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Archive for the ‘Make Wine’ Category

Author: Gareth Meradith

Many different wines can be made from apples, either by themselves or in combination with other fruits. No one variety is known to be outstanding on its own but cooking varieties make better wine than dessert varieties.

Experience over many years has shown that a combination of cooking, dessert, crab apple, pears and quince make the most attractive wine of all. Apples respond well to most yeast’s but especially to champagne yeast.

Although perfect fruit is desirable for most wines, windfall apples make excellent wine. The apples do not need to be peeled or cored, but naturally any badly bruised parts that have turned brown should be cut away, with any parts infected by a maggot.

Apples are sometimes hard to crush but various answers have been found to this problem. Perhaps the easiest is to wash the apples in a sulphite solution of about 100 ppm, so removing dust, leaves and grass at the same time as killing off unwanted micro-organisms. Next, drain off the surplus water, pack the apples into polythene bags and place them in a freezer for 48 hours. When thawed they should be soft enough to crush with your hands.

If a freezer is not readily available, place the washed apples - a few at a time - in a polythene bag and hit them with a mallet, wooden rolling pin or steak hammer. When each bagful is crushed, drop the contents into water containing sulphite and citric acid to prevent oxidation.

A third method is to place the apples in a strong polythene or wooden bin and to ram them with a 10 cm. (4 in.) cube of wood on the end of a broom handle.

Another way is to liquidise them, and yet another is simply to cut each apple into about 16 pieces. Coarse mincing is not recommended unless it is known for certain that the metal, from which the mincer is made, does not react to acids.

Apples should always be fermented on the pulp. If you lack a big enough bin for this purpose, a heavy gauge, large polythene bag inside a cardboard container may be used very effectively. The neck can be gathered and fastened with a rubber band or a wire tie - not so tightly, of course, that the carbon dioxide cannot escape.

After pulp fermentation a press is needed to extract all the juice. Bale the pulp out of the bin into a freshly sterilised hessian, linen or nylon bag placed inside the press. At first the juice will run free, and then a little shaking-up of the bag will encourage even more to do so. When pressure is applied, do so intermittently rather than steadily; a better run is thereby obtained. When you are satisfied that no more juice can be extracted, the apple cake can be used to make a second-run wine.

Often elderberry, or blackberry, or damson, or plum, wine is being made at or about the same time. The addition of the applecake to the other fruit improves the body and flavour of that wine. Alternatively, the two pulp residues may be mixed together and added to a grape juice concentrate wine to improve its body and flavour. Spent apple and elderberry pulp mixed with a white grape juice concentrate can make an attractive rose.

It is always worth making the maximum amount possible of apple wine. It blends well with other wines, is useful for topping up jars that are not quite full - no matter what the wine they contain - and it makes an excellent base for liqueurs.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/food-and-beverage-articles/making-wine-from-apples-426937.html

About the Author:
Gareth Meradith runs a Hotel in Blackpool and is sponsered by Karcher Pressure Washers and Snickers Workwear

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Author: How to Make Homemade Wine

How to Make Homemade Wine | Discover How to Make Your Own Unique Wine

If you want to learn how to make homemade wine, there is no reason for not doing it. You don’t need a license, a cellar, and the utensils you need are probably in your home to begin with. It doesn’t take a lot of work either to learn How to Make Homemade Wine.

The first issue you need to learn is the do’s and don’ts of winemaking.

Do
- Rack at least once, and twice if possible.
- Use new corks and boil the old ones.
- Keep your first ferment covered.
- Keep the secondary fermentation air-free.
- Keep your equipment clean.
- Keep all bottles filled.
- Add sugar by stages and keep records with high level of detail.
- Keep red wines in dark bottles so they don’t lose their color.
- Use trustworthy yeast nutrient frequently.
- Make wines too dry rather than too sweet: add sugar later.
- Use fermentation traps.
- Taste the wine at intervals to make sure the process is going well.

