Home Wine Making: Less Complicated Than You May Think

Wine is one of the oldest beverages in the world, dating all the way back to antiquity. It's been used in just about every capacity one could imagine, from simple use at the dinner table to the hallucinogenic catalysts at mysterious religious ceremonies that puzzle scholars to this very day. No matter what it is about the drink that draws you to it, sooner or later wine lovers want to try their hand at making their own bottle. Before you start rolling up your pant legs, though, take a look at these tips to understand the basics of wine making.

In general, the art of wine making can be broken down into five parts. While it's certainly possible to write a whole textbook on the process, this should be more than enough to get you started. Just be sure that you comprehend the essence of each step, and common sense will take you a long way.

To get things started, you need some way to produce an extract of whatever ingredient you're using. If you're even seen the classic imagery of barefoot people stomping a tub full of grapes, this is what's going on. So, whether you need to juice, grind, chop, or boil your ingredients to get the flavor extracted, this is the first step to making a good quality wine.

When your extract is ready, you're all set up to move on to fermenting. With a simple blend of yeast and other active agents, you can begin fermenting in just a covered pot. Within a few days, you should see activity, and after ten days, real progress.

Soon, you're going to end up with a highly separated product, with pulp and liquid distinctly separate like oil and vinegar. Now, your job is to strain the liquid off and be sure to get the remaining liquid out of the pulp. Once you do, add it to an airtight container and keep fermenting for a few more weeks. Be patient!

Eventually, the yeast will have worked until the alcoholic content of the mixture is so high that it simply can't live anymore, usually around twelve to fourteen percent. When this happens, the wine will take on a clear look, like something you'd buy at the store. So, what comes next? You guessed it: bottling and corking! After a year for reds or half a year for whites, you'll be ready for your first taste.

So there you have it. While wine making is an ancient tradition about which much has been said and written, there's no reason why the beginner can't jump in and try his or her hand. Just follow the steps in this article and you should be sampling your very first cask of vino in no time at all!