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winemaking is an enjoyable and rewarding hobby. It’s
easy to get started and possible to make good, or even excellent
quality wine at home – if you follow a few simple steps.
First,
you must find a good source of high quality grapes. As with
all winemaking, good viticultural practices will show in the
quality of your wine. Grape quality is extremely important,
and we are fortunate to have viticulturists who are dedicated
to producing and harvesting grapes at their optimum –
remember, you can make poor quality wine from good grapes,
but you can never made good quality wine from poor grapes.
Start with the best.
Wine
can be made with any fruit, but this section will provide
an introduction to homemade wine using grapes. Once you source
your grapes (or juice), you must guide the wine through the
winemaking process – from fermentation to clarification,
from bottling to aging – following the procedures outlined
in your recipe. Your winemaking may take a few months, or
a few years, depending on your purpose. In the end, you will
have a wine to enjoy and be proud of, and a hobby that will
capture your imagination and interest for years to come.
Our
guest columnist is Kevin Watson, viticulturalist at Watson’s
Family Farms in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The Watson family
grows high-quality vinifera grapes and supplies juice and
materials for the home winemaker.
Q.
Can I make good wine at home?
A. Absolutely. It’s easy
to control a small batch of wine at home because you can keep
a tight rein on quality. The first step is to search for the
highest quality juice you can get, and high quality juice
is available for the home winemaker. Even ultra-premium VQA
juices are available to the home winemaker at reasonable prices.
Q.
How much do I need to spend to get started?
A. You can get started for less
than $100 for equipment, and then you need to purchase your
juice. Prices vary depending on the quality – go for
the best here.
Q.
What equipment do I need?
A. You need the following to
get started:
- Hydrometer
& jar
- J-tube
& hose (for racking)
- Stopper
& air lock
- Yeast
& nutrients
- Glass
containers (carboys or demijohns)
- Potassium
metabisulphite (anti-oxidant & preservative)
- Bottles
& corks
Q.
Do I need grapes or juice?
A. To make white wine, juice
is preferable. For red wine, must (the crushed and de-stemmed
fruit) is preferable.
Q.
Can I make Icewine at home?
A. Yes. Great Icewine juice is
available for the home winemaker.
Q.
Can I make wine from a kit or concentrate?
A. Wine kits and concentrates
offer simplicity, but are not a substitute for good quality,
fresh juice.
Q.
How do I make wine?
A. You don’t. Yeast makes
wine and you monitor the process. Yeast converts the natural
sugars in the grapes or juice into alcohol. Under your control
and supervision, this becomes wine. There are recipes, books
and plenty of advice at your disposal – take advantage
of the information available. Ask other winemakers, talk to
growers, join an amateur winemaking club – as your interest
and experience increases, your circle will expand and your
knowledge will grow.
Q.
How important is cleanliness?
A. Very, very, very, very, very.
I cannot overstate this. I know of one enthusiastic home winemaker
who produced an excellent batch of wine in his first year.
The next year, the wine was awful, despite following the same
steps and buying good juice. What happened? He didn’t
clean his equipment properly, bacteria grew and ruined his
wine. Be scrupulous – it will make all the difference.
Q.
Where can I make wine?
A. Your garage or basement will
give you enough room. Make sure you allow for a little messiness
during the first week of winemaking; access to a water source
is also important.
Q.
Does the addition of water detract from the quality of the
wine?
A. Yes. Water dilutes the flavour,
acid and sugar levels of the wine.
Q.
What do I need to know about temperature and light?
A. Temperature should be cool,
around 15 degrees Celsius, for white and 18-20 degrees Celsius
for red. As for light, it’s not important during the
fermentation stage. During aging, there should be NO light.
Q.
What about moving your wine during the winemaking process?
A. This will not affect the quality
of your wine.
Q.
What’s the principle of racking off?
A. Racking off is siphoning the
clear wine/juice from the sediment (proteins) at the bottom.
Racking off also introduces air to the wine, which helps it
mature. Racking off is generally recommended about three to
five times a year during the first year.
Q.
What does the presence of oxygen do to my wine?
A. Oxidizes it and turns red
wine brown and white wine gold – you will notice a brownish
or gold ring around the container. This changes the flavour
immensely.
Q.
What is the purpose of bentonite?
A. Bentonite is naturally occurring
clay for fining the wine. Fining is adding a positively or
negatively charged agent to the wine to balance the charge
of suspended particles and settle them out. Fining improves
the clarity, colour, odour, taste and stability of a wine.
You follow your bentonite with one of the following agents:
egg white, gelatin, isinglass, sparkolloid, or polyclar.
Q.
How do I taste wine and determine its quality?
A. Educate your palate. Take
winetasting courses, attend winetasting events, read our helpful
hints in our Winetasting 101 section.
Q.
Do you have any other helpful hints to get started?
A. Don’t be intimidated.
Educate yourself, educate your palate, and have fun. |