Don’t
- Sell your wine. It is illegal. Don’t try to distil your own wine either.
- Let vinegar flies come in contact with your wine.
- Use metal containers.
- Use tools or containers made out of resinous wood.
- Forget to stir a must twice a day.
- Use too much sugar.
- Try to speed up fermentation by increasing the temperature.
- Be impatient.
- Let dead yeast or sediment anywhere close to your wine.
- Filter for no reasonor too soon.
- Store your wine in unsterilized jars or bottles.
- Bottle your wine before it’s done fermenting.
- Employ screw-stopper bottles.

Now that you have a good sense of what you should do and what you shouldn’t, I will share with you one of my favorite wine recipes and in no time you can learn How to Make Homemade Wine.

Either black, green or amber grapes can be used for this recipe and the resulting wine will suit almost every taste.

2 bags (4 lb.) of grapes - 2 bags (3½ lb.) of sugar - 1 oz. yeast
1 gallon water.

Separate the grapes from the stalks and then crush them by hand. Pour the boiling water over them and leave to soak for forty-eight hours. Strain and put the juice through a jelly-bag. Allow to drain and then pour into the fermenting vessel and add the sugar.

Mix until the sugar is dissolved -this will take a lot of time with cold grape-juice. When all the sugar is mixed well sprinkle the yeast on top and stir in. Seal, and ferment for fourteen days; after which proceed with bottling. It’s so much bliss to learn How to Make Homemade Wine.

If you want to get over 145 step-by-step recipes and learn all the secrets to making your own wine, visit my website: www.SecretsOfWinemaking.com - How to Make Homemade Wine

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/wines-and-spirits-articles/how-to-make-homemade-wine-529495.html

About the Author:

how to make homemade wine,how to make wine,make wine,how to make wine from home,how to make wine from grapes,make your own wine,how to make cheap wine,how to make wine at home,make homemade wine

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photo credit: leighrowan

By Michael Hutchins

True wine lovers at one time or another have been tempted to make their own wine at home. Many, however, are intimidated by the perceived difficulty of the task, and don’t ever try. Fear not! Making wonderful wine at home is easier than you think. It just takes time, (a little more than a month), and patience. This article will detail the steps in the wine making process.

First, let’s get together the ingredients you’ll need to make your wine. Let’s start with the grapes and sugar. 5 lbs of blue grapes and 8 lbs of sugar will get you rolling. Next, food coloring, 4 oz of yeast, and 2 egg whites. Finally, 3 gallons of purified water, 1 lb of wheat, and a nylon cloth. O.K., we’re ready to go!

Go ahead and separate the grapes from the stalks. Make sure to wash the grapes thoroughly. At this point, it’s time to crush the grapes. Your decision on how to crush the grapes depends on the quantity of grapes and personal preference. If you have more grapes than this recipe calls for, you may want to consider stomping the grapes. If you take this route, you’ll need a commercial sized aluminum bin. Make sure your feet are extremely clean and free from open wounds, fungus, callouses etc. Stomp the grapes VERY thoroughly. Don’t be shy, STOMP them! Take the crushed grapes and place them in earthen jars. Should you follow the amount of grapes in this recipe, you may want to crush the grapes with your hands. But be aware of the fact that grape juice stains are difficult to remove from your hands. It is best to wear rubber gloves.

The egg whites must be whipped well. Add 4 lbs of sugar and all the other ingredients to the crushed grapes. It’s important that you cover the jars with a secure lid. Open the lid daily to stir the contents, making sure that the lid is secured after each stirring. Continue stirring once a day for 21 days. After 21 days, pour the remaining 4 lbs of sugar into the mixture. Do not open for 21 days. That is important! Do not even peek for 21 days!

After the 21 days, strain the clear wine off the top using the nylon cloth. Should you desire a color for your wine, use the appropriate food coloring. Add the coloring drop by drop until the wine reaches your preferred color

Voila! Your wine is now ready to be bottled. Incidentally, should you prefer your wine a little less sweet, simply add less sugar. You’ll find that your wine making will have an element of trial and error. If you do plan on bottling your wine, be sure to get careful instructions. Improper bottling is the fastest way to ruin the wine that you worked so hard to create. The best way to get instructions on bottling your wine is to enter the search term, “how to bottle wine” in to a Google search box. Believe me, you will find ample information on the subject on the Internet.

