How to Make Your Own Wine

Food & Drink // 001 HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN WINE Who said there's no fun in being frugal? Making your own wine will guarantee you're a hit at parties and it will save you money too! You can start with a kit and then get more ambitious – crushing your own grapes or other fruits, to make a country wine. Either give me more wine or leave me alone. Rumi Persian poet FIRST, WHAT WILL YOU NEED? THE BASIC SET UP This equipment totals around £50-70 30 LITRE FOOD-GRADE SHEET OF PLASTIC & PLASTIC BUCKET STRING OR ELASTIC (your primary fermenter) (if bucket has no lid) GLASS CARBOY (1 (secondary fermenter) AIRLOCK & BUNG SIPHON HOSE THERMOMETER BOTTLES & CORKS HAND CORKER [1] A carboy is a glass jar with an air lock. It allows carbon dioxide to escape but keeps out oxygen and the wild yeast and bacteria that could spoil your wine. INGREDIENTS A wine kit will probably come with whichever of these ingredients you need (some kits vary in method). GRAPES/GRAPE JUICE PECTOLASE Natural enzyme that improves flavour and colour OR CONCENTRATE (21 6-7 kg of grapes produces 5 litres (1 gallon) of wine WINE YEAST (3] Converts the sugars WINE YEAST NUTRIENT CITRIC ACID Gives your wine a lemony zip Vitamins and minerals the into alcohol yeast needs to work well STABILISER Sodium: stops wine going off. Potassium metabisulphate: stops further fermentation TANNIN POWDER BREWING SUGAR (4) Makes red wine taste Fuel for the yeast to get bitter, like builder's tea fermentation started 121 Concentrate is cheaper to ship so basic wine kits use this. Undiluted juice often gives a better flavour. (3] Bread-making yeast is cheaper but not so good for wine. [41 Different to table sugar - it has been broken down into the constituent parts glucose and sucrose to be more digestible for the yeast. More expensive wine kits don't require you to use sugar. Useful Extras You'll need these items if you're going to start with the fresh fruit as opposed to a kit HYDROMETER For measuring the density (specific gravity) of your batch. The more sugar, the higher the reading ROLLING PIN, WOODEN BLOCK, PULPER ATTACHMENT OR For your drill - a sharp blade on a steel rod STRAINING BAG HOW MUCH CAN YOU SAVE? OTHER EQUIPMENT BASIC £50-70 + (some of this may come with your kit, or you can pick things up free from friends, family and websites) TOTAL COST WINE KIT (makes 30 bottles) £70-£90 £20 You save A basic bottle of wine from a shop 1st Batch £60+ (equiv. £12/hr) costs about £5 30 BOTTLES %3D TIME SPENT All about 4 - 6 hours £130+ £150 following batches (equiv. £26/hr) MAKING THE WINE PREPARATION Start to collect used wine bottles Clean and sterilise all the equipment with boiling water and a strong sulphite solution If using fresh fruit Buy or pick the fruit, wash it and remove the stems Chop the fruit into small pieces and crush with the end of a rolling pin or a wooden block Strain - add the fruit to your strain bag, squeeze and mash and collect the Grape stems will make the wine bitter juice in your bucket DAY 1 (Start the batch) Add sugar, wine acids, tannins and nutrients Add the grape juice/concentrate and water and stir well Add the yeast TTTTTTTT sterilized fermenter bucket Add lid, or cover with plastic sheet (secured with rubber band) Move the batch somewhere warm, such an airing cupboard to start the fermentation Check the specific gravity (density) using a hydrometer (eg. 1.090 is good for a Pinot) The more syrupy the mix, the more dense it is The specific gravity will drop during fermentation because the yeast eats the sugar DAYS 2-11 (Primary Fermentation) This open fermentation gets the yeast to colonise mixture or "must" Once you see foam and bubbles, move the batch somewhere cooler but Stir the mixture every day Check the temperature stays between 69-79 °F (21- 26°C) still warm (18- 24°C) Too cold and the fermentation gets stuck - bacteria could Leave to ferment (often 7-10 days) spoil your wine Cooler temperatures bring out the fruity flavours in white wine After 1-3 days press the grapes for a full-bodied white wine, eg chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, or Sémillon Warmer ferments 3. release the tannins and darken the colour OR for red wines After 4-7 days press the grapes for red wine. Too hot and the yeast becomes weak, causing off flavours The longer you leave the skins in, the stronger the flavor and the darker the colour A Beware of pressing the grapes too much because it causes Check the specific gravity When it has fallen to 1.020, the wine is ready to rack! bitterness DAYS 11-90 (Racking/Secondary Fermentation) This is closed fermentation during which the yeast turns the sugar into alcohol. You separate the wine from the sediment to prevent dead yeast making the wine taste "off". This is a delicate process. So go slowly. Siphon off the wine into a fresh sanitised carboy Top up the carboy with boiled, cooled water to just below where the rubber bung stopper would be TTTTTTT Taste the wine Attach the airlock to check it's okay This allows carbon dioxide to escape but keeps out oxygen and the wild yeast and bacteria that could spoil your wine Leave the wine to settle, then repeat this process for each 'racking' 1st racking Leave for 10 days 2nd racking Leave for 3-4 weeks 3rd racking Add sulphite powder as preservative Add oak chips (for Pinot Noir) Leave for 4-6 weeks in a cool, dark place (such as a cellar) Fine it and if needed, filter it Add finings (bentonite clay - which should come with your kit) This helps the particles settle Whites become clear while reds lose their harsh tannin edge If the wine is still cloudy you can also consider filtering. This helps stabilise the wine so you can drink it sooner. You can buy simple gravity filter kits for around £30, or hire a filtration unit from a shop Bottling a) Siphon the wine into sanitized bottles b) Leave about 3cm of headspace below the rim c) Cork the bottles and lay them down d) Check 1-2 days later for leaks e) Recork any leaking bottles 8. Leave to age Give the wine at least 1 month to recover from the shock of being bottled and finally... POUR & DRINK! It is much easier for people who want to try making their wine at home to start by using wines they know are not very complex. Roberto Vicente Winemaker HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN WINE CW WINE INVESTMENT WINEINVESTMENT.COM דיייויאדייייי aTTTTTT TTTTTTIT. TITTTTIT. ןיריויידיד .......... .......... m .......