This is a question that is often asked by wine enthusiasts. How many people truly enjoy making and bottling their own wine? Is there really a market for the supplies and where can those who want to make their own wine go to purchase these supplies? In short, wine making has become increasingly popular. While it can be easier to go the local store and grab a couple of bottles of two buck chuck, imagine how much fun it can be to open a bottle for your friends that you make on your own.
Why Wine Making is Popular
• Cost – While it is not much more costly to make a gallon of wine than it is to purchase it, there is a sense of accomplishment when the fermentation and aging periods are over and you can actually drink your mature wine. The cost of the ingredients can actually be more than a gallon of wine, but the equipment is going to set you back initially.
• Ease – There are some wines that are incredibly easy to start off with. Mead and red wines are two of the easiest wines to make at home and are great wines for the beginning wine makers to try. There are recipes that are going to be more difficult that you can move on to after learning the easy ones.
• Versatility – When making your own wine, you have more diversity in the ingredients that are being used in it. Making a white wine with a peach flavor is quite easy when you have the technique down. While you may be able to purchase a peach flavored wine at a store, you can control what type of peaches and how many are used.
How to Get Started
• Purchase the Equipment – You are going to have to spend a bit of money initially on the equipment that is going to be used to prepare, ferment and distill the wine. This is going to be a one-time cost and can be figured out in the overall cost of making many bottles of your own vino.
• Find Wine Making Recipes – There are many places on the Internet that offer easy to difficult wine making recipes. Start with the easy ones and then work your way up to the hard ones so you are not going to be disappointed and give up on your adventure.
• Be Patient – The only way that you are going to be able to allow all the steps of wine making to get done is to be patient. If you rush any step, you are not going to have a good end product. Give the wine time to mature; this is the longest step in the process and the most important.
Sometimes the waiting is the hardest part – but it’s necessary…
In this world where many struggle to make ends meet, enjoying life is more important than ever. The problem gets compounded when you find yourself craving for a few small pleasures that have now moved out of your reach – such as a good glass of wine occasionally.
People get frustrated when they are unable to have a little enjoyment every once in a while. And when they do, their productivity goes down; their interaction quality gets down, and so on which can catapult a person into depression. It is better to find ways of indulging yourself every now and then, to prevent the possibility of depression. Many times, just a good glass of wine with a good hot meal can do wonders.
Wine can be expensive, true. However, there are many ways in which anyone can make quite good wine right at home with ingredients that are already there on the kitchen shelf. In fact, don’t miss out on this article. This means, you can make good wine at little expense to you, no need fancy tools, etc.
The basic tools you will need to make wine at home are simple too. You will need a container where you could measure a gallon of liquid. Then, you will need a normal cup to measure sugar. You will need a container with cover where you will have to agitate the mixture to mix it well. It has to be covered or you will not be able to shake it vigorously and hence the quality of your home-made wine will suffer.
You will need a water heater, where you will warm a bit of water to dissolve the yeast (or hydrate it). This could be done in a cup also.
Next you will a few balloons – actually you will need only one, but sometimes the balloon bursts and you will need to replace it fast, so it is always good to have 2-3 extra ones on hand. Since the balloon will need to be fixed very tightly to the mount of the container, it is good if you also have some twine or a good rubber band to fix it. It so happens that the fermentation will push the balloon off the container sometimes.
Once the wine is done (you will know the process is over when the balloon that was tied at the mouth of the container deflates) you will need to filter the wine through a strainer into another container. The strainer should be extra-extra fine since anything else will allow the residue pass through, giving you a murky wine. The wine should be totally crystal clear and a great tool is a clean piece of cheese cloth.
Once the wine has been strained thoroughly and has absolutely no dregs in it, your wine is ready for consumption. Before doing so, you would need to store in appropriate containers. Hence, you will need some nice bottles (there are a lot of fancy bottles available at very competitive prices) to pour it in. These bottles should be sealed ideally with a cork. So, for each bottle you should have an appropriately sized cork to the bottle can be sealed for storage.
Storage, brings us to the next step of tool requirement. You can store wine in the fridge – this would be for immediate use – and on a specifically designed for this purpose, wine rack. A wine rack makes it possible to keep the wine bottle in a reclined position, which is the best way to store it. The longer it stays this way, the better the wine becomes. So, the quality of the wine stack should be such that it can be used for a long time.
All in all – these are some basic steps you will need to make your own wine at home.
The process of racking involves siphoning the wine away from the sediment. Sediment is primarily comprised of inactive or dead yeast cells. While yeast is beneficial to the must in the beginning, over time it becomes multiplied many times over. As each new generation of yeast is produced, older generations die off. Most of what you will see at the bottom of your fermentation container is dead yeast cells.
