How to make delicious wine at home? How to make homemade wine from grapes.
To make light table wine, the grapes are harvested a little unripe: the longer the fruits remain on the vines, the stronger the drink becomes. From the fruits that were left on the bushes before withering, dessert wine is obtained.
Do you dream of learning how to make excellent homemade grape wine but you don’t know from which side to approach this responsible occupation? Take on board proven recipes and be sure to pay attention to the important subtleties. After all, even the best grape varieties do not guarantee an excellent taste of wine, if you neglect the rules of winemaking.
Photo of grapes
Not every variety from your vineyard is suitable for creating a truly tasty and aromatic drink. Using table varieties, you are unlikely to achieve the desired taste and aftertaste, but such popular wine varieties as Isabella, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Blanc or Pinot Noir, fit perfectly. Sweet wines are made from Muscat grape varieties, but they grow best in southern climates.
The grapes begin to be harvested from the end of September, until the frost began. If the weather is sunny, you can leave the fruits on the vine longer, but if it rains all day long, it is better to hurry with the harvest, otherwise the berries will begin to rot and will no longer be suitable for winemaking. An important condition for collection is dry bunches.
Video about the secrets of winemaking
The collected fruits should be sorted out, throwing out dry, rotten, spoiled,. Do not forget to also remove the twigs, otherwise the wine will acquire a bitter, tart taste due to the presence of tannins in the bunches. Let the whole process of sorting berries take a lot of time, but the drink will have a more pleasant taste and aftertaste. As a result, the berries should remain clean, only they do not need to be washed, since the whitish bloom on the grapes is the wine yeast necessary for fermentation.
Glass containers intended for juice fermentation must be smoked with sulfur before pouring, otherwise mold may appear on the walls of the bottles.
Photo of fermentation of wine in glass containers
It is impossible to leave sorted grapes for a long time, since in this form it will ferment earlier than necessary. So go straight to the next stage - thoroughly crushing the berries using an ordinary wooden crush or a special crusher.
Grape skins contain natural dyes, therefore, to create red wine, the pulp and juice are fermented together, and when making white wine, the juice is separated immediately.
The crushed grapes are left for 3 days at room temperature in an enamel container covered with a cloth, stirring at least three times a day. Do not be afraid that the wort will turn sour, because the carbon dioxide generated during fermentation will prevent oxygen from getting inside. After three days, the pulp will float up, and it will be possible to strain the juice, squeezing out the precious drops as well. Leaving the wort unstrained for 5-6 days will add a tart taste to the drink.
If you want to get sweet wine, sugar should be added in portions to strained juice in the first ten days of fermentation, until the taste of the drink begins to resemble sweet tea or compote. The amount of added sugar can vary greatly depending on the sugar content of the grapes and the individual preferences of the winemaker. It is best to pour out a small portion of the grape juice and stir the sugar in it, then pouring it back into the bottle. After the end of fermentation, it is useless to add sugar, as it will simply preserve the wine.
Photo of adding sugar
Pour the strained grape juice with dissolved sugar into the bottle up to the top and close it with a nylon cap, or with a medical glove pierced in several places, securing it with an elastic band. Carbon dioxide will escape from under a tightly closed lid and from holes in the glove, and oxygen will not be able to penetrate into the bottle.
Place the filled bottles in a dark place with a temperature of +10 degrees. The lower the temperature, the longer the fermentation process will take. While the grape juice is fermenting, it should be strained once a week so that the sediment does not spoil the taste. And when after a month or two the bubbles stop appearing, try the drink to taste: if it has acquired strength and pleasant sweetness, and sugar is not felt at the same time, then the grape wine is ready!
Amateur winemakers usually make homemade wine from Isabella grapes using the above technology. At the same time, about three kg of sugar is consumed for five kg of grapes, and to obtain a softer taste a week after fermentation, 12 liters of water are added to the juice.
Isabella homemade wine video
But the variety of grape wines does not end there, and for those who wish to expand the range of homemade drinks, we offer several interesting recipes based on grape juice or ready-made wine:
- Table wine in Polish - instead of sugar, raisins are used, and they take it twice as much as sugar would be required.
- Hungarian - 5 kg of selected white raisins are poured into a barrel and 6 liters of wine are poured, after which they are left warm for two days, and then yeast is added, the barrel is tightly sealed and buried in the ground for a year.
