| Making home-made wine is a wonderful and easy | | | | using them. You don't have to crush the grapes |
| way to profit from your home grown grapes and | | | | by treading on them. This is a good way to do |
| all the work you put into growing them. The basic | | | | large productions, but for small productions, |
| steps for wine making are: | | | | mashing them by using a hand-masher (or your |
| • Picking the grapes | | | | hands) will do just as well. Don't fill the vat too full |
| • Crushing the grapes | | | | because the grapes will foam and froth as they |
| • Fermenting the juices | | | | ferment. When the grapes are mashed, leave |
| • Clarifying and bottling the liquid | | | | them for a day or two before beginning the |
| • Aging the wine | | | | fermentation. Campden tablets are used to |
| For white wine you use white grapes and for red | | | | prevent wild yeast from growing during this stage. |
| wine you use red or black grapes. However, you | | | | Proper wine yeast should be used, not bread |
| can make white wine from red grapes if you first | | | | yeast, because the flavor is quite different. Stir in |
| remove the skin. You might also need to remove | | | | the yeast by hand, cover the vat and leave the |
| the seeds and stems. Each component of the | | | | wine to ferment for about a week. At the end of |
| grape, including the stems and the skins, | | | | the week you can strain the wine. The bubbling |
| contribute to the aroma and flavor of the finished | | | | and boiling effect should have subsided before |
| wine. | | | | you strain the wine and throw away the pulp. |
| Materials: | | | | Pour the liquid into a barrel with an airlock so that |
| To make one standard bottle of wine (75cl) you | | | | carbon dioxide, which forms as the wine |
| will want about two pounds of grapes. Ten | | | | ferments, can escape. The wine should be |
| pounds of grapes will yield a gallon of wine. In | | | | protected from exposure to the air at this stage |
| addition to the grapes you will need a few | | | | or it will oxidize and won't be good for drinking. |
| accessories for making your wine. Visit your local | | | | Over the next two to three years, sediment will |
| wine-making supply store to find the items or | | | | fall to the bottom of the barrel and the liquid will |
| look on the Internet for suppliers. Here is a list of | | | | turn clear. After about three weeks the wine is |
| the essential items. | | | | ready to "rack" or siphon into the carboy to |
| • Grapes | | | | remove the clear wine from the sediment. The |
| • Large vat for crushing grapes | | | | carboy should be sterilized to prohibit the growth |
| • Hand masher (or use your hands) | | | | of bacteria. Siphon the wine every couple of |
| • Bottles, corks | | | | months as the wine ages. When you notice there |
| • Campden tablets | | | | is no fresh sediment, and the liquid is perfectly |
| • Wine Yeast | | | | clear, the wine is ready for bottling. Another test |
| • Barrel fitted with an airlock | | | | is to check the specific gravity with a |
| • Syphon and carboy (clean and sterilized) | | | | hydrometer. It should be below 1.000. |
| • Hydrometer (To measure the specific | | | | As you can see winemaking is quite easy. Making |
| gravity) | | | | truly fine wine, however, is an art as well as a |
| A wine-making kit is the easiest way to get | | | | science. Aging your wine a few more months in |
| started, and as you progress you might enjoy | | | | the bottle will improve the flavor, but once it is |
| upgrading your tools as you gain experience in | | | | bottled, you can basically begin drinking it. |