There are dishes that women are more likely to succeed in, but there are purely masculine joys of gastronomic existence, where men have no equal! Yes, we are talking about winemaking, because only a passionate man can produce homemade wine from grapes, the recipe of which becomes his pride! A woman can only be “on hand” here - to prepare the containers, and to encourage the man and praise him for his skills and enthusiasm!

We will share with you the classic technology for making homemade wine from grapes, the recipe of which will allow even a novice winemaker to be proud of the result. So let's get started!

Terms

Mezga- This is the initial, intermediate product of winemaking technology. It is a mass of crushed grapes, with or without ridges. The ridges should be selected, otherwise the wine may become bitter.

Wort- This is the unclarified juice of grapes released from the pulp. This is, in fact, young wine that has not yet begun to ferment.

Fermentation- the process of reproduction of wine yeast, which converts fruit sugar in berries into alcohol, and as a result we get wine!

Which grape variety is the best?

To produce homemade grape wine, technical (wine) grape varieties should be used. The clusters of these varieties are small in size, the berries are small and tightly adjacent to each other.

These are varieties such as Merlot, Isabella, Cabernet, Muscat, Sauvignon, Golubok, Chardonnay, Riesling and others.

Preparatory work

Harvested or purchased grapes should not be washed, since wine yeast lives in abundance on the surface of the berries. Grape harvests harvested after heavy rainfall are not suitable for the production of natural wines for the same reason. And don’t be afraid of dust on the surface of the bunches either - it will settle, and during the fermentation process the juice will clean itself.

The grapes must certainly be freed from atmospheric moisture and be dry - this is an important condition for high-quality homemade grape wine, the recipe for which we are studying. However, this applies to any of the recipes for making wine at home!

We separate the berries from the ridges, selecting moldy, dry and spoiled ones - they can spoil the taste of the drink. Now we need to crush the raw material to a pulp state, and it is more convenient to do this in parts if we mash the grapes with an ordinary potato masher.

You need to knead carefully so that each berry releases all the juice.

If winemaking promises to become your hobby, then it is justified to purchase a special crusher. For a small amount of wine material, you can also use a meat grinder.

Homemade grape wine recipe

Stage I

Pour the resulting mass of pulp into a large prepared container - a wooden or polyethylene barrel, or an enamel pan, taking into account that it only needs to be filled 2/3 full. Cover the container with a cotton cloth and secure it around the circumference of the dish.

Fermentation temperature conditions: 18-23°C. If the temperature is higher, the quality of the final product will suffer or even vinegar fermentation will begin, which will turn the wort into vinegar.

Temperatures below 18°C ​​will slow down the fermentation process, which may not even begin at this temperature.

Experienced winemakers advise: if you brought grapes from fresh air with a temperature of 10-15 ° C, then the grape bunches should warm up to the temperature of the living room.

You can't even start squeezing them until they get warm.

Leave the container with grape pulp alone for 3-5 days. The very next day, rapid growth of yeast bacteria begins, accompanied by fermentation.

The wort begins to actively separate, and the pulp begins to collect on the surface of the liquid mass, which is helped by the active release of carbon dioxide. This risen pulp must be mixed with the must more than once a day, otherwise the pulp will peroxidize and spoil the future wine.

Many winemakers use only freshly squeezed juice to make homemade grape wine, and throw away the skins and seeds. But to obtain a fragrant drink with a beautiful rich color, professional winemakers will never give up pulp, which gives the wine a noble aftertaste!

Stage II

After the prescribed 3-5 days, squeeze out the pulp - first through a colander, then through several layers of unbleached gauze. Now, for subsequent fermentation, pour the wort into a large glass container to three-quarters of the volume and tightly close the stopper with a straw.

If we leave the pulp, then we skip the previous step.

This tube for removing carbon dioxide is called a water seal, which protects the wort from oxygen and souring. We lower one end of the tube into the wine, the other into a liter jar or glass of water.

At the same stage, we adjust the strength of homemade grape wine. It depends on the amount of fructose in the berry and the amount of sugar that should be added during the fermentation process. The grape varieties growing in our countries do not contain fructose above 20%, and therefore it is necessary to add the missing sugar. Otherwise, we will get dry, sour wine.

Add sugar in doses: 200-250 g of sugar per 1 liter of wort. To do this, you need to pour a little juice, heat it and dissolve sugar in it, and then pour it into a common container and securely close it with a stopper.

In general, grape must ferments without pulp for approximately 21-30 days at room temperature. During the fermentation process, yeast settles to the bottom, the wine becomes lighter and gradually gains density, and the release of carbon dioxide stops.

Stage III

We separate the sediment from the clarified wort: by draining (through a straw, lowering the second container below the container with wine). If you can’t drain it carefully, then strain the wine through several more layers of gauze.

Checking the sweetness. If you like dry wine, you don't need to add sugar. If you prefer sweet wine, then add sugar, remembering to stir it in the wine until completely dissolved.

Pour into prepared dark glass containers and seal loosely so that the carbon dioxide still released can find its way out.

Stage IV Stage V

This stage of winemaking at home varies, because... Every master has his own opinion. We are talking about sterilizing unripe grape wine.

Some winemakers believe that wine should ripen naturally for several months and should not be disturbed. For natural ripening, you need to install water seals for each bottle and place it in a cool and dark place until the fermentation of the wine from the grapes has completely stopped.

Maturation usually takes at least 2-3 months, during which the wine is drained several times from the resulting sediment.

Another part of winemakers insists on sterilizing bottles of wine material and further maturing it in tightly sealed dark glass containers.

How to do this according to this recipe?

1. We pour the wine into bottles, loosely cork them, wrap them with any cloth and place them in a tank of water (it should reach the shoulders of the bottle).
2. We lower a thermometer into one of the bottles and sterilize it until the temperature of the wine in the bottle rises to 60 degrees. This completes the sterilization process.

During the sterilization process, wine yeast is completely destroyed, thereby making further fermentation impossible. In this case, the bottles in the water are not tightly closed with stoppers - to allow carbon dioxide to escape.

