Why Do You Do That?

I’ve occasionally been asked why I make my own wine when there’s an abundance of reasonably priced, decent quality wine so readily available. I admit, I frequently dip into that well (I’m sipping a hearty California Zinfandel right now). But making your own wine gives you possibilities and a perspective that you’ll never get from merely making a purchase.

Homemade wine can be made from almost anything. I have a 1920’s book on making wine that includes recipes for turnip, onion, and cock wine (“get a cock, the older the better”). But there are many fruits and berries that can make excellent wine, and by making it yourself you can create wine in a style suited to your own tastes. These types of wines are not as readily available commercially, so you have the opportunity to make something unique. In a given year I make red raspberry, wild black raspberry, red currant, pear, and apple wine. I’ll also make batches of other types depending on what I have available. For the most part, I make my wines semi-dry, and have suprised many experienced wine drinkers who expect homemade wine to be a sugar bomb.

Homemade wine can be cheaper than purchased wine; true if you grow or have access to free fruit and use recycled bottles (let me know if you need help recycling some). Of course that doesn’t include the cost of your labor and you have to be willing to deal with the bugs, heat, thorns, etc. if you’re harvesting your own fruit.

But one of the most rewarding aspects is the creative process. Making wine involves knowing your fruit, understanding fermenting, knowing how to shape the wine to your tastes, and enjoying the end results. Priceless!

Winemaking 101 - Part 1a, Equipment

So you think you’d like to take up home winemaking? Go for it! It’s not difficult, and for the casual vintner it doesn’t take a lot of exotic equipment. Today I’ll be going over what items you’ll need to get a batch of wine going through the primary fermenting stage. Equipment will vary somewhat depending on how much wine you’re making and what you’re making your wine from.

Once you have your fruit you need to prep it for the primary fermenter. For grape and berry wines, you need a means of crushing the fruit to release the juices and colors. The skins must be broken, but you want to be sure not to crack the seeds as that will release unwanted flavors in your must, the initial combination of fruit, juices, water, sugar, and other ingredients. For batches under a couple of gallons, just use your hands, they work fine. For 5 gallon batches of my raspberry and currant wines where I am crushing 12-15 lbs of fruit I use an old-fashioned food mill, or the fruit strainer attachment on my Kitchen Aid. Of course, the time-honored foot stomp is still an effective method for soft fruits and berries (and requires no purchase), just make sure your feet are immaculately clean.

For hard fruits such as apples and pears, I core the fruit to remove the seeds, and shred it in a food processor if I’m pressing the juices out, or run it through a heavy-duty juice extractor. For smaller batches a juicer works fine, and I have an antique lard press that I’ll use to squeeze out larger batches of shredded fruit, or grapes that are not being fermented on the skins. You’ll need a mesh bag to hold shredded or crushed fruit if you’re using a press. If you get to the stage where your making in excess of 50 gallons of wine per year you may want to invest in a commercial crusher/destemmer and a moderate size basket press.

Once your fruit and/or juice is prepared for primary fermentation, the first stage, it needs to go into a primary fermenter. This can be almost any type of container large enough to hold your must and that can be covered to keep dust and especially fruit flies out. You’ll want something with a wide opening to make filling easier, and to allow access for stirring your must as it ferments. You’ll need some head room in your container as the fermentation process will produce foam and a “cap” that will rise to the top.

In the past, glazed crocks were used for primaries, and are still a good choice as long as the glazing is intact inside. Stainless steel pots are fine, but avoid aluminum or other metals that would react with the acids in the must. By far, the most commonly used primaries for home winemakers these days are plastic. Plastic containers are available in many shapes and sizes but it’s crucial that you use only containers made from food grade plastic as acids in the must can leach chemicals out of other types. Sterilite brand containers are cheap and good for 1-2 gallon batches. Food grade 5 gallon buckets are perfect for a 3-4 gallon batch. I have a 10 gallon food grade plastic “garbage” can that is my standard primary for 6-7 gallons of must.

