How long does it take to prepare homemade wine from grapes? How to make wine from white grapes at home

Homemade grape wine has always enjoyed considerable popularity at any table, so every winemaker, even a beginner, happily tries to create wines according to various recipes, including the classic version - from grapes.

Here is a recipe for excellent grape wine: step by step and easy at home (with photos and instructions).

In order for grape wine (and not just homemade wine) to turn out truly tasty and aromatic, it is necessary to use exclusively high-quality and, most importantly, the right product to create it - wine varieties.

The berries of these varieties are characterized by their small size and density on the bunch. Below are some valuable tips from experienced winemakers regarding the selection and preparation of material for wine:

Advice. Grapes collected for making wine should not be washed, because the white coating that forms on them is nothing more than wine yeast. Rinse or even wash grapes only if a starter with high-quality wine yeast is used.

The harvested grapes should be separated from the ridges, sorted, removing all unsuitable berries, including dried and moldy berries. After preliminary selection, the berries are poured in small batches into a deep container and crushed. You can use a regular potato masher or a meat grinder. The berries should be crushed very carefully so that each of them releases all its juice.

Wine making process

Making quality wine is a fairly simple process if you strictly follow all steps of the recipe. The following is a step-by-step process for preparing wine.

Fermentation of pulp

The finished pulp or crushed berries, previously separated from the ridges, are poured into a suitable container and covered tightly with a cotton cloth. Keep in mind that the container should only be 2/3 filled with wine material.

The container with pulp is installed in a room with a strict temperature regime, falling between 18 and 23 degrees. If the temperature is above the second mark, the pulp may ferment too intensely, which will result in it turning into vinegar. If the temperature is below the first mark, the fermentation process may proceed too slowly or may not even begin at all.

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So, after a few days, the fermentation process will begin and the must (juice, which is essentially young grape wine) will begin to separate from the pulp. The pulp and wort should be thoroughly mixed every day, otherwise the former will simply turn sour and the taste of the not yet finished product will be spoiled.

Preparation of grape must

5-7 days after the start of fermentation, the pulp should be thoroughly squeezed out, thus separating the wort from it. The first spin is done through a colander, the second through several layers of gauze. The purified wort should ferment. To do this, it is poured into a clean container (it should be filled only 3/4) and tightly closed with a stopper and tube.

Attention! Experienced winemakers believe that separating the pulp from the wort is a mistaken action, which will subsequently deprive the finished product of its valuable deep aroma and delicate aftertaste.

If you want to leave the pulp, you should not squeeze it out to separate the wort: just pour all the product into a new container and close it with a lid with a straw. The tube will serve as a kind of protection against oxygen: one end of it must be lowered into a container of water, the other into wine.

At this stage, it is important to control the strength and sweetness of the wine, which depend, first of all, on the fructose content in the product. You can regulate this indicator by adding this or that amount of sugar. In our area, predominantly varieties with a low fructose content grow, therefore, if sugar is not added during the preparation of wine, it will turn out dry.

The dosage of sugar is usually taken as follows: about 1 tbsp. per 1 liter of semi-finished product. Sugar is added as follows: you need to pour a little wort, heat it and pour sugar into it, stirring the mass until the latter dissolves completely. After this, pour the resulting sweet composition back into the container with wine.

Corking of semi-finished wine

At this stage, you should separate all the sediment from the finished wort (to do this, you just need to drain the wine through a straw, carefully lowering the container with water below the container with wine). Be sure to check the product for the amount of sugar: if you like dry grape wine, you won’t need sugar. Otherwise, be sure to add it to the wine and stir thoroughly.

All that remains is to pour the grape wine into a dark glass bottle and seal it loosely (this is necessary so that the remaining carbon dioxide contained in the wine finds a “way out”).

Product sterilization

This is the last, but no less important stage in making homemade wine. Some winemakers believe that this process should occur naturally: the wine must be left in a dark, cool place for several months (2-3) until the fermentation process stops, having previously installed water seals on each bottle. During this period, you should drain the wine at least several times to remove sediment.