As the fermentation nears the end of the cycle, there should be a significant amount of active yeast cells which are beginning to wind down because they are running out of fuel; or sugar. After the sugars have become consumed the active yeast will begin to starve and feed on itself. An enzyme will be produced that will break down the inactive yeast cells. The purpose of this is to release the nutrients in the dead yeast cells that can be used by the yeast cells that are still active. This process is called autolysis. Over a period of time, an otherwise perfectly good batch of wine may be ruined as a result of this process.
Racking is also important because it can assist in the clarification of the wine. If wine is not racked, the end result will be wine that may be clear on top; however, the bottom will be somewhat thick and hazy.
The racking process is not terribly difficult. In fact, it is quite simple. A siphon is necessary for racking. The key; however, is to make sure that you siphon off the wine without stirring up any of the sediment. It should be noted that while food grade hosing can be used many winemakers do prefer to use what is known as a racking tube in order to rack their wine. This is because, if you are not careful; using a hose to rack the wine can cause the sediment to become stirred up and it may also move around. A racking tube fits on the end of the hose and serves as a type of wand that gives you control over where in the container you draw the wine.
In the old days, wine was racked by manually sucking on the end of the hose; however, today there have been numerous advancements made in winemaking equipment. One of those advancements is an automatic siphon that works with a pump in order to start the siphoning action.
Keep in mind that during the first two to three rackings, it is not essential to remove all of the sediment. You should try to siphon as much of the wine liquid as possible; however, even if you do bring up a small amount of the sediment this will be fine. It is during the final racking that it becomes imperative that you make sure that all of the sediment is left behind with none following through into the wine.
After the fermentation process has been completed, it you still need to rack the wine (such as when storing wine long-term in bulk) it may be necessary to add Campden Tablets to the wine. The purpose of this is to ensure that any air that may have entered the wine during the racking process is driven out. Campden Tablets will also help to minimize oxidation. Keep in mind that this is not a problem when racking wine while the fermentation process is ongoing as the CO2 that is produced during fermentation will naturally eliminate any air that may have been introduced.
Racking is one of the most essential parts to making stellar wine. Generally, you will need to rack the wine at least two times and in some cases you may need to rack it as many as four times. Making sure that you rack in a timely fashion will ensure the wine is properly clarified as well as prevent off flavors.
If you are not familiar with racking, it is important to understand that racking does not refer to bottling the wine. This is a misinterpretation. Basically, racking involves siphoning the wine from one container to another. The purpose behind this is making sure that all of the sediment is left behind.
The first racking typically occurs about five days into the fermentation process. In some cases, you may wait one to two days; however, the first racking should always occur by day 7. This is because by this time you will need to place an air lock on the container in order to protect the wine must due to the fact that the fermentation has slowed down. Outside contaminant could easily influence the wine, so you will need to provide necessary protection using an air lock.
You will also usually find that at this point in the fermentation process at least 70% of the sediment will have already begun to appear. If you rack between days five and seven, this will be a good opportunity to get rid of most of the sediment. It will be some time before the remainder of the sediment appears. Racking at this point is also important because it presents you with a chance to remove pulp from the must. This is imperative if you used fresh fruit instead of concentrate. If you leave pulp in the must for any longer, you may find that your wine has a harsh taste.
The second racking should take place when the fermentation process has been completed. The amount of time necessary for this to occur may vary. In some cases it may take only a few days following the first racking while in other cases it could be several weeks following the first racking. The amount of time depends on how quickly the fermentation progresses. After you have completed the second racking, do take care to re-apply the air lock as the must will still need some time in order to clear.
The third racking should take place after the wine has become completely clear. This will give you the chance to get rid of any remaining sediment. Under specific circumstances, you may find that it is necessary to perform subsequent rackings. For example, when you are aging a heavy red wine in bulk, you may find it necessary to rack the wine approximately every three months or so. This is because some sediment may still occur over the course of the wine being stored in bulk for a long period of time.
In the event you decide to use clarifiers or finings you may also need to perform subsequent rackings. In this case, you would need to rack the wine once before the wine is treated and then once again after treatment. It should be noted that it is entirely possible to rack your wine too many times. This should be avoided as it can cause the wine to become over-oxidized.
Although the four main flavors – sweet, salty, sour, and bitter are all your tongue is really capable of tasting, the long lasting impression that wine leaves in your mouth is far more complex. When you drink or taste wine, your taste buds and your sense of smell are involved, adding to the way you interpret wine overall. The flavors, aromas, and sensations that wine is comprised of provide the interaction that you taste when you sample wine.
Sweetness is something that wines are well known for. With most types of wine, grapes are responsible for the sweet taste. Grapes contain a lot of sugar, which breaks the yeast down into alcohol. The grapes and yeast that were used to produce the wine will leave behind various sugars, which your tongue will be able to quickly detect. Once your tongue detects these various sugars, the stimulation of sweetness from the wine will be ever so present in your mouth.
