If there’s ever been a food or drink with a history behind it, it’s wine. Used practically since the beginning of civilization by king and commoner alike, it’s a drink that speaks to our more refined sensibilities and offers us a chance to not just consume a beverage, but to get lost in it, think about it, and really, truly enjoy it. For those that truly love wine, however, nothing can compare to the thrill of actually making and bottling their own blend. Ignored for years as something that only the experts could do, wine making is really quite simple!
When you first set out to make wine, it can seem like an overwhelming process with too many steps to make sense out of. In a sense, this is true. People have been making wine for thousands of years and naturally, there’s a lot of advice on the subject. However, for the purposes of just getting a feel for the process, the following four steps lay things out nicely.
To get things started, you need some way to produce an extract of whatever ingredient you’re using. If you’re even seen the classic imagery of barefoot people stomping a tub full of grapes, this is what’s going on. So, whether you need to juice, grind, chop, or boil your ingredients to get the flavor extracted, this is the first step to making a good quality wine.
Now, here’s the step that takes us from grape juice to wine: fermentation. With a simple mixture of acids, sugars, and yeast of some sort added to your original liquid, fermentation will begin. It’s important to have a covered vessel for this to happen in, but it doesn’t need to be airtight, yet.
Soon, you’re going to end up with a highly separated product, with pulp and liquid distinctly separate like oil and vinegar. Now, your job is to strain the liquid off and be sure to get the remaining liquid out of the pulp. Once you do, add it to an airtight container and keep fermenting for a few more weeks. Be patient!
While you may have to repeat the above steps a few times, you’ll eventually end up with a nice clear final product that is ready to be bottled and corked. Experts debate endlessly about how long wine should be aged but in general, whites should wait at least half a year, and reds a full year before sampling.
And that’s really all there is to it. Obviously, wine making is an advanced topic with a lot that can be written about it, but this overview should be enough to get you started. Good luck!
Wine making is one of those true art forms that can change the way you look at the world and the people in it. To get started, you will need wine making equipment and a wine making recipe. For all the free information you’ll need, please visit our website.
