How To Make Grape Wine - Three Period Fermentation Process

How to Make Grape Wine

To make your own wine at home, you are going to need an instruction guide, wine making equipment, ingredients and recipes but let's begin by learning the basic process of wine making.

Three-Period-Fermentation-Process

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  Extract juice from grapes by pressing, soaking or crushing them
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  Add sugar, spices and yeast
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  Transfer to a bottle, jar, bucket or pail and cover
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  Store at room temperature for at least one week to allow for the First Period of fermentation
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  Strain the liquid from the pulp and pour the liquid back into the vessel, discarding the pulp
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  Cover and allow a Second Period of fermentation for several weeks but not longer than 8 weeks
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  Repeat the straining process and ferment for a 3rd Period 3-8 weeks, or until the wine has a clear appearance
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  Bottle your homemade wine
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  If the wine isn't to your liking, allow it to age for several months and taste it again.

Wine Making Guide and Recipes

Now that you understand the basic process, you are going to need more details, including recipes, to get started.

We recommend purchasing a basic winemaking guide to help you through the first few batches. A good choice is the The Complete Illustrated Guide to Homemade Wine (learn more at the link provided in Author's Box below).

It offers all the detail you will need plus comes with a separate book of recipes.

Wine Making Equipment Kit

In addition to the wine making guide and recipes, you are also going to need wine making equipment. You can easily find kits which include all the needed equipment, like the carboy (large fermentation bottle), bottle filler and corks.

All of these parts can be purchased separately, but if you are just starting out, buying an equipment wine kit is a smart investment and we believe, the most cost effective option.

Wine Making Ingredients Kit

After you purchase the guide and the basic equipment, you can either choose to use your own ingredients (grapes, sugar, spices, yeast...) or you can buy kits to make specific types of wine, like Chardonnay or Shiraz.

If you are new to wine making, you may find that using an ingredients kit is a good way to start out. We offer a few choices at the link in the Author's box below.

Once you feel comfortable making grape wine using either your own ingredients or an ingredients kit, you can begin to experiment with different flavored wines, like cherry or apple wine.

Learning how to make wine is not only fun but can be very cost effective. One batch usually makes 6 or 7 bottles, and depending on the ingredients, costs about 49 cents per bottle to make. When you consider that the average cost of a bottle of wine runs between $10 and $15, the savings can really add up.