If you have an ordinary grape growing in your house, and you don't even know what this variety is called, congratulations! From this simple variety, you can make an excellent grape wine at home, the main thing is to follow the recipe and not violate the technology.
When the grapes are ripe, and only you will know about this, because the varieties are all different and the ripening period is different for everyone, harvest it. Two large buckets of grapes will make approximately 10 liters of wine.
Go through, remove garbage, leaves, but in no case wash, because there are useful wild yeast on the skin of the fruit that causes alcoholic fermentation.
If you leave the twigs, the drink will acquire the aroma inherent in this variety, we make grape wine at home, observing all the rules. I never remove twigs !!
The bunches should be carefully suppressed. They do it in different ways. With the help of special devices or by hand (if there are few grapes). We prefer to push with our feet, in the old-fashioned way. This is my grandson's favorite pastime from an early age; winemaking also unites the whole family.
Fold the crushed berries (pulp) into a container, filling it by about two-thirds. Wood, glass, enamel or food grade plastic. These containers are now sold in any size. Everything related to wine should be forgotten about metal. It is very important to interfere with all this with a wooden spatula, just break it several times a day. This is in order to extract useful substances from the skin.
On the fourth day, you must drain the fermented juice (wort). If it is already late autumn and the room is cool, you can drain it on the 5th day. But if you didn't drain on the fifth day, on the sixth you can safely pour it down the drain, or make wine vinegar.
On the day when you drain, you do not need to interfere with the wort. Let the hat go up. Remove it and crush it through the press. If there is no press - with your hands. When there are few grapes, you can separate the wort from the pulp with the help of improvised means: gauze, colander. But if you have a large number of grapes, it is better to get a press.
It is necessary to immediately measure the exact amount of wort squeezed out. I add 200 grams of sugar to 1 liter of liquid. I put on fire and heat up to 45 - 48 degrees, stirring constantly so that the sugar does not remain undissolved. The future grape wine immediately comes to life and begins to play.
Pour into bottles, close the lid with a water seal and write the date directly on the container. It's safer this way! Our wort stands and gurgles for 21 days. More is possible, less - in no case.
At the right time, the liquid must be drained through a tube. There will be a lot of sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Everything is already young wine, but we still have to work on it.
We close it tightly with lids and put in a cool place for forty days. But, as practice has shown, the first forty days should not be tightly closed with lids, but better with lids with a water seal. Because it can rip off the lid, the remaining yeast is still playing out. Then carefully drain. At the bottom there will be a soft sediment, but not much.
We put it again for 40 days, during this time a solid sediment forms at the bottom of the bottle (almost a stone that is deposited in the kidneys if you drink bad wine). Gently drain and close for the third time and forget about it for another 40 days. Three times for 40 days.
Now we are pouring out a wonderful drink, grape wine made at home can stand for decades and only improve every year, acquire a noble color and a peculiar aroma (remember, I said not to cut off the branches). In the wine that I make, I definitely add one cap, from a bottle, for 0.5 liters of Jodis - a concentrate that keeps it from any wine diseases.
I have a bottle of wine from the 2000 harvest - Millennium. I will open it when my grandson turns 18. Wine will be 15 years old! This is my signature homemade wine recipe. And I will never give it up.
PS. I am writing the answer to the reader's question for everyone. The first time I add 200 or 250 grams of sugar is when I separated the pulp from the wort. I pour all the wine into a large container, put it on the fire and stir the sugar with my hand. I put it on 21 days, under a water seal. After 21 days, or a little more (less is impossible), I remove it from the yeast, that is, I drain it from the sediment and try it. If there is not enough sugar, I add another 100 or 50 grams per liter of wine. Count how many liters you have. Take the right amount of sugar. In a separate container, mix some wine and dissolve sugar in the same way over the fire. Then pour the wine with the dissolved sugar into a common container and place under a water seal for 40 days. Then drain and let it stand a second time for 40 days, then a third time for 40 days. Read the article carefully again. Now you will understand and remember more, because you already have practice and experience. Yes, I want to say that in 2013 wine does not require a lot of sugar. (
Making homemade grape wine begins with picking the bunches and crushing the berries. The process itself requires a responsible approach, knowledge and adherence to technology. The result is a healthy and tasty drink with a unique bouquet.
Types of grape wines
The division of wines is based on their quality, color, alcohol and sugar content, and the use of certain types of vine. Depending on the quality, the wine can be:
- ordinary (private) with an exposure of 3 months, without special merits;
- vintage with aging from 1.5 years, high quality;
- collectible with aging in bottles from 3 years, of the highest quality and taste.
If we talk about home wines, then the ordinary type prevails here, although some amateur winemakers manage to create a high quality drink at home. They carefully preserve their recipe, respect the proportions, use certain grape varieties.
