Make Wine At Home, Home Wine Making

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There can be no greater pleasure than to relax with good friends and good wine.

That is, unless you have produced it yourself. Then the fulfillment is on a whole new level. The feeling you get when someone says, "What great wine, where did you get it?" and you can answer "It's one of mine", is so satisfying.

First of all, most of them are amazed that you didn't buy it from the wine shop. Not that they don't believe you, it's just that good! Secondly, they tend to compare it to some of the other home-made wine they've experienced in the past (been there... did that), and are amazed at the quality you are able to produce.

The fact is simply that good wine... scratch that... great wine is now easily made at home. Products and information that was usually hard to find a few years ago, is now readily available and very inexpensive. There is no reason for anyone not to produce their own store quality wines. With the advent of the wine concentrate kit, nearly all of the top wines of today are able to be mimicked to near perfection.

Now, I don't for one minute intend any disrespect to all the vineyards and die hard wine makers out there that either grow and press their own grapes, or at least buy them and make their own wines... been there, too. It's no wonder that a good bottle of wine costs what it does. There is an incredible amount of education and work involved in the entire process. For anyone who is interested in following this road, may the force be with you. However, given the small amount of free time that I personally find myself with, wine kits give me all the benefits with none of the hassles. I suspect that I am not alone on this one.

"Take your favorite Cooking-Solutions Recipe and your Homemade Wine out in a Picnic Basket for the perfect Date."

That being said, there numerous reasons to make your own wine at home: relaxing hobby

» low cost... usually $3.00 or less per bottle as opposed to $10,$15, $20...
» customizable, if you prefer something a little less dry, it's your choice
» hundreds of wine types available
» great gift ideas... did I mention low cost :-)
» satisfaction... and maybe a little prestige

I have personally made dozens of familiar wine types with great success. I am a red wine fan for the most part, and prefer a medium-dry Merlot, Pinot Noir or Petite Sirah. However, depending on the dishes I am serving, I do also like a nice white like Gewurztraminer, Hock or Reisling... must be my German heritage, I guess. For the most part, though, I subscribe to the Italian theory. The only wrong wine is no wine at all :-)

Of course, living out here in the country, I have access to many different kinds of seasonal fruits and berries. Any and all of these make great wine, as well, and I still have a decent stock of Blackberry, Blueberry, Strawberry, Chokecherry and Pear gathering dust in my wine cellar.

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If you need custom labels for that wine you're making, Stoney Creek Wine Press will print anything you want.

Custom design your own labels right on their site.

They're perfect for special occasions and celebrations such as anniversaries, parties and celebrations, grand openings, and as corporate gifts.

Here's my simple fruit wine recipe that works well with most different kinds of fruit or berries.

Note: Multiply the recipe by approximately 6 times to fill a normal 23 litre carboy. I normally use smaller containers to make a smaller batch, depending on how well the berries are growing that particular year. Yeah, I know... "you might be a redneck if... "

Fruit or Berry Wine

4 litres of crushed fruit or berries (discard most of the larger pits)
1 ½ litres of boiling water

Allow to steep for 3 days in a sanitized, water-sealed primary fermenter (stir daily)

Strain into another sanitized fementer. Add 1 campden tablet or 1 tbsp. of fruit wine stabilizer per gallon. Water-seal the fermenter.

Stir 3 or 4 times for a day.

Add 1 package of wine yeast for a full 23 litre batch. If making less, use your own judgement. Stir in yeast.

Add 2 lb. of sugar per 4 litres of juice. Stir in and water-seal. Allow to ferment until all noticeable bubbling has stopped. Rack into a sanitized carboy and water-seal. Allow to clarify for at least a month.

Rack into another sanitized carboy. Stir in a bottle of clarifying agent. Let stand for a week to clarify.

Rack into a sanitized carboy, checking clarity in a wine glass. If it looks good, let stand for a couple of days, then filter and bottle. If not (yup, you guessed it) let stand and rack again in a week.

The complete process usually takes a couple of months, depending on the type of fruit and the amount of pulp involved.

This wine is ready to drink when bottled, but will only get better with age. Enjoy!

Here's a little bit of personal advice. The top two habits of a good wine maker are sanitation and patience.

Proper sanitization of all your equipment is essential. I've seen whole batches of wine go down the drain due to bacteria growth caused by un-sanitized hoses, improper water seals, traces of stuff left in the bottoms of carboys and primary fermenters, etc. Careful attention to these seemingly small details will go a long way in insuring your success in wine making... just like any other area of food preparation.

Patience, now this can be the hard one. It's sometimes easy to do the obvious, but in this venture, patience is it's own reward. Everybody pretty much wants everything done yesterday. Patience will turn a good batch of wine into a great one.

» Don't try to hurry the fermenting process
» Don't shortcut any required steps
» Be sure to filter your wine even if it looks clear
» Take the time to label and date your bottles of wine
» Allow it to age properly

Follow these steps carefully and I guarantee you'll have very few problems when it comes to making your own wine. Cheers !!!

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