SeanDezart
Well-Known Forum User
Ho hum....etc, etc it's off to pick grapes we go !
Last week we 'vendange (d)' - picked the modest crop of grapes hanging off my parents house. When I say modest, it's still 120' long and they're all at more than head height !
We picked, sorted and pressed enough grapes to make 77 litres of pineau, the well-known local aperitif, a mixture of grape juice and eau de vie (distilled alcohol, usually at 55°). There are many recipes but we followed good ol' Tonton Dédés' - my neighbour, and I'd like to share it with you :
1st check the temperature of the alcohol, if it's around about 20°c (16-24) , then there is no correction to make.
2nd check the alcohol content with your hydrometer or whatever, we reached 54.5° which means we weren't diddled last year when it was locally distilled in a mobile distillery from last years' grape crop. Now we're not registered vine keepers so it was written down as pressed plums and tax was paid upon (most) of the volume collected
!
3rd pick and sort the grapes - no unripe or over-ripe ones - bung the rest plus stalks into the buckets.
4th mush up the selected pickings and empty into the pressoir
5th apply pressure to maximise the fresh juice and collect
6th add the correct quantity of alcohol with the correct quantity of juice as per the formula
7th pour into several large (20 litre) semi-sealed (almost airtight but must let some gas out) containers, preferably glass as the alcohol can take a bit of taste from plastic containers)
Now, the formula is as follows:
Having measured your alcohol content, let's assume it's 55°.
Now choose your final alcohol content, for pineau it's probably best at somewhere between 15° and 17°, so let's play with 16° !
Assume that you will be making 50 litres (one can always substitute 50 for 10 or 3 or whatever).
50x16 = 800
800/55 = 14.55 (rounded up
For 50 litres of pineau, one needs 14.55 litres of 55° alcohol and therefore 35.45 litres of freshly pressed grape juice !
The juice must be pressed and added IMMEDIATELY to the alcohol to stop the fermenting process and left for at least 9 months to 'gestate'. In fact, the longer the pineau is left, the better; we had some which two years ago was.....drinkable but we tasted it last week and it's nectar !!!
But don't take my word for it - come over and taste it !
The next day we pressed apple juice with 10 friends - 1450 litres of it which cost 46p per litre, sterilised an' all !
Last week we 'vendange (d)' - picked the modest crop of grapes hanging off my parents house. When I say modest, it's still 120' long and they're all at more than head height !
We picked, sorted and pressed enough grapes to make 77 litres of pineau, the well-known local aperitif, a mixture of grape juice and eau de vie (distilled alcohol, usually at 55°). There are many recipes but we followed good ol' Tonton Dédés' - my neighbour, and I'd like to share it with you :
1st check the temperature of the alcohol, if it's around about 20°c (16-24) , then there is no correction to make.
2nd check the alcohol content with your hydrometer or whatever, we reached 54.5° which means we weren't diddled last year when it was locally distilled in a mobile distillery from last years' grape crop. Now we're not registered vine keepers so it was written down as pressed plums and tax was paid upon (most) of the volume collected
!3rd pick and sort the grapes - no unripe or over-ripe ones - bung the rest plus stalks into the buckets.
4th mush up the selected pickings and empty into the pressoir
5th apply pressure to maximise the fresh juice and collect
6th add the correct quantity of alcohol with the correct quantity of juice as per the formula
7th pour into several large (20 litre) semi-sealed (almost airtight but must let some gas out) containers, preferably glass as the alcohol can take a bit of taste from plastic containers)
Now, the formula is as follows:
Having measured your alcohol content, let's assume it's 55°.
Now choose your final alcohol content, for pineau it's probably best at somewhere between 15° and 17°, so let's play with 16° !
Assume that you will be making 50 litres (one can always substitute 50 for 10 or 3 or whatever).
50x16 = 800
800/55 = 14.55 (rounded up
For 50 litres of pineau, one needs 14.55 litres of 55° alcohol and therefore 35.45 litres of freshly pressed grape juice !
The juice must be pressed and added IMMEDIATELY to the alcohol to stop the fermenting process and left for at least 9 months to 'gestate'. In fact, the longer the pineau is left, the better; we had some which two years ago was.....drinkable but we tasted it last week and it's nectar !!!
But don't take my word for it - come over and taste it !
The next day we pressed apple juice with 10 friends - 1450 litres of it which cost 46p per litre, sterilised an' all !
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