Many people know about the division of wines into types, depending on the sugar content in them. It is convenient to compare them in the table.
Homemade wine is made from grapes grown by your own hands or bought on the market or from a neighbor. Almost any variety is suitable, but the fermentation time and the final taste of the grape wine will depend on its choice. Quite often made from Isabella and Lydia varieties. These varieties are resistant to diseases, are not afraid of frost and icing, give a large harvest, and therefore are so popular.
In the countries of the European Union and the United States, wines from Lydia and Isabella are prohibited because they contain methanol (methyl alcohol). In the grapes of these varieties there is a substance that, during the fermentation process, turns into methyl alcohol, and it affects the organs of vision, liver and kidneys. Interestingly, fresh grapes and grape juice are absolutely safe and even healthy.
Despite this, they continue to be active at home. So that it does not harm, it is advised to drink in moderation, for example, 1-2 glasses at dinner. Quality poisoning 
wine? Isabella? not fixed. Sometimes it can give you a headache from overuse. Every person who grows Isabella grapes has his own recipe for making wine. Housewives use Isabella wine to marinate meat, which is not harmful to health.
Bunches of ripe grapes are cut with pruning shears on a clear, fine day, preferably the day before there was no rain either. If you plan to make wine out of it, never wash it. Whichever recipe you take, it will be written there that the berries cannot be washed. On their surface there is wild yeast that causes fermentation, and without fermentation, wine will not work.
Crushing and fermentation
Before crushing, the grapes are sorted out, the leaves, rotten berries are discarded. It should be noted here that grapes can be crushed with and without ridges (branches). If you leave the ridges, then the berries will be easier to knead, fermentation will be better, but the wine will be more tart. If the ridges are removed, the taste of the grape wine will become thinner, more pleasant, but the fermentation will slow down. It is better in this case to separately prepare the sourdough on the pulp and add it already.
The crushed, crushed grapes are called pulp. The berries are crumpled with your feet, hands or a crush in a stainless steel container until the juice is released. It is necessary to knead each berry. There is a video showing how to crush grapes using a drill and a homemade nozzle. Hand presses are also used. When using electrical or mechanical devices at home, care must be taken to ensure that bones and ridges do not collapse.
Fermentation is carried out in a warm place in a large stainless container (bucket, barrel, cylinder, saucepan, etc.). You cannot fill it to the top. Usually the container is filled to 4/5 or 2/3, taking into account the fact that the volume will increase during fermentation. You can cover it with gauze, a thin towel, or a loose lid.
It is not recommended to use containers made of copper and aluminum. An excellent option is earthenware, wood, glass and enamel 
container. As you watch the video, you will notice that this is the one used.
When the pulp begins to rise, it must be stirred several times a day. It's a must, no matter what recipe you have! Stirring prevents the wine from souring and enhances fermentation.
Make sure that the hat made of the pulp does not rise more than 5 cm from the edge. A layer of carbon dioxide forms above the cap, which prevents oxygen from entering the container. If fermentation has become too strong, then the container should be cooled slightly or moved to a cooler place.
Removal from sediment
4-6 days after the start of fermentation, the pulp is removed and squeezed. The juice from it is called wort. For wringing at home, use a stainless steel drushlag with very small holes, gauze or rare canvas fabric. In the future, some experts prepare moonshine on the basis of the pulp.
The grape juice fermented in the container is drained. This process is called "stripping". All sediment is left at the bottom, and the juice is poured into another clean and dry container. It is convenient to use a flexible hose for removal, one end of which is immersed in the juice so that it does not touch the sediment. You can watch the video if you have no idea how to do it.
Adding sugar and water
Mixing with water is due to the fact that the berries contain fruit acids. If the variety is not very sweet, the wine can end up sour. To reduce the acidity of homemade wine, pour in water in the amount of 30-50% of the volume of grape juice. There are devices for determining the acidity of wine. The acidity should not be less than 0.6%. Is it optimal? 0.8-1%
If the grapes are very sweet and ripe well, then sugar may not be added to them. But in the northern regions this practically does not happen, therefore, in many recipes, in particular on the video, it is recommended to fill it up. You can determine the sugar content using a sugar meter, scientifically called 
hydrometer-vinometer.
Granulated sugar is diluted in juice or water and added at a time or in portions. The resulting wine material should stand at room temperature and ferment. To restrict air access, a water seal is made, a rubber glove or plastic bag is put on, the neck is tightly wrapped. Several very small holes are punctured in the bag (glove) so that it does not rip off.
Further fermentation and settling
Fermentation lasts about a month. You can observe it by bubbles gurgling in water, or by an inflated glove (bag). When the fermentation subsides, the wine material is drained using a flexible hose, the sediment is thrown away. If necessary, add a second portion of the dissolved sugar and again set to ferment under the gate.
