Wine Making Instructions

We all have in our heads the basics of what we think needs to be done for “easy wine making instructions” time.  Get some grapes, stomp them, ferment them and then it is ready made wine for the drinking.  That seems to be the end of what we think we need for wine making instructions.The process of making wine is so much more than that.  It is an actual art form reserved only for those that put in the time and effort.

Let me give you a few details for wine making instructions that will help you. On the average it will take you 50 pounds of good ripe grapes to produce five gallons of good wine.  You will need to have large plastic vats to accommodate all the grapes.  You can purchase one on the internet or at your local wine making store.  After you harvest pick the grapes, place the clusters into the vat and crush them.  They do this to release their inherent flavors. As the grapes are crushed, the fruit releases the moisture and sugars within it. 

Believe it or not, the time aged way of stomping the grapes with your feet has not been bested by technology yet.  But it does not make sense for the smaller needs.  It is not such an easy wine making instructions time when you have to use your hand or a potato masher to crush the grapes in the vat. Any unwanted yeast will produce early fermentation and so you will need Campden tablets which are pre-measured amounts of potassium metabisulfite.  You add them to the grapes to stop this unwanted yeast growth.  Finally, cover the vat with a towel and allow it to sit for a day.

Another thing you will need to know in your list of wine making instructions is that one day after you have crushed the grapes add a packet of wine yeast.  Make sure it is wine yeast and not bread yeast, as they are two different yeasts and should not be interchanged.  Montrachet and prix de mousse are two common types of yeast used to ferment wine.  The crushed grapes at this stage are known as the must.  

Use your hands to stir in the yeast.  Cover the vat of must with a towel and set to the side.  It is at this stage that winemakers can choose to make either red or white.  For red wines they are allowed to rest in the must.  This way they leech and draw color and flavor from the skin and pits.  For white wine they separate out the solids, including the pits and skins.  That way there is no time for the color to melt into it.

In your wine making instructions you should know that the process of fermentation can take anywhere from 10 to 30 days, depending upon the sweetness of the grapes and the climate in which fermentation takes place. Sweet wines are intentionally removed from the fermentation process earlier than necessary to keep some of the sugars from converting to alcohol. After one to two days resting in the vat, the must will begin to fizz.  

By the third day it will seem to be boiling.  Usually by a week the fizzing stops and it is time to separate the wine from the solid stuff.  At this time you can use mesh bags or cheese clothes to sift it out. When that is done it need to be squeezed, strained and poured into a glass carboy or poured into an empty wine barrel. 

It is at this point that air should not contact the wine.  Use an airlock on the carboy or the barrel to prevent air from getting in yet allowing gas to get out. It is now time to rack the wine.  Wine Racking is the process that removes the wine from the lees which is the spent yeast and grape bits that have fallen to the bottom of the barrel. You need to do this every two to three months for three times.  Then place your wine in a cool and dark place and your wine making instructions time is done as we all know the longer a wine ages, the better it is.