At this point you’re ready to put together the other ingredients you will need in your must. For this you’ll need measuring spoons, a kitchen scale, and a large spoon or paddle for mixing everything together in your primary. There is some specialized equipment you may need at this point depending on your commitment and skill level such as a pH meter or pH test strips, and an acid test kit, but I wouldn’t be too concerned about those when you’re just getting started.

One thing you definitely should have is a hydrometer. This is a device that looks kind of like an oversized glass thermometer, and is used to measure the sugar levels in your must. The amount of sugar in the must determines the amount of potential alcohol, the level of alcohol produced if all the sugar in the must is completely fermented, in the finished wine. Too little alcohol and your wine will not be stable and will spoil, not to mention the lack of desired effect. Too much and your wine will be unbalanced and “hot”. You use the hydrometer to measure the level of natural sugars in your must, and if necessary add sugar and retest until you reach the desired potential alcohol level. Fruit and berry wines and even some grape wines will need added sugar to bring the potential alcohol to where it needs to be. Now it’s time to add the remaining ingredients (I’ll cover that later) and your yeast, and get that party started.

Clockwise from lower left: Food mill, Sterilite container, 10 gallon food grade plastic primary fermenter, digital kitchen scale, hydrometer.

Winemaking 101 - Part 1b, More Equipment

Your wine is now bubbling merrily along in your primary fermenter, the yeast cells working furiously to create alcohol for your drinking pleasure. Soon fermentation will slow down, and it will be time for the first racking, moving the wine from one container into another. This post will outline equipment needed for racking wine into a container for secondary fermentation, the second, slower stage of fermenting; and bulk aging. (For info on equipment up to this stage see Pt. 1a) What you’ll need at this point will again depend on how much wine you’re making, and what you are making it from.

First you need something to put the wine in. By far, the most commonly used receptacle by home winemakers is the glass or plastic carboy, a large narrow necked jug, like the old fashioned water cooler bottles. These come in various sizes from 3 to 6.5 gallons. For smaller batches 1 gallon glass jugs are easy to come by, just buy a jug of cheap red wine and make a batch of homemade sangria. I use glass jugs exclusively as I think they’re easier to keep clean, and you can readily see the lees, dead yeast cells and other solids that settle to the bottom of the jug during fermentation; and how clear your wine is getting. They are heavier though, and if your back is an issue you may want to stick to plastic. You’ll want to choose the size of jug to match the amount of wine going into it as it’s important to keep the amount of airspace in the jug to a minimum. Get at least 2 of the size of jugs you’ll be using as later in the process you’ll be transferring the wine from one to the other. A sling type carrier makes moving full carboys less of a chore.

Before secondary fermentation begins you will need to separate the liquid from the solids in the must. If you’re fermenting crushed grapes or other crushed fruit you may need a press to squeeze the juice from the solids. For small batches, a nylon mesh bag can be loaded and squeezed by hand. Even if your primary fermentation was started with juice only, you’ll still have some solids to remove before or during racking. A skimmer can be used to remove the cap, solids that have risen to the surface and formed a cake during primary fermentation.

Next you need a means of transferring the wine. This is most often done using a siphoning system consisting of several parts: a racking cane, a rigid plastic tube curved at one end; a length of siphon hose; and a clamp or valve to stop and start the flow. You may also want a racking cane tip, a small piece that goes on the long end of the cane to raise it off the bottom of the container and keep the suction above the lees. During siphoning you’ll want to remove suspended solids that are sucked into the hose. This can be done by using a funnel with a built-in strainer, cheesecloth, or a mesh bag. There are siphon starting devices you can purchase, but lung power works just fine, and if you get a mouthful, well you should be tasting as you go along anyway.

Once you have transferred your wine into the secondary fermenter, you’ll need to attach an airlock, a device to allow gases created by fermentation to escape and keep outside air, dust, fruit flies, etc. out; to the container. Airlocks are cheap, the only other thing you’ll need is a rubber stopper of the correct size for your jug. Soon, fermentation will resume, and you’ll see gas bubbles dancing though your airlock. Racking is done several times during this final stage of fermentation, and wine can be bulk aged in the jug after fermentation has stopped. Once your wine is clear and stable and has bulk aged to your satisfaction, you’re ready to bottle!