Finally, the wine is poured into jars or bottles and placed in a dark and cool place. This could be a basement, a cool closet, or a closet on the balcony. The drink must be allowed to stand for at least a month for the tartar to fall out.
In the process of settling, the wine can be drained from the sediment several times, this makes it more transparent. Well, the final stage will be tasting.
Knowing the basic steps, you can make wine from any variety of white or red grapes. You can achieve the perfect result with constant practice. When cooked correctly, it is very healthy, it certainly does not contain any preservatives or dyes.
Training on? Isabella?
Now is the time to learn with a specific example how to make a divine drink. We suggest trying a recipe in which 10 kg of grapes of the? Isabella? there is 2.5-3 kg of sugar.
If everything was done correctly, then you will have 6 liters of excellent semi-dry. The longer it stays, the brighter it will become. Store bottles horizontally.
Adding water when making wine
Perhaps someone has come across a recipe for wine made with water. Adding water is really practiced. It is necessary to reduce the acidity of the drink. We offer a recipe with water, in which you can use any variety of wine grapes. Try making wine and you will see how much better it is than the cheap store wines.
There is a recipe in which it is proposed to add 50% water, but as a result, the wine from the grapes is too watery, unsaturated. Whichever recipe you choose, with or without water, write it down and stick to it strictly. If you like the taste of the drink, then you can easily repeat it.
The presented recipe is good because you can use any amount of grapes for it. And how much water and sugar to take, the volume of the resulting juice will tell. After all, grapes can be juicy and not very juicy. Sometimes bunches are harvested even with berries slightly dried in the sun, there is little juice in them.
Try it yourself at least once. This is a very exciting process, and as simple as it might seem at first glance.
Surely, many lovers of good wine at least once in their lives have had the idea of making this drink on their own, but only to embody it - only a few decide. Some fear inexperience, others try unsuccessful recipes or simply violate the cooking technology, relying on luck.
And completely in vain, because a step-by-step recipe is the basis of the basics, which, with due attention, will give you a wonderful home-made grape wine. The process of its preparation is quite simple, but laborious, therefore our main tool is attentiveness... This is a real assistant at each stage of wine making, with which everything will go “like clockwork” even among the pioneers!
Do not forget that the history of winemaking goes back thousands of years and dates back to the Neolithic era, because it was then - more than 9 thousand years ago - that the people of the Stone Age first tried to make wine from grapes and other berries.
Moreover, they managed to master this art so well that our contemporaries still find wine artifacts of antiquity: the famous wine, which was made in 4000 BC, was discovered in 2010 in one of the caves of Armenia (and this is only one of dozens of cases). Dare and you - everything will definitely work out!
A little bit of enthusiasm before the "fight": the mass production of various grape wines, which are engaged in thousands of factories around the world, will never compare to the taste of a homemade drink made from grapes. Fresh, with an incomparable aroma and a bright play of natural shades - it clearly will not give way to store competitors on your table!
Wine made from grapes will turn out to be pleasant from any kind of berries - both sweet and with a pronounced sourness, so the question of choosing the future raw material is unlimited. Many winemakers even experiment by mixing different grape varieties, as the taste benefits from this.
Sorts like "Druzhba", "Stepnyak" or "Saperavi" are among the most popular due to the abundant sugar content in their composition, due to which the taste of the drink becomes richer and sweeter. They compete with "Isabella" and "Lydia" - the owners of an unusual taste, which is difficult to confuse with any other variety. True, they contain a little less sugar, so the amount in the recipe will be higher.
The names of such names as “Chardonnay”, “Merlot”, “Aligote” or “Pinot Blanc” lead the rating of grape varieties. The moderate amount of sugars and pliable pulp of these berries allow you to get the maximum juice capacity without much effort. However, if you follow the cooking recipes in stages, each of the varieties gives an abundant liquid.
An important detail: wine from table grape variety does not differ in taste from a drink from technical varieties. The key difference between them lies in the purpose, which determines the structure of the berry itself.
Canteens are distinguished by their large size, external aesthetics, have elasticity and perfectly tolerate transportation, therefore, they are more often beautiful - they are eaten fresh. Technical varieties are always small, they have little "marketable" appearance, and the berries themselves are easily choked already during harvesting.
The technical stages of home winemaking
Wine from grapes of all varieties can be made at home using a simple recipe:
- 10 kg of grapes;
- 50-150 g of sugar per 1 liter of juice.
The proportions of sugar are average, since each winemaker changes the amount according to his own taste - some like it sweeter, others prefer more restrained notes. Overkill or shortage will not affect the technology, so feel free to shift the boundaries and adjust the sweetness of the wine according to the sensations, observing simple rules (we will tell you about their importance below).
