Nothing can be quite as satisfying as making your very own wine. From the excitement of choosing the fruit and the process itself to the wait for it to mature and finally the chance to try out your very own blend of grapes. There can be nothing better! You can make your own wine at home with a few basic implements and a good recipe like the ones below. Follow the instructions below on how to make your own wine and enjoy some exotic refreshment all your own!

The Best Time to Make Wine

Early autumn is the best time for wine making since there are so many varieties of grapes to choose from at this time of year. Cultivars will vary depending on where you live but Vitis vinifera is the classic choice for its wonderful flavor, varietal character and historic authenticity. It’s a member of a renowned European wine-grape family and includes Chardonnay, Merlot, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon.

In America v. vinifera grapes enjoy the climate of California and the Pacific Northwest but are also able to be grown in microclimates from New York to the Great Lakes, the Mid-Atlantic states and beyond.

If you live in a colder, wetter climate and can’t find v. vinifera grapes there are hybrids and Vitis labrusca grapes you can use to make your own wine or you could order grapes via your local winemaking shop or from a produce wholesaler.

The techniques, equipment and ingredients are the same, no matter what variety you choose. Here is the process to make your own wine – in a nutshell.

* Basic Winemaking Equipment

To make your first one-gallon batch of wine you will need:

1. Large nylon straining bag

2. Food-grade pail with lid (2 to 4 gallons)

3. Cheesecloth

4. Hydrometer

5. Thermometer

6. Acid titration kit

7. Clear, flexible half-inch diameter plastic tubing

8. Two one-gallon glass jugs

9. Fermentation lock and bung

10. Five 750-ml wine bottles

11. Corks

12. Hand corker

You should be able to find all of the above at a home brewing or home winemaking supply shop. Tell the store clerk you are about to make your own wine and he or she will help you to find everything you need.

* Inspecting the Fruit to Make Your Own Wine

Any successful winemaking exercise starts by inspecting the grapes. Ensure that they are ripe by squashing a double handful, straining the juice and measuring the sugar level with a hydrometer. The sugar density should be 22° Brix or 1.0982 specific gravity or 11 percent potential alcohol. As for the taste – a good grape is sweet, ripe and slightly tart.

Check that the grapes are clean, sound and free of insects and dirt. Don’t use grapes that are rotten or look anything less than in great condition. Make sure that all stems have been removed to prevent a bitter wine.

* Sterilizing your Wine Equipment and Environment

Think clean! Before you make your own wine. wash all your equipment very well in hot water and boil everything that you can. Rinse any items that come in contact with your wine in a strong sulfite solution. Mix up a batch by adding three tablespoons of sulfite powder (potassium metabisulfite) to a gallon of water and mix well.

* Adjusting the Juice

When you make your own wine you need to adjust the juice or “must” of your wine. This is critical to the success of your wine. The acid content is measured with a simple titration kit which you can pick up at a supply shop. Ideally your acid level should be 6 to 7 grams per liter for dry reds and 6.5 to 7.5 grams per liter for dry whites.

Example:

If your must measures 5.5 grams per liter = Add 1 gram per liter of tartaric acid (available at supply shops) to bring it up to 6.5 g/L. Since 0.2642 gallons equals 1 liter, 1 g/L is equivalent to adding 3.8 grams of tartaric acid to your one-gallon batch. Add the mixture in one-eighth teaspoon intervals and check the acidity after each addition, until the desired acidity is achieved.

* Sugar Levels

When you make your own wine you will need to monitor the sugar level with your hydrometer. The must should be about 22° Brix for both red and white wines. To bring the sugar concentration up:

Make a sugar syrup by dissolving one cup sugar in one-third cup of water. Bring it to a boil in a saucepan and immediately remove from heat. Cool before adding in small amounts, one tablespoon at a time, until the desired degrees Brix and specific gravity is reached. To lower the sugar level, dilute your must or juice with water.

* Temperature

You can adjust the temperature of your must by warming up the juice (never cook or boil). This is a quick way to bring it to pitching temperature without damaging its quality.

Fermentation can reach into the 80° to 90° F range, but the 70° F range is normal for reds. Cooler temperatures apply to white wines.

* Racking the Wine

When you make your own wine you will need to learn how to rack your wine. This refers to the process of transferring the fermenting wine away from sediment. How to do it:

Insert a clear, half-inch diameter plastic hose into the fermenter and siphon the clear wine into another sanitized jug. Top it off and fit it with a sanitized bung and fermentation lock. Go slowly to avoid stirring up the sediment or losing your siphon suction.

* Bottling Your Wine

Bottle your wine by siphoning it into the bottles (leaving about 2 inches of headspace below the rim). Next insert a cork into the hand corker and position the bottle under the corker. Pull the lever. Practice really does make perfect!

You can buy your bottles at a home winemaking store or recycle your own bottles. This type of store should also rent hand-corkers and sell corks. Good corks are tightly sealed in plastic bags because exposure to dust and microbes can spoil your wine. You can sterilize your corks just before bottling, with hot water and a teaspoon of sulfite crystals before you make your own wine.

* Quantities

A one-gallon batch will give you five standard-size (750 ml) bottles of wine.

* Two Recipes for Making Your Own Wine

What follows are step-by-step recipes for a dry red and a dry white table wine. The recipes are similar but remember red wines are fermented with the skins and pulp in the plastic pail with the solids pressed AFTER fermentation. Conversely, white wines are always pressed BEFORE fermentation, so it’s only the juice which ends up in the fermenting pail.