There is another way to sterilize wine - forced. It is necessary to loosely close the wine bottles, wrap them with cloth and place them in a container filled with water. Place a thermometer in one of the bottles and sterilize the product until its temperature rises to 60 degrees. After this, all the yeast will die and the fermentation process will stop completely. The remaining carbon dioxide will also escape through a loosely closed plug.

Afterwards, you can tightly cork the bottles and send them to a cool, dry place. A product that has gone through all the preparatory stages correctly will be able to gain all that wonderful aroma and depth of taste for which many people love grape wine so much. Good luck!

How to make wine from grapes at home: video

Anyone can make delicious grape wine at home. To create it, no special devices are needed: the distillation apparatus is assembled from improvised means. The sweetness and strength of alcohol is determined by the ingredients used. For example, a good taste is obtained by combining Isabella with other varieties. Step-by-step recipes with photo and video tips presented below will help you understand the features of preparing a flavorful drink. It can be prepared with the addition of water and sugar, without yeast.

How to make wine from grapes at home, a simple step-by-step recipe

Experienced winemakers use virtually no yeast or water. Self-fermentation of the grapes ensures a natural taste. Add water only if the grapes are too acidic. In other situations, the recipe for grape wine at home includes only berries. The absence of additives makes it refined and has a pleasant aftertaste. How to make wine from grapes at home, without using additional ingredients, is described in the following instructions.

Ingredients for making wine at home using a simple recipe

grapes - 10 kg;
sugar - 100-150 gr. for 1 l.

Step-by-step recipe for simple wine preparation at home

The clusters are cleared of large branches (leave the green ones, it is better to remove the dry ones), transfer them to a small saucepan and pound with a mortar. You cannot wash the grapes beforehand: this will remove the wine yeasts released from their surface.
The pulp (crushed grapes) is transferred to an enamel bowl. The top is covered with gauze. This will eliminate the appearance of fruit flies. It shakes itself a couple of times a day. The composition is left for 4-5 days at a temperature of 18-23 degrees.
Afterwards the cake is separated. To do this, put gauze on a colander and put the pulp on top.
The squeezed juice is poured into jars (2/3 full) and tightly closed with lids. Holes are prepared in them and a flexible tube is connected. Its free end is immersed in a small jar of water. This will help remove gases and prevent direct contact of the liquid with air.
When fermentation ceases to be active, sugar is added. The need for filling is checked by tasting: it needs to be added if the sweetness and strength of the alcohol is insufficient. When the formation of bubbles stops, pouring and capping should begin.

Amazing dry wine from grapes at home - a simple recipe with photos

Making dry wine from grapes at home is not difficult. Its advantages are ease of preparation: the use of additives in this case is not required. Making wine from grapes at home can be done using any variety with a slight sweetness. Then the resulting drink will have a slight sourness.

Ingredients for making dry wine at home using a simple recipe

grapes - 10 kg.

Step-by-step recipe for making dry homemade wine

Bad and green grapes, leaves are removed. The sorted grapes are manually pounded with a mortar. In an enamel container it lasts for about 1 day (temperature - 20-25 degrees).
The remains are separated from the wort: the composition is filtered several times and poured into bottles with a narrow neck. A hose is connected to the lids and lowered into a jar of clean water.
At the end of fermentation, the liquid is poured into containers. It is important to carry out the procedure carefully without touching the sediment. It is better to store containers in a dark place. If sediment forms, additional filtering is allowed.

Wine from grapes at home - recipe without yeast, video

Natural wine should contain a minimum of additives. But also during its production it is necessary to take into account special requirements for collection and processing. Therefore, beginners are recommended to make homemade wine from grapes using a step-by-step recipe. Following the rules outlined in the video tutorial will help you avoid common mistakes.

The instructions provided provide an example of using Isabella. But it can be replaced with other berries. For example, Bianca is a white grape that is one of the best varieties. It has an original taste, but is quite expensive, and caring for the plants themselves is not easy. Therefore, you can make homemade wine from grapes with the addition of water and sugar and with cheaper, familiar varieties - sultana, valentina or bazhena.