And now we will briefly outline the entire front of work and break down the points on how to properly prepare the wine:
- prepare the necessary inventory;
- prepare and process grapes;
- get juice, explore it;
- prepare the wort with high quality;
- leave for vigorous fermentation;
- pour the drink, leave to ferment quietly;
- leave for ripening and aging;
- pour into containers and send for storage.
The wine, made step by step and in a timely manner to each stage, will delight you with a pleasant taste and become a welcome addition to your dinner. And now from words to deeds!
We prepare tools and dishes for work
Prepare a large container made of glass or wood of any species that will hold the entire serving of grapes. You can also use clay dishes or simple enamel bowls, the most important thing is to exclude any contact of berries with uncoated metal objects (iron bowls, pots, etc.).
It takes literally 15 minutes for the juice to start an irreversible reaction with alcohol, therefore, at best, the wine made from grapes will lose its taste, and at worst, it will completely deteriorate. If there is no suitable container at home, use a food-grade plastic container - this is an extreme option, but it will provide protection against reaction.
In order for a wine made with your own hands to please with an excellent result, you should give preference to glass. It is the optimal material for fermentation, which does not interact at all with what it was filled with. If the choice fell on barrels made of wood, then they must be washed and fumigated with sulfur (other methods of disinfection are ineffective here).
Traditional trampling of raw materials for wine
Make sure that your hands, every object and container are perfectly clean and dry. It is advisable to clean the entire inventory with soda or a neutral dishwashing detergent, then rinse thoroughly under running water. Wipe dry with a cotton cloth and leave for 10 minutes to dry completely. So homemade grape wine will receive a reliable shield against bacteria and souring.
Choose handy tools for extracting juice from stainless steel. These can be meat grinders or juicers, in which press parts are made of high-quality materials. If you prefer to squeeze the juice by hand, put on sterile gloves (available from every pharmacy). The second method is more successful, since the bones, which give the wine a bitter taste, will not be crushed in this way.
By the way, in Moldovan villages juice is traditionally extracted with feet, trampling berries with bare feet. It doesn't look appetizing, but the wine is excellent!
We collect and prepare grapes for processing
Wine from grapes requires extremely ripe berries, and for dessert wines - even slightly overripe, since they contain more sugar. It is necessary to assemble the bunches in dry weather to exclude the appearance of moisture. Throw away spoiled or unripe grapes without regret, since there is no benefit from them, but they can pretty much spoil the taste.
Process immediately after harvest or within 2 days after. This way, your raw materials will retain the maximum amount of juice and sweetness, and the wilting process will not be taken by surprise.
If the grapes were bought in a store or at the market, do not wash the fruits, as their quality will noticeably decrease. Wild yeast, which concentrates on the surface of the fruit and is necessary for fermentation, will be washed off with water and fermentation will be threatened (this also applies to the recipe for making homemade wine with a base of special wine yeast).
Moving on to the extraction of grape juice
First, you should decide in what way you want to make grape wine - "white" or "red". The name of each technique reflects the color of the drink and the variety of berries that are used to make it.
The “red” is based on the fermentation of the wort on the pulp or skins, due to which the drink gets aromatic, very bright and saturated with antioxidants. Fermentation takes place with natural yeast. The basis of "white" is the fermentation of pure juice with minimal fermentation on the pulp (no more than 10-12 hours), as well as the use of wine yeast or CKD (in winemaking - pure yeast cultures).
Let's start grinding grapes. You can crush it with wooden pushers, spoons, clean hands or even feet (the main thing is the result, and the appetite will come during the tasting!). In the case of making grape wine using ČKD, add “Pyrosulfite” to the raw material after grinding.
The special powder has antioxidant properties, and also blocks the growth of fungal environment, bacteria and other fermentation pests. On average, this is 25 mg of the substance per 1 kg of grapes. Here you need to look at the quality of the berries: if they have been waiting for processing for a long time and the appearance has deteriorated, increase the dose up to 50 mg. For homemade wort according to the "white" method, the calculation is as follows: from 70 to 100 mg per 1 kg of raw material.
After that, it is necessary to add wine yeast to the grapes, since "Pyrosulfite" is rich in sulfur substances, which neutralize the effect of wild yeast. In case there is “sulfur” in stock, but it was not possible to buy CKD - make a regular ferment 5 days before the start of processing (from 1 kg of berries, “miniature” wort is prepared, and then sent to the main container).
Back to grapes with natural yeast. We transfer the carefully chopped berries together with the juice into glass containers with a wide neck (if there is no glass, take stainless steel or plastic dishes). We fill the container by ¾ so that the wine cannot "escape" in the process.