The only thing left to do now is to grab a glass and enjoy your new creation!

About the Author: Take Advantage Of My FREE report: “Living It up On A Budget- 23 Wines That Deliver Outstanding
Quality For 10.00 or less!” GO HERE NOW: http://prime-time-wines.com

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Author: Muna wa Wanjiru

Perhaps you might like to know which grapes are used in Making of Wine. The list of grape varieties below isn’t comprehensive, but it does give a look into the world of wine grapes.

Auxerrois

This grape is also known as Malbec or Côt. The Auxerrois grape creates a neutral wine which is fruity and soft and is mainly to be found in Luxembourg and Canada. In Alsace it is often blended with the Pinot Blanc grape.

Barbarossa

This is a red wine grape variety that can be found in Italy, France and the Balkan regions. The wines it produces are robust and age very well.

Barbera

An intense, deep colored red wine, produced mainly in northern Italy, and now in the USA.

Cabernet Franc

This grape variety partly gave rise to the ever popular Cabernet Sauvignon. This variety is mainly found in cooler and damper conditions than the Cabernet Sauvignon grape.

Cabernet Sauvignon

This is known as one of the “noble” grape varieties, and is famous as one of the main varieties, along with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and others used to create the magnificent French Bordeaux region blended red wines.

Carmenère

Found in the Médoc region of Bordeaux, France. It is used to produce deep red wines occasionally used for blending purposes.

Chardonnay

This variety is the best-known white wine grape producer in France, and is mainly to be found in the Burgundy and Chablis regions. Australia and New Zealand have also succeeded in producing great wines from the chardonnay grape.

Chenin Blanc

It is also known as Pineau de la Loire in the Loire region of France, as Steen in South Africa, and as White Pinot (Pinot Blanco) elsewhere in the world. This grape is made into fine sweet wines that age well for at least ten years.

Freisa

This grape is used to make spumante style sweet red wines, and is grown in the Piedmont region in Italy. This is generally used to make sparkling wines.

Gamay

Gamay Noir, Gamay Beaujolais and Napa Gamay are the three different types of grape that are allowed to use the Gamay name for labeling purposes. At time they were all thought to be a true Pinot Noir variety of Burgundy.

Gamay Beaujolais

If the grape is picked immediately it produces a good red wine. It has also been found to be a clone of Pinot Noir, albeit an early ripening one.

Gewürztraminer

One of the more difficult wine and grape names to pronounce, it nevertheless makes an excellent wine. It is also a known clone of the Traminer variety of grapes.

It has also been likened to the Johannisberg Riesling in flavor and aroma. In Australia the grape is also known as Traminer Musque, Red Traminer, and Aromique.

Grenache

This grape is also known as Alicante in southern France and Campania in Italy, although these days it grows mainly in Spain where it is also known as Garnacha. It is also used to make some of the better rosé wines of Provence in southern France.

Johannisberg Riesling

Is a white wine grape and is grown mainly along the Rhine river and its tributaries.

Malbec

This grape is grown in the Bordeaux region in France, and also has other names such as Médoc Noir, Pressac or Côt. This grape is also known as Auxerrois.

It is used in wine blends to create the French Bordeaux claret blend of wines.

Merlot

This is a classic grape and can be found mainly in the Bordeaux region of France, although it is widely grown elsewhere as well. The wine from this grape bears a resemblance to the Cabernet Sauvignon wine.

Muscat

This grape variety makes both red and white wines. Muscat wines include Muscat Blanc, Muscadel and Moscato di Canelli.

Nebbiolo

This grape is to be found in the Piedmont region of Italy.

Petite Sirah

Produces dark red wine rich in tannins. It is thought that the name originated as a result of confusion in labeling with the Syrah grape.