Delicious wine from Isabella grapes at home without yeast - a simple recipe with photos

The use of Isabella as a base is fully justified by the ease of its cultivation and collection in large quantities. True, some winemakers believe that it is almost impossible to make delicious wine from Isabella grapes at home. Achieving a rich and pleasant taste with this variety is easy when using additional components. A simple recipe will help you prepare exquisite wine from grapes at home.

Ingredients for homemade wine from Isabella according to a simple recipe without yeast with water and sugar

grapes - 5 kg;
water - 12 l (boiled only);
sugar - 3 kg.

Step-by-step recipe for homemade wine from Isabella without yeast with the addition of water and sugar

Prepare the bunches for processing. Grind the grapes, add sugar and leave for a week.
Dilute the infused pulp with water and leave for 1 month under gauze. The resulting “cap” must be constantly removed.
At the end of the month-long fermentation, the mixture should be strained and bottled. It is important to remember that sediment getting into the purified liquid will lead to its rapid deterioration.

Homemade grape wine with added water and sugar, recipe with photo

The use of auxiliary ingredients allows you to obtain a strong and very sweet wine. Such drinks made from white grapes are combined with cheeses, desserts, chocolate or other confectionery products. Alcohol made from red grapes is usually served with meat dishes (poultry, pork or beef).

Ingredients for making sweet wine at home

red grapes - 5 kg;
water - 30% of the mass of the resulting pulp;
sugar - 40 g per 1 liter.

Recipe for making sweet homemade wine with added water and sugar

Remove damaged grapes and leaves. Press grapes for wine at home using a mortar.
Place the grape “porridge” in an enamel pan and mix with additives. Cover with gauze and stir after 3-4 days. In the future, the foam “cap” that appears should be removed. After another 12-24 hours, strain the pulp.
Add water to the prepared composition (40% of the total mass). Pour it into bottles, cover with a medical glove, and make a puncture in it to release gases. When the glove comes down, you need to take a little liquid, heat it and dissolve sugar in it (200 g for each liter), pour the mixture into a bottle.
When the liquid stops fermenting, you need to wait for the sediment to peel off and keep the mixture for a month. Next, use a straw to pour it into bottles and seal.

White grape wine at home with the addition of water - a delicious recipe

A distinctive feature of this light, transparent wine is its delicate, refined taste. It is light and goes well with simple snacks: cheese, sliced vegetables. Ideally complements salads and fish. You can make wine from white grapes at home from any variety. Regardless of the sweetness, the drink will have a pleasant aftertaste. During 1 year of storage, it is recommended to carry out additional straining of the liquid. This will help achieve a transparent color and protect against the appearance of bacteria.

Ingredients for a delicious recipe for making homemade grape wine without yeast

grapes - 20 kg.

Step-by-step recipe for making wine from grapes at home

Prepare the bunches: remove leaves, damaged or rotten grapes.
Crush the berries. It is better to carry out the work manually: using squeezes and grinding seeds can lead to bitterness.
The juice is decanted from the prepared grapes: the pulp is placed in cheesecloth and wiped well. Subsequently, it settles for about 12-24 hours to settle unnecessary particles.
After settling, the juice without impurities is expressed using a tube. The sediment must not be raised! It is poured, closed with a tongue or similar plug with the possibility of connecting a thin hose.
During fermentation, the temperature should be maintained at about 15-25 degrees. After reducing the volume of juice in glass bottles, it is topped up: due to contact with air, harmful bacteria can form in it.
Straining and pouring occurs only at the end of fermentation, when bubbles stop forming and the carbonated taste completely disappears.

Natural wine from grapes at home, as can be seen from the step-by-step photos and video recipes, can be prepared even by a novice winemaker. Compliance with these rules, careful grinding and straining will allow you to get a truly original drink. Using exclusively grapes as a base, it is not difficult to obtain a light, dry wine. By adding water and sugar, it is not difficult to prepare a semi-sweet drink. You can make wine from grape juice at home without using yeast at any time of the year. For example, for early varieties, preparations are made in the summer. And Isabella is prepared even in the fall: it withstands frost and can be harvested with the onset of cold weather. But the most important thing is that such a wine product will be of high quality, excellent aroma, and will not contain dangerous impurities.

Wine made from grapes has earned its popularity since ancient times and has not lost its relevance to this day. Surprisingly, the simplest grape wine recipe is also the best to make at home.