- Clove - a bag with a crushed clove sewn into it is placed in a barrel of grape juice. After the juice is fermented, the drink is poured into another container.
- Lemon - dried peel from one lemon, tied in a bag, is added to 10 liters of grape juice. When the juice is well fermented, add a pinch of lemon balm and mint, peel with 1 orange, 1 kg of grapes, sugar, and let the drink brew.
- Mozelskoe - evaporate the barrel with a decoction of elderberry and mint flowers and do not pour it out until the barrel is saturated with aroma. Then fill the barrel with grape juice, add mint and a little more elderberry flowers, insist.
Moselle wine in the photo
- Muscat - put in a young wine while it ferments, a bag of sage seeds and elder flowers. Leave on for 2 weeks, then bottle.
- Apple - in a container where grape juice has just begun to ferment, lower the apples and periodically replace them with fresh ones until the wine is completely fermented.
Making homemade wine from grapes is not particularly difficult, and gives a wide field for imagination. If the first time you did not succeed in achieving the desired taste, experiment - each winemaker changes the basic technology in his own way, using his own little tricks.
Homemade wine is a good and proven way to use up extra berries and fruits. Moreover, almost any fruit is suitable for this drink: currants, apples, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, grapes. Having made homemade wine, you can be absolutely sure of its quality and naturalness. Regardless of which fruit will be taken as a basis, the cooking system includes standard steps.
Ripe and overripe fruits are suitable. It is categorically impossible to take rotten ones. The fruits should be washed thoroughly. Only grapes are not washed, due to the fact that the white bloom on the berries is wine yeast. And without them, as you know, wine will ferment poorly and lose its aroma. For convenience, the berries should be chopped: crush or chop. The main thing is that after this process, you get as much pulp and juice as possible, which is very important for the future drink. The resulting wort must be placed in a wide container, add sugar or wine sourdough according to the recipe. Cover the pan with gauze and put it in a warm place.
The finished wine can be poured into beautiful bottles and wait for the right moment - to taste the product made by yourself in the company of guests.
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 preparation 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 given 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 carefully 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, the 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, which will not 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, since 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 the fermentation has started successfully, which means that it's 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.
In the process of 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 overall 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 do not really matter, but if convenience is achieved, it is better to put an ordinary 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 sugar supplementation is required. 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 characteristics of the wine. It should be sweet, but not very sweet.
In order to maintain an 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 drops 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 very tightly closed with a lid. Wine should be stored in a dark place. It 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.
In conditions of too rich harvest and limited space of the cellar for storing preparations for the winter (preserves, jams, juices), every autumn the gardener faces an invariable question - what else to do in order to preserve the harvest. In this case, you can use the surplus apples or plums to make delicious homemade wine, which will come in handy for the festive table, and for treating suddenly arriving guests. How to make wine? We will now talk about this in detail.
It will be useful for you to know that the wine that you make with your own hands will be much more useful than what is sold in stores, because the home product is devoid of all kinds of chemical additives, flavors, ethyl alcohol - the drink will contain only what has grown in your garden.
How to make wine from grapes
You will need (nutmeg, isabella, cabernet). Separate the berries from the bunch, sort carefully to remove rotten and spoiled grapes. It is recommended to wash the grapes only if there is dust on it, if it is not, then we leave it that way, since there are bacteria on the skin of the berries that favor the fermentation process.
Crush the berries with a pusher, press or juicer. Pour the juice into an enamel container using a colander. Leave the liquid to infuse for several days at a temperature of about 28 degrees. When you see that the juice has risen to the top, and the cake has settled to the bottom, folding the cheesecloth in several layers, strain the juice and pour it into 10- or 20-liter bottles. In this case, fill each vessel only 2/3.
Seal the bottles with plastic stoppers, in each of which you need to make a hole and insert a long vinyl tube into it. Dip the other end of the tube into a bottle of plain water. This design will allow carbon dioxide to escape from the wine and not get oxygen into the drink. You can use a medical rubber glove instead of a cap.
Leave the juice bottles to ferment for a month at room temperature. After the allotted time, strain the wine to remove sediment. Pour the drink into standard bottles (0.5-1l), cork and put it in the cellar for 3-4 months. As a result, you will get an excellent home-made dry wine, the strength of which will be no more than 5 degrees.
