How to Make Wine

Homebrewing has become rather popular in the US and I will attempt in this post to give you a very basic recipe for how to make wine at home. There are more complex processes but this is one of the easiest and is fairly tasty.

The art of making wine can be broken down into these 5 basic parts:

1. Making wort or must
2. Fermentation
3. Clarification
4. Conditioning
5. Packaging (in bottles, kegs or casks)

These directions assume you are starting with a kit.

Fermentation -

Mix your glucose solids in first with a pot of hot water if they're provided in your kit. Once they dissolve, mix in a pot of cold water.

Pour your ingredients or concentrate into your primary fermenter. If you're using concentrate, add in whatever water is required to rehydrate it - probably 2 bags of warm water. This concoction is called must or wort.

Stir in the starter - usually called "Package 1". It mixes in better if you take a cup of the must and pre-mix it with the starter. Note that some kits add this in before the concentrate.

If your kit has any sort of flavoring required now like elderberries or oak, add those in.

You will need to add more water once you've added your flavoring. Add in cold water so you end up with what your kit requires. Many hold 5 gallons. Stir your mixture.

It's now time to check the temperature - you want a good temperature for the yeast to grow in. Around 75F is good. Write it down and check the specific gravity so you have that on record as well.

If everything is set, add in your yeast. Sprinkle it on top rather than mixing it in. You now have all ingredients set for part 1.

Seal the container, using an airlock of some kind and let the mixture begin to ferment. This usually takes around 2 days, and you'll know it as it will be bubbling or foaming. Watch your temp - if it's too cold, your yeast may not start. You can drop the temperature a bit to 60-70 once the yeast has begun foaming.

Let this stage continue for about a week. If you have berries in there, stir it daily to mix them around. If not, leave the mixture alone.

Clarification or Secondary Fermentation

Remove your elderberries or wood chips now. Make sure your carboy is clean. Siphon the wine into it, without taking any sediment.

If you're making white or blush wine, mix Bentonite with about 12oz of warm water. Pour this mixture into the carboy.

Add your oak chips to the carboy if you're using them.

Fill the rest of the carboy with boiled and cooled water. Put the airlock on and let it sit for approx. 12 days.

Conditioning or Clearing

Siphon off the wine and leave the sediment behind. You can either do this into a clean carboy or just into another container. Then wash your carboy and put it back in. Add in your sulfites and sorbates if you're using them and stir well.

Stir well at least six times throughout the next day to remove the carbon dioxide.

Once that step is done, you're ready to add any final ingredients and top off the carboy with cool water.

Let the wine settle for around 10 days.

Packaging

Siphon the wine off and again, leave the sediment behind.

Filter your wine if you want to using a filter paper or leave the wine in its natural state if you wish.

Bottling the wine can be done with a variety of different equipment. A "bottling wand" is very useful - it's simply a piece of rigid tube with a spring-loaded valve at the bottom. Just push on the end and wine flows. Stop pushing and it stops flowing.

There are many styles of corkers but they generally come in four types: The "bang-it-in" kind, the tunnel kind, the lever kind (where the tunnel is actually part of a plier-like arrangement, compressing the cork), and floor corkers.

For corks, you can also get real cork covered with teflon, agglomerate corks (with or without teflon), or pressed cork dust covered with teflon. Note when choosing bottles that those with the drip ring top don't cork as well.

Label your "new brew" then set it aside for a time and try it at various stages along its aging cycle.

Enjoy!

~MakeWine

PS - Almost Forgot! I got a lot of great help from this ebook - Tips and Secrets to Making Great Wine

And this book is great info on Wine Cellars if you're considering starting a collection.

Barbera: A highly adaptable type of grape grown mostly in Italy's Piedmont region; Barbera wines have a lively cherry flavor and good acidity. The grape grows particularly well in warm climates.

Cabernet Franc: A predecessor of Cabernet Sauvignon and a well-known component of the red wines of Bordeaux. On its own, produces a dark, rich wine ... and a smooth texture.

Cabernet Sauvignon: Arguably the best known grape in the world, Cabernet Sauvignon has taken the wine industry by storm. The grape (can be) grown almost anywhere and still produce a fairly consistent and recognizable flavor. ... Look to stock your cellar with long-lived Cabernet-based Bordeaux or varietal Cabernet Sauvignons from Australia and California.

Chardonnay: Most popular of all the white grapes, responsible for both the gorgeous, minerally white wines of Burgundy and the rich, tropical fruit flavors of California Chardonnay.

Grenache: Planted exhaustively in Spain (especially in Priorat) under the name Garnacha Tinta, this heat-loving grape is also used in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Interesting to note, of all the types of wine, this one in particular is extremely high in alcohol and rich in spicy flavors of pepper, gingerbread and coffee.

Malbec: Rooted in southwestern France but now associated with Argentina, where it is used to produce rich, deep purple wines with lush fruit and great structure.

Merlot: Originally grown in Bordeaux and often used to soften the character of Cabernet Sauvignon in red blends, Merlot has taken center stage in the United States as a smooth, soft, drinkable red wine low in tannins. The best French examples can be found in Pomerol and Saint-Emilion.

Mourvedre: Known in Spain as Monastrell but is more prominent in southern France, where it is blended with Grenache.

Nebbiolo: The better wines can last several decades and only deepen with time. Both Barbaresco and Barolo are 100% Nebbiolo.

Petite Sirah: A genetic cross between Syrah and Peloursin, this grape originates in France, and is now widely grown in California. It produces a savory blackberry fruit flavor and rich-colored wine that mixes especially well with Zinfandel.

Pinot Noir: grown as early as the first century. This grape produces some of the world's most magnificent wine. The gold standard for this varietal is wines from Burgundy's Cote d'Or. The best New World locations are Oregon, California's Russian River Valley and Santa Barbara regions.

Riesling: A highly undervalued varietal capable of producing stunning white wine of amazing intensity, depth, and finesse.

Sauvignon Blanc: A staple in France's Loire Valley, where it excels in appellations such as Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume. ...  Although a late bloomer, New Zealand in recent years has become a major producer of quality wine from this variety.

Syrah: This huge, juicy, powerful grape grown in the Rhone Valley has become one of today's most popular international varieties. Enjoys great success in Australia (where it is known as Shiraz), is undergoing an explosion of planting in California, and is becoming important in many other regions as well.

Tempranillo: The workhorse of Spain's Rioja and Ribera de Duero, Tempranillo makes juicy wine that is terrific when young, and becomes deep and rich with a few years of age.

Viognier: Planted originally in the Rhone region of France ... Viognier is now grown with great success in Australia, California and Italy. The best wines made with this type of varietal are lushly floral and filled with apricot fruit.

Zinfandel: Generally associated with California, Zinfandel's origins have been traced ... to Croatia. The Primitivo of Italy is genetically identical. Zinfandel is also being grown with success in Australia's Margaret River region.

Originally posted elsewhere.

~MakeWine 

After a few years of learning about and exploring wines, I've decided to learn how to make wine and this blog will detail my journey. For my first post, I'll just share a bit about myself and "why wine?"

I am not a real big drinker, first off, and most alchoholic beverages just don't taste that great to me. For the most part, I don't like beer though I do enjoy some mixed drinks now and then. But I wanted something I could drink once in a while that didn't take a lot to make and where I didn't have to have various diferent beverages on-hand to mix correctly. And after trying to many pre-mixed beverages like coolers and others, wine just seemed simple and easy. 

So - that's it! Next post, we'll talk about different varities and then after that, we'll talk about how to make wine.

~MakeWine