Wine Making Process
Easy wine making really consists of a healthy balance between factual knowledge and common knowledge. A combination of these two, along with a good wine-making grape will result in a delicious glass of wine for you and your family to enjoy.
It takes about fifty pounds of good, rip grapes to produce about five gallons of terrific wine. Materials like plastic vats large enough to accommodate grapes can be purchased from your local wine supply shop. Once the grapes are harvested youll need to place the grape clusters into the vat and crush them. The age old method of crushing the grapes by foot has not been surpassed by technology. But, for smaller vats, grapes can be crushed by hand or with a potato masher. Both work equally as well as the foot. The vat should be no more than two-thirds full when all of the grapes are crushed. Unwanted yeast can produce premature fermentation. You will need to add the appropriate amount of Campden tablets which is pre-measured amounts of potassium metabisulfite to the grapes to stop this unwanted yeast growth. Cover the vat with a towel and allow it to sit for a day.
Fermentation After the mixture has rested for a day, its time to add 1 packet of wine yeast (not to be confused with bread yeast). The most common types of wine fermenting yeasts are Montrachet and Prix de Mousse. To stir in the yeast, use your hands so as to elevate the temperature of the must and activate the yeast. Using your fingers, comb through the mixture and remove the stems, crushing any fruits that were left attached to them. Cover with a cloth, and let it sit again. Within 48 hours, the must should begin to fizz and it will look like its boiling by the third day of fermentation. When a week passes, the fizzing will stop and the wine will be ready to be filtered of seeds, pulp and any leftover grape skin.
Within a week the fizzing will subside and it is time to separate the wine from the leftover seeds, grape skins, and pulp. The mixture can be poured into mesh bags or cheese clothes. It then needs to be squeezed, strained and poured into a glass carboy, also available at winemaking shops, or poured into an empty wine barrel. From this moment on the wine should no longer come into contact with the air. An airlock can be used with a carboy or a barrel. An airlock prevents air from getting into the container but allows gas to escape.
Racking At this stage, it will only take 2-3 weeks for the fizzing to stop. Once the fizzing stops, its time to rack the wine. Racking will remove what is called the lees from the wine. Lees is the used up yeast and grape pieces that remain, unconsumed, at the bottom of the barrel of carboy. A common way of doing this, is siphoning the wine out of the container to clean the bottom. Once the bottom of the lees has been removed, the wine is to be poured back into the container. A second racking will be required 2-3 months after the first, with a third and final racking 3-4 months after that.
Wine can be aged in a cool completely dark place. It is also important to top off the barrel. This can be done by using a similar wine. At this point, the wine is able to be tasted but, the longer a wine ages, the better it is.
Pierre Duponte is a grape growing expert. He spends his time teaching others how to make fine wines. For more great tips on easy wine making or you can get his free 10 part mini course on grape growing and how to make wine visit http://www.grapegrowingwinemakingtips.com/.
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