Pinot Noir

This grape produces a red wine lighter in color to that of the Bordeaux type of wines. This is also the premier grape of the Burgundy region of France.

Pinotage

This grape has been successfully and widely grown in South Africa, and can also be found in Brazil, Canada, the USA and Zimbabwe.

Pinot Gris

This is a clone grape of the Pinot Noir variety, and has a variety of names in different regions. This grape is grown virtually around the world and produces quality wines according to the climate.

Riesling

True Riesling wines come from Germany, and can be found under the names of Johannisberg Riesling and White Riesling. Riesling grapes produce dry and sweet wine varieties.

Sangiovese

Grown in the Tuscanny region of Italy. This grape is used to produce Chianti and other Tuscan wine varieties.

Sauvignon Blanc

This grape produces the classic white wine of the same name, and can commonly be found in the Bordeaux and Loire regions of France.

Sémillon

Grown widely in the Bordeaux region of France. This grape is also sometimes used to create dry white wines.

Shiraz

This is a clone grape of the French Syrah grape, and is found in Australia. It was also known under the alias name of Hermitage.

Syrah

This grape variety is mainly associated with the Rhone Valley region of France which is famous for creating the Hermitage red wine.

Tempranillo

This grape is used only in the best quality red wines produced in Spain. It has a staggering thirty synonym names to its credit that we know of.

Traminer

In France and in California this grape is better known as Sauvignon Blanc, although most countries now use the Gewürztraminer grape instead.

Viognier

This grape displays the full spicy flavors which are somewhat similar to that of Muscat. It is grown in the Rhone Valley in France, and in California.

Zinfandel

Is a popular grape wine grown in California, and produces robust red wines. You will also find white Zinfandel varieties of wines along with the popular blush varieties of wines.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/wines-and-spirits-articles/which-grapes-are-used-in-making-of-wine-302774.html

About the Author:

Muna wa Wanjiru is a web administrator and has been researching and reporting on internet marketing for years. For more information on grapes, visit his site at GRAPES

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Author: Muna wa Wanjiru

The earliest known production of wine Georgia and Iran. For a long time now wine has been made from natural fermentation of grape vine juice. Today, there are other different types of wines made from different fruit juices. Some of the most famous being the apple juice wine, elderberry wine, barley wine and rice wine. All these ingrediants for making wine have naturally occuring starch, enzymes and other nutrients. The grapes harvested from farms in South Africa, California, and Greece are crushed and then fermented with yeast. Yeast helps in converting the sugars found in these fruits into alcohol.

Included in the category of fermented alcoholic drinks, elderberry wine is one of the most well flavored fruit liquor produced at home or in industrial conditions. Fruit wine is often preferred to the traditional type of beverage due to the lower alcohol concentration in the structure, not to mention that it is sweeter and more juice-like than any other beverage of the kind. Together with strawberries, elderberries are some of the few fruits that have all the right amounts of natural substances to create a respectable and tasty wine. Elderberry wine contains acid, sugar and tannin that allow a natural and rapid fermentation.

The elderberry wine is made from the fruits of a shrub that produces blue and black berries; it usually grows in the wild and the right time for the making of this liquor is in mid summer. Elderberry wine is very well flavored and its aroma is directly connected to the area where it grows: moist land, rich soil, particularly on river banks and pastures. It is the juice of these fruit that makes the right ingredient for the elderberry wine, being also used to make jelly for instance. Do not cook the elderberries, they need to be raw in order to make the perfect wine.

There are plenty of recipes for preparing elderberry wine: some of them recommend the use of fresh fruit some others rely on dried elderberries. The color of the wine as such can be enhanced if you place the wine vessel into a dark room during the fermentation process; even afterwards when the elderberry wine is ready, always store it in dark bottles and in dark places in order to preserve its qualities. When you pour such a wine in your glass, you’ll be truly delighted with the result as it appeals to the senses through the visual impact, the smell and finally the taste.