How to make apple wine
Wash apples (2kg) and cut into small pieces. Place the fruit in an enamel pot. Pour in water (2L), add ground cinnamon (one tablespoon) and cook until apples are soft. Strain the broth through a strainer and ferment at room temperature. At the end of fermentation, strain the wine, add granulated sugar (0.5 kg) and leave for secondary fermentation. Now stir the drink twice or three times a day with a wooden stick. After 14-21 days, when the wine turns light, strain it to get rid of sediment and bottle it.
How to make apple dessert wine
Make juice from apples and pears separately using a juicer or press. Pour apple juice (10.8 l) and pear juice (1.2 l) into a container, add sugar (1 kg) and coarse raisins (200 g), cut into pieces. Leave to ferment for 2-3 weeks, then bottle the wine, cork and store in the cellar.
How to make plum wine
Select only ripe plums, but do not wash them (as is the case with grapes). Do it with a press or juicer. For every kilogram of juice and drain, add water (0.5l) and sugar (100g). Mix everything in a container and put it in a warm place to start fermenting. After a few days, separate the juice from the cake.
Make a starter with warm water (300ml), unwashed raisins (200g) and sugar (50g). Put it on to ferment. After 3-4 days, the leaven will be ready. Now it should be poured into a vessel with wort and closed on a water seal (cotton plug with a flexible tube, the other end of which is dipped into a bottle of water). Move the bottle of future wine to a dark and warm place. Check regularly how fermentation is proceeding, whether the water seal is not tight. When the wine begins to lighten and the bubbles cease to stand out, drain the drink from the sediment with a thin hose. Pour into a new bottle up to the neck, plug with a cotton stopper and place in the cellar for 24 hours. After this time, replace the cotton wool with a plug, which should be filled with paraffin. In a horizontal position, keep the bottle of wine in the cellar for another 3 months so that the drink is finally ready.
Now that you know plums and apples, you can continue to experiment with, for example, cherries, pears, currants, gooseberries and other berries. Believe me, it will turn out to be no less tasty.
Grape wine is the oldest and noblest drink. Properly prepared and consumed in certain doses, it performs medicinal functions, heals our body, rejuvenates, fills with strength and energy, removes free radicals and toxins. Wine helps with bronchitis and pneumonia, tuberculosis and many other serious ailments. Therefore, it is not only possible to drink it, but it is necessary - in this, the conclusion of doctors is unambiguous.
Homemade wine
Naturally, it's easier than ever to go to the store and buy your favorite bottle of red, pink or white. However, the best drink is considered to be prepared with your own hands. So we will tell you how to do it. Where does the process begin, what stages does it go through? What are the best varieties to use for the production of the drink? How to make it, what container to take for fermentation and how to store the finished product? In short, you will learn in sufficient detail how to do it. The main thing is to follow the recommendations exactly, and everything will turn out great for you!
Choosing grapes
We note right away: there are no special restrictions on the selection of varieties of berries for the production of a drink. This means that what kind of vine grows with you, harvest it from such. But if you follow the advice of professionals on how to make wine from grapes, then juice from Isabella, Kapshun, Muscat, Lydia, Aligote, Buzoika, Moldova and other southern varieties is better suited. The main thing is that the grapes are well ripe, ripe and sweet. Collect the bunches before frost and rain, so that they are dry, and the berries do not gain excess moisture and do not lose their sweetness. In addition, wasps and birds can spoil them. Here are some simple starting tips on how to make wine from grapes!
Recipe number 1 (for a small amount of grapes)
There are several technologies for preparing a drink. Much depends on the amount of raw material and its grade. Usually it is recommended to do it with additional sugar and natural yeast sourdough. The process should begin with the preparation of the grapes. Sort the brushes carefully, remove debris, leaves, remove damaged elements, etc.
Ideally, all berries are best removed from the bunches. But, of course, this process is laborious and painstaking. Especially if you have more than a dozen kilograms of grapes. If you use a special crusher-press, pass the selected berries through it. Alternatively, grind with a mashed potato pusher. Or you can use the famous method of the hero of the movie "The Taming of the Shrew" with Celentano in the title role and suppress it with your feet, but to the music.