At the end of sterilization, seal the bottles tightly. Let it cool at room temperature and then take it to a cool place for storage.

Wine material that has undergone sterilization is perfectly clarified, matures efficiently, and the wine is distinguished by a velvety softness of taste, with a magnificent aftertaste. Drink of the gods! But even after sterilization, it must be “drained from the sediment” several times.

Wine with the addition of water and wine yeast (video)

Homemade grape wine, the recipes for which we have reviewed in detail, can be stored for up to 10 years at a temperature of 10-15 degrees.

Homemade grape wine – art , the secrets of which take years to learn, but anyone can make homemade grape wine. It is clear that this will not be a masterpiece worthy of world exhibitions, but if you follow the instructions, the taste of the homemade drink will be better than many store-bought ones. I bring to your attention a detailed technology for preparing wines (red and white) at home. The recipe uses only grapes and sugar, in rare cases additional water is required.

The best grape varieties for home winemaking are Stepnyak, Platovsky, Rosinka, Druzhba, Regent, Saperavi, Crystal, Festivalny, which do not require special care and have a fairly high sugar content. But this does not mean that you cannot make wine from other varieties, for example, Isabella or Lydia, you just have to add more sugar.

Before starting cooking, take care of all containers and utensils used.

To avoid contaminating the juice with pathogenic microorganisms, such as mold, the containers must be perfectly clean and dry. Barrels, bottles, and buckets can be smoked with sulfur, as is done in industry, or washed with boiled water, then wiped with a dry cloth. I strongly recommend avoiding containers in which milk was previously stored, since even thorough cleaning does not always help.

Ingredients:

• grapes - 10 kg;
• sugar - 50-200 grams per liter of juice;
• water – up to 500 ml per liter of juice (in rare cases).

It is advisable to add water only if the juice is very sour - the taste stings the tongue and makes the cheekbones cramp. However, remember that adding sugar itself reduces acidity. In all other cases, diluting with water worsens the taste and is therefore not recommended.

Grape wine recipe

1. Harvesting and processing. To ensure that the wild yeast necessary for fermentation remains on the grapes, it is advisable to pick the berries in dry, sunny weather. There should be no rain for at least 2-3 days before.

Only ripe fruits are suitable for winemaking. There is too much acid in unripe grapes, and in overripe berries, acetic fermentation begins, which can subsequently spoil the entire must (squeezed juice). I also do not recommend taking carrion, which gives grape wine an unpleasant earthy taste. Picked berries need to be processed within two days.

Carefully sort the harvested grapes, removing twigs and leaves, unripe, rotten and moldy fruits. Then crush the berries, place the pulp along with the juice in an enamel pan or plastic bowl, filling the container to a maximum of ¾ of the volume. It is better to crush the grapes with your hands so as not to damage the seeds, which contain substances that make the wine bitter. If there are a lot of berries, you can carefully crush them with a wooden rolling pin (pestle).

Avoid contact of juice with metal (except stainless steel), as this causes oxidation, which impairs the taste. That is why the berries are kneaded with hands or wooden tools, and the pulp (crushed grapes) is placed in an enamel container with a wide neck - a bucket or pan. You can also use food-grade plastic containers or a wooden barrel.

Cover the container with the pulp with a clean cloth to protect it from flies, and place it in a dark, warm (18-27°C) place for 3-4 days. After 8-20 hours, the juice will begin to ferment, a “cap” of skin appears on the surface, which should be knocked off 1-2 times a day, stirring the pulp with a wooden stick or hand. If this is not done, the wort may turn sour.

2. Obtaining pure juice. After 3-4 days, the pulp will lighten, a sour smell will appear and hissing will be heard. This means that fermentation has begun successfully, it’s time to squeeze out the juice.

Collect the top layer of peel in a separate container, squeeze it out with a press or by hand. Filter all the juice (drained from the sediment and squeezed out of the pulp) through gauze, pouring from one container to another 2-3 times. Transfusion not only removes small particles, but also saturates the juice with oxygen, which contributes to the normal functioning of wine yeast at the initial stage.

When working with unripe grapes or grapes grown in northern latitudes, in rare cases it may be necessary to add water. If the juice turns out to be very sour (it makes your cheekbones ache and your tongue tingles), add water - a maximum of 500 ml per 1 liter. The more water, the worse the quality of the wine. It is better to leave the acidity slightly higher, since the concentration of acids decreases slightly during fermentation.

Fill the containers (maximum 70% of the volume) intended for fermentation with pure juice. Ideally, these are large glass bottles; in extreme cases, if the volume of wine is small, jars are also suitable.

3.Installing a water seal. To prevent homemade grape wine from turning sour, it must be protected from contact with oxygen, while simultaneously ensuring the release of the by-product of fermentation - carbon dioxide. This is done by installing one of the water seal designs on the container with juice. The most common option is the classic water seal made of a lid, tube and jar (pictured).

The design of the water seal is not of fundamental importance, but in terms of convenience, it is better to put a classic water seal on large bottles, and a glove or a lid-shaped seal (sold in stores) on jars.

4. Initial (active) fermentation. After installing the water seal of the container with fermented juice, it is necessary to ensure suitable temperature conditions. The optimal fermentation temperature for red homemade wine is 22-28°C, white – 16-22°C. The temperature must not be allowed to drop below 15°C, otherwise the yeast will stop before it can process all the sugar into alcohol.

5. Adding sugar. Approximately 2% sugar in the must yields 1% alcohol in the finished wine. In most regions of Russia, the sugar content of grapes rarely exceeds 20%. This means that without added sugar, at best the wine will be 10% ABV and zero sweetness. On the other hand, the maximum possible strength is 13-14% (usually 12); at a higher alcohol concentration, wine yeast stops working.

The problem is that it is impossible to determine the initial sugar content of grapes at home without a special device (hydrometer). Focusing on average values ​​for varieties is also useless, since this requires data on the sugar content of the selected variety in a specific climatic zone. In non-wine-growing areas no one makes such calculations. Therefore, you have to focus on the taste of the juice - it should be sweet, but not cloying.

