How to Make Wine at Home
by: Darryl Butler
In order to make wine at home you will need either grapes or a grape concentrate. If you have a sufficient growing area, you may choose to grow your own grapes and make wine from that. If you choose to use grape concentrate, keep in mind that you will need to use high quality grape concentrate. This can be purchased online as well as in wine and home brewing stores. Additionally, you will need yeast and brewing equipment. I would personally recommend if this is your first batch of wine you may wish to consider purchasing a wine kit rather than buying all of your equipment separately. After you had the opportunity to experiment with making wine and wish to persue it further then you might want to start accumulating various pieces of equipment for brewing larger batches of wine.
The following steps depends on whether you are using grapes or concentrate. If you are using grapes then the fruit will apparently need to be harvested first. After the grapes have been harvested, removal of the stems is essential. Removal of the stems is an absolutely requirered step, as very bitter tannins are contained in the stems and can have a heavy influence on the outcome of your wine.
Once the stems have been removed, the skins of the grapes will then need to be split in order to expel the juice from the fruit. Certainly there are many different ways in which to do this. Crushing is the preferable method for most winemakers. The degree to which the fruit is crushed will have an impact on the resulting wine. For those who wish to create a wine that has a fruity aroma then you may wish to leave the berries almost completely intact.
The next step is known as the primary fermentation. During this process the yeast cells contained in the wine will feed on the sugars. Alcohol and carbon dioxide is produced as a result. In some cases, you may wish to add additional yeast. This helps to ensure a stable and consistent conversion which may not be the case if you rely solely on the yeast that is found on the fruit itself.
Fermenting is a two step process, primarily juice will need to be extracted from the fruit. It should be noted that the juice that is extracted in this step is typically not as high in quality as the juice that is extracted during the crushing phase. This is because the juice that is extracted during crushing, known as free run juice, has had less contact with the stems and skins. This does not mean that press juice is useless; however. Even large wineries may choose to use press juice in order to increase their yield.
A secondary fermentation occurs after the pressing, simultaneously as the wine is aging. As the winemaker, it will be up to you to determine how long the wine should ferment.
Blending is an optional part of the process; however, one which can assist you in creating a highly customized wine. Blending is most commonly used in order to improve two or more batches which may be slightly lacking.
The last step of the process is bottling. The wine is poured into bottles and at times you may wish to add sulfites in order to help end fermentation as well as to preserve the wine. Finally, the bottle of wine is sealed with a cork.
Making wine at home is an enjoyable experience. As you learn more about the wine making process, you will likely gain a more thorough appreciation of wine.
About The Author: Darryl has been making wine at home for more than 5 years. As an avid wine enthusiast Darryl has built his own wine cellar. If you would like more information on how to make your own wine at home go to www.howtomakewineathome.net The author invites you to visit: http://www.howtomakewineathome.net
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