Grape wine is a product for all ages. The production of the drink in previous centuries was backed by a guarantee of quality, aging and taste. Now grape wine has become another trap of market manipulation. Indeed, instead of preparing a natural product, manufacturers often trick and use dyes and preservatives, which people literally “spoil” with store products.
In this article, we will talk about methods of preparation and recipes for grape wine at home.
Homes are always better ...
Homemade wine is a luxury that not everyone can afford. But the happy owner of such a drink certainly knows the composition and strength of his wine.
Today, as before, wine is almost deified, it was once called the “drink of the gods” and used as a medicinal drug. Today, this sparkling aromatic liquid is not less popular, but not everyone is familiar with the technology of making homemade grape wine.
The benefits and calories of homemade wine
If you study the chemical composition of this wonderful drink, it turns out that home-made grape wine consists of water, organic acids, ethyl alcohol and minerals.
The energy value of such a drink will be about 80 kilocalories per 100 milliliters. A home product, of course, is not as easy to carry as its store version, but due to natural components it has several advantages.
What is useful?
The benefits of grape wine are as follows:
- restores the immune system;
- strengthens blood vessels and heart;
- accelerates metabolic processes;
- disinfects the body;
- enriches blood with valuable substances.
The content of useful qualities in wine is ensured by the proper storage of the drink. The best option would be to leave the barrel languishing in the cellar, since it is in the underground rooms that the optimal temperature conditions are present. For those who love sweeter grape wine, even if the grape berries in the cooking process are not particularly sweet, things can always be fixed with sugar. It must be added at the initial stage (for 1 liter - 50-100 grams of granulated sugar).
Thanks to sugar, the effect of alcohol is neutralized and the life of the drink is prolonged.
How to cook?
Not every grape berry variety is suitable for making delicious wine on its own. Table varieties do not give the desired aftertaste, so they are recommended to be replaced with varieties Isabella, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Blanc. Making sweet wine requires the use of nutmeg berries.
To make a drink, you need to use dry clusters. Therefore, they recommend harvesting in sunny weather. Brushes can be cut from the end of September until the advent of frost. If the berries are rotten or frozen, they are not used for winemaking.
Table wine is made from not quite ripe berries, as the strength of the drink is determined by the duration of the cluster on the table. The dessert type of wine requires the most ripe berries, so it is usually cut as soon as it begins to wither.
How to make grape wine at home?
Home-made wine of the highest quality can be obtained only from perfect berries. Spoiled, dry, rotten fruits are thrown away. The twigs are also subjected to executions, as they give the drink a bitter and astringency. Their content in the components of grape juice is detrimental to the taste of the product due to the presence of tannins in them.
Grapes are sorted for a long time, but this work definitely pays off by the fact that the drink will have a less sugary aftertaste. The whitish coating of berries does not need to be washed off, since it is a natural yeast that is involved in the fermentation process. On the eve of bottling, the dishes in which the fermentation process will take place are smoked with sulfur. This precaution will help prevent mold inside the bottle.
Homemade Grape Wine Recipes: The Basics
As experts in the field of winemaking advise, one should not delay the processing of sorted berries, as procrastination can lead to premature fermentation. To thoroughly crush the grapes, you can use a special grinder or a simple wooden rolling pin. If you need white wine from grapes, immediately separate the juice from the pulp. If the target is red grape wine, the products are left in one bowl.
Enameled dishes with crushed grapes are covered with a cloth and cleaned for three days in a room where the temperature is maintained no higher than 20-22 degrees. During this period of time, every day three times it is necessary to stir its contents. In three days, the berries become a must, and the pulp emerges. After the fermentation process on the fourth day, it is already possible to do juice filtration. The more the wort remains intact and uncured (6 days), the more tart it becomes.