When the berries have turned into a puree, you can start making homemade wine from the grapes. Recipes advise to transfer the mass to glass or enamel dishes and heat to 60 degrees (use a thermometer so as not to overheat, otherwise the taste of the wine will not be the same). Then let the puree cool, squeeze thoroughly through cheesecloth to get pure juice. If it seems sour, pour in the sugar syrup (100 grams of sugar in half a liter of water), stir and add the leaven. How to make wine from grapes further: put the container with juice in a warm place to ferment the product for about 2 months. Try again, add sugar, if necessary, stir to dissolve completely. Pour carefully so that the sediment remains at the bottom, the finished wine into bottles, store it in a cool place. How to make wine from grapes according to the second recipe - read on.
Homemade grape wine - recipe number 2
Sort the harvested crop, separate the berries from the branches. Place them in a deep bowl. Using a wooden or porcelain pestle, crush the fruits into a homogeneous mass. You don't have to choose the bones. How to make wine from grapes based on berry puree: sprinkle it with sugar and put it in a dark and cool place for a week to ferment. Cover the container with a linen cloth. After the specified time, strain the wine through several layers of gauze, pack it in bottles and store in the cellar. Serve it with meat dishes. This recipe is good for making homemade wine from dark grapes.
Along the way, take note of one more tip. In the room intended for the production of wine, there should be no pungent, extraneous odors: they are actively absorbed by the future drink. In general, the ideal container for making and storing wine is oak barrels, enameled pots and buckets, glass bottles.
Sharing secrets
The first secret: why wine made from grapes (making at home) turns out to be more tasty if you separate the berries from the branches? Firstly, in this way you can carefully sort out the raw materials, remove blooming, overripe, spoiled berries. This means that you get a preliminary guarantee that the final product - a noble drink - will not spoil either.
Secondly, if the berries are crushed together with the twigs, then the wine will be bitter and too tart. Those. is nowhere near the high quality you expect. Thirdly, how to prepare wine from grapes so that it turns out to be excellent? Prepared berries should be immediately used for juice. After all, the fermentation process begins in the plucked fruits quickly enough. And it is impossible for him to find the grapes whole. This should be done either with a press or manually. You can also use a juicer, but this is not the best option. For 4-5 days, let the juice stand in a warm place along with the pomace, so that it "plays out", infused. Then filter, bottle and ferment. This completes the first stage of making wine.
So that the juice ferments correctly
If you do not have oak barrels, you can ferment the drink in glass bottles with a volume of 5-10 liters. Fill them about two-thirds full. There must be free space in the vessels for the emitted carbon dioxide. When the bottles are full, they must be sealed tightly. And to avoid air ingress, fill the edges of the plugs with sealing wax, cover up with plasticine or dough. Just be sure to make holes in them and insert flexible tubes (for example, from droppers) through which the gas will go out. Dip the free end of the tube into a bowl or cup of water. Another option, how a simple wine is made from grapes, is to put on or ordinary balls on the necks of the bottles. Just remember to pierce them with a thick pin!
When juice turns to wine
The next - the second - stage of the transformation of grape juice into a drink of the gods - fermentation. It takes from one and a half to 2-3 months. Containers with liquid should be placed in a cool place, such as a cellar. The temperature there should be no higher than 5 degrees. You should often observe how actively carbon dioxide comes out of the bottles. Vessels, where the tubes are lowered, periodically wash, change the water. If the gas comes out poorly, check the tightness of the plugs. Otherwise, air will get into the wine, and it will be reborn into vinegar. Usually, in home winemaking, the production of the drink begins at the end of September - October. Therefore, it will be completely ready for the New Year's celebrations!
The final stage
When the wine in bottles stops playing, it looks clean and transparent, and the sediment settles to the bottom, it can be filtered again, poured into plastic bottles and drunk at the festive table. Its strength is about 5 degrees, according to its taste it corresponds to dry. However, if you like sweeter drinks, the resulting product should be "refined". To do this, pour all or part of the wine (only without sediment) into one container. Then add 150 g of sugar for each liter of liquid (less can be done, depending on your taste). Dissolve it completely, rinse well those bottles in which the wine was before, and again pour, seal and leave to "play out". The process will end in a month, when bubbles stop settling on the walls of the cans. The strength of the drink is 10-13 degrees. Bottle, store cool and drink to your health.