By Dottydaisy2
Hampshire,
United Kingdom 
Just come back from our hols to find we have loads of grapes ready to eat, problem is.....too small and pippy, and too many to eat or give away, fancied making grape juice (not wine, been there done that) has anyone made juice? have looked on the net, not that many recipes and mostly abroad, so any advice would be helpful.....thanks in anticipation!!
11 Sep, 2011
Answers
Moon grower thanks I know we should have done this, but we could not bring ourselves to cut them off!! will try harder next year as the grapes are lovely with lots of flavour especially the white ones.
11 Sep, 2011
It is awfully tempting not to reduce the number of bunches but you will be glad that you did.
11 Sep, 2011
Wow that really is a lot of grapes DD. Our vine is about 25 years old and 20 odd feet long, Pinot Noire. Already growing away strongly. I put them on the bird table for the starlings to squabble over. Eat some and the blackbird does a non stop 'drive-in and snatches them as he flies by. Seems to like feet on the ground while feeding.
23 Apr, 2014
Dorjac OH heavily pruned ours, !! so not sure what this seasons fruit will be like, also we were told not to feed it, by Bolney Vineyard, so we shall see....
Made chutney and grape juice, both delicious....left some for the starlings they love them dont they? not had the blackbird down as yet...
Do you make wine with yours?
23 Apr, 2014
The crop is so variable we have never tried to make wine DD as there is quite a lot of equipment needing to be stored. We have always pruned the vine right back to the main branch running along the canopy. The vine provides shade. Gives a bit of dressing up to the canopy. It is a conversation source, as it is so vigorous.
24 Apr, 2014
We usually sit under ours when it is hot, not much chance of this happening this year, I think OH was a rather heavy handed it cut the both vines down to roughly 6 ft from the ground, he saw it had been been done at one of the nurseries, so decided to do the same!! thank goodness I am training an Actinidia up the one vine.......
25 Apr, 2014
I think you might be surprised at how such a prune can stimulate a sideways growth DD. We had to take 10 foot off the end of our vine, as it was trying to go next door. It thought about it then made a bid to get in the house! I have to keep nipping bits off all summer. I kept a couple of mistle thrushes entertained during one autumn. They left when the grapes ran out on the bird table.
25 Apr, 2014
Oh must have taken that much off ours, I am so relieved to hear that it will be ok, was getting worried, phew!!
26 Apr, 2014
Glad to have helped reassure you DD. Take the pressure off your OH perhaps!
27 Apr, 2014
Lol........
30 Apr, 2014
No idea about making juice but if you want table grapes next year remove most of the bunches as they form so that all the energy goes into growing fewer bunches with larger grapes.
11 Sep, 2011