homemade wine

The art of winemaking dates back before the time of Christ. It is said that the first wine was merely a result of an accident. Some leftover fruit that just started to ferment on the natural yeast's. Yet, some one had to be brave enough to try that " first wine ". I am sure that the wine then,was not the wine that we drink today. Wine became an important part of life. It was used as medicine, in Religious ceremonies, and for celebration! As time evolved so did the wine making technique. Better knowledge of the wine making process and the farming practices changed the way wine tasted. Up until the last century wine making techniques were basically the same. Today however, the farming practices and the process of making wine has evolved by leaps and bounds. Also the popularity of making wine at home has become even better due to the availability of products and produce. You have the greatest tool setting in front of you, The INTERNET. You can find so many resources that there is no excuse for not trying it!!!

Now I only make " country wines " I call them that because I don't use any kits. I am sure that the canned stuff makes great wine,but I like to know what my wine is made of. I presently have a few rows of muscadines, and a few rows of grapes. It will take around 3 more years till they will produce so my own vineyard is still a dream. I do however have a few rows of Blackberries, several Elderberry plants, and I have access to a fine Peach Orchard. I also have a secret spot to gather my muscadines. I have also planted blueberries, raspberries. All of which will be turned into wine. But not before it's time. sorry I had to say it.

Now for the fun part, How to turn the fruit into wine. It is a very easy and inexpensive process. But first here are a couple of my bottled wines.

wine bottles.jpg (20163 bytes)
Imbodens "white peach" ~ Imbodens "homemade Blackberry"

The Wine Making Process

This is the fun part, Turning fruit into wine. There's really not much to it. The yeast does all the work, all you have to do is help it along.

The first thing you need to do is purchase some equipment. I suggest buying a Wine making Equipment Kit There are dozens of suppliers, it is up to you to find one, I suggest to find a wine shop in your town to purchase a equipment kit. That way you will make a friend that will help you out with any questions / or problems you may encounter. You may also contact me Craig,I will try to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge.
The kit will contain a primary Fermentor / with cover, hydrometer, siphon tubing, fermentation lock. A carboy (aging vessel) can be purchased at a bottled water store, and Cleaning agents. The kit will have instructions for use, so I won't go into that deeply.

A must in Wine Making is cleanliness. When you clean your equipment and you think it is clean enough--CLEAN IT AGAIN. I can't stress it enough!!!!!!!!

Ok,so lets start with some Blackberry wine. The recipe will be for 5 Gallons of wine.

20 pounds of Blackberries
4 gal pure water
12 pounds white granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp. Acid Blend
2 1/2 tsp. Pectic Acid
5 tsp. yeast nutrient
5 campden tablets ( crushed )
1 pkg. wine yeast

Only pick the biggest, juiciest blackberries, the ones that have a dull black color. Remove any leaves or stems, and wash if they have been sprayed. Mash the berries and put them through a straining bag. ( the easiest way I have found is to buy a Large potato masher from a restaurant supply store.)
Strain the berry juice into the Primary fermentor. Keeping all the pulp in the straining bag, tie a string around the top of the bag and set it down in the primary. Add 2 gallons of water and then all of the ