Do you just love fine wine? Why not make some yourself? The process can be very simple – at least, for starters. All you need are the right equipment and some grapes. Of course, you have to follow certain instructions. Otherwise, your wine may not turn out to be something you’ll be proud of when it’s time for your wine-tasting party. As long as you’re on the right track, and as long as you have the patience (the process can be a bit time-consuming), then you’re off to making some of the best domestic wines.
First off, you’ll need to get the materials. You can actually buy a kit where everything comes in – buckets, more buckets with airlocks are needed for the fermentation process, a destemmer, a winepress and a straining bag or hose. In order to determine alcohol and sugar content in your wine, you will need a hydrometer plus you can get an acid-level tester, although this is not necessary.
Definitely, you’re going to need something to make into wine. As a beginner, grapes will be good and simple. Get enough grapes that will make you about six gallons with some juice included. There are grapes that you can buy which are ready for wine-making, or you can also get grape juice instead to make the process easier. If you get the fruits, you can start pressing them to extract the juice, or you can use your winepress.
Once you have that juice, get your hydrometer to determine its sugar and alcohol content. When making wine, you’re going to have to have the reading between 9 to 13 percent. You can add sugar gradually as you go along until you achieve a reading within this range. Below this range means you’ll have to add sugar, and above it, you can add more juice.
Once you have the right reading, you can start the fermentation which is how the juice turns into wine. Pour the juice into an open container which you shouldn’t fill up to the brim because there’ll be a whole lot of bubbles during the process. You can now add your yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme and potassium bisulfite. You need to count 24 hours for the potassium bisulfite to work though. Expect to see bubbles for about half a day into the process. Then cover the container with a cloth and stir it with a spatula everyday for about five or six days.
After this, you can pour the mixture into another bucket (make sure it’s clean) that has air locks so the gas can escape. Also leave sediments on the first bucket and just have all liquid into the seconds completed. This means the sediments will settle on the bottom of your container and separate from the liquid. You have to keep moving your mixture until you notice it clearing, which means no more sediment. This can take anywhere from weeks to months.