To maintain normal fermentation, the sugar content of the wort should not be more than 15-20%. To ensure this condition, sugar is added in parts (fractionally). 2-3 days after the start of fermentation, taste the juice. When it becomes sour (the sugar has been processed), you should add 50 grams of sugar for each liter of juice. To do this, pour 1-2 liters of wort into a separate container, dilute sugar in it, then pour the resulting wine syrup back into the bottle.

The procedure is repeated several times (usually 3-4) during the first 14-25 days of fermentation. At a certain point, the sugar content of the wort will decrease very slowly, which means that there is enough sugar.

Depending on the temperature, sugar content and yeast activity, the fermentation period for homemade grape wine is 30-60 days. If fermentation has not stopped 50 days after installing the water seal, in order to avoid the appearance of bitterness, you should pour the wine into another container without sediment and place it under the water seal to ferment under the same temperature conditions.

6. Removing wine from sediment. When the water seal does not release bubbles for 1-2 days (the glove is deflated), the wort has cleared, forming a layer of loose sediment at the bottom, it’s time to pour the young grape wine into another container. The fact is that dead fungi collect at the bottom; staying in the wine for a long time, they cause bitterness and an unpleasant odor.

1-2 days before removing the wine from the sediment, place the fermentation container at a height above the floor (50-60 cm). This could be a bench, chair or any other device. When the sediment is back at the bottom, pour the wine into another container (clean and dry) through a siphon - a transparent soft hose (tube) with a diameter of 0.7-1 cm and a length of 1-1.5 m. The end of the tube should not be brought closer to the sediment; than 2-3 centimeters.

Drained homemade wine will not be completely clear. This is not scary, the appearance of the drink has not yet formed.

7.Control of sugar content. It's time to decide on the sweetness of the wine. Since active fermentation has already ended, all the sugar added at this stage will not be converted into alcohol.

Add sugar based on taste preferences, but not more than 250 grams per liter. The application technology is described at the 5th stage. If you are satisfied with the sweetness, there is no need to sweeten it additionally. Lovers of strong alcohol can make fortified grape wine by adding vodka (alcohol) at a rate of 2-15% of the volume. Fixing helps preserve the wine, but makes the taste harsher and the aroma less intense; alcohol notes appear.

8. Quiet fermentation (ripening). The stage during which the final taste is formed. Lasts from 40 to 380 days. Longer aging of homemade grape wines is not advisable, since it does not improve the properties of the drink.

Place the bottle of wine (preferably filled to the top to avoid contact with oxygen) under the water seal (recommended if sweetening was done) or close it tightly with a lid. Store the container in a dark cellar or basement at a temperature of 5-16°C. If this is not possible, the young wine needs to be provided with a maturation temperature of 18-22°C, but not higher. It is important to avoid sudden temperature changes, for example, day and night, otherwise the taste will deteriorate. The minimum aging period for white wine is 40 days, for red wine – 60-90 days.

When sediment appears at the bottom in a layer of 2-5 cm, pour the wine from one container to another through a straw, leaving the sediment at the bottom, as described in the 6th stage. As a result, the drink will gradually lighten.

9. Artificial lightening (pasting). Even after several months in the cellar, homemade grape wine may remain cloudy. The problem is solved by methods of purifying wine from impurities. The most common methods are pasting with gelatin or egg white.

Lightening only improves the appearance, but does not affect the taste in any way, so I recommend cleaning only as a last resort.

10. Spilling and storage. At the last stage (when sediment no longer appears), the wine can be bottled and tightly capped.

Shelf life at a temperature of 5-12°C is up to 5 years. Strength – 11-13% (without fixing with vodka or alcohol).

The video shows the technology for making wine from sour grapes, in which the squeezed juice is diluted by half with water. Relevant only for northern regions with very sour berries, since adding water worsens the taste.

Homemade wine is ready!

Rich grape plantations have long ceased to be the preserve of sunny Greece or hot Spain and have migrated to the household plots of Russians. Even in cold Siberia, it is possible to grow grape bushes of different varieties. Let's talk in this article about what to do with heavy bunches of juicy fruits. The secrets of simple, and most importantly, absolutely natural, wine recipes in an ordinary kitchen will be revealed to you.

Harvesting and preparation

It is not enough to grow grapes; they must be harvested correctly. Important rules for preparing berries:

• The harvest needs to be dry - to collect berries the weather should allow 2-3 days without precipitation.
• Only ripe grapes will go into homemade wine. Unripe berries will add bitterness, and vinegar fermentation in overripe fruits can ruin your product.
• It is worth cutting the bunches only from the bush - the padilk will give the wine an earthy taste.
• It is necessary to start preparing homemade wine within 2 days after cutting, before acetic acid and bacteria begin the fermentation process.
• The harvested crop should be sorted, unripe and overripe, spoiled berries should be removed.
• In order to prepare grape wine in the kitchen, you need to stock up on a container for the fermentation process itself - it can be a wooden tub, but the most accessible container can be simple glass jars. The main thing is not to use metal utensils.

Simple recipes for homemade grape wine

Sparkling wine "New Year"

If you start preparing this grape product in early October, then on the New Year's or Christmas table the sparkling drink will surprise guests with its taste and aroma.

You will need grapes and sugar.

Pour whole berries into a three-liter jar up to the shoulders; there is no need to crush them - during fermentation, the skin will crack and release the pulp, and by kneading, you can damage the seeds, which will give bitterness. Add 300 g of sugar and close with a nylon lid. This ends your intervention for the next 56 days. Place a label on the jar using masking tape indicating the start date of fermentation and the 56th day. If you notice that the lid is very swollen - this will happen towards the end of the term, then you can open it a little and release the gas.

After two and a half months, strain the resulting wort and add sugar to taste. To make the drink stronger, add a tablespoon of rice, and if it doesn’t ferment well, add raisins. Strained, added sugar and put the lid back on for 2 weeks.

After 70 days, the sparkling wine that you managed to prepare at home will surprise guests at the festive table. The drink will have a strength of 7–12°, a sweetish taste and a bright aroma.

Simple and fast - homemade wine in 5 days

For those who do not want to wait a long 3 months, we offer another option. The simplest recipe for young homemade wine is kept by the residents of sunny Moldova. Dry wine according to this recipe can be prepared in 4–5 days. You don't need anything other than grapes.

Mash the grapes with your hands or a wooden rolling pin - this will significantly speed up the fermentation process. It is best to use a wooden barrel, but any jar will do. There is no need to cover the container with a lid.

Leave in a dry and warm place to begin the fermentation process. The temperature should not be lower than 22°C. During the first two days, “must”—sweet grape juice—forms in the jar; on the third day, the drink will begin to gain strength. As fermentation proceeds, a head of foam will rise above the wort, so the product must be stirred frequently. When fermentation stops, the wort will sink to the bottom. After 4–5 days, the jar will have ready-made young wine with a strength of about 5–7°.

Strain, bottle, and store in a cool, dark place.

To make this drink semi-dry, add water with sugar diluted in it. We dilute granulated sugar with the following calculation: for 1 liter of the finished drink, 400 ml of water and 100 g of sugar.

The product will become fortified if you add 50 g of sugar per 1 liter. The drink will continue to ferment in bottles that will be stored. The strength of this product will be about 10–11°.

Wine per month

Another recipe for grape wine at home is used by residents of Siberia. It takes about a month to prepare, the recipe is quite simple and does not require much attention.

You will need grapes, a 10-liter bottle and 1 cup of sugar dissolved in 1 cup of water.

Pour the grapes into a bottle, do not mash them (crushed berries begin to ferment faster), add water with sugar diluted in it and close the lid. You need to prepare a rubber hose for the system in advance, which can be purchased at the pharmacy. Use a thick needle to pierce the lid, and place the other end of the hose in a container of water. It is important that carbon dioxide comes out of the bottle and air does not penetrate; water is perfect for this. If the tube becomes clogged, it must be purged and continued to be used. The straw can be replaced with a glove tightly fixed to the neck of the bottle. Make a hole on one finger for gas to escape.

When the wort begins to ferment, gas bubbles will appear in the water - this will become an indicator of the process for you. When carbon dioxide stops escaping, and this will happen after 7-10 days, add the same amount of sugar and close for another 7-10 days. After the same period, do this a third time.

By this time, the pulp will rise to the top and the resulting drink can be strained. It is difficult to find a recipe with exact recommendations for the amount of sugar for each grape variety, so add it to your taste and bottle the product for storage. The longer the storage period, the better the result will be.

Grape liqueur

For those who like a sweeter and stronger drink, we offer a liqueur recipe.

You will need 4 kg of grapes, 1.4 kg of sugar, 2 glasses of water.

For sugar syrup: 3 liters of water, 750 g of sugar.

Ripe berries need to be washed, destemmed and sorted. Place the prepared material in a container, add granulated sugar or syrup and install a water seal. They can use a medical glove or a rubber hose, as described in the previous recipe. Fermentation lasts 30–35 days.

After the expiration date, the shutter should be removed and the resulting liqueur filtered through gauze folded in several layers. Pour into bottles and seal.

Recipe for grape wine drink made from pomace

Advice for thrifty people. To prevent the remaining cake from going to waste, it can also be used to prepare a drink.

Fill the cake with 25% sugar syrup, install a water seal and leave for 20–30 days until fermentation stops.

Filter the resulting wine drink through gauze or a nylon stocking and store it in a cool, dark place.

The proposed recipes are simple, time-tested. We hope that your collection of useful secrets will be replenished with our advice. Good luck!

Homemade grape wine has always enjoyed considerable popularity at any table, so every winemaker, even a beginner, happily tries to create wines according to various recipes, including the classic version - from grapes.

Here is a recipe for excellent grape wine: step by step and easy at home (with photos and instructions).

Choosing the right vintage for wine

In order for grape wine (and not just homemade wine) to turn out truly tasty and aromatic, it is necessary to use exclusively high-quality and, most importantly, the right product to create it - wine varieties.

The berries of these varieties are characterized by their small size and density on the bunch. Below are some valuable tips from experienced winemakers regarding the selection and preparation of material for wine:

Advice. Grapes collected for making wine should not be washed, because the white coating that forms on them is nothing more than wine yeast. Rinse or even wash grapes only if a starter with high-quality wine yeast is used.

The harvested grapes should be separated from the ridges, sorted, removing all unsuitable berries, 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 masher or a meat grinder. The berries should be crushed very carefully so that each of them releases all its juice.

Wine making process

Making quality wine is a fairly simple process if you strictly follow all steps of the recipe. The following is a step-by-step process for preparing wine.

Fermentation of pulp

The finished pulp or crushed berries, previously separated from the ridges, are poured into a suitable container and covered tightly with a cotton cloth. Keep in mind that the container should only be 2/3 filled with wine material.

The container with pulp is installed in a room with a strict temperature regime, falling between 18 and 23 degrees. If the temperature is above the second mark, the pulp may ferment too intensely, which will result in it turning into vinegar. If the temperature is below the first mark, the fermentation process may proceed too slowly or may not even begin at all.

So, after a few days, the fermentation process will begin and the must (juice, which is essentially young grape wine) will begin to separate from the pulp. The pulp and wort should be thoroughly mixed every day, otherwise the former will simply turn sour and the taste of the not yet finished product will be spoiled.

Preparation of grape must

5-7 days after the start of fermentation, the pulp should be thoroughly squeezed out, thus separating the wort from it. The first spin is done through a colander, the second through several layers of gauze. The purified wort should ferment. To do this, it is poured into a clean container (it should be filled only 3/4) and tightly closed with a stopper and tube.

Attention! Experienced winemakers believe that separating the pulp from the wort is a mistaken action, which will subsequently deprive the finished product of its valuable deep aroma and delicate aftertaste.

