The Serpent's Tooth Sunday Suppers: Mustang Grape Dry Red Wine Recipe 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁
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The Serpent’s Tooth
Austin is now the trendy number one city, but back in the eighties it was more laid back – not so many skyscrapers and urban hipsters. Just outside of town, you'd be likely to run into old cowboys, ranch hands, and a diamondback or two. And just maybe – an accidental death not as accidental as it seems…
It’s BBQ season now, and we can all smell the mouth-watering aromas floating in the air. But we need something cool and refreshing to wash everything down. Our recipe for Mustang Grape Wine should do the trick. It’s from my novel, The Serpent’s Tooth, which ends with a glorious outdoor feast. Today’s recipe is from a prominent character in The Serpent’s Tooth.
CHARLOTTE CHOIRBY: Quirky English teacher who suspects foul play in Henry’s death near the old ranch house she and her family are renovating.
Mustang Grape Dry Red Wine (Chateau de Charlotte)
Mustang Grapes (Vitis mustangensis) are native to the southern United States and grow wild throughout Texas. If you pluck one off the vine and have a taste, you’ll be in for a shock. These grapes have very high acidity and a harsh bitterness. They taste terrible, and the acidity is so high it can even irritate your skin or mouth.
However, our recipe makes a delicious wine and shows how to reduce the acidity. And while Mustang Wine is often too sweet, our recipe makes a dry red wine.
Ingredients
6 lbs. black Mustang Grapes
• 1-1/2 lbs. granulated sugar
• 6 pints water
• 1 crushed Campden tablet
• wine yeast and nutrient
Directions
Remove the stems and wash the grapes. While wearing rubber gloves, crush the grapes in a crock or polyethyline pail.
Add all ingredients except yeast. Stir well and cover for 24 hours, then add yeast.
The must will form a floating "cap" of skins and seeds which should be pushed under and stirred twice daily for 5 to 7 days. Strain and press pulp well to extract liquid.
Measure acidity, then follow one of the *methods below to reduce the acidity to 7 parts per thousand (p.p.t.) tartaric if necessary.
Pour into secondary fermentation vessel, fit airlock, and let stand three weeks.
Rack and top up, then rack again in three months and add fining. Bottle ten days after fining. May taste immediately, but improves remarkably with age (3-4 years). [Adapted from a traditional "wild grape" recipe.]
*Reducing Acidity
If the acidity of the grapes is too high, further acid reduction may be required. Here are three methods....
Acid Reduction with Calcium Carbonate: For liquors with acid levels of 10 p.p.t. or more, calcium carbonate is traditionally used to reduce acid through precipitation. A measured 2.5 grams of calcium carbonate will reduce the acidity of one gallon of wine or liquor by one p.p.t. For best results, split the liquor into two equal portions and add the calcium carbonate to one while stirring vigorously. Carbon dioxide will be given off and cause foaming. Chill the treated liquor several days and then siphon it off the lees of calcium carbonate into the untreated portion. The addition of a teaspoon of yeast energizer may be required to reactivate fermentation after treatment.
Acid Reduction with Potassium Bicarbonate: For liquors with acid levels of 8 to 10 p.p.t., potassium bicarbonate treatment can be used to reduce acid through precipitation and neutralization. A measured 3.4 grams or 0.1 oz. of potassium bicarbonate will reduce the acidity of one gallon of wine or liquor by one p.p.t. The compound is stirred directly into the full batch, then chilled to facilitate precipitation of potassium bicarbonate lees. The addition of a teaspoon of yeast energizer may be required to reactivate fermentation after treatment.
Acid Reduction through Water Dilution: This is the least desirable method, only because the Mustang Grape flavor is diluted and the resulting wine will suffer. The acid is inversely proportional to the volume of liquor, so the steps in reducing acidity from 10 p.p.t., for example, to 7 p.p.t., are: (1) 7 / 10 = 0.70 (2) 100 / 0.70 = 1.428 (3) 1.428 x 128 (oz. per gallon) = 182.784 total oz. required (4) 182.784 (total required) - 128 (oz. per gallon) = 54.784 (oz. per gallon required to be added).
