Wine Grapes- A Fall Project Revisited

So in the fall, I made grape syrup...from Smith Vineyard & Winery Merlot grapes. They were gracious enough to let me come by the vineyard during harvest, and box up some grapes. They are so beautiful, and smell so nice.

To start, I had to remove stems and leaves. This is a long, sticky process, so I put a movie on and got to work. I picked them right into the strainer and washed them in batches, Then I moved them into bowls. They look so pretty!

That was really the hardest part. I found that gloves help, because there are also spiders and other bugs in the grape stems. After a few crawl across your bare hand....eeek, gloves!

The next part is pretty basic, just like canning any other jam or preserve. They go into a pot, seeds and all, and I poured enough sugar to just cover the grapes. I found that proportion seems to work well, but if you want more jam consistency instead of syrup, you can add more....but it will need to be a lot more, wine grapes do NOT set up like other fruits, even with pectin.

On the stove, medium simmer, covered, for a long time. I usually go several hours on low, to get as soft as possible. While the grapes are cooking, I kept squishing them with a fork to break the skins, and push the fruit and seeds out. This is really important because you cannot eat those seeds, they don't get any softer.

I didn't take a picture of the next part because it was messy, and difficult to stop, but it made all the difference. I strained the grapes in batches through a mesh strainer, rather fine, and squished as much juice out of the skins as possible. Then I poured them into my hot canning jars and put on the lids. When my water bath canner was ready, I placed the jars in, boiled them about 15 minutes, and voila! Completed jars. I made about 24 jars of syrup, and it is dark, rich, and beautiful on ice cream, pancakes, or as a base for a sweet glaze.