If you want to leave the pulp, you should not squeeze it out to separate the wort: just pour all the product into a new container and close it with a lid with a straw. The tube will serve as a kind of protection against oxygen: one end of it must be lowered into a container of 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 regulate this indicator by adding this or that amount of sugar. In our area, predominantly varieties with a low fructose content grow, therefore, if sugar is not added during the preparation of wine, it will turn out dry.

The dosage of sugar is usually taken as follows: about 1 tbsp. per 1 liter of semi-finished product. Sugar is added as follows: you need to pour a little wort, heat it and pour sugar into it, stirring the mass until the latter dissolves completely. After this, pour the resulting sweet composition back into the container with wine.

Corking of semi-finished wine

At this stage, you should separate all the sediment from the finished wort (to do 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, you won’t need sugar. 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 so that the remaining carbon dioxide contained in the wine finds a “way out”).

Product sterilization

This is the last, but no less important stage in making homemade wine. Some winemakers believe that this process should occur naturally: the wine must be left in a dark, cool place for several months (2-3) until the fermentation process stops, having previously installed water seals on each bottle. During this period, you should drain the wine at least several times to remove any sediment.

There is another way to sterilize wine - forced. It is necessary to loosely close the wine bottles, wrap them with cloth and place them in a container filled with water. Place a thermometer in one of the bottles and sterilize the product until its temperature rises to 60 degrees. After this, all the yeast will die and the fermentation process will stop completely. The remaining carbon dioxide will also escape through a loosely closed plug.

Afterwards, you can tightly cork 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!

The vineyard is the first plant that Noah planted after the flood. And although wines made from the most unpredictable fruit and berry materials are now very popular, grape wine remains a classic of the genre.

Raw materials

Grape wine can be prepared at home from any variety you have, i.e. You can not only use dark and light varieties of berries, but also create compositions from them.

Homemade wine is usually prepared from grape varieties Platovsky, Kristall, Regent, Druzhba, Saperavi, Stepnyak, Festivalny, Rosinka, which have a fairly high percentage of sugar in the berries.

But much more often, wine is made from Isabella grapes, adding a little more sugar to it. The same applies to Lydia grapes.

Truly noble alcohol is obtained from special “wine” varieties - Isabella, Sauvignon or Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir or Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet, Aligote, Merlot or Riesling.

The bunches must be collected manually, in the last days of September (or the first October) - before the first frosts hit. The weather should be dry - no rain or dampness. The bunches themselves are also not washed after harvesting. This preserves wild yeast on the surface of the wine berries, an essential component of fermentation.

The bunches are not stored after harvesting - the berries are immediately separated from the branches, discarding dry, moldy, rotten or unripe ones (they will produce excess acid). At most, if there are too many grapes, they can be sorted and sorted the next day after harvest. Berries, like bunches, are not washed.

In the fall, during harvest, the temperature outside and in the room where you will work with raw materials will be excellent. Therefore, when you bring in the bunches from the street, let them warm up and reach room temperature. If you start sorting through them right away, especially squeezing out the juice, then it may disappoint you - giving your wine not all the best that it has (and not in full). It’s not for nothing that they say at the winery that wine is alive, which means it reacts sensitively to the slightest manipulations with it.

Inventory and containers

Must be clean, or preferably sterile. To do this, you should wash them with soda and soak them in boiling water, and if impossible, scald them with boiling water. After this, all items are dried using sterile dry wipes or by natural drainage.

The material for winemaking “accessories” should be wood, glass, or, in extreme cases, food-grade plastic (plastic) or enamel containers (without chips), stainless steel, but in no case metal, which likes to react with the wine material at all stages of preparing the drink .

Tasting

It is carried out at almost all stages of preparation. Three constant indicators are assessed: color, aroma, taste. The final sample is not taken on an empty stomach. You should not drink other alcohol before this either.

Drink homemade grape wine chilled. Snacks are selected based on the strength and sweetness of the drink.

The optimal daily dose would be 100 ml of wine. This is the only way it will bring not only pleasure to your taste buds, but also benefits to your health.

The benefits of wine: saves from anemia and changes in blood pressure, removes radionuclides and rejuvenates the body.

Contraindications: intolerance to wine berries, medical restrictions (due to pregnancy, age, state of the nervous system and psyche, postoperative period, predisposition to alcoholism).

The assortment of wines, from factory-made wines to “branded family wines,” is immense, but there are certain rules for their preparation that should not be ignored if you want to get good grape wine.

The technology for preparing white (rosé) and red wine has some differences, which we were kindly told about at one of the wineries (we do not name its name so that it would not be considered advertising). We will describe both technologies in great detail, and knowing the basis, you can easily add your own individual features to the recipe.

Red wine recipe

This wine is usually prepared from blue grapes, which are sometimes also called black, or from a combination of varieties with a predominance of dark shades of berries.

Let us note right away that the process of preparing any red wine will be identical to the one below, regardless of the amount of grapes and granulated sugar indicated in the list of ingredients.

Prepare:

• blue or black grapes (berries) – 10 kilos

How to prepare wine from blue grapes:

1. Working with raw materials:

Having sorted the grapes and leaving only healthy and ripe berries, we begin to knead them. Mash so that each berry is crushed. This is best done in small batches by hand.

We advise you to wear rubber gloves before starting the process - grape juice not only stains the skin, but also irritates it due to the presence of acids in it. Plus, this will protect the juice from microorganisms and particles of the stratum corneum from your skin getting into it.

An alternative for kneading berries can be a wooden or rubber (silicone) rolling pin, which, like your hands, will not crush a single seed.

The container in which the mashed grapes will end up should be filled with no more than 2/3 or 3/4 of its volume. Next, it is covered with gauze and placed in a darkened room with a temperature fluctuation of 22-24°C. Here the fermentation of the juice should begin, and the pulp (skins, pulp, part of the seeds) will float to the surface in a dense “cap”. This “hat” needs to be broken daily.

