Making Wine from Cayuga White Grapes

To make wine from the Cayuga White grape follow the process outlined on the Basic Process page. Aside from the process outlined on the wine making process page, a couple of key tips include:

• In making Cayuga White wine, I would recommend obtaining the juice for the wine (rather than pressing out the grapes).
• Juice for the Cayuga White wine can be purchased at many local wineries in the Northeast. Usually grapes are harvested between September 20 through October 10 (depending on weather conditions for the season). Check with the winery to see exactly the dates in which the juice (or grapes) will become available.
• Typically, the sugar content from the Cayuga White Juice will be about 16-19 brix. Take a sugar reading before fermentation, and add the appropriate amount of sugar to reach 21 brix.
• Cayuga White is usually read to drink after approximately six to nine months of aging. It has been my experience that the wine actually should be drunk within a year--as the it peaks in quality around nine months. This wine does not age well.
• Cayuga White wine is blended with great success with varieties such as Vidal, Sevyal, Riesling, Chardonnay, and Traminette to make wonderful table and 'house' wines. Many of the finger lakes wineries use Cayuga White as a main ingredient in the blended white table wines.

Cayuga White wine is Upstate New York's hidden treasure!