Whether working from fresh fruit or juice concentrate, you can easily make your own wine at home. With a few basic supplies and a bit of practice, you should be bottling a spectacular vintage in no time. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Instructions
1. Pick a wine recipe. You should consider the equipment needed, the type of fruit, the length of fermentation and aging, the additional ingredients and the amount of work required to prepare the recipe.
2. Gather the necessary equipment. While you can do much of the work by hand, your own press or crusher puts less strain on you. You will also need a container to ferment and age the wine, plus bottles for storing. If you don't trust your palate, pick up an acid-titration kit.
3. Pick your fruit. Make sure the grapes, or other fruit, are ripe. Beyond using fresh fruit, you can use juice or concentrate to make your own wine.
4. Press your fruit, creating a must or juice. Sugar and acid levels should be checked and the temperature should be monitored. The exact numbers for each of these elements depends on the type of wine you are making.
5. Ferment the fruit. You may need to add yeast or other ingredients to aid in fermentation.
6. Keep your eye on the "Brix" of the wine, which is the measurement of sugar. You can buy a simple hydrometer with which to measure. Wine made with grapes should have a 22-degree Brix on average. Check your recipe for specifics.
7. Rack the wine by transferring fermenting wine away from the sediment into another fermentation jug, using a siphon. This delicate process is optional for homemade wine.
8. Transfer the wine from the fermentation tank to a barrel or bottle for aging. Not all wines need to be aged, but you may wish to experiment with the flavors provided by the process. For wines made with grapes, you should expect to age the wine at for least 6 months.
Tags: fresh fruit, fresh fruit juice, fruit juice, fruit juice concentrate, grapes should, juice concentrate