If fermentation of the wort is not active, or does not occur, it is worth adding starter from grapes or raisins, or wine yeast (according to the instructions included with them). Sometimes just adding a handful of raisins is enough. After this you need to wait a few more days.

1. Working with juice:

After 3-4 days, carefully remove the “cap” of the pulp from the wort (juice) and squeeze it out, and filter the remaining wort in the container (you can do it twice).

At this stage it is possible to add water to the wort. This causes the juice to be highly acidic.

The optimal acidity for winemaking is 6-7 grams of acid per liter of juice. If the acid content is higher than this value, add water to the wine until this value is obtained. However, there are two “buts” here.

Firstly, few people have a device for measuring acidity, and tables indicating acid content are very approximate, since the same grape variety has its own acidity in different regions.

Secondly, sugar added to wine reduces its acidity, just like fermentation itself.

Therefore, we will determine the acidity of the juice by taste - if it is so sour that your eyes widen, pour water into it, but not more than 100 ml per 1 liter of wort (juice).

In factory conditions, no water is added to the wort at all.

In addition to water, the first portion of granulated sugar is added to the wort at this stage - 50 grams for each liter of wort (or 1/3 of its volume if you use another recipe indicating the full volume of sugar in the list of ingredients).

Next, the fermentation tank/containers are filled with wort (2/3 or 3/4 of the total volume). These can be bottles or 3-liter jars. A water seal (water seal, fermentation tongue) or a glove purchased at a pharmacy must be installed on top of the neck of the container. If using the latter, make a puncture on one of its fingers with a regular sewing needle.

1. Active fermentation stage:

We place the bottle with a water seal in the same dark and warm (t=22-25°C) room. It is important that there are no sharp temperature fluctuations above 30°C below 15°C - this will kill the yeast, stop the process and spoil your grape wine.

We decide on the sweetness and strength of the wine. To do this, you should know that the strength of wine increases by 1% when adding 20 g of sugar per liter of grape must (juice). Thus, to get a wine with a strength of 11%, you need to add 220 grams of sugar per 1 liter of grape must. But the must already contains the sugars of the grapes themselves, so less of it needs to be added.

But it is worth considering that the wine will not gain more than 14% alcohol without adding strong 40% alcohol. Typically, unfortified homemade blue wine reaches 12%. This is due to the fact that the yeast in wine stops working (die) at an alcohol concentration above 12-14%.

For information: wine yeast from the store dies only when the alcohol level in the drink exceeds 17-18%, and sherry yeast Saccharomyces beticus - when the alcohol concentration is above 24%.

Without added sugar, unfortified grape wine will reach a maximum of 10%, since the natural sugar content of grapes in central Russia and Belarus is approximately 20%. But there are also more sour varieties.

After 3-4 days, a second portion of sugar is added to the wort - again 50 grams per 1 liter (or another third), but you cannot just pour it into the bottle. To introduce sugar correctly, you will need to pour a little wort (0.5 liters - 1 liter) into a sterile small container, add the required amount of sugar and dissolve it with thorough stirring. Only after this is the sweet liquid poured back into the bottle (under the water seal).

After another 5-6 days, add the last portion of granulated sugar - again 50 grams per 1 liter (or its last third). Sugar, as in the previous case, is dissolved in part of the wort and poured back into the bottle.

It is important that all the sugar is fermented with each addition.

Typically, active fermentation ends between 21 and 40 days. If the wort ferments for more than 50 days, it must be separated from the sediment, poured into a new, sterilized container and a water seal must be installed.

If, on the contrary, the signs of fermentation disappeared early - on days 5-7, then this may mean:

• Depressurization of the container (carbon dioxide escapes through the gap formed in the container). You need to check and close the fermentation container tightly.
• The sugar concentration in the wort exceeded 10-20%, i.e. it turned into a preservative and stopped the yeast from working. You need to add water or fresh juice in a volume of 20-150 ml per liter of wort.
• Low vital activity of wild yeast or their death. You need to add starter, or 7 crushed (not washed!) grapes per 10 liters. wort, or 40 gr. unwashed raisins (loose, not in bags) per 5 liters. wort, or introduce wine yeast, according to the instructions attached to it.
• The alcohol content in the must reached 14% and fermentation was completed, the yeast died (as evidenced by the clarity of the wine and a layer of sediment).

1. Working with young wine:

When the wine from the grapes no longer shows signs of fermentation (the water seal does not gurgle, the glove has fallen, a stable sediment has fallen, transparency has appeared), it must be separated from the sediment without disturbing its layer. The reason for such delicate handling of wine sediment is, firstly, the desire for transparency of the drink, and secondly, the eradication of its possible bitterness and the preservation of aroma.

To carefully pour grape wine at home, the container with it must be raised above the floor a few days before this process (if it is on the floor), wait 3-4 days and pour the drink into a dry, sterile container through a rubber hose, which can be taken from pharmacy dropper, or siphon (transparent soft tube).

One end of the tube should be dipped into the wine, the other should be pressed between your lips and the liquid should be slightly pulled towards you (as if you were drinking a cocktail). But you shouldn’t wait until the wine gets into your mouth: as soon as you notice the liquid moving in your direction, immediately insert the second end of the straw into an empty container (bottle/jar).

So, your alcohol will slowly leave the old container and fill the new one. At the same time, do not be greedy - do not lower the tube closer than 2-3 cm to the sediment.

But even despite all the measures taken, wine from black grapes will not immediately become transparent. This issue will be resolved at its further stages.

1. Adjusting sweetness and strength:

The young grape wine is already ready, but to make it perfect, only the final steps remain to be taken.

First, let's determine the sweetness of the drink: at this stage, you can turn your wine from table wine into dessert wine and even liqueur wine - like Cahors. To do this, you need to try it and determine how sweet it is at the moment (you may not have to change anything). If you are unhappy and the wine seems sour to you, then you need to sweeten it.