The thing is that the technology for its preparation uses a simplified method that is accessible even to a beginner in winemaking. However, do not forget that the simpler the recipe, the easier it is to make an irreparable mistake - the slightest mistake, and all efforts will be destroyed in the bud. I have selected three simple recipes for wine from grapes, two of which are quite extraordinary, but are available for making the drink at home.

Almost every winemaker can boast of his own special, signature recipe for this alcoholic drink.

To begin with, I propose to take a closer look and thoroughly study all the intricacies of making wine from grapes at home using a traditional method that has been proven for generations. If you want to make dry wine with pronounced acidity, then add less sugar to the grape juice.

Cooking process

We carefully sort through the unwashed grapes, removing leaves, branches, rotten and unripe fruits.
Crush the grapes thoroughly until you obtain a mushy, homogeneous state. To achieve this goal, I recommend using a blender, masher, meat grinder, or crushing the berries with clean hands.
Place the resulting porridge in a suitable enamel bowl with a wide neck, filling it to a maximum of 70-75%.
Cover the pulp with a gauze cloth folded in several layers and send the container to a dark place where the temperature is consistently maintained from 19 to 25 degrees.
After 9-17 hours, a so-called “cap” of fruit skins forms on the surface of the wort, which must be knocked down by thoroughly stirring the liquid with a wooden spatula. We repeat this procedure 2-3 times a day for 4-6 days.
As soon as the pulp lightens, a sour smell becomes noticeable and a slight hissing is heard, then carefully remove the pulp from the surface of the wort, put it in a gauze bag and squeeze the juice out of it.
Carefully pour the fermented juice from the sediment into a separate dry container and mix it with the squeezed liquid from the pulp.
We filter the grape juice twice through a gauze filter, and then pour it into the fermentation vessel.
Add sugar there, focusing on your own taste preferences, and stir everything well, trying to dissolve the grains of the latter as much as possible.
We install a water seal or a medical glove on the vessel and place the wort in a warm and dark room.
Let the mixture sit until the fermentation process is complete. It usually lasts about three weeks.
Carefully drain the young product from the resulting sediment, being careful not to stir it up.
Then we repeat the cleaning process using gauze and cotton filters.
We taste the drink for sweetness and if sugar is added, install the water seal again and allow the wine to ferment for a few more days until the fermentation process stops.
Pour the finished alcohol into a dry glass bottle, filling it to the very neck. This is necessary in order to avoid any contact with oxygen.
We hermetically seal the container with a stopper and send the homemade product to the basement or any other room in which the temperature range is from 5 to 15 degrees. It is very important to avoid sudden changes in temperature, otherwise the taste of the drink may deteriorate.
To prepare white wine, we age the drink for approximately 40 days, and for red wine – 70-90 days.
If sediment more than 4 cm thick appears at the bottom of the vessel, we clean the alcohol by pouring the liquid into another container, leaving the sediment at the bottom. As a result, the alcoholic drink will mature and acquire the desired shade.

Wine recipe from concentrated grape juice

Few people are familiar with the method of making wine from concentrated grape juice, which at home requires less effort and significantly reduces the ripening time. The thing is that grape juice concentrate begins the fermentation process faster than fresh grape juice.

The second advantage of this component is that with it the process of making a wine drink is extremely simple. Wine made in this way has a particularly refined taste, a subtle, captivating aroma and a beautiful purple hue.

List of required ingredients

Cooking process

Among the huge variety of wines, homemade wine made from dried grapes attracts special attention. Professional winemakers call this wine “raisin wine.” I assure you, once you taste this alcohol, you will be pleasantly surprised at how diverse the taste and aroma of grape wine can be.

The finished product is quite strong and sweet, while having a strong aroma and rich taste. Experienced tasters manage to sense nutty and floral notes in the aroma of this nectar, in addition to the clearly noticeable hint of dried fruit.

List of required components

Cooking process

Preparing sourdough

Place the raisins in a blender bowl and grind thoroughly.
Add 40 g of sugar and 200 ml of warm water to the resulting mixture.
We send the starter to a warm place for several days until the mass ferments well.