* Recipe # 1

Make Your Own Wine – Dry Red Table Wine

Ingredients
* 18 lbs. ripe red grapes
* 1 campden tablet or 1 tsp. sulfite crystals
* Tartaric acid, if necessary
* Table sugar, if necessary
* 1 packet wine yeast (like Prise de Mousse or Montrachet)

Harvest grapes once they have reached 22 to 24 percent sugar (22° to 24° Brix).

Sanitize all equipment before you make your own wine to prevent contamination.

Place the grape clusters into the nylon straining bag and deposit the bag into the bottom of the food-grade pail.

Using very clean hands or a sanitized tool like a potato masher, firmly crush the grapes inside the bag.

Crush the campden tablet (or measure out 1 teaspoon of sulfite crystals) and sprinkle over the must in the nylon bag. Cover pail with cheesecloth and let sit for one hour.

Measure the temperature of the must. It should be between 70° and 75° F. Take a sample of the juice in the pail and measure the acid with your titration kit. If it’s not between 6 to 7 grams per liter then adjust with tartaric acid. Remember the basic principles of how to make your own wine?

Check the degrees Brix or specific gravity of the must. If it isn’t around 22° Brix (1.0982 SG), add a little bit of sugar dissolved in water.

Dissolve the yeast in 1 pint warm (80° to 90° F) water and let stand until bubbly (it should take no more than 10 minutes). When it’s bubbling, pour yeast solution directly on must inside the nylon bag. Agitate bag up and down a few times to mix yeast.

Cover pail with cheesecloth, set in a warm (65° to 75° F) area and check that fermentation has begun in at least 24 hours. Monitor fermentation progression and temperature regularly. Keep the skins under the juice at all times and mix twice daily.

Once the must has reached “dryness” (at least 0.5° Brix or 0.998 SG), lift the nylon straining bag out of the pail and squeeze any remaining liquid into the pail.

Cover the pail loosely and let the wine settle for 24 hours.

Rack off the sediment into a sanitized one-gallon jug, topping up with a little boiled, cooled water to entirely fill the container. Fit with a sanitized bung and fermentation lock. Keep the container topped with grape juice or any dry red wine of a similar style.

After 10 days, rack the wine into another sanitized one-gallon jug. Top up with dry red wine of a similar style.

After six months, siphon the clarified, settled wine off the sediment and into clean, sanitized bottles. Cork with the hand-corker.

Store bottles in cool, dark place and wait at least six months before drinking.

Red wine is fermented with the pulp and skins. This “cap” will rise to the top, so you need to “punch it down” frequently with a sanitized utensil.

Recipe # 2

Make Your Own Wine – Dry White Table Wine

Ingredients
* 18 lbs. ripe white grapes
* 1 campden tablet or 1 tsp. sulfite crystals
* Tartaric acid, if necessary
* Table sugar, if necessary
* 1 packet wine yeast (like Champagne or Montrachet)

Harvest grapes once they have reached 19 to 22 percent sugar (19° to 22° Brix).

Pick over grapes, removing any moldy clusters, insects, leaves or stems. Place the grape clusters into the nylon straining bag and put into the bottom of the food-grade plastic pail. Using very clean hands or a sanitized tool like a potato masher, firmly crush up the grapes inside the nylon bag. Remember to keep all your equipment sterile when you make your own wine.

Crush the campden tablet (or measure out one teaspoon of sulfite crystals) and sprinkle over the crushed fruit in the bag. Cover pail and bag with cheesecloth and let sit for one hour.

Lift the nylon straining bag out of the pail. Wring the bag to extract as much juice as possible. You should have about one gallon of juice in the pail.

Measure the temperature of the juice. It should be between 55° to 65° F. Adjust temperature as necessary.

Take a sample of the juice in the pail and use your titration kit to measure the acid level. If it is not between 6.5 and 7.5 grams per liter, then adjust with tartaric acid as described above. Don’t forget the basic principles discussed above when you make your own wine.

Check the degrees Brix or specific gravity of the juice. If it isn’t around 22° Brix (1.0982 SG) adjust accordingly.

Dissolve the packet of yeast in 1 pint warm (80° to 90° F) water and let stand until bubbly (no more than 10 minutes). When it’s bubbling, pour yeast solution directly into the juice.

Cover pail with cheesecloth, set in a cool (55° to 65° F) area and check that fermentation has begun in at least 24 hours. Monitor fermentation progression and temperature at least once daily.

Once the must has reached dryness (at least 0.5 degrees Brix or 0.998 SG), rack the wine off the sediment into a sanitized one-gallon jug, topping up with dry white wine of a similar style. Fit with a sanitized bung and fermentation lock. Keep the container topped with white wine. Be sure the fermentation lock always has sulfite solution in it.

After 10 days, rack the wine into another sanitized one-gallon jug. Top up with wine again.

After three months, siphon the clarified wine off the sediment and into clean, sanitized bottles and cork them.

Store bottles in cool, dark place and wait at least three months before drinking your very own homemade wine!

As you can see once you master the basics of how to make your own wine it really isn’t that difficult. Time consuming it may be, but well worth it in the long run as you enjoy and share your very own harvest. You can make your own wine with the same passion as the world’s great winemakers if you learn the basic techniques, choose your grapes wisely and put your heart and soul into the process. Enjoy!