1 tsp yeast nutrient
* 1 campden tablet
* 1 packet of yeast
* 1/2 tsp stabilizer

Muscadine, a wild grape native to the southern U.S., is widely available in Georgia. Ask around, some people have so many that they'll give them away!
It helps to have the muscadines frozen, then thawed the day you're going to make the wine. Wash, remove stems and discard moldy or badly bruised muscadines. Place inside a nylon bag and crush to extract as much juice as you can. Put the bag and all juice in a bucket*, add sugar, pectic enzyme, crushed campden tablet, yeast nutrient, and water. Wait 24 hours, then pitch the yeast. After 7 days or so, rack into a clean and sanitized glass jug with airlock. Continue racking every few weeks until clear or until you're ready to bottle. Then add the stabilizer, bottle, and enjoy!

Where would I find corks at? Like a JoAnns Craft store, or Hobby Lobby? I don't know where to look for them. I have tried Walmart, to no avail. I have made wine before twice, the first time it was GREAT! They second time, I messed up and capped it too soon, and I had an explosion in my kitchen, of 30 bottles, one bottle exploding setting off another and another, like a war going on. I dove under the kitchen table. I know I did something wrong. Scary to say the least. It is something we laugh over now, but we didn't then. LOL
Thanks for any advice. I loved reading and copying down all the hints from every one. And Patti, Loved the idea of your burying your wine in your garden. I imagine it keeps it safe from visitors wanting to sample it, cuz they don't know you have it. :)

Just got this in our 6 gallon beer bucket, and we're looking forward to seeing the results in a month.

I put in only 6 pounds of sugar to about 10 quarts of grapes. I don't mind a semi-sweet wine, but I don't like to be syrupy sweet.

Now I'm thinking about trying tomato wine with this recipe. :)

To those searching for the potato meal/steel cut oats as yeast nutrient: If your wine yeast will proof, you won't need to use the spuds or oats, as the nutrient is already in your yeast. I use Red Star wine yeast, and it's always worked great for me (even when it's a little out of code).

I'm going to go ahead and cork this. Don't know why the original directions were so vague about that step.

This wine recipe is perfect. I have made Muscadine, Strawberry, Apricot, Pear, and Watermelon Wines with this recipe. Every one of them turned out perfect. This is a can't miss recipe. You can make wine with any fruit you want with this recipe and it will turn out great.

Hi Nancy, I made two batches using this recipe. The first batch, I used a pack of wine yeast "Pasteur" which I ordered off of eBay. That wine is very clear. The second batch, I used bread yeast and it's not clear. Not sure if that's the reason for the wine being so clear in the first batch but that was the only thing I did differently.

Hi Nancy -- I can tell you the things I did which worked well. I removed from the 'container' squeezing all liquid from hulls and seed thru four layers of cheese-cloth. Then I strained the liquid thru two layers of a white tee-shirt. After this I stored 'all liquid' in large glass containers (Large old 'LANCE' cookie jars (approx. two-gal. size). After approx. seven days the wine had cleared and settled very well,leaving a thick sediment of about one inch and some continued discoloring of about two inches. I then 'siphoned' off the clearest portion (above the bottom three inches and bottled, using corks. I then 'strained' again, the 'upper, discolored two inches-with two layers of white tee-shirt (above) the sediment, and bottled w/ corks. I totally through away the one inch heavy sediment. Called it a day, put one qt. in the 'fridge' for sampling, enjoyed and shared with all who wished to sample. Makes everyone happy ?? Luck to you young lady!!! --Henry--

Well, just strained and bottled my first batch of wine ever! It is very good and potent! My question is this.. It looks more like a cider than wine. It is the color of the jelly I made with some of these scuppernongs earlier, but it is not clear. Is that the norm for homemade wine?? It's delicious, but not pretty! Lol

Excellent Scuppernong year !!! Used this recipe and it was fantastic!! First 'batch' included two of the qts.- black muscadines and the result was a light 'Rose' color to the wine. Next were two batches of ten qts. rather than eight.(same proportions)-- perfection!! Net result from the two batches (ten qt.portions) was net five gal.wine!! WOW!- HB-

First time making wine. I'm using Worden grapes and a wine bucket with an airlock. Should I unseal every 2 days to stir? How important is this step?

Coleen, I wondered the same thing about just using old fashion oatmeal, I can't find the steel cut either or potato meal!

Wondering if you can use old fashined oats vs. steel cut as they are hard to find in my area?