Preparing wine

Video of grape wine recipes

I definitely advise you to watch several informative and interesting videos in which skilled winemakers will teach you in detail how to make real wine from grapes at home, which is not inferior in quality to some collectible products.

Video No. 1. Here, a professional winemaker will tell you how to make wine from black grapes at home using a simple, unpretentious recipe. The master will share his personal experience over many years and demonstrate his every step, from grape harvesting to tasting the finished wine.

Video No. 2. In this video, an experienced amateur will share his own secrets and teach how to prepare white wine using a personally developed method. In addition, he will explain in detail the entire fermentation process, including decanting.

Video No. 3. The specialist will present for your consideration an interesting and detailed method of preparing amazing homemade wine based on grape juice and honey. The video covers the process of preparing wine nectar, accompanied by a huge number of useful tips from the master.

Useful information

I hope that now your dream of learning how to make grape wine yourself will finally come true. Enjoy the process itself and receive pleasure and positive feedback from tasters of your creation.

If you have developed other versions of making a grape drink, then be sure to share them with me. Good luck!

Since ancient times, wines were prepared in households in Greece, Rome, Iran, China, and then by owners in France, Italy, Romania, and Moldova. Usually the grape bushes grew right there, next to the house. In Russia, the traditions of home winemaking were laid by the Don and Kuban Cossacks, as well as immigrants from Germany. The volume of wine production by some of them increased so much that, by order of Peter I, the Cossacks were supposed to supply wine to the royal court. Currently, home winemaking is being revived in a new form, and owners who have gone beyond the boundaries of their kitchen to prepare their own wines are called “garage winemakers,” and their homemade wines are called garage wines. Let's look together at how to properly prepare wine from grapes at home, recipes and technologies.
Range of grape wines – white, rose, red

Brief classification of wines and winemaking at home

The grapes, when pressed at their strongest, can produce no more than 80% juice, which will contain pulp. After fermentation, the pulp will settle, and after draining the wine from the sediment, you can get approximately 70-75% of the original mass. Sugar in homemade wine is represented by glucose and fructose. The sweetest grape varieties can contain 25% or more.

Grape wine without added sugar is called dry; if sugar is added, the wine becomes sweet, semi-sweet or semi-dry. When adding ethyl alcohol - fortified. Dessert and sparkling wines are produced using a separate technology. When aromatic components are added to a wine, it becomes aromatic. Homemade wine can be prepared from one grape variety, and it will be varietal, or from several varieties - the wine will be sepage or blended.

Making wine at home from grapes is a fascinating process. Traditionally, in families, men are engaged in winemaking, however, this is not at all a prerequisite for success. Housewives often prepare equally wonderful and delicious wines, although it can be difficult for them to lift or move large wine bottles and containers.

Homemade wine is an incomparable pleasure!

About the benefits and harms of homemade wine

Homemade wine, prepared without heating the raw materials, and without adding preservatives, dyes and flavors, contains many vitamins and minerals (potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium), which has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the heart. Pectins are beneficial for intestinal function and remove toxins from the body. Phenolic compounds, which are found in the dark-colored skin, are often physiologically active substances and have a protective effect on the body's cells.

Alcohol and high sugar content in homemade wines can adversely affect the condition of the nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, and pancreas. Making wine at home from grapes according to all the rules that we will discuss will help you get a drink that increases health and brings joy to your home!

Indications and contraindications for drinking homemade wine

It should be noted that the indications are advisory in nature, while contraindications are imperative. Homemade wine is recommended to be consumed in small quantities when there is a loss of strength, as a vitaminizing and tonic that has the property of increasing appetite. Red wine, rich in potassium and phenolic compounds, is recommended to be consumed to maintain heart function, as well as to rejuvenate the body.

After 7-10 days, the process subsides, and a cloudy sediment settles at the bottom. The wine should be poured into another container and topped up from an additional vessel. The maximum period for which wine can be kept in its original container depends on the temperature. So, if it does not exceed 18 o C, then the wine is kept on the pulp for up to 15 days. The drained wine is kept under a plastic lid for about 1 month. Then bottled and stored in a cool place. This is how dry wine is prepared at home from grapes. The photo shows the pouring and removal of homemade wine from the sediment.