Front to Back: Racking cane with tip; carboy bottle brush; siphon hose with clamp; 2 types of plastic airlocks; 1 gallon jug; 3 and 5 gallon carboys. The 5 gallon carboy has a thermometer strip to monitor the temperature of the wine and a sling carboy carrier on it.

Winemaking 101 - Part 1c, Still More Equipment

By this time you’ve racked your wine several times from one carboy to another. The airlock is quiet as fermentation has stopped. You notice that after the last racking, there has been no more sediment deposited on the bottom of the carboy, and using a wine thief, a specially formed glass tube for drawing samples of wine; you fill half a wine glass with your labor of love to check it for clarity and flavor. If you’re satisfied with the wine you can either leave it in the carboy for further aging, (assuming you don’t need the jug for additional batches of wine), transfer it to another container such as a small barrel, or in most cases you’ll choose to bottle. (For info on equipment up to this stage see Pt. 1a and Pt. 1b)

A supply of bottles should be no problem if you’ve been saving them as you drink. Of course, your bottles will need to be cleaned. You can use a pressure washer type attachment on your faucet, a scrubber that attaches to a driver/drill, or the good old fashioned hand bottle brush. A bottle tree, a rack to hold bottles while draining; is a useful purchase if you’re cleaning lots of bottles. Bottles must be sterilized before filling using a device that squirts a sulfite solution into the bottles, or you can just line them up in the sink and pour boiling water over them. Once bottles are clean, dry and sterile they’re ready to be filled. The simplest method uses the same siphoning system you used to rack your wine; fill to the desired level and stop the flow. There are filling devices you can use that attach to your siphon hose and automatically stop the flow when the bottle is full, as well as gravity feed and electric bottle fillers for filling large quantities.

Filled bottles then need to be sealed. I use corks exclusively for closing my bottles and have yet to have a bottle spoil. To seat corks you have several options. Plunger type corkers are OK for small quantities. Single- and double-armed lever corkers are easier and faster to use, although the double-armed type takes a little practice. If you’re going to make more than a couple of cases a year though, a floor or bench corker is a worthwhile investment; much faster and more consistent.

Now we’ve covered the basics of equipment for the home winemaker. Join me for the next series of posts as we get into the actual winemaking process. I’ve got 50 lbs of raspberries to turn into wine!

Front to Rear: Wine thief, bottle brushes, double-armed lever corker, bottle sanitizer, bottle tree, floor corker, Pippin, Emma (Cats are optional).

Sour Grapes – and Other Fruit

You want some good exercise? Try harvesting wild grapes while standing in a canoe! To keep your balance you’ll use muscles you didn’t know you had.

I’ve been busy and was out of town last weekend so I haven’t gotten the next batch of wine started yet, but in the meantime there’s a bumper crop of wild grapes along my river, so I’m collecting with the plan of taking another shot at wild grape wine. I haven’t make wild grape since very early in my winemaking adventures and I have to admit my first attempt wasn’t all that good, but my techniques have improved immensely since then. And the grapes are free, all you have to do is collect and clean them. Which leads me to today’s topic: Procuring Fruit for Making Wine.

The SS Sour Grapes

I’m fortunate in that I live in an area where fruit is readily available, so I’ve rarely had to buy for winemaking. If you’re only making a gallon at a time the cost to buy isn’t excessive. It takes 2-5 lbs. of fruit per gallon to make most berry wines. Grape, apple, pear, and other wines that are made from predominately juice take considerably more weight per gallon as you’re not adding much, if any, water.