The fruits you use for the elderberry wine need to be completely clean and have the stems removed, afterwards wash them with fresh water and mash them wearing rubber gloves. Elderberry wine usually requires the use of a certain amount of sugar, as the fruit are pretty sour; in order to do things properly, always follow a recipe so as to make sure all the necessary steps are taken. The making process can take up to at least two months, and during this period of time you’d have to take care of the elderberry wine progressively and persistently. However, the effort is worth making; enjoy it!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/wines-and-spirits-articles/a-look-at-some-of-the-recipes-for-preparing-elderberry-wine-318721.html

About the Author:

Muna wa Wanjiru Has Been Researching and Reporting on Wine for Years. For More Information on Elderberry Wine, Visit His Site at ELDERBERRY WINE

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Author: Alyssa Nair

If you’re into homemade wine, you know the importance of getting some good homemade wine recipes. Just throwing some fruit juice and a fermenting agent in a jar and letting it sit for awhile will get you nothing but nasty fruit juice. You can of course try your own mixtures if you’re adventurous, and of course doing so is part of the fun of making your own wine, but especially if you are a beginner you’ll want to follow the easy wine recipes to the tee. Once you’re a bit more experienced, you can start experimenting with different fruit mixes and sugar levels, and who knows - you may even come up with some of your own homemade wine recipes over time! But to get you started, here are some basic recipes you can try.

Mulled wines are a great alternative to hot cocoas, ciders, and other such drinks. They are very easy to make, and once you get the hang of it, you can come up with your own mulled wine recipes. Usually you just take one regular bottle of any red wine and put it into a large stewing pot. Add a quarter cup of brandy, about 10 cloves, 2/3 cup of sugar, some whole cinnamon sticks, and about a teaspoon of ginger or allspice. Let it simmer over very low heat, stirring it occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved. You can experiment with this type of easy wine recipe by adding some favorite pureed fruit or fruit juice, or by using honey instead of sugar as a sweetener. By using different types of red wines, you’ll also be able to get either stronger or mellower flavors.

Apple wine is also a favorite for homemade wines, and while these easy wine recipes are a bit longer, they yield a very good product. Your wine mix is merely 2 containers of frozen apple juice (thawed) and 4 cups of sugar, more or less to taste, with about 2-1/2 quarts of water. As with most easy wine recipes, you boil the sugar in about a quart of the water until it is dissolved, and add this to the apple juice. Add about 6 teaspoons of acid blend, a campden tablet, a quarter teaspoon of grape tannin, a half teaspoon of pectic enzyme, and a package of wine yeast. You then prepare it as you would any other wine. Since this is one of the most basic homemade wine recipes there is, you can experiment with it by mixing the apple juice with other fruit juices. Half apple juice and half grape juice is good; cherry or blackberry juice works well too.

You can also adjust this homemade wine recipe by eliminating the apple altogether and using half grape juice and half grapefruit juice.

The important thing to remember when mixing up the fruits that you use in your homemade wine recipes is that you don’t want to use all tart fruits or all sweet fruits. A good way to remember this is to think of the colors of the fruit, and use two from different colors. For instance, grape and apple, banana and cherry, and so on. These types of mixtures usually make the best easy wine recipes for homemade wines.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/food-and-beverage-articles/some-simple-easy-wine-recipes-316216.html

About the Author:
Alyssa Nair has written articles on the finest wines and accessories. Read the helpful tips and advice about homemade wines, how to grow your own grapes or building your own wine cellars.

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Author: Gareth Meradith

Many different wines can be made from apples, either by themselves or in combination with other fruits. No one variety is known to be outstanding on its own but cooking varieties make better wine than dessert varieties.

Experience over many years has shown that a combination of cooking, dessert, crab apple, pears and quince make the most attractive wine of all. Apples respond well to most yeast’s but especially to champagne yeast.

Although perfect fruit is desirable for most wines, windfall apples make excellent wine. The apples do not need to be peeled or cored, but naturally any badly bruised parts that have turned brown should be cut away, with any parts infected by a maggot.