Pouring and removing young homemade wine from sediment

Sweet and semi-sweet grape wine at home, a simple recipe

For semi-sweet wine, the grapes are removed from the ridges, crushed and squeezed. The fermentation process begins by adding starter. After 5 days, add sugar at the rate of 50 g of sugar per 1 liter of grape juice. The fermenting wort is kept for another 5 days and the same amount of sugar is added. The further process is the same as for making dry wine.

To get a sweet wine, sugar should be added three times. The third time is before draining the young wine and sending it for quiet fermentation. Many people add sugar to wine before drinking to taste. This is wrong, since the sugar will not be fermented, although many will find such a wine very tasty.

Recipe for strong homemade grape wine

Fortified wine is first prepared in the same way as sweet wine, but at the time of the third addition of sugar, alcohol or vodka is poured in at the same time. The easiest way is to add vodka at the rate of 5 parts of new wine - 1 part of vodka. Adding ethyl alcohol will stop fermentation and the wine will taste more like fresh grapes. This is how dessert wines are made, which can be drunk at the end of a meal with various desserts, including sweets.

A simple recipe for homemade wine from Isabella grapes

Wine from Isabella in its pure form is very rich, and it is advisable to make it with a small dilution with plain water. If you make sweet or semi-sweet wine, then water is added when sugar is first added at the rate of 800 ml of juice per 200 ml of water. Next, the wine is prepared according to the recipe for semi-sweet, sweet or fortified wine.

In a special publication on our portal, we will tell you in detail how to make homemade wine from Isabella grapes. You will learn the main stages of preparation and get acquainted with five wine recipes.

Wine from Lydia grapes

The Lydia grape variety is very sweet, and for a harmonious taste it can be prepared according to the recipe for semi-sweet wine, but add sugar only once in the proportion of 40 g/1 l of juice.

Wine from grape pomace at home

After squeezing the juice, there are still a lot of coloring substances left in the cake, and the grape seeds contain oil, tannins and physiologically active substances. All these valuable components can be extracted if everything is done according to a simple step-by-step recipe for making homemade wine from grapes:

Add water to the cake at the rate of 200-300 ml and sugar 40-50 g per 1 kg of cake.
Place the mixture on low heat and heat to a temperature of 75−80°C.
Drain into a container, add yeast starter and leave to ferment.
After fermentation is complete, the wine is poured into another container for quiet fermentation, and after 1 month it is bottled.

Maturation and aging of homemade wine

After passing through the stage of quiet fermentation, the drink is bottled and corked. In general, grape wines ripen for a long time, within 2-3 years. Maturation occurs in bottles when stored in a basement, refrigerator or cool room. Fortified wines have the shortest time from production to consumption. They can be tried within 3-4 weeks after preparation. Sweet and semi-sweet wines should be allowed to mature for 3-6 months. Dry wine is best tasted between 6 months and 1 year.

Real grape wine is a complex technological chain, starting with the picking of berries and ending with the packaging of the finished product in containers. On a production scale, this is a streamlined process with its own production technologies. But there is also a whole separate direction of winemaking - homemade.

There are many hobbyists who run small wineries or private home wineries that boast excellent taste and quality homemade wine. Even when preparing wine from grapes at home, it is necessary to invest effort, effort and time, because the taste qualities will depend on this, as well as on the chosen production technology.

There is a wide variety of recipes. Among all the abundance, you need to choose the right one, assessing your strengths. If you decide to make wine for the first time and, accordingly, have no experience, then it is better to start with simple and easy recipes. When you have enough experience, you can try to follow original recipes. And perhaps come up with your own.

Important! Before you start making homemade grape wine, you need to familiarize yourself with the production technique in advance.

Calorie content and benefits of homemade wine

After scientists determined the chemical composition of the drink, it became known that grape wine contains a certain amount of water, ethyl alcohol, minerals and organic acids. If we consider the energy value, then there are about 80 kcal per 100 milliliters.

Grape wine from Isabella or other grape varieties at home has the following beneficial properties:

Helps restore immunity.
Disinfects the body.
Helps strengthen blood vessels.
Accelerates metabolic processes in the body.
The blood receives useful substances.