But for the enterprising winemaker there are many free sources of raw materials for making excellent wine. Check parks, nature preserves, hiking and biking trails, cemeteries, or fence lines along back roads. Wild black raspberries are common in these areas. You may also find mulberries, elderberries, wild grapes, or even apples. Friends and family may have trees or bushes with fruit they don’t use. Scout early in the year, and check back regularly to monitor ripeness. Taste as you go to familiarize yourself with how the fruit develops.

Wild areas along my river have abundant wild grapes, black raspberries and elderberries. Friends and family provide me with pears, more raspberries, cherries, and grapes. Five gallons of finished wine results in 25 bottles, so I offer a couple of bottles of wine to anyone who lets me use their fruit, a deal they find most equitable.

Berries often need to be picked in stages as they ripen. As it’s hard to collect enough of them in one picking to make a 5-6 gal. batch of wine I’ll give the berries a quick rinse, drain well and freeze in a zipper bag until I have enough for a full batch. You’ll be crushing the berries anyway so the fact that the freezing process can make them mushy when they thaw isn’t an issue. I’ve made wine from both fresh and frozen berries from the same year and can’t really tell the difference.

If you have the space you may be able to grow your own. On my half-acre lot I have red currants, red, gold and black raspberries, and an Ida Red apple tree. Currants and raspberries are easy to grow and take little maintenance. Apples are more labor intensive as you must use some type of pest control to keep insect damage to a minimum; pears not as much.

The most important thing about procuring fruit is to be sure to use the best quality fruit you can get. Optimal ripeness is crucial as underripe fruit can be too acidic and lack character, and overripe fruit can develop off flavors in wine. Avoid bruised or insect damaged fruit as bacteria will develop in those areas and affect flavors. It can be very time consuming to harvest, sort and clean your fruit, so you may opt to purchase it if you don’t have the time or access, but look it over carefully and rinse thoroughly to remove any dirt or pesticides.

Whether you buy or harvest your own, fruit for wine isn’t hard to come by. And since you’ve read my previous posts you know what equipment you need for making wine, so you really don’t have any excuse not to. Oh, that’s right. I haven’t covered actually making the wine yet. OK, that’s next, I’ll be starting a batch this weekend!

Winemaking 101 Pt. 2 - Crush and Primary Fermentation

Earlier this year, I collected and froze 15 lbs. of red raspberries. Now join me as I start the process of turning them into 5 gallons of wine.

The first stage of winemaking is initiating primary fermentation. Your fruit is crushed and/or the juice is pressed out and put into the primary fermenter. (For information on equipment and terms see these previous posts) Water and sugar, if necessary, are mixed in along with a number of additives to create the must. For the raspberry wine I’ll be using the following additives.

Nutrient powder – This contains trace elements necessary for yeast to grow and multiply. Many grapes naturally have all of these elements, but many fruit and berry wines need the addition of the nutrient powder to insure happy yeast.

Acid Blend powder – Many fruits don’t contain sufficient natural acids to create a balanced wine. This powder contains a mixture of citric, malic and tartaric acid to increase the acidity of the must.

Pectic Enzyme powder – Pectic enzymes weaken the cell walls in fruits to help release flavor and color into the must. They also break down natural fruit pectins that can cause cloudiness in wines.

Super Energizer – This is an additional yeast nutrient that includes vitamins to aid in rapid yeast growth.

Campden tablets – These are premeasured doses of sodium or potassium metabisulfite that are used to inhibit wild yeasts, bacteria, molds, and other unwanted organisms in the must. Use 1 tablet per gallon. When you see “Contains sulfites” on the label of a wine bottle, this is the substance they are referring to.

These additives are inexpensive and readily available at any winemaking/brewing shop or online. Now let’s put these together with the fruit, water, sugar and yeast and get this wine started.

Raspberries in the food mill

After thawing the raspberries thoroughly, it’s time to crush them and put them in the primary fermenter. I use 3 lbs of fruit per gallon of finished raspberry wine. The primary and any equipment that comes in contact with your wine must be cleaned thoroughly, and then sterilized with a rinse of sanitizer (I use a sulfite solution). It is crucial that your equipment be as clean and sanitary as possible to prevent unwanted organisms from contaminating your wine and altering the flavors and aromas. I crush the fruit in a food mill with the tension set loosely so that the seeds are not damaged as breaking the seed coats can release unwanted flavors. All juice and pulp are added to the fermenter along with the water, sugar, and other additives as listed below. Here’s the basic recipe for a 5 gallon batch.