Cover the dishes with a clean gauze cloth, place them in a dark place and leave to ferment for 3-5 days. Keep an eye on the ambient temperature: + 25- + 28 ° C for red wines, + 16 + 22 ° C for whites (lowering the temperature will stop the yeast from working).
You will have to visit the wort 2-3 times a day every day. The pulp, which will collect on the surface, must be knocked down with a wooden spatula. Such a measure will not allow the development of mold, which can form very quickly during fermentation. The primary fermentation can be increased from 5 to 14 days if desired for a more tart flavor and richness.
Cooking must - the basis of grape wines
The main concern here is the level of sugar and acidity. It is very difficult to determine these indicators at home, since you will need a hydrometer - a special device for measuring. Relying on summary tables for varieties, in which there is information about sugar content, does not bring practical benefit, since it is important to take into account not only the variety, but also the climate in which the grapes grew. But there is a simple and very sure way out: try the juice. The evaluation criterion is pleasant sweetness without cloying notes.
So let's add sugar. We do this gradually, without filling up the entire volume as a whole, and constantly try. Keep in mind that 2% of the sugar in the wort is equal to 1% of the pure alcohol in the prepared wine. If you leave the wort without sugar, the final strength will be 10% out of 14% possible, and the taste of the drink will be with zero percent sweetness. On the contrary, if you overdo it with sugar, the concentration of alcohol will increase significantly, and the yeast will stop doing its job. Therefore, follow the recipe for red or white grape wine, observing the measure.
It's time to determine the acidity of the prepared wort. Formal indicators average 6 g for red wine, and 8 g for white. The method is the same - we focus on our own feelings. If the juice turns out to be sour, feel free to dilute with water, lowering the acidity. Use universal proportions: add 3 parts water to 1 part juice.
As soon as the taste indicators return to normal, we begin to pour the wine into large glass bottles with a narrow neck (you can take similar ones from plastic). We do not fill in the liquid completely, leaving a free space (from 5 to 10 cm) for the foam, which will certainly form.
We close the container with a water seal, which will ensure the release of carbon dioxide and prevent the drink from souring. If there is no hose for a water seal at home, an ordinary sterile glove will do, where you need to make a hole on one of the fingers with a thin needle to drain the gases.
The stage of violent fermentation begins
Grape wine is quite demanding in terms of ambient temperatures, which directly determine the result of fermentation. So, at home, red wines at the current stage need temperatures from +20 to +25 ° C, whites - from +12 to +18 ° C. The minimum value is +10 ° C, and even more lack of heat will put the yeast "freezing".
On the contrary, an excessively high concentration of heat (from + 35 ° C) can completely destroy the yeast fungi, so be careful. The exception is wine yeast, which can ferment effectively in extreme heat, but not every type of CKD is capable of this. Protect bottles with fermenting wine from possible drafts and direct sunlight - these two factors can change the heat regime, reducing the quality of the drink.
Now the bottles can be put in a secluded place and not disturbed for the entire fermentation period. Once the yeast has processed all the sugar, new bubbles will stop or become extremely rare. Another signal of the end of vigorous fermentation will be a deflated glove and a cloudy yeast sediment at the bottom of the container.
Pour the drink and send it to quiet fermentation
To do this, we place the container on a table or chair, focusing on a height of 50-60 cm from the floor. Using a siphon (a simple soft hose), carefully pour the liquid into a new container, trying not to disturb the bottom with sediments. It is impossible to be lazy and skip the transfusion stage, since the yeast mass, continuing to contact with the drink, will completely ruin its taste and aroma.
Homemade wine made from grapes still retains a dull hue during this period, but there is no need to worry: it will still have time to become transparent and slightly lighten. Try a drink and check your sugar level. If it is not enough, feel free to add more, since at the stage of quiet fermentation it does not convert into alcohol.
Fill the bottle up to the neck to avoid any contact with oxygen, and close the lid (or a stencil / glove if sugar has been added again). The container with wine must be located in a dark and cool place, where the air temperature is kept within + 5 + 16 ° C (the ideal option is a cellar or basement). The main condition is not to allow temperatures above + 18 + 20 ° C, because only in this case it will be possible to make a truly delicious homemade wine.
Ripening period and aging
The minimum aging period is 1.5 months for white wines, and 2 to 3 months for reds. The longer the wine matures, the better its quality (bottles can be aged for 1 year). If a small sediment appears on the bottom of the container, overflow is done again using a soft hose. The fine sediment will not affect the palatability, but getting rid of it will contribute to the clarification of homemade wine made from grapes.
At the ripening stage, the recipe for wine from ripe grapes is no longer adjusted for sugar, and it is advisable to store the bottle at rest, not moving it from place to place (only dividing the pouring if necessary).