As you know, homemade wine tends to spoil quickly, so you should take care of its proper storage. The optimal solution would be to use a cellar, since there are all the required conditions for storing alcoholic beverages.

Universal technology for preparing grape wine

Making wine from white, pink or black grapes at home is quite simple; you just need to stick to the chosen recipe. Any type of fruit is suitable for grape wine. If the need and desire arise, then you can blend, i.e. combine two or more types of grapes at the same time.

Before preparing wine, you will need to study the entire operation algorithm in advance, following the recommendations. Then the result will meet expectations.

Crop selection

Any grape variety is suitable for preparing the drink. It is also worth considering that mixing several varieties is possible.

For example, if you prepare a wine drink from white and black grapes, the taste will not suffer in any way, but will only add additional aftertaste notes.

Most varieties of berries contain a lot of sugar, which makes the drink tastier. Many winemakers argue that it is better to use the Isabella grape variety, but for a sweeter taste you will need to add more sugar.

Berry processing

It is recommended to place grapes in containers made of plastic or wood. When processing berries, it is worth considering that juice may escape, so it is necessary to fill the bottle to three parts out of four. The berries are crushed using a special device made of wood. There is another time-tested method - pressing with your hands.

Many experienced winemakers claim that you can make the most delicious homemade wine if the juice flows by gravity. That is, the juice appears independently under the pressure of its own weight. But this option assumes that there should be a large number of overripe bunches of berries.

Important! When making wine from grapes, it is strictly forbidden to use metal utensils. This is due to the fact that grape juice reacts with the metal, and the wine will receive a metallic taste.

Getting juice

Whatever wine recipe you choose, if it is not prepared from concentrated grape juice, then the juice must be separated from the pulp at the first stage. Initially, the pulp is removed, then it is placed in a separate container. If necessary, secondary wine is made from grape pulp, for example, chacha.

The remaining drink is filtered a couple of times using gauze, the procedure is repeated three times. During this manipulation, the juice receives the oxygen it needs. And unnecessary parts of the pulp are eliminated. The result should be pure juice.

After filtration, it is necessary to check the wine for acidity. If grape juice tastes sour, you can mix it with water: for two liters of juice you will need one liter of water. But we do not recommend doing this, because such a wine will no longer carry an excellent natural taste. And the concentrate, when mixed with water, can easily be spoiled by incorrect proportions, then you will have to add sugar.

Fermentation container

Any wine made from juice must be fermented. This step involves pouring the juice into containers and leaving it in the dark. The container you choose should be made of glass and have a long neck. The container is filled 2/3 full. If you don’t have glass containers, you can use food-grade plastic canisters. It is in such containers that grape wine begins to ferment.

Installing a water seal

When making homemade wine from Isabella grapes or another variety, you need to ensure there is a water seal. It is used exclusively so that the wine has no contact with oxygen and carbon dioxide is removed. A special device with a hose is put on the container.

If necessary, you can make a water seal yourself, but it is best to purchase it at a specialized store. If we consider the simplest water seal, it consists of a tube, one side of which connects the container where fermentation occurs, and the other side connects the container with water.
Most winemakers prefer a medical glove, which is placed over the neck of the container and one finger is pierced with a needle.

Fermentation process

Wine made from red grape varieties should be stored at a temperature of 21-28 degrees Celsius. If white varieties of fruits were used in production, then the temperature varies and is 17-22 degrees. It is important to know that if the temperature drops below 17 degrees, fermentation may stop.

Attention! Sudden temperature changes are not allowed. Wine should be stored in the dark, covered with a cloth.

Adding sugar

When sugar is added to natural grape wine, the strength increases. Thus, if you do not add sugar, the strength will be about 10 degrees, the maximum permissible is to raise it to 14 degrees, if the indicator is higher, then fermentation stops.

Sugar is added after three days of fermentation. It is allowed to add 50 grams of sugar per liter of liquid. If the acidity does not decrease, then adding another 30 grams is allowed. This procedure can be performed once weekly.

