Making Wine From Home

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 5 to 7 days, siphon the wine into a secondary fermentation container, but be careful to leave sediments behind. Seal the container with an airlock in order to prevent oxidation of your wine. Let the wine ferment an additional 5 to 7 weeks until the wine is clear. Fermentation will be initially active evidenced by the constant bubbling in the airlock. Refrain from opening the container too early risking contaminating your wine. Patience is very much a virtue here.

Step 4 – Racking the Wine: Sediments, also know as lees, are created during the fermentation process and settle to the bottom of the container. The lees are primarily dead yeast cells that need to be removed before they adversely affect your wine’s flavor. This sediment removal process is called racking. It is possible to over rack your wine so be careful. Over racking can slow down or even halt fermentation while unwanted oxidation and organisms can be introduced into your wine.

Step 5 – Bottling the Wine: One last racking of your wine is necessary to remove all residual sediment in your wine before its bottled. Campden tablets can be added at this point to remove any lingering yeast or bacteria from the wine. Now you’re ready to bottle your wine. Most winemaker’s making homemade wine will use traditional wine bottles and corks, however you do have other alternatives available.

Step 6 – Drinking Your Wine: Saving the best step for last, now we’re ready to taste the fruits of your labor. Professional wine maker’s keep a detailed journal noting what they did on each batch and the distinguishing characteristics that resulted to replicate or improve the next batch.

Making wine from home can be a fun and rewarding hobby. Like any new hobby, there is a learning curve that one needs to come up. But with a bit of patience and a willingness for trial and error you’ll be developing just the taste you like. Nothing is quite like the feeling you get when opening a bottle of your wine and you know you’re the one who made. On top of that, it even taste as good or better than the expensive stuff at the store.

Bob Lystra is a wine connoisseur 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 website at www.winefromhome.com to discover where he learned how to make homemade wine.