grapes & vodka

[jlevac]

Anyone have experience using grapes to make vodka. thanks

[Mike Fiore]

from past experience the final product is very expensive it is made in France and retails approx. $90 or 375 ml

[nick jones]

http://www.liquoristerie-provence.fr/english/vodka-de-vigne-en_US/

One of my favorite vodkas! I like that the flavor and aroma of the grapes is present. Of course, this characteristic would preclude its labeling as vodka in the US, but I prefer "vodkas" that actually taste like something other than ethanol.

I bet that both wine and brandy are more profitable to produce, though. Since the wine and brandy markets in France are so saturated, one could imagine why a grape vodka might be an interesting venture. But everywhere else in the world, I bet that a wine or brandy would make way more sense to produce from grapes than vodka.

Nick

[daveflintstone]

Maybe Ciroc rings a bell?

[tl5612]

Check this out:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2438519/Champagne-vineyard-owners-turn-surplus-grapes-surgical-spirits-used-medicines-printing-inks.html

[jlevac]

Maybe Ciroc rings a bell?

Yes Ciroc rings a bell. I take it from all the replies no one has experience producing with grapes.

[bluestar]

There are US made vodkas from grapes. In Michigan, Roundbarn makes DiVine and St. Julian makes Grey Heron. Dancing Tree makes a seasonal from Ohio-grown grapes. These turn midwestern grapes that might not be suitable for wine into a good quality spirit at a reasonable price. Contrast with Napa Vodka, that markets even a "Vintage Reserve" from sauvignon blanc, going more for the premium hype of a Ciroc. I am sure there are others.

[Valerii_Fedorov]

I am making vodka from grape and supplying the technologies to treat water-grape spirit mixture to produce these vodkas. It is interesting that in the case it is possible to produce different by conception and philosofy vodkas. Ones are more neutral by taste and smell others are more bright and strong. From the 21 of the October I am going to test processing grape vodka at one of ukranian big brandy producer. Indeed there in the world are vodkas from grape that declare itselt as a vodka but not as rakia, loza,white cognak,tsuika,palinka and so on. We are be able to make neutral grape vodka out of grape distillates of various strenght. It is pity that right now have not possibility to show and test the technologies at american companies, though i am installing one of them at one US company, but i need partner in US in order to he could to show them, but it is other issue.

[tipk99]

Made in Seattle...

http://glassdistillery.com/glassVodka.php

[Artisan Still Design]

I've done some experimental batches, the mouth feel is very different than grain based vodka. Always thought it would make a nice ultra premium Vodka.

[seventh son]

I have not researched grape based vodka, but I am curious - would you ferment the grapes for months as if you are making wine or would you do a fast 4-6 day fermentation?

[Artisan Still Design]

because of the higher sugar content of grapes, you'll need longer than 4-6 days unless you water down.

but no need to ferment for months like wine making.

[patrick260z]

From my experience, because you want to avoid sulfite use in the winemaking portion of production, you're going to want to limit your skin contact times to before fermentation is complete. This way, the residual CO2 in the wine will help protect the wine from oxidation during and after pressing. Whether you want to even have skin contact time is up to you and your style choices. For example, a white wine will be direct to press with the juice fermented with no skin contact.

Also, because grapes are a seasonal product, your wine without SO2 will only survive for a limited time before it starts experiencing a lot of oxidation and VA spoilage. So you will have to employ stripping runs to process all your wine quickly to an alcohol you can store for your slower vodka runs, or distill a small percent of your wine and add it back to fortify the rest of the wine lot. I've heard that the latter is more time economical, but the quality of vodka is poorer, but I can't speak from experience.

[Falling Rock]

I have been to Glass Distillery in Seattle. The product is wonderful and the distillery is a showcase.

He is getting a phenomenal price for a great product.

[RBDistiller]

I am the distiller at Round Barn, we make Divine Vodka from grapes. I started out as an assistant Winemaker before I turned distiller so this process falls a lot more natural to me than making mashes and distilling other like products. With grape fermentation, like wine, you want to keep the fermentation temperature controlled. It should take roughly 3-4 weeks to ferment and that is when you would want to quickly get into stripping runs, since you can not add SO2.

[patrick260z]

Duration of skin contact and fermentation should be linked to style goals of the wine, and the distillate. I highly stress pressing off your skins prior to completion of fermentation. This will allow CO2 generation by the yeast to protect the wine allowing you production flexibility at the still.