Separation of wine from sediment

The fermentation period can reach two months, it all depends on the temperature and the selected grapes. If fermentation has exceeded two months, then it is necessary to separate the contents from the sediment.
Using a hose, the contents are poured into a clean container, after which a water seal is put on and the container is left in the dark for a while.

Once the glove has deflated, the wine can be poured off, which will clear the wine and form a sediment. It is recommended to remove sediment in a timely manner. This is due to the fact that the wine becomes bitter and a foreign odor appears.

Sugar control

When making grape wine, you will need to control the sweetness of the wine depending on your personal tastes. But the process of sugaring wine must be approached carefully, since the sugar content of the prepared wort should not exceed the level of 16%, otherwise the wild yeast simply dies and natural fermentation is impossible.

If you want to sweeten your wine, use the following calculations: 50 grams of sugar for every liter of liquid.

Wine maturation process

After all of the above points have been completed, you can expect the time when homemade grape wine will ripen. If a white variety of fruit was used, then the aging time will be one and a half months, if the red variety is three months, by this time the drink will lighten and ripen. There is no need to keep the wine maturing all year.

The correct process of maturing wine is when the drink is kept in a glass container until it is fully ripe, and it is filled to the brim, so that there is no excess space that contains air. It is better to seal the container with a wooden stopper. Wine is stored at 5-20 degrees Celsius.

Removing grape wine from sediment

If the process is technologically advanced, after 3 months the wine should settle, become clearer, and sediment should form at the bottom. You need to get rid of this sediment. There are many ways to do this, but we recommend the simplest and most convenient way - using a special transparent hose.

Approximately in the middle of the container (but without reaching the bottom with the tip of the hose), begin removing clean wine. Its color may be transparent, but it will form later.

Cleaning wine from impurities

It happens that the wine does not brighten, and the cloudy sediment does not go away. In this case, there are several ways to clarify homemade wine:

Gelatin. For 50 liters of homemade wine you will need 5-7 grams of gelatin. Gelatin is soaked for a day in cold water, which is changed 3 times. After a couple of weeks, the unnecessary stuff will stick to the gelatin and a precipitate will form.
Activated carbon. Before you clarify wine, you should understand that this option is used extremely rarely. For example, an unpleasant odor appeared. Charcoal crushed into dust is used. For 5 liters of liquid add 2-3 grams of coal. After five days, the drink is purified using a filter.

Spilling and storage process

Before storing homemade grape wine, you need to prepare containers. They must be clean, sterilized, and the lids must be new. The container is filled to the brim. To preserve the aroma and strength, you can fill the neck of the bottle with wax. During storage, wine should ripen in a horizontal position.

Dry wine

Dry grape wine is a sugar-free drink. To obtain it, you will need to use grapes whose sugar content does not exceed 20%; in this case, all natural sugars will be processed into alcohol, and there will be no sweetness left.

You can prepare dry wine from grapes in the same way as the above recipes.

Initially, a container is prepared for it. The berries should be sorted; they should not be washed, so as not to wash away the natural yeast fungi.

To make dry wine at home, you will need to crush the fruits. There is no need to use a press, because it crushes the seeds, which spoils the taste of the drink.

The container is filled with pulp and juice to three-quarters and covered with gauze. For dry wine, the wort is infused for 24 hours at 25 degrees Celsius.

The following actions are similar to the described algorithm: put on a water seal or glove. Fermentation lasts about 25 days. A deflated glove means the end of fermentation. After clearing the sediment, the wine is poured and aged for about a month. As you can see, the recipe for dry grape wine is quite simple.

Method for preparing fortified wine

If you choose the right recipe for homemade wine from grapes, the drink gains degrees from the addition of sugar. To prepare fortified wine you will need:

1. 10 kilograms of berries.
2. 1.2 kilograms of sugar.
3. 2 liters of alcohol.
4. 200 grams of sugar per liter of liquid.

The cooking process is as follows:

1. The berries are kneaded and left for 3 days.
2. Strain the juice, squeeze out the pulp, add sugar.
3. The wine is bottled and left for 10 days.
4. After adding sugar, 400 milliliters of water are poured in for each liter.
5. Fermentation lasts about a week.
6. After a week, alcohol is added.
7. When the glove is deflated, the wine is poured into glass bottles.