Making wine is truly an art form that will change the way you view your world and the community of people in it. You and your hard work will be integrated in every bottle of wine you manufacture. Making wine from home is a fun hobby, not to mention good wines can be made for just pennies on the dollar. Many people think making wine is hard, however it is easier than you think. Wine making is an age old craft that people all over the globe still do today. Making wine from home can be done in six steps:
Step 1 – Sourcing Grapes: Making wine is easy and you can even make wine from frozen grape juice found at your local supermarket. If you are inclined, you can buy grape juice from companies selling various varietals such as merlot, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir to name a select few.
Step 2 – Primary Fermentation: Pour grape juice into a wine making container, adding campden tablets, cover the container with a towel and let it sit overnight. Sulfur gas is created by the campden tablets that kills bacteria and eliminates any naturally occurring yeasts. Fermentation begins after adding your yeast. Allow the juice to ferment five to seven days. Fermentation should start quickly, typically within 24 to 48 hours. The juice should start foaming as the yeast converts sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas.
Step 3 – Secondary Fermentation: After five to seven days, siphon the wine into a secondary fermenter being careful to leave any sediments behind. Cap the container with an airlock to prevent oxidation of the wine. Allow the wine to ferment another five to seven weeks until the wine becomes completely clear. Fermentation will be pretty active at first evidenced by the continuous stream of bubbles in the airlock. Don’t be tempted to open it prematurely risking contamination. Patience is the name of the game.
Step 4 – Racking the Wine: During fermentation, sediments are created and settle to the bottom of your container. The sediment is made up of dead yeast cells and they need to be removed so they don’t taint your wine. Racking is a process that removes this sediment. Be careful you don’t over rack your wine since it can slow or halt fermentation and introduce oxygen, organisms or both that may also ruin your wine’s flavor.
Step 5 – Bottling the Wine: Before readying your wine for bottling, one last racking is necessary to remove all trace sediments from the wine. Adding campden tablets will ensure any existing yeast and bacteria are eliminated. Now you’re ready for the last step, bottling your wine. Keep in mind most traditional wine maker’s prefer bottling their wine in traditional wine bottles and sealing them with corks, however one should note there are other alternatives out there.
Step 6 – Drinking Your Wine: Now comes the best part, drinking and enjoying the fruits of your hard work. You may want to maintain a wine making journal to document what you did to each batch and the resulting wine attributes to make improvements or replicate what you did in your next batch.
Making your own wine is a great hobby and can be lots of fun. Making homemade wine is a process that is perfected over time. It just takes a little patience and some trial and error before perfecting a certain taste and blend you like. There is nothing like the feeling of opening a bottle of wine knowing that you created something that equals or exceeds the quality of high-priced store bought wines.
Bob Lystra is a wine enthusiast who’s been making his own wine at home for years. He has found a practical guide to make your own wine easily from home. Visit Bob’s site at www.winefromhome.com to discover where he learned how to make homemade wine.
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