Humble Harvest...

We have now collected all the grapes! We were very selective about what we kept and what we left for the birds. Because the grapes weren't in the best of condition (we suspect they hadn't been pruned back the previous year) we decided we'd only pick the best looking.

Not only that but we didn't go mad buying wine making equipment so we limited it to three 25 litre fermenters.

First we removed the nets and picked all the acceptable bunches. Because we haven't yet identified all 4 varieties we simply decided to do one red and one white! Once picked we had to give them the initial "crush" which we did in the traditional manner!!



Great fun but blooming sticky! Luckily our huge fatsia japonica flowered at the same time and the local bees were swarming that, and not my legs.



Next, we left the crushed grapes, or "must", to sit for a couple of days and added a campden tablet (stops wild yeasts taking hold.. apparently...).

A few days later we added the yeast and we're using the method whereby we leave, with skins, for another week. In a couple of days we'll press the musts through muslin and probably rack it off a couple of times before we leave it be for a few months, after which we'll either drink it or use it to strip the walls in the spare bedroom.