15 lbs. raspberries
5 ½ gallons water
2T Nutrient powder
4t Acid Blend powder
3t Pectic Enzyme powder
1 ½ t Super Energizer
6 Campden tablets

Additives

After the crushed fruit is in the primary, I add the water, mix thoroughly and draw a sample to measure the level of natural sugar in the must. The sample is strained to remove solids and enough poured into a measuring tube to float a hydrometer, which is used to determine how much sugar is present. The hydrometer is placed into the tube and spun to release any air bubbles. Sight across the top of the liquid level to read the scale. The higher the hydrometer sits in the must, the more sugar is present. I use the Specific Gravity scale to determine how much sugar I need to add. Hydrometers also commonly have Brix or Balling, and Potential Alcohol scales as well.

Hydrometer in measuring tube

The initial s.g. reading of my must was 1.005. If this sugar ferments out completely it would result in a wine with only about 1% alcohol, sadly lacking. In order to have a finished wine with my target of 12% alcohol I needed to add enough sugar to the must to bring the specific gravity reading up to 1.090. 2 oz. of sugar added to one gallon of must will raise the s.g. by 0.005. 15 ½ lbs of sugar mixed completely into the must gave me the reading I wanted. This was somewhat more than the calculations may have indicated, but the volume of fruit and juice changes the total amount of must, and the addition of sugar also increases the volume. Make your calculations, add the sugar, measure, and adjust until you are where you want to be. Advanced winemakers will also test pH and acid levels at this point. Be sure to taste your must as you go to familiarize yourself with the changing flavors.

Hydrometer reading

After the sugar level was established, I crushed the Campden tablets in a mortar and pestle, added the remaining dry ingredients, and dissolved the additives in a cup of warm water. This then went into the primary and everything was well mixed. The lid was placed on the fermenter and it was set aside to wait 24 hours at room temperature for the campden tablets to work prior to adding the yeast.

The next day I opened a package of Red Star Premier Cuvee winemaking yeast, my preferred yeast for berry wines, and dissolved it in about 1/3 cup of warm water, stirring well. I then poured it gently on the top of the must. By the following day you could see the yeast starting to work and a cap of fruit solids and yeast starting to form. Soon fermentation will be vigorously active and you’ll actually hear it “sizzle”. The must will be stirred and the cap punched down (mixed into the must) twice daily for the next 4-7 days, until the sugar ferments out to a s.g. reading of 1.040. Then it’s time for the first racking into the secondary fermenter.

The yeast is starting to work and form the cap. Always leave some head space in your primary as the active fermentation will raise the level of the cap. You’ll have a mess if you don’t!

Apple Interlude

The apples on my Ida Red tree have finally gotten ripe, so while the red raspberry wine is working in the primary fermenter (see here for the beginning of the raspberry wine), it was time to pick my apples and press them out.

Ready to start squeezing

I picked 180 lbs. of apples on Friday and washed them up. Got started at 8:30 this morning and had them pressed out by 2:30 with a yield of 9 gallons of juice. Added 9 3/4 lbs. of sugar which will give me an alcohol content of 11-12% when completely fermented. Mixed in the additives and will pitch the yeast tomorrow. I’ll be racking the raspberry into the secondary fermenter tomorrow as well and will be posting on that in the next couple of days. So are any of you thinking about trying this yourself?

Winemaking 101 Pt. 3 - Racking and Secondary Fermentation

It’s been 6 days since the addition of the yeast to the Red Raspberry wine. The cap has been punched down into the must twice daily, and the latest hydrometer reading of strained must shows an s.g. of 1.040, so it’s time for racking into the secondary fermenter.
(See here for the post on Primary Fermentation)

For information on equipment and terms see these previous posts

Note the cap at the top of the must, and the layer of lees at the bottom of the fermenter. The black object on the right is a carboy drying stand. I make these and have them available if anyone is interested.