Winemakers offer another version of the grape wine recipe for those who love sweeter wine - in the first 10 days of fermentation, you need to introduce a small amount of sugar into the mass. It will be necessary to stop adding sugar when the juice takes on the taste to the best of sweet compote or tea. As soon as the fermentation process ends, sweetening the wine will be useless.
After cooking, do not rush to get rid of the pulp (oilcake), as it is still suitable for making grape moonshine - chachi.
After filtering, grape juice is poured into glass bottles and closed with a nylon cover. Some dodgers prefer to cover them with a rubber glove. In order for air to pass through it, several small holes are made in it. In order for the glove to not break, it is well fixed.
The wine is ready!
At the end, the dishes are cleaned in a cool place where the temperature does not drop below 10 degrees Celsius. If you violate this condition, you can extend the fermentation period, and this is extremely undesirable. Weekly, it is necessary to filter the juice during fermentation: this will neutralize the sediment, which can kill the whole taste. After 2-3 months, gas production usually stops, and satisfied tasters run for the first tasting. The consistency of the product itself indicates the readiness for use - the liquid should be sweet and strong, without the sensation of the presence of sugar.
Classic Grape Wine Recipe
To make wine according to this recipe, you will need only two simple ingredients in the following quantities:
- 10 kg of grapes of any variety;
- 3 kg of granulated sugar.
Preparation: the berries need to be crushed in a wide basin in small proportions, then covered with gauze and put in a warm place for five-day fermentation. Every day, the resulting mass must be stirred with a wooden spatula. Already fermented fruits must be discarded in a colander and squeezed through cheesecloth to drain juice.
After cooking, homemade juice is bottled in clean bottles, sweetened with sugar and mixed. The container must be sealed with a punctured glove. By the way, it is also worth watching. If the glove stops inflating, the drink must be carefully filtered and poured into bottles. The container is closed with traffic jams. A month later, the wine is filtered again and again removed in the cold for brewing.
Berry and Grape Mix
There are quite simple recipes for making wines at home, among which there is another interesting wine recipe, “Product of the Forester's Fantasy”.
Preparation: it is necessary to take in the amount of one glass of currant and raspberry and rub the berries with 2.5 kg of granulated sugar, then put the dishes in a warm place for four days; ripe grapes must be sorted, getting rid of spoiled fruits, the selected fruits do not need to be washed, as indicated in the recipe, but just knead with a mortar, then pour the berry yeast with squeezed juice and cover the container with a lid. The mixture should be infused for 72 hours, but it is worth periodically “visiting” it and stirring with a wooden spatula.
Three days after the grapes are infused at home, the wine continues to be prepared, having previously removed and squeezed the pop-up berries. The next step involves mixing 1 kg of sugar and 10 liters of boiled water. Syrup along with the resulting grape juice is bottled. The dishes are again sealed with a glove and left for a week. On the 8th day, another 700 g of sugar should be poured into the finished mixture. Then they remove the wine from the berries and grapes in a cool place for another two months.
Of course, this type of homemade wine will warm up all your neighbors. Adult household members will appreciate the idea of making wine. It’s so nice when at home there is a real exclusive, a sort of “hot drink”. Wine with berries has, in addition to the chic color of Marsala, and a sophisticated taste that can drive any fan of home-made wines crazy. But improper storage can spoil the aroma of the product - there should be no dampness in the basement.
Wine with added water
The following components must be prepared for preparation:
- 7.5 l of water;
- 5 kg sorted grapes;
- 3.5 kg of granulated sugar.
The process of making this drink is quite simple and understandable. First you need to stretch the grapes, then add water and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Then the mixture is left to wander for a week, but in order to prevent the appearance of mold, the must must be mixed three times a day. After 7 days, the liquid is separated from the precipitate and poured into a bottle, which later will need to be sealed with a cap or a punctured glove.
Then the resulting mixture is sent to a cool place for one week, and after 8 days the drink is filtered and tasted. The maximum saturation of wine can be achieved if the drink is kept in such a place for about a month.