Apples are sometimes hard to crush but various answers have been found to this problem. Perhaps the easiest is to wash the apples in a sulphite solution of about 100 ppm, so removing dust, leaves and grass at the same time as killing off unwanted micro-organisms. Next, drain off the surplus water, pack the apples into polythene bags and place them in a freezer for 48 hours. When thawed they should be soft enough to crush with your hands.

If a freezer is not readily available, place the washed apples - a few at a time - in a polythene bag and hit them with a mallet, wooden rolling pin or steak hammer. When each bagful is crushed, drop the contents into water containing sulphite and citric acid to prevent oxidation.

A third method is to place the apples in a strong polythene or wooden bin and to ram them with a 10 cm. (4 in.) cube of wood on the end of a broom handle.

Another way is to liquidise them, and yet another is simply to cut each apple into about 16 pieces. Coarse mincing is not recommended unless it is known for certain that the metal, from which the mincer is made, does not react to acids.

Apples should always be fermented on the pulp. If you lack a big enough bin for this purpose, a heavy gauge, large polythene bag inside a cardboard container may be used very effectively. The neck can be gathered and fastened with a rubber band or a wire tie - not so tightly, of course, that the carbon dioxide cannot escape.

After pulp fermentation a press is needed to extract all the juice. Bale the pulp out of the bin into a freshly sterilised hessian, linen or nylon bag placed inside the press. At first the juice will run free, and then a little shaking-up of the bag will encourage even more to do so. When pressure is applied, do so intermittently rather than steadily; a better run is thereby obtained. When you are satisfied that no more juice can be extracted, the apple cake can be used to make a second-run wine.

Often elderberry, or blackberry, or damson, or plum, wine is being made at or about the same time. The addition of the applecake to the other fruit improves the body and flavour of that wine. Alternatively, the two pulp residues may be mixed together and added to a grape juice concentrate wine to improve its body and flavour. Spent apple and elderberry pulp mixed with a white grape juice concentrate can make an attractive rose.

It is always worth making the maximum amount possible of apple wine. It blends well with other wines, is useful for topping up jars that are not quite full - no matter what the wine they contain - and it makes an excellent base for liqueurs.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/food-and-beverage-articles/making-wine-from-apples-426937.html

About the Author:
Gareth Meradith runs a Hotel in Blackpool and is sponsered by Karcher Pressure Washers and Snickers Workwear

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Author: How to Make Homemade Wine

How to Make Homemade Wine | Discover How to Make Your Own Unique Wine

If you want to learn how to make homemade wine, there is no reason for not doing it. You don’t need a license, a cellar, and the utensils you need are probably in your home to begin with. It doesn’t take a lot of work either to learn How to Make Homemade Wine.

The first issue you need to learn is the do’s and don’ts of winemaking.

Do
- Rack at least once, and twice if possible.
- Use new corks and boil the old ones.
- Keep your first ferment covered.
- Keep the secondary fermentation air-free.
- Keep your equipment clean.
- Keep all bottles filled.
- Add sugar by stages and keep records with high level of detail.
- Keep red wines in dark bottles so they don’t lose their color.
- Use trustworthy yeast nutrient frequently.
- Make wines too dry rather than too sweet: add sugar later.
- Use fermentation traps.
- Taste the wine at intervals to make sure the process is going well.

Don’t
- Sell your wine. It is illegal. Don’t try to distil your own wine either.
- Let vinegar flies come in contact with your wine.
- Use metal containers.
- Use tools or containers made out of resinous wood.
- Forget to stir a must twice a day.
- Use too much sugar.
- Try to speed up fermentation by increasing the temperature.
- Be impatient.
- Let dead yeast or sediment anywhere close to your wine.
- Filter for no reasonor too soon.
- Store your wine in unsterilized jars or bottles.
- Bottle your wine before it’s done fermenting.
- Employ screw-stopper bottles.

Now that you have a good sense of what you should do and what you shouldn’t, I will share with you one of my favorite wine recipes and in no time you can learn How to Make Homemade Wine.

