[Winemaking]

Project: Cynthiana Wine & DIY Fruit Press

Winemaking with Cynthiana Grapes

I started home winemaking back in 2018 while living in the San Francisco Bay Area. With Napa and Alexander Valley practically in my backyard, the lure of fresh grapes was hard to ignore. Going in, I imagined the process would feel like science—precision, measurements, a lab coat. But what I discovered is that winemaking feels a lot more like farming… just on a microbial scale. Yeast are the real workers in the winery, and if you keep them healthy and happy, they’ll turn fruit into wine.

When I relocated to Bentonville during the COVID lockdown, I decided to explore local grapes. Arkansas has its own designated wine region—the Altus AVA—and it’s home to the state grape: Cynthiana, also known as Norton in other parts of the country. Making wine from a local varietal seemed like a good way to root myself in my new home.

I recruited some helpers and headed to Dahlem Vineyard in Altus. We picked around 300 pounds of Cynthiana grapes, although my son probably ate most of what he picked! After crushing and de-stemming the fruit, I let the must rest for maceration and to allow wild yeast to begin fermentation. I’ve always liked using native yeast; it adds a layer of place-specific character to the final wine, even if it’s a bit unpredictable.

Once fermentation was complete, it was time to press. Back in California, I rented fruit presses easily—but here in Arkansas, I couldn’t find any nearby. So I built my own.

The design was a simple screw press: rotational force drives a plate downward, pressing the must and separating juice from solids. I spaced the press walls to hold back skins and seeds while letting the juice escape. It worked decently, though I’d use an acme-threaded rod next time—the standard triangular threads I used couldn’t always handle the pressure.

The Results

Here’s the honest truth: I don’t love Cynthiana as a dry red wine. The grape has a strong “foxy” character—a musky, earthy flavor often found in native North American varietals—and in my batch, it dominated. I’ve since noticed that many local wineries sweeten their Cynthiana wines, likely to soften that bold, wild edge.

After this experiment, and a few disappointing attempts at improving kit wines, I’ve started exploring other directions. Shipping small quantities of west coast grapes isn’t economical (though I'm still exploring this option), but there’s a lot of joy in making country wines: apple, elderberry, and mead. That’s where my current projects are headed, and I’ll be writing more about those here in the future.

Got family help for picking and crushing the grapes.

Even my son chipped in picking grapes. But I think he ate most of what he picked :).

My first attempt at making a barrel fruit press. Don't judge me too harshly for the makeshift construction. This was mid-Covid lockdown.

Inside the press I stacked blocks of white oak to get stable pressing action.

Pressing the wine must and collecting the wine for oaking and aging.

The wine must all pressed out. The wine cake makes a great compost.