Making Homemade Wines; More Than It Appears

Although Making Homemade Wines is not difficult; it may appear to be simpler than it is.

Winemaking is an unforgiving pastime. Preparation, planning and attention to detail are the key to making an exceptional wine. Patients is crucial…you can’t rush the winemaking process.

One beginners’ mistake is to adjust the wine recipe. For best results, follow your wine recipe to the letter. After a successful batch or two you can adjust the wine recipe to taste.

Take your winemaking seriously and you won’t be disappointed. The art of making homemade wines is a fun, rewarding and fulfilling hobby.

What Color Wine Bottle Do I Use?

  Now that you are Making Homemade Wines you may ask yourself; What Color Wine Bottle Do I Use? Does color matter or make a difference? Here are some insights into the subject.

If properly stored it does not matter what color the wine bottle is. Wine should be stored in a cool dark environment. If how ever you display your homemade wines and expose the bottled wine to light; dark green is best.

Exposure to light accelerates the oxidation process in wine. To slow this process; keep all wine in the dark. So if you treat your wine right…color doesn’t matter.

From Wikipedia:

The traditional colours used for wine bottles are:

 

• Bordeaux: dark green for reds, light green for dry whites, clear for sweet whites.
• Burgundy and the Rhone: dark green.
• Mosel and Alsace: dark to medium green, although some producers have traditionally used amber.
• Rhine: amber, although some producers have traditionally used green.
• Champagne: Usually dark to medium green. Rosé champagnes are usually a colorless or green.

 

Clear bottles have recently become popular with white wine producers in many countries.
Most red wine worldwide is still bottled in green glass.

Reusing wine bottles when making homemade wines is a common economical practice. It is extremely important that the bottles be clean and sterile. A specially designed wine bottle brush will insure that each bottle is truly clean. A sterile wine bottle will help prevent your wine for spoiling so be sure to use a wine bottle brush.

Preparing for the Winemaking Season - Harvest

This is the time of year to get ready for Making Homemade Wines. Fall is the time to gather your ingredients whether they are fruit, berries, vegetable, nuts or honey.

Get out your wine recipes and select the wines you will be making this season. Make a grocery list of the ingredient you will need.

Start planning your weekend outings around the crop that is ripening at that time. Your best tasting wines will come from vine ripened fruit, but don’t wait until the fruit is past its prime. Early morning is the best time of day for berry picking. For more produce picking tips go to http://www.pickyourown.org/pickingtips.htm

If you can’t process your crop immediately freeze it. Remember you will be juicing it to make your homemade wine so the texture is not a consideration. However the fruit should not be moldy or spoiled. The quality of your wine is only as good as the quality of the ingredients.

If you don’t have the time or inclination to pick your own fruits, other good sources include:

• Farmers markets
• Roadside fruit stands
• Your friends, neighbors and relatives.
• And of course the grocery store.

Remember your ingredients don’t have to be fresh. Very good wine can be made from juice and reconstituted dried fruits e.g. raisins and currents. If using canned or dried ingredients, be sure to use a wine recipes made specifically for that purpose.

Making Homemade Wines can be a family pastime. Turn a weekend picnic onto a berry picking adventure. Remember to dress appropriately most berries have thorns.

P.S. My favorite berry wine is Oregon blackberry.

Preparing for the Winemaking Season - Equipment

 

This is the time of year to get ready for Making Homemade Wines. Fall is the time to gather your equipment, clean and inspect it. There is nothing worse than starting your winemaking process and finding that you are missing components to your winemaking kit.

If this is your first experience Making Homemade Wines, may we suggest purchasing a winemaking kit. This will insure that you have all the components necessary to make your first winemaking experience a pleasant one. If you plan to purchase your winemaking kit online, don’t wait, do it now!

Now that the equipment is ready to go; its time to review your winemaking log. Check your notes to see what changes need to be made to your recipe and/or technique. If you are a newbie we suggest that you start a winemaking log. Make notes that will help you improve the quality and taste of your next batch. The log will help you avoid any mistakes that have been mage in the past.

Next dig out your wine recipe book and prepare a grocery list. If you are new to winemaking you can find many good downloadable wine recipes online.

Making Homemade Wines is very quick and easy if you take the time to prepare ahead of time. Next post; The fall Harvest.