| If you have never made your own wine, you are | | | | in a suitable container, they should be left to |
| going to need some simple wine making | | | | bubble and ferment. The instructions in the recipe |
| instructions to get you going. | | | | will specify for how long. They will also state |
| Whether you are going to make wine from | | | | when the wine should be racked, which entails |
| freshly pressed grapes or from a commercially | | | | siphoning the wine out of the fermentation bucket |
| prepared concentrate, the process is basically the | | | | into a clean container, so that the sediment that |
| same. | | | | has sunk to the bottom is left behind. |
| The essential elements needed for wine | | | | The racking process is quite simple, although you |
| Apart from grapes, you need water, sugar (some | | | | have to be careful not to disturb the sediment, |
| of which will come from the grapes) and yeast to | | | | otherwise the wine will become cloudy and you'll |
| make wine. Basically what happens is that the | | | | have to keep on racking it. |
| sugar and yeast react to one another and they | | | | Bottling your wine |
| start to ferment. The same thing happens when | | | | While good instructions will explain exactly when |
| you brew beer or when you prepare the dough | | | | and how to bottle your homemade wine, it isn't |
| for baking bread. | | | | always possible for them to determine exact |
| A wine making recipe will tell you how much of | | | | timing. This is because conditions will be different |
| each ingredient to add, depending on the type of | | | | for you and for me and for anyone else who is |
| grapes or grape concentrate you are using. | | | | making and bottling their own wine. An invaluable |
| The wine making process | | | | rule of thumb is to only bottle your wine when it |
| The first step in the wine making process will | | | | is really clear. When it's in the bottle it will continue |
| depend on whether you are using grapes or a | | | | fermenting gently and the taste will continue to |
| concentrate. If you are using grapes then these | | | | develop. |
| will need to be crushed. Then you will need to | | | | A final tip. Fill the bottle as much as possible, |
| activate the wine yeast in a bottle of tepid water. | | | | because any air left between the wine and the |
| Once all the ingredients have been mixed together | | | | cork can change the color of the wine. |