I’ve placed the primary fermenter on a stool to give it sufficient height for siphoning. Remember that the end of your racking hose must be lower than the intake end of the racking cane to create a siphon. Be sure to wipe all equipment surfaces that come in contact with your wine with sterilizing solution, and run some through your cane and hose.

I skim the cap off the surface of the must before racking so there are less solids to strain out while siphoning.

My primary contains enough must to rack off six gallons, so I’ve rinsed a cleaned 5 gallon carboy and 1 gallon jug with sulfite solution to sterilize them. The racking cane is placed into the primary, positioned, and held with a spring clip to keep the intake above the layer of lees on the bottom of the fermenter. After siphoning, any remaining wine and lees will be discarded. The siphon hose runs into a funnel with a built-in strainer to remove solids. Depending on the quantity and size of the solids I may put a coarser strainer above the funnel to remove larger debris. A solid application of lung power starts the siphon and the wine begins to flow. A clamp near the exit end of the hose lets you stop the flow so you can clear the solids from your strainers if needed. Put a glass on the floor for the end of the hose to keep the floor clean of drips and the end of the hose low so you don’t break the siphon.

Berry wines don’t foam as vigorously during secondary fermentation so you can fill the jugs to the base of the neck. You want to minimize the amount of airspace in your fermenters from this point, but you’ll have to leave more space if you have wines that foam. Once filled, attach a clean and sterile airlock to the jugs. I fill the airlocks with sterilizing solution so that no airborn organisms can grow in the airlock.

Clockwise from upper left: 10 gallons of apple must in primary fermenter, 5 gallons of Concord grape (more airspace was needed in this secondary as Concord foams!), 5 gallons red raspberry, 1 gallon red raspberry.

Be sure to divert a sample for yourself while filling and/or drink the wine you used for the hydrometer reading and note how it has changed since it went into the primary. The sweetness has dropped and the acid gives you a tingle on the tongue. Some effervescence may be present and there will be a noticeable yeast note on the nose; you will taste it in the wine as well. If your fruit was sound and your sanitation good you will not notice any of the sour, funky smells and flavors that indicate problems with the fermentation.

As secondary fermentation continues, more lees will drop to the bottom of the jugs. You will leave this behind on subsequent rackings which is why you have an additional gallon; it will used to “top up” the larger jug when racking to keep the airspace minimized. In three weeks it will be time to rack the wine again.

Winemaking 101 Pt. 4 - 2nd Racking

When we last visited the Red Raspberry wine three weeks ago, it had just gone from the primary into the secondary fermenter. Fermentation has slowed and a layer of lees has formed on the bottom of the jugs, so it’s time for the second racking. A hydrometer check shows a reading of 1.009, so there are still some sugars to ferment. Compare this picture to the previous hydrometer pic and you can see the wine is starting to clear.

For information on equipment and terms and Winemaking 101 pts. 1-3, see these previous posts

The second and subsequent rackings are glass-to-glass which is why you always need one more carboy (or other container) than you have wine in progress. After rinsing a clean carboy, my siphoning hoses and racking cane with sulfite solution to sterilize them, I’m ready to start racking.

The full carboy is carefully moved from the spare room to a stool in the kitchen. Get help if you need to, those things are heavy, and you want to jostle it as little as possible so as not to stir up the lees.

Topping up jug with lees

I tilt the jug slightly, fit a tip on the racking cane (see pic here) to keep the intake above the lees layer, and position the cane so the tip is in the deepest part of the wine, taping the siphon hose to the jug to keep the cane from moving. A good suction application starts the flow, and the outlet is positioned close to the bottom of the clean carboy to minimize splashing and aeration. Draw off a sample of wine to check the flavor and color developement. I also check the pH again at this point to see if the acid levels need any adjustment.

pH is a little below optimal but within acceptable range

Watch as the level drops in the original carboy and be prepared to stop the flow when the lees start to move toward the intake. The rest of the wine will be discarded. Move the siphon to your topping up jug and transfer enough wine to fill the new carboy to halfway between the shoulder and neck of the jug.