The wine is ready: we bottle it and send it to storage
The first step is to prepare bottles with airtight lids, and ideally with long corks that can be used to conveniently seal the neck. However, any closable containers will do - even cans! This is just a matter of aesthetics and does not affect storage quality.
The technology for producing white and red wine at home does not require special devices, but cleanliness of hands and working tools is a key condition for obtaining the desired result. Therefore, it is much more important to thoroughly rinse and dry the container: this will protect the drink from the invasion of bacteria, preserving its wonderful aroma and taste.
You need to fill the bottles to the middle of the neck so that there is literally 1.5-2 cm of free space between the cork / cap. After bottling and corking, the wine is again sent to a cool place for storage. By the way, if you closed them with corks, then you should store them exclusively in the "lying" position (this will preserve the elasticity of the cork and the tightness of the blockage).
Grape wines are completely unpretentious in preparation, but they require constant attention in the first stages - mixing, churning the pulp and maintaining the optimum temperature. In the routine of everyday affairs, you can easily forget about it, and soon say goodbye to wine, which has become covered with a moldy film. To prevent this from happening, arm yourself with an alarm clock: at the right time, it will surely remind you of an important matter.
Making wine from grapes, especially at home, will require careful attention to the process. Therefore, while preparing and crushing grapes, do not be distracted by extraneous matters: you can imperceptibly "enrich" the juice with many bacteria that lie in wait for your hands even on a kitchen towel. In ordinary cooking, they are not scary, but with active fermentation of the drink, they can "come out sideways".
Homemade grape wine has always enjoyed considerable popularity at any table, so every winemaker, even a beginner, is happy to try to create wines according to various recipes, including the classic version - from grapes.
Here is a recipe for an excellent grape wine: step by step and simply at home (with a photo and instructions).
Choosing the right crop for your wine
To make grape wine (and not only homemade) really tasty and aromatic, it is necessary to use exclusively high-quality and, most importantly, the right product - wine varieties to create it.
Berries of these varieties are characterized by their small size and density of arrangement on a bunch. Below are some valuable tips from experienced winemakers regarding the selection and preparation of wine materials:
Advice. The grapes harvested for making wine should not be washed, because the white bloom that forms on it is nothing more than wine yeast. It is possible to rinse or even wash the grapes only when a sourdough with high-quality wine yeast is used.
The harvested grapes should be separated from the ridges, sorted out, removing all unsuitable, including dried and moldy berries. After preliminary selection, the berries are poured in small batches into a deep container and crushed. You can use a regular potato crush or meat grinder. The berries should be crushed very carefully so that each of them gives off all its juice.
Wine making process
Making quality wine is a fairly simple process if you strictly follow all stages of the recipe. The following is a step-by-step process for making wine.
Fermentation of the pulp
The finished pulp or crushed berries, previously separated from the combs, are poured into a suitable container and tightly covered with a cotton cloth. Keep in mind that the container should only be 2/3 full of wine material.
The container with the pulp is installed in a room with a strict temperature regime, ranging from 18 to 23 degrees. If the temperature is higher than the second mark, the pulp may ferment too intensely, which as a result turns it into vinegar. If the temperature is below the first mark, the fermentation process may proceed too slowly or even not start at all.
So, after a few days, the fermentation process will begin and the must (juice, which is, in fact, young grape wine), will begin to separate from the pulp. The pulp and wort should be thoroughly mixed every day, otherwise the first will simply turn sour and the taste of the not yet finished product will be spoiled.
Preparation of grape must
After 5-7 days after the start of fermentation, the pulp should be carefully squeezed out, thus separating the wort from it. The first squeezing is carried out through a colander, the second - through several layers of gauze. The purified wort should be good. To do this, it is poured into a clean container (it should be filled only 3/4) and tightly closed with a stopper with a tube.
Attention! Experienced winemakers believe that the separation of the pulp from the must is an erroneous action, which in the future will deprive the finished product of its valuable deep aroma and delicate aftertaste.
If you want to leave the pulp, do not squeeze it out to separate the wort: just drain the entire product into a new container and close it with a lid with a straw. The tube will serve as a kind of protection from oxygen: one end of it must be lowered into a container with water, the other into wine.
At this stage, it is important to control the strength and sweetness of the wine, which depend, first of all, on the fructose content in the product. You can adjust this indicator by adding a certain amount of sugar. In our area, mainly varieties with a low fructose content grow, respectively, if sugar is not added during the preparation of wine, it will turn out to be dry.
The dosage of sugar is usually taken as follows: about 1 tbsp. for 1 liter of semi-finished product. Sugar is added as follows: it is necessary to pour out a little wort, heat it up and pour sugar into it, stirring the mass until the latter dissolves completely. After that, pour the resulting sweet composition back into the container with wine.
