november2014

Step One - Choose your recipe

and fruit

For your first attempt at winemaking,

it is usually best to stick to a simple,

straightforward recipe for grape wine.

You probably have familiarity as to

what a grape wine should taste like,

and it’s usually easy to find suitable

grapes or grape concentrate. Re-

member to inspect your fruit carefully.

Crush a couple of grapes between

your fingers and taste the juice. If you

have purchased a hydrometer, use it

to measure the grapes’ sugar content.

It should be between 22 and 24 brix,

which means that the alcohol content

of the wine will be approximately 11

percent. Next, thoroughly wash fruit,

removing any debris or insects. Throw

out any grapes that appear to be rot-

ting. Make sure to remove the stems

from the grapes. The stems can cause

a wine to taste bitter.

Step Two - Wash your equip-

ment

It is essential that you begin with a

sanitary environment and absolutely

clean equipment before starting the

process of making wine. Used bot-

tles, in particular, should

be sterilized before being

used again.

Step Three -

Extract flavor

Depending on

the recipe that

you are follow-

ing, you will

need to

extract

the aro-

ma and

flavor

of the

fruit by

crush-

ing,

chop-

ping,

soaking,

Primary fermentation container

(4-gallon food grade quality heavy plastic container with lid)

Secondary fermentation containers (2 or 3 1-gallon glass jugs)

Bung

(Rubber cork for the airlock to fit in, should fit into secondary

fermentation container)

Airlock

Large nylon mesh straining bag

6 feet of clear plastic ½” tubing

5 wine bottles for one gallon of wine

Corks (size #9 fits standard wine bottles)

Hand corker

Hydrometer (measures sugar content)

Other items that are useful but not essential are:

Thermometer

Acid titration kit (measures acid level)

Grape press (essential if you are making wine from fresh grapes)

Thermometer

All of these items can be found at a winemaking supply store.

While shopping for equipment, make sure to pick up the following

specific ingredients that you will need to add to your wine:

Campden tablets

Wine yeast

Yeast nutrient

Pectic enzyme

Grape tannin

Acid blend

You will need:

pressing,

or boiling.

The

extracted fruit

called “must.”

Make

sure to

fol-

low the

recipe’s

instructions

carefully

with this pro-

cedure. It

can make or

break the

quality of the

wine. Once

extracted,

the must will be placed in a primary

fermentation container.

Step Four - Blend Additives

There is more to wine than just fruit,

and these other ingredients are neces-

sary to the flavor, quality, and shelf life

of your vintage. Pay close attention to

the order in which you blend in addi-

tives. Additives are generally blended

with the must in the primary fermenta-

tion container. However, the yeast may

not be added in until days after the

other additives are blended.