Unidentified Grapes - Help!

[Kevin]

Hi all,

Not been around here for a while but when talking about this at the weekend you were the first people I thought of!

We moved into this house in March and saw this plant growing at the side of the house. It wasn't until a few months ago that I actually realised it's a grapevine!

photo 1.jpgphoto 2.jpg

Other than trimming it earlier in the year to try and keep it from taking over, I have done nothing with it so I wondered if you could tell me:

1. What kind of variety these are likely to be?
2. If it is possible to make any quantity of wine at all from this crop of grapes?
3. How I would go about doing it?

Many thanks for all your help,

Kevin

[NorthernWiner]

I'm no authority on grapes that grow in your part of the world, so I won't even venture a guess. But I can tell you a couple of things that might help identify it. First, are there seeds inside the berries. Seedless grapes are usually table grapes. Second, you may need to wait and see if they turn color. And once the fruit is mature, taste may provide even more clues. For example, labrusca varieties have a very distinct flavor.

[Cellar_Rat]

The trouble is until they are ripe it is very hard to tell - they all look the same at this time of year.

The good news is however - most of them will make wine. Some may or may not need a little more help than others.

Keep an eye on them - when they are ripening keep trying them. If your face looks like you've been stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver, they are not ready.

Winemaking grapes need to be really really really really sweet. This is just a little bit more than pleasant to eat.

A photo then would be good and I'm sure 'we' might be be able to guess.

If you are planning to make them into wine, you can gather them up as individual bunches come ripe and store them in the freezer until you have them all.

you will stand more chance of beating the birds and the wasps that way.

[Kevin]

Thanks for your help.

I tried one yesterday and I did indeed look like I'd been stabbed. When would you expect them to become ripe and how would I tell? Just by taste?

Thanks again,

Kevin

[NorthernWiner]

When would you expect them to become ripe and how would I tell? Just by taste?

The most scientific way to determine ripeness is by using a hand refractometer to determine the sugar level. They're relatively inexpensive. Ripe grapes also have a certain look and feel. If you break open a ripe grape between your fingers, it will have have brown (not green) seeds, and the pulp will have turned more to something that looks like juice.

[Cellar_Rat]

I will look out the right sort of refractometer on eBay in a moment, if you want to go that way it's about 15 quid

Generally though - green ones get whiter black go darker. IMO at this stage these could be either.

My guess is they will be eating grapes. Do you have any history from the previous occupant?

Steve mentioned pips another clue is skins - winemaking grapes more often than not (but not always) have tougher skins. further the stalks will also get darker as they ripen - they go from green &fleshy to brown and twiggy.

Harvest time in the UK is probably around late September into October - but that is a guide taste testing (or refractometer) will tell you when to harvest.

PS watering them is a good thing - think of it as the first stage of winemaking.

PPS if you are winemaking, a refractometer will come in handy for all sorts of things once you have one!

[Cellar_Rat]

refractometer

Here you go... this is the sort of thing.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/0-25-VOL-0-40-BRIX-SCALE-WINE-ALCOHOL-GRAPE-PORTABLE-REFRACTOMETER-With-ATC-/190862975301?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Food_SM&hash=item2c7051e145

Note the scale - this is most important. however if you order this now from Hong Kong it will take a good couple weeks to get here!

[ToulouseLePlot]

I've got a 1,2 & 3 yr old vine - that one looks a bit like a 2 yr old that's not been heavily pruned. I'd like to repeat what my vine-growing chum has said, that the blackbirds will tell you when it's ready. But I've got a particularly gormless blackbird that started on my blueberries when they were as hard as ball-bearings and just left them on the floor and is now testing its beak on my grapes. I've festooned it with strips of foil in an attempt to redress the balance but will probably loose. There is a vine identifier on the web somewhere. Starts with colour, shape of bunch and shape of leaf. You may have to wait til next year as your bunches look a little juvenile.