Like very many wine drinkers, I have been drinking wine since I was a young adult. One of my fantasies was always to be able to make my own high quality wine! Wines from around the world have very different characteristics, and these are brought on by the different climates, soil qualities, species of grapes or other fruit, and even the casks that the wine crafters use in aging of the wine, among many other possible variables. Making homemade wine is a very rewarding pastime, and creating your own white wine can be a very awesome experience. It is also not very difficult at all provided you use the right wine making supplies and ingredients.

Using good quality fruit is probably one of the most chief aspects of wine making. If you use grapes or fruit that are rotten or otherwise devoid of flavor or character, this will be apparent in the wine that you create. Most home made wine kits use concentrated grape juice, and I think a much better wine results from buying fruit and making your own juice to ferment. There are a few other items you will need to make wine other than the fruit.

Required Materials:

• A somewhat large stainless steel bowl or plastic tub to smash the juice into. (verify it is insanely clean, food grade if possible, as any small thing can affect the taste of the wine.)

• A glass container of some kind with which to ferment the juice, such as a carboy or demijohn. It is important that the vessel you use to ferment with has some kind of air lock device, in order to keep air out.

• Something with which to siphon…plastic medical tubing works awesome for this.

• quality…see your local brewing shop or search online.

• Sugar.

• At Your Discretion: Electric juicer…not necessary if you can juice by hand, which I feel is also a big part of the experience!

• Optional: Some kind of solution to sterilize with. Boiling water also works pretty well.

Make Your Juice!

A good rule to use for how much fruit you will need is always use enough fruit to entirely fill your fermentation vessel. Some people have to use electronic juicers during this step, but I think that smashing fruit by hand is an awesome part of the experience, and very fulfilling to me! However, if you are not capable of juicing by hand, an electric juicer will work wonders for you on this step. Most wine making kits say to use water in the juice, but this will have an effect on the body, aroma, and taste of your wine, so I believe it is best to make enough juice to completely fill your vessel. In the old days, mashing grapes with your feet was the only method and I would really suggest give it a shot, provided you have a large enough juicing container. Boiling the fruit is also another way to extract the juice, but this can have a negative affect on the flavor of your wine.

If You Want: Add Sugar

A good rule of thumb, if you are using fruit that isn't’t overly sweet, is to add a little sugar after all of your juice is extracted. I suggest using 1 pound to 1.5 pounds per gallon, completely depending on the fruit, and a little less if you are using sweet grapes. The less sugar you add, the crisper your vintage will be. I am a big fiend for dry wines, so I normally tend not to add that much sugar to my fruit juice. The more sugar you add before fermentation, the more alcoholic your wine will be, as the yeast will eat the sugar and this will result in a much higher alcoholic content. If you are going to add sugar, warm the juice up in a pan and slowly mix the sugar in the juice to completely dissolve it. It is extremely important that the sugar completely dissolves into the juice.

Just Add Yeast!

You will want to sterilize your carboy or fermentation vessel with your solution before adding the juice. Another good practice during this very important step of the process is to allow for enough room for about a cup per gallon. You will need to put the yeast in a bowl of moderately warm water and sugar, about 2 tablespoons, and let it activate for a couple moments before adding it to the juice. Once you add it to the juice, put the airlock on. After you see air bubbles, that’s when you know the yeast is hard at working fermenting your custom wine for you!

The Waiting Game

Fermenting your own wine should take 6 months to a full year. Anything less than 7 months or so may result in a poor quality wine. You should store your carboy in a warm place, and siphon the wine into a new vessel every 30 days or so as the yeast dies and settles at the bottom. After you feel that your wine is complete, the next step will be bottling your vintage! If the wine is not as clear expecting or desiring, place it in a cold place for about a 7 days before bottling the wine.

Once your fermentation is done, which will be indicated by the shortage of air bubbles coming through the air lock device, it is now time to bottle your wine! Most wines will need to age in the bottle for around 1 – 2 years before consuming, and it will most likely be very tempting to consume some immediately…I usually do! Be sure to take notes, and record what exactly you did for each and every batch, just in case you make something of high quality. It will be much easier to repeat the process in the future!