Either black, green or amber grapes can be used for this recipe and the resulting wine will suit almost every taste.

2 bags (4 lb.) of grapes - 2 bags (3½ lb.) of sugar - 1 oz. yeast
1 gallon water.

Separate the grapes from the stalks and then crush them by hand. Pour the boiling water over them and leave to soak for forty-eight hours. Strain and put the juice through a jelly-bag. Allow to drain and then pour into the fermenting vessel and add the sugar.

Mix until the sugar is dissolved -this will take a lot of time with cold grape-juice. When all the sugar is mixed well sprinkle the yeast on top and stir in. Seal, and ferment for fourteen days; after which proceed with bottling. It’s so much bliss to learn How to Make Homemade Wine.

If you want to get over 145 step-by-step recipes and learn all the secrets to making your own wine, visit my website: www.SecretsOfWinemaking.com - How to Make Homemade Wine

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/wines-and-spirits-articles/how-to-make-homemade-wine-529495.html

About the Author:

how to make homemade wine,how to make wine,make wine,how to make wine from home,how to make wine from grapes,make your own wine,how to make cheap wine,how to make wine at home,make homemade wine

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Author: Randy T. Slabey

The key to understanding how to make homemade wine that will age well is that all wine, regardless of whether you made it at home or bought it from a vintner or store, will eventually spoil if left unconsumed. This means you have to make or buy wine that will last only a specific period of time so that it ages gracefully before you opt to consume it.

Learning How Wine Storage Aids You in the How to Make Homemade Wine Process

The how to make wine at home process hinges on the use of proper wine storage facilities, such as a wine cellar, so that the wine you do make will last for a longer time in safe conditions. If the wine has been stored correctly, it allows wine to age properly so that both the bouquet (the wine aroma) and the flavor will still be of optimum quality. Since making homemade wine costs big money (even when you’re aiming to wind up with cheap wine) you will want to make your homebrews last longer so that you enjoy them longest.

The storage room or wine cellar you select has to be both dark and humid (damp) and has a stable room temperature of about 55 degrees Fahrenheit, with humidity hovering around 80%. The room temperature has to avoid wild temperature changes and stay at the cool 55 degrees Fahrenheit level so that the cool temperature will retard aging of your wine. If your storage room tends to be rather warm, then your wine will age faster (and you risk wine spoilage too.)

If you cannot find a good dark and damp room, one option (though more expensive) is to use an electricity-powered wine refrigerator. You can also try simply using the basement in your home, if any. The refrigerator is good for those areas that cannot guarantee stable temperatures for various reasons, so if you can find the budget to pay for the electrical costs of running a wine refrigerator this may be feasible for your place.

Another consideration in wine storage is that all wine bottles should be stored horizontally, not vertically. This allows the wine itself to stay in constant contact with the cork (if you still use cork-topped wine bottles) so that the cork be kept moistened 24/7. This round-the-clock moistening of the cork allows it to keep your bottle tightly capped without the cork being distorted out of shape if it dries out. In turn, if the bottle is air-tight and cannot get past the cork, oxygenation of your wine cannot occur and you can age your bottled wine much longer than you may suppose. This is also why you need a room with high humidity – the humidity in the air keeps your cork stable and moist, preventing a drastic drying out of the wine bottle cork.

Selecting the Correct Wine Refrigerator for Your Storage Needs

A wine refrigerator is not the same as your standard family-sized refrigerator. Actually, to choose your correct wine refrigerator, you need to know how many bottles you plan to store in it first. Some wine refrigerators may be able to store a minimum of six bottles while the larger wine refrigerators can accept more wine bottles for storage. But your wine refrigerator can only absorb so many bottles so you have to compute your capacity well, to avoid surpluses. If you will be using a wine refrigerator it is far better to under produce than to over produce wine.