Semi-finished wine plugging
At this stage, you should separate all the sediment from the finished wort (for this you just need to drain the wine through a straw, carefully lowering the container with water below the container with wine). Be sure to check the product for the amount of sugar: if you like dry grape wine, then sugar is not needed. Otherwise, be sure to add it to the wine and stir thoroughly.
All that remains is to pour the grape wine into a dark glass bottle and seal it loosely (this is necessary in order for the remaining carbon dioxide contained in the wine to find a "way out").
Sterilization of the product
This is the last but not least important step in making homemade wine. Some winemakers believe that this process should proceed in a natural way: the wine must be left in a dark, cool place for several months (2-3) before the fermentation process stops, having previously installed a water seal on each bottle. During this period, the wine should be drained at least several times, removing the sediment.
There is another way to sterilize wine - compulsory. It is necessary to loosely close the bottles with wine, wrap them with a cloth and place them in a container filled with water. A thermometer should be placed in one of the bottles and the product should be sterilized until its temperature rises to 60 degrees. After that, all yeast will die and the fermentation process will stop completely. Remnants of carbon dioxide will also leave through a loosely closed plug.
Then you can tightly seal the bottles and send them to a cool dry place. A product that has gone through all the preparatory stages correctly will be able to gain all that wonderful aroma and depth of taste for which many people love grape wine so much. Good luck!
Winemaking and the process of making wine from grapes is a real art, the rules and basic secrets of which must be learned over the years. If you know some of the cooking conditions and follow the instructions, you can make high-quality grape wine with your own hands. It is clear that this will not be a masterpiece, but with careful observance of all conditions, it will be guaranteed to be better than those wines that are usually purchased in stores.
Below, the attention will be presented to the process of making wine from white and red grapes and cherries in ordinary home conditions. All recipes are quite simple, often the cooking process requires only sugar, berries and a little water, as well as adherence to a certain technology.
Before the very beginning of the preparation of wine from cherries or grapes, you should make sure that the devices for the preparation of wine and containers are prepared. In order not to infect the juice with various pathogenic bacteria, for example, mold, such containers should be as dry and crystal clear as possible.
Bottles, barrels and buckets can be smoked with sulfur. Thus, it is commonly done in modern industry. You can also rinse all containers with boiled water, and then wipe everything very thoroughly with a dry cloth.
After preparing the necessary containers, you will need to prepare the necessary ingredients. Among them are:
- 10 kg of grapes;
- Approximately 100-200 grams of sugar per liter of juice;
- Water in the amount of 100 ml, but sometimes it is not required.
Water is needed if the juice is very sour. In this case, it is important to remember that the use of sugar itself reduces acidity. In all other cases, the process of preparing and diluting the wine with water significantly impairs its overall taste, therefore it is not recommended to do this.
The most popular grape wine recipe
Processing and harvesting should be done so that the yeast necessary for fermentation remains on the fruit of the sweet cherry or grape. For this, berries should be removed from the bushes in dry weather. There was no rain for about two or three days before the harvest.
The step-by-step process of making wine from grapes at home will be correct if you take only fully ripe berries. If the grapes are unripe, if there is a lot of acid in it, and fermentation begins in the berries, after a certain time it can spoil all the squeezed juice, that is, the wort. In addition, it is strongly discouraged to collect and add carrion to the collection, as it gives the wine an unpleasant taste, reminiscent of the taste of earth. All plucked berries should be processed within no more than two days. Next, the following sequence of actions is carried out:
- All harvested grapes must be very carefully sorted out, remove all leaves and twigs, as well as rotten, unripe or moldy berries.
- After that, the berries need to be transferred, and the resulting pulp and juice should be placed in an enamel bowl. A bowl made of plastic is also suitable.
- The container is filled with the mixture to about three quarters of its volume.
- You need to crush the berries with your hands, so as not to damage the bones. They contain substances that give the wine a bitter taste. If there are a lot of fruits, they should be pushed as carefully as possible with a special wooden rolling pin.
It is best to use wooden tools, as contact with metal often causes strong oxidation, which significantly impairs the taste of the wine. For this reason, the berries are always kneaded with wooden spoons and rolling pins or with your hands, and the resulting composition is placed in an enamel dish or pan, you can also use a container made of special food grade plastic or wood.
The container with the pulp must be covered with a clean material to protect the composition from flies. All this is placed for about 3 days in a dark place where the constant temperature is 25 degrees. After 15-20 hours, the juice starts the fermentation processes, a cap of the collected skin immediately appears on the surface. It must be knocked down a couple of times a day, constantly stirring the pulp with a hand or a stick. If you do not carry out this process, the composition can quickly turn sour.