Alcohol is also present in wine, although your tongue doesn’t really know how to decipher the taste of alcohol. Even though the tongue doesn’t really taste alcohol, the alcohol is present in the mouth. The alcohol found in wine will dilate blood vessels and therefore intensify all of the other flavors found in the wine. After you have samples a few types of wine, the alcohol level can easily have an effect on your taste buds, making it hard to distinguish other drinks that you may have.
Another flavor is acidity, which will effect the sugars. With the proper balance of acidity, the overall flavor of wine can be very overwhelming. Once you taste wine that contains it, the flavor of the acidity will be well known to your tongue. Although acidity is great with wine, too much of it will leave a very sharp taste. With the right levels, acidity will bring the flavors of the grape and fruits alive in your mouth – providing you with the perfect taste.
Yet another effect of flavor are tannins, which are the proteins found in the skins of grapes and other fruits. If a wine has the right amount of tannins, it will give your tongue a great feel, and bring in the sensations of the other flavors. Once a wine starts to age, the tannins will begin to breakdown in the bottle, giving you a softer feel to the taste. Tannins are essential for the taste of wine – providing the wine has been properly aged.
The last flavor associated with wine is oak. Although oak isn’t put into the wine during the manufacturing process, it is actually transferred during the aging process, as most wines will spend quite a bit of time in oak barrels. Depending on how long the wine is left in the oak barrel or cask, the ability to extract the flavor will vary. Most often times, wine will be aged just enough to where the oak taste is visibly there – and adds the perfect sentiment to the taste.
Although there are other flavors involved with the taste of wine, they aren’t as present as those listed above. The above flavors are the most present in wine, and also the flavors that you need to get more familiar with. Before you try to taste wine or distinguish flavors, you should always learn as much you can about the components responsible for the flavors. This way – you will know more about what you are tasting and you’ll truly be able to appreciate wine.
One of the most common questions you may have when you begin considering making homemade wine is what type of wine you should make. There are certainly plenty of different types of wines from which to choose. Understanding the different types of wines can help you to narrow down the choices and select the type that would be best for your first, or your next, batch of wine.
First, it is important to understand that while wine is generally made from grapes, you can actually use practically any type of vegetable matter to make wine. When grapes are used to make wine, they fall into three categories. They are red, white and rosè; a pinkish white wine.
Red wines are not only different in color from white wines and rosè wines but they also have flavors that are stronger and richer. The exact color of a red wine can vary from russet brown to full red to a dark purple color. It is the skin of the grapes that give red wines their color.
White wines typically have a more delicate flavor. The actual color of white wines can vary from the palest yellow to a deep gold. Some white wines can even have a pale green color.
Rosè wines, also known as blush wines, are made with the same grapes as are used in red wines; however, they are submitted to a much shorter period of contact with the skin of the grapes. This results in a delicate blush color.
There are several different types of well known white wines. Chardonnay is one of the most popular types of white wines along with Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling.
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the most popular types of red wines. Other popular reds include Grenache, merlot, pinot noir and Zinfandel.
It is also important to understand the sugar content of wine. Wines with less amounts of sugar are drier. You have probably noted that wines are classified in the store with numbers 1-3. Higher numbered wines have more sugar and are therefore sweeter.
You should also understand the difference between various types of wines and how they are typically served.
Apèfitif wines are commonly served prior to a meal. They are commonly produced in either herbed or non-herbed varieties. The purpose of this type of wine is to stimulate the appetite; however, they are not frequently served with meals.
Table wine is commonly served with dinner at the table. This type of wine is commonly dry and for a very specific purpose. It is meant to compliment the food instead of compete with it. Typically, a white wine is served with white meat while red wine is served with red meat. The reasoning behind this is that white wine flavors tend to subtle in a similar fashion to the flavors of white meats. Red meats are stronger flavored and do well with red wines, which are also stronger flavored. With a rosè, there is more flexibility. If the wine in question is somewhat dry, it will go with either red or white meat.
Dessert wines, of course, are served at dessert because they tend to be quite sweet. When dessert wines are served at other times, the sweetness of the wine can seem to be overwhelming.
After-dinner wines are also sweet; however, they tend to be served as one would guess; after dinner. While after-dinner wines may be spirits they could also be wines that are fermented. Brandy, sherry, port and liqueurs all fall into this category.
Sometimes the waiting is the hardest part – but it’s necessary…
The process of racking involves siphoning the wine away from the sediment. Sediment is primarily comprised of inactive or dead yeast cells. While yeast is beneficial to the must in the beginning, over time it becomes multiplied many times over. As each new generation of yeast is produced, older generations die off. Most of what you will see at the bottom of your fermentation container is dead yeast cells. 