This is done using strong sugar syrup with a minimum amount of water: up to 800 grams are dissolved in 200 ml of water. granulated sugar, let it boil for about 5 minutes, cool and add to the wine at the rate of 40 - 60 ml per 1 liter of young wine.

You can do it simpler: dilute the sugar in a small amount of wine (0.5 liters - 1 liter) until completely dissolved and pour it into a container with the rest of the wine.

Adding sugar at the last minute can restart fermentation. There are several ways to solve this problem:

A) in the first 10-15 days (longer is possible), there should be a water seal on the ripening container

B) sweetened wine is pasteurized: The bottles are filled with the drink so that there is an air gap of about 2 cm between the cork and the drink. The cork is tied to the neck with twine and the bottles are heated in water at a temperature of 65°C for 20 minutes. After this, the cork is untied.

It is worth noting that the lower the pH of the drink, the more effective the pasteurization. The above temperature of 65°C is very relevant for wines with low acidity and degree. For fortified and high-acid wines, heating bottles to 55°C is considered sufficient.

Wine can be pasteurized in other ways, for example, by heating bottles in water to a temperature of 88°C. The procedure lasts 20 seconds, during which the wine should not heat above 90-93°C (its boiling point). In addition, wine in a large container can be heated to 45 - 55 ° C and then, hot, bottled. However, the last two methods are rarely used, because in the first case there is a high probability of the wine boiling (and therefore dying), in the second - the drink releases a degree when heated, which means the wine will be very light.

B) adding a degree— homemade grape wine can be not only light, but also fortified. To do this, you need to add strong, 40-degree alcohol to it. It can be like vodka, alcohol diluted with water or cognac. We pour strong alcohol into wine not as we please, but at the rate of 20-150 ml per 1 liter of finished young wine.

True, not everyone likes its taste - many ladies claim that it is harsh compared to unfortified and less aromatic. Although all this is a matter of taste.

The adjusted drink is poured into a sterile container/containers, sealed and sent for maturation.

If you have an accidental emergency and after adding sugar the wine turns out to be too sweet, then you can:

• add filtered (!) water to it
• add strong (40% alcohol) to it
• make a blend with another wine
• resume fermentation by adding raisin starter (described in the white wine recipe)

1. Maturation:

This stage is also called the period of quiet fermentation. It lasts from a month to a year - there is no point in aging the wine further - its taste and aroma do not improve. For red wine, the optimal period of aging is 2–3 months.

During this period, the drink reaches the peak of its taste and aroma capabilities. To do this, we need to create the necessary temperature regime for it at 5-16°C (not higher).

You also need to prepare another clean container, which will be sterilized before use. We will pour the wine into it, separating it from the sediment that falls. Transferring from container to container should be carried out approximately every 20 days.

Each time the wine becomes clearer. But if even at the end of the ripening period it remains somewhat cloudy, then you can use methods of artificially brightening it. There are special preparations for this that can be purchased in stores for winemakers. Wine can also be clarified using gelatin or egg white. It is worth knowing that clarified and unclarified wine have exactly the same taste.

In the case where the wine was pasteurized, it is drained from the sediment in the same way, before the ripening period expires.

When sediment no longer forms in the alcohol, it is sealed in bottles and sent for storage.

Sometimes, before pouring the wine, it is recommended to treat it with cold. Such wines have an improved taste, rarely get sick, and tartrate and iron salts are deposited in them. To carry out cold treatment, you need to keep the drink for 1-2 weeks at a temperature close to freezing, i.e. at approximately -1 to -2°C. Next, the wine is filtered (separated), i.e. passing through a flexible hose, without collecting the bottom sediment.

Now the drink is ideal for bottling.

1. Wine storage:

In a cool place with a temperature of 5 to 12°C in clean (or better yet, sterilized) glass bottles of 0.5 or 0.7 liters. at a slight angle, so that the wine lightly touches the cork (this will protect it from drying out and air getting inside the bottle).

Storage containers made of dark glass are preferable. It is washed with a brush, doused with boiling water and allowed to drain. Sterilization is possible in the oven at 150°C for 15-20 minutes (after the bottles are completely dry).

The corks for capping are boiled in boiling water, dried and used immediately.

The shelf life of unfortified wine, subject to temperature conditions, is 5 years; fortified wine can be stored even up to 10 years.

If you begin to notice signs of souring in the finished wine (after opening it), the drink can still be saved within 3-5 days - you need to pasteurize it (the process is described in great detail above). If you didn’t have time, don’t worry – such a drink can easily turn into wine vinegar, which is necessary in the kitchen.

White (rosé) wine recipe

The secret of this drink is that this wine is made from white grapes. Well, or pink. Green grapes are also suitable for making wine, but only “green” - in the sense of variety, not ripeness. Any grapes used in winemaking must be ripe.

The assertion of Internet sites that to obtain white wines you need to use red grapes without skins was not confirmed either in our practice or at the wine factory.

In the process of making white wine, your white grapes will go through almost all the steps that red grapes go through. Therefore, here we will describe in detail only the differences in the technological process.

Prepare:

• white or pink grapes (berries) – 10 kilos
• granulated sugar – 50-200 gr. for every liter of juice obtained
• sourdough or wine yeast

How to prepare wine:

1. Working with raw materials

As in the previous case, the grapes are sorted and, without exposing them to water (without washing), thoroughly knead every single berry. This is very important, because to prepare white wine we will need to completely squeeze the juice out of the berries and filter it immediately after pressing.

Fresh fruit notes in the drink and its better fermentation in the future will be ensured if you do not squeeze the juice immediately after pressing the berries, but let it brew together with the skins and pulp for about 10 hours. Now the juice will be ready to bring a brighter taste and aromatic bouquet to the wine.

1. Working with juice - active fermentation

Unlike red wine, white must (juice) has much less wild yeast, therefore, in order for wine from grape juice to ferment into the must (juice), you need to add starter or wine yeast (according to the instructions included with it). Sourdough is prepared from grapes with skins or raisins. It is worth knowing that yeast or starter is not added to the wort at once, but in several stages over 6 hours (so as not to destroy the yeast during a sharp temperature change in its habitat).