Family refrigerators used to store food like meat and veggies might be convenient for such food storage but are generally unacceptable for wine storage because the family refrigerators are too cold. The food refrigerator has to be kept colder than 50 degrees Fahrenheit to preserve food which means that your wine will be stored in conditions that are far too cold for its best aging process. Another reason you cannot use your family fridge to store wine of good quality is because you often open and close your fridge to get food, drinks and other stuff – this means the wine you store there will be subjected to fluctuating temperatures which is equally bad for wine.

To make matters even more complicated, different types of wine will require different ranges of temperature for wine storage. This means if you have a variety of wines to store in just one wine refrigerator, you may be surprised why some wines do well here and some do not do as well. The dry white wines plus the blush and rose varieties all have to be stored in the vicinity of 55 degrees only. Sparkling wine and champagne is never kept refrigerated for wine storage. Light red wine will thrive at exactly 55 degrees. Any full-bodied wines you plan for wine storage has to be kept cooler than 55 degrees as well. As you can see, since each type of wine has its own cooling needs, you may have a better chance of keeping all your wine stored well in the wine refrigerator if you only use one variety of wine.

If you are eyeing to make a huge batch of wine, it may be more practical to store this huge batch of wine in a wine cellar instead.

If your area’s climate doesn’t make it feasible to have a wine cellar or even a basement, then choose the wine refrigerator but make small batches of wine only. This also gives you some maneuvering room should your wine spoil, so you can analyze what went wrong and make the necessary changes in your home brew process. If you are still in the learning stage for that recipe, small batches are good for testing the outcome first, before you progress to making big batches.

Always compare terms and conditions plus retail prices for different brands and models of wine refrigerators too before buying one. The features of the wine refrigerator for cooling and storage should always take precedence over the external shell.

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By: Randy T. Slabey

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How to Make Homemade Wine

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Author: David Cowley

Whether you’re a real wine enthusiast or just someone looking for a great part-time hobby, home wine making can be fun and enjoyable, and of course there are very few other pursuits with such a tasty payoff! It may seem somewhat intimidating to the novice, but in reality, home wine making can be very easy with just a little bit of guidance.

Most homemade wine is made from a grape juice concentrate, so don’t worry about growing and harvesting your own grapes - or needing to stomp on them once you do! You can also use different fruit juices as well, for a different type of flavor.

Simplicity in Home Wine Making

Typically you simply add your fruit juice, Campden tablets (which release sulfur dioxide when dissolved), and water to what’s called a primary fermenter. This is usually a large vessel with an airlock top. After the mixture has sat for 24 hours you add yeast and allow it to ferment for up to a week. You can then add water and allow it to continue to ferment.

Obviously these are just the most basic of the steps involved in wine making. There are actual recipes and step-by-step instructions you should follow, and additional ingredients. For instance, tannin is used to add flavor, clarify color, and assist in the aging process.

Tracking the Fermentation

A special piece of equipment called a hydrometer is used to track the alcohol content and fermentation process of your wine. If you want to try getting a higher alcohol content you can track this through the fermentation process. However, if you’re new to home wine making, be careful. You can ruin an entire batch of wine by trying to force the alcohol content, so you may want to follow your recipes exactly at least while you’re just starting out.

Personalizing Your Home Wine Making

One of the beautiful things about making your own wine is that you can adjust the ingredients to suit your own taste. Some add additional sugar to make sweeter wines while others prefer a more dry taste. With home wine making, you can also experiment with different fruits other than grapes. Many enjoy apple wine, raspberry wine, elderberry wine, plum wine, gooseberry wine, and many other varieties. You can also add different fruits to any type of wine for a new and unique flavor, or mix up the types of grapes or grape juices you use for a new and exciting flavor. You can also experiment with your techniques in wine making, such as keeping the water at a few degrees higher while trying for a higher alcohol content. The more you experiment with your own wine recipes and fruit combinations, the better your wine will taste, and the better you’ll be at making it.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-brewing-articles/are-you-interested-in-home-wine-making-484838.html

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David Cowley has created numerous articles on Wines. He has also created a Web Site dedicated to wine information. Visit Wine Information

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