The process of making and juicing
After about three or four days, the pulp becomes an order of magnitude lighter, a slightly sour smell appears, and a slight hiss is heard. All this suggests that fermentation has started successfully, which means that it is time to squeeze out all the resulting juice.
The topmost layer, which consists of the peel, must be collected in a separate container, carefully squeezed out with a special press or by hand. The entire volume of juice that is drained from the sediment, as well as the mixture that we press from the pulp, must be filtered through a previously prepared gauze. You need to pour from one container to another two or three times. Such pouring not only effectively removes small particles, but also saturates the juice with oxygen that is beneficial for wine. All this ensures the normal functioning of wine yeast, and at the very initial stage.
When working with unripe or growing in the north latitudes, it is often necessary to add water. The amount of water is in the proportion of 100 ml per liter, not more, since a large amount of water will spoil the overall quality of the wine. It is much better to keep some of the acidity of the wine, as during normal fermentation, the total concentration of acids decreases slightly.
The resulting pure juice is filled in containers intended for fermentation. Filling is carried out to a maximum of 70% of the total volume. For this purpose, it is better to use bottles made of glass, and cans are also suitable if the volume of the bottles is insufficient.
Water simple shutter
To prevent the prepared homemade wine from becoming sour, it must be protected from constant contact with air. Thus, the yield of a by-product from fermentation, that is, carbon dioxide, is ensured. This process can be carried out by installing it on a special container with the juice of a structure, which is called a water seal. A classic water seal made of a tube, a can and a lid is ideal. A simple medical glove with a hole in one finger has proven itself relatively well.
The design features of the water seal are not particularly important, but if convenience is achieved, it is better to put a conventional classic water seal on the bottles used, while a closure or a glove is put on the containers themselves.
Active initial fermentation
Immediately after the installation of the water seal, all used containers, in which the juice has already fermented, will need to provide the most comfortable temperature conditions. The optimal temperature range for homemade red grape wine in this case is the range from 22 to 29 degrees. For white, a mode up to 22 degrees is suitable. It is absolutely impossible to allow the temperature regime to drop below 15 degrees. If you allow this, yeast fermentation will stop, that is, sugar will not be processed into alcohol.
Sugar addition process
There are several peculiarities and patterns as to how you need to add sugar. It is worth highlighting the following requirements:
- 2% sugar in grape juice gives about 1% alcohol in a ready-made wine drink.
- In almost all regions of the country, the total sugar content of grapes is much less likely to exceed 20%. Without added sugar, the wine can be made with zero sweetness, but with 10% ABV.
- On the other hand, the maximum possible strength of a home-made wine is about 14%, usually 12%. If this concentration of alcohol is exceeded, the yeast will immediately stop working.
It is impossible to determine the initial sugar content of grapes in ordinary home conditions without the use of a special device. It is called a hydrometer. Many believe that it is possible to focus on numerous average values for varieties, but this is also ineffective, since it will be necessary to obtain data on the level of sugar content of the selected variety in a particular climatic zone. In areas that do not belong to winemaking, usually no one conducts such complex calculations, for this reason one has to focus on the taste of the wine. It should be sweet, but not very sweet.
In order to maintain the optimal level of fermentation throughout the preparation of wine, the total sugar content of such a must should not be more than 20%. To ensure this important condition, sugar is added in portions, that is, fractionally. After the start of fermentation, the wine is worth tasting. As soon as the taste of the wine becomes sour, as soon as the sugar has been processed, you will need to add sugar in the amount of 50 grams per liter of juice formed. For this purpose, about two liters of wort is poured into a separate container, sugar is diluted in it. Only then is the resulting syrup poured back into the bottle or barrel.
A similar procedure is repeated about three times and must be carried out in the very first 14-21 days of fermentation. As soon as the overall sugar content decreases very slowly, this will be proof that there is sufficient sugar.
In direct proportion to the general temperature regime, the amount of sugar and the general activity of the yeast, the fermentation time of home-made wine is approximately 50 days.
Important! If fermentation does not stop even after 50 days after installing the water seal, in order to avoid the appearance of a bitter aftertaste, it is worth pouring the wine into another container so that there is no sediment. The grape juice is also placed under a water seal and fermented under the same conditions.
Maturation of wine
The time at which the formation of the final taste is carried out lasts approximately 60-360 days. A longer aging of homemade grape wine is impractical, since it does not improve the basic properties of the drink.
The container with wine, preferably filled to the very top, is again placed under the water seal or closed very tightly with a lid. Wine should be stored in a dark place. This can be a basement or a cellar, where the temperature is usually kept from 5 to 12 degrees. In the absence of such a room, young wine will need to provide a ripening temperature of about 20 degrees, but no more.