To prepare raisin starter (for 10 liters of wort) you need 200 grams. raisins, pour 300 ml of warm (not hot) water, add 50 g. granulated sugar and stir. Cover the top of the dish with a cloth (gauze will do) and keep it for several days (3-4) at a temperature of 25°C. Now it is ready to be introduced into the wort.

No water is added to the must of white grapes at all - white (pink) grapes usually have higher sugar content than their dark relatives and lower acidity.

At this stage, we add the first portion of granulated sugar - 50 grams for each liter of wort (or 1/3 of the total amount of sugar that is planned to be added).

After this, the container in which the wine will ferment is filled with wort. We fill it 2/3 or 3/4 of the entire volume and install a water seal (or a rubber glove with a puncture in one of its fingers).

Wine should ferment in the dark, but the temperature for fermenting juice from white grapes should be lower than for red ones. At home it is 10 - 22°C, in factories it is strictly 16°C. The temperature cannot be lowered below this limit, but it is not advisable to raise it higher either. The thing is that it is precisely this temperature that ensures the maximum aroma of the drink and protects it from oxidation.

In a factory, the wort ferments for 7-10 days; at home, this period can last for a month.

1. Working with young wine, maturing and storage

The young wine produced after the wort has completely fermented must be tasted and its sweetness and strength adjusted. This is done in the same way as in the case of red wine. The maturation and storage of the drink are carried out in the same way as described above. The only difference is in the ripening time: in order for the white wine to be ready and fully ripe, it will be enough to keep it for 40 days (not forgetting to drain it from the sediment).

The variety of grape wines is achieved using various recipes, which are based on the above, as well as blends of grape juices before fermentation, or wines during the ripening process (blending juices is preferable).

If you decide to experiment and want to create a new drink - your “family” wine, then don’t be afraid - go for it. However, try to ensure that the initial volumes of your sample wines do not exceed 3 liters.

Cooking options

• Do not filter the pulp in red wine for 21 days. Only after this do we filter the drink, add sugar, and install a water seal.
• In the recipe for table grape wine “Polish style” for 5 kilograms of grape berries, we take 4 kilograms of raisins and, while maintaining all stages of production, we make wine in which we use raisins instead of sugar.
• During fermentation, a sterile (boiled and ironed on both sides with a hot iron) linen bag is lowered into a container with juice, into which spices are added to taste. This can include lightly crushed cloves, sage seeds and chopped pieces of nutmeg.
• Schisandra jam (more precisely, its syrup) will also help to diversify the taste of the drink: before putting the wine to ripening, you can add 1 tablespoon (if desired, a teaspoon) of this syrup into its composition (0.5 l). After 3 months you can start tasting.
• You can age the wine at its final stage on oak pegs. They are soaked and dried in the oven in advance (for 24 hours), and then dipped in containers with wine. After a month or two of such aging, the wine will give you caramel notes of cognac.

Wine from table grape varieties— White Beauty, Delight, Kesha, etc. – you can cook them, although they are originally intended to be eaten fresh. The berries of these varieties are more fleshy, they yield much less juice, and their sugar content is low (most often 13-17%). But in general, using the technologies described above and from these grape varieties, you can create an excellent product. The Vostorg variety is especially promising here - it is juicier, and its sugar content reaches 23%.

Wine made from grape juice with honey

For it you will need:

• grape juice and water - 5 liters each
• natural honey – 1.5 kg
• wine yeast or 250g raisin starter.

It is prepared using white wine technology: juice and water are combined, 1/3 of honey (instead of sugar) and starter are added, fermented under a water seal, drained from the sediment, sent to ripen (the detailed technology is described above).

Ice wine made from frozen grapes or ice wine has its own peculiarity - the berries must freeze directly in the clusters on the branches. And not even freeze, but freeze.

The grapes can be either white or dark, but it is better if they are noble varieties. It is collected in the morning, usually in November - December. When cutting, the berries should not defrost.

This drink is usually not made at home, but you can still try it. We press the frozen berries - as many as we have collected - without defrosting them, wait until the resulting juice reaches a temperature of 10-12°C and add sugar and special SB wine yeast, which can work at such low temperatures.

We add the amount of sugar using the usual technology - in parts of 50 grams. per liter of juice, yeast - according to the instructions included with it.

The “ice” wort will ferment in a cool room for a long time - several months, it turns out light - 9-10% in alcohol content. It is poured through a hose into a clean, sterile container, sealed and sent for storage. Store only in a cool and dark place, after opening the bottle - no more than 3 days.

Wine from grape leaves It is also possible to do this, and some folk craftsmen offer recipes for this miracle - alcohol. However, despite all the benefits of the grape leaf, we recommend that you make wine only from its berries, and if you really want to somehow use all the grape raw materials, then make a better tincture, rather than wine from grape leaves. Its description can be found in the article “Grape tincture.”

The issue with the pulp remaining after pressing the wine is resolved. It can be used either for making chacha (which is discussed in another article) or for making secondary wine. At the same time, many people like wine made from grape pulp even more than wine made from grape juice.

Wine from grape pulp

Prepare:

• grape pulp (skins, pulp)
• granulated sugar:
• 200-250 gr. for every liter of water poured in (to obtain dry wine)
• 250-300 gr. for each liter of water poured (to obtain semi-sweet wine)
• 300 - 400 gr. for every liter of water poured in (to obtain dessert wine)
• water - in the amount of juice squeezed from the pulp

You need to prepare it like this:

1. Fill the pulp with regular (not boiled) water and stir.
2. Pour sugar into the resulting wort (without filtering), stir and set, tying the neck of the container with gauze.
3. After 1-2 weeks, remove the pulp, filter the wine, and send it to ferment under a water seal.
4. At the end of fermentation, we adjust the sweetness and strength of the drink, and set it to ripen. Every 20 days, we separate the sediment by pouring the alcohol into a new container (clean and sterile).

After 3-4 months, we pour the wine into bottles, cap it and store it.