Transfer the remaining wine in your topping up jug to a smaller container so it too is nearly full, and attach airlocks to the jugs. I thoroughly clean, rinse and dry my jugs after racking and put a sandwich bag secured with a rubber band over the neck so all they need is a quick sanitizing rinse when I need them next time.

At this point I move wine into my basement as the next racking usually won’t take place for 3-4 months, unless it throws a lot of additional sediment which calls for an earlier racking. Now the long wait for the wine to stabilize and clarify.

Winemaking 101 Pt. 5 - Final Racking, Finishing and Bottling

I had a bumper crop of Red Currants this year, so last July when they were at optimal ripeness, 31 lbs. of them went into the fermenter. Red Currant is one of my favorite wines to make as it ferments well, colors and clears beautifully, and is something I’ve rarely seen elsewhere. Since the wine was last racked, about 3 months ago, fermentation has finished, and it has cleared completely. Now it can be stabilized, sweetened, and prepared for bottling.

For information on equipment and terms and Winemaking 101 pts. 1-4, see these previous posts

Red Currant wine clears on its own with no need for a clarifying agent such as Sparkolloid or bentonite. There was just a dusting of sediment in the bottom of the jugs, so I racked the wine one more time to make sure that only perfectly clear wine goes into the bottles. I sweeten this wine slightly, so I added 1/2 teaspoon of potassium sorbate dissolved in a little water per gallon of finished wine to inhibit any remaining live yeast cells and prevent refermentation from starting after the wine is bottled and blowing the corks.

As the wine was fermented completely dry, the specific gravity measured 0.990. I know from experience that I want the finished wine sweetened to s.g. 1.002, or about 1/2 degree Brix. Knowing that 2 oz. of sugar raises the s.g. of 1 gallon of wine by 0.005, I calculated the amount of sugar needed to sweeten the entire batch. The sugar is combined with a minimal amount of water, and heated to boiling to create a sterile sugar syrup. Allow to cool and add to the wine, stirring well to blend.

How much sugar should you add? That depends on the acid level in the wine, and even more, on your personal taste. Draw samples of the wine and put in several glasses. Leave one sample unsweetened and add increasing amounts of sugar to the other samples. Then taste from the driest to the sweetest sample and decide which is most to your liking. Measure the s.g. of that sample and sweeten the wine to that level. Keep in mind that it’s better to lean somewhat to the dry side as acids can soften a bit with time and you can always sweeten the wine a bit more when you open a bottle.

After the wine has been stabilized and sweetened I like to let it sit for another day or two before bottling to let everything meld a bit. This also gives you the time to get things ready for bottling, including the most tedious part of the process, cleaning and sterilizing the bottles.

You have been saving your empties, haven’t you?

After cleaning and rinsing the bottles thoroughly, they need to be sterilized. You can rinse the bottles with a metabisulfate solution, or just set the bottles in the sink and pour a little boiling water over them. Allow them to drain and cool before filling.

I soak my corks overnight in a little sterilizing solution as an extra precaution, and run some solution through my racking cane and siphon hose. Set your siphon up, and you’re ready to start filling bottles. A simple spring clip on the hose controls the flow of wine, or there are automatic fillers you can buy that stop the flow at a set level.

Fill the bottles so the wine level is about 3/4” from the bottom of an inserted cork, which minimizes the amount of air in the bottle. I use an Italian made floor corker for stopping up my bottles. A hand corker works OK for small batches, but if you’re making 5 gallons of wine or more per year a floor corker is worth the investment as it’s faster, easier and more consistant.

An afternoon in the kitchen resulted in this display of about 5 cases of finished wine.

I’ll talk a bit about dressing up your bottles and labeling in a future post. In the meantime, let’s have a glass of Currant wine!

Winemaking 101 Pt. 6 - Final Touches

A day like today when the temperature struggles to reach O (and fails!), is a good day to add some finishing touches to your bottled wine. These additions certainly aren’t necessary, but add a lot of visual appeal and show a sense of pride in your accomplishment.

For earlier posts on winemaking, see these posts

A bottle capsule made of heat shrinking PVC is a simple and cheap way to dress up a wine. They come in a variety of colors and patterns and are only 5-7 cents apiece. There are special electric units made to shrink the capsule but they’re a bit pricey; around $180. I’ve seen recommendations to use a hair dryer, or to steam the capsule over a tea kettle, but for my money the best way is to use an inexpensive heat gun available at any home center for around $20. It takes a little practice to get the capsule to shrink evenly, but you’ll have a professional looking bottle after a few trys. If your corks are sticking up a bit from the top of the bottle, using a sharp knife carefully slice off any protruding cork flush with the lip before applying a capsule.

Slip the capsule over the neck of the bottle and apply heat evenly. You may need to pull the capsule down a bit as you shrink it to keep the top fitting flush.

Labeling your wine can be fun, decorative, and informative. It can help you keep track of what you have in stock and what’s in each bottle if you don’t have your notes handy (you are keeping good notes on your wines, aren’t you?), and it makes a gift of homemade wine even more special.

I’ve always liked the looks of botanical prints, and borrowed a few from some old books that I have to create many of my wine labels. I have a background in the printing industry and desktop publishing which certainly helps, but these days with a compter, digital photographs, inexpensive flatbed scanners, and a little imagination, almost anyone can produce an attractive wine label. Diecut label sheets are available from a number of sources, some with pre-printed artwork. These come with a template file for your computer to help you put text and graphic elements in the right position, just be sure to print out some position checks on plain paper before running it on the real thing.

As I work for a commercial printer, I was able have my labels printed by a digital printing press on “crack ’n peel” self adhesive stock at a very reasonable price. I decided to put the vintage year on a separate label that I can print from my home computer so I can use the front labels for any year’s production of that type of wine. I don’t label all my bottles, just enough to identify a section in my wine rack, and bottles that I give away as gifts or bring to special occasions.

As the wine is yours, you can call it anything you want. I label most of my wines by the variety, but some have specific names, such as my Ida’s Pride; named for my IdaRed apple tree. Some other time, I’ll tell you all the story of my “Bedliner Red”.

Cranberry Concoction

Last year, a neighbor of mine gave me a 10 lb. bag of cranberries. My apple tree had born badly that year, so I had only enough apples for a couple of gallons of juice. A little creative combination let to a new wine that turned out rather interesting, CranZapple. This year I got 19 lbs of cranberries, so I thought I’d do it again.

The cranberries were cleaned and sorted to remove any berries with rot. Then they were chopped finely in a food processor. A fine chop helps to extract more color from the skins of the berries.

Once chopped they go into the primary fermenter. For a 5 gallon batch of finished wine, I add 2 gallons of apple juice, 3 1/2 gallons of water, and one 46 oz. can of Zinfandel Concentrate to add character.

Additives were as follows:
5 campden tablets
5t Nutrient Powder
5t Pectic Enzyme
1t Acid Blend powder
1t Super Energizer
1/2t Tannin powder

I’m looking to reach 12% alcohol in this wine, so I added sugar until the s.g. measured 1.90, in this case, 9 lbs. Here’s the mix, ready to add the yeast.

After 24 hrs, I added one package of Red Star Premire Cuvee yeast, and the fermentation was on its way.

I had 9 lbs of cranberries left after getting this batch going, so I chopped them and started a smaller batch of 100% cranberry. These wines were started on the Winter Solstice, so I’m hoping that by the Summer Solstice they’ll be ready to bottle. I think they’ll make a refreshing treat for those late summer evenings.

Oh, and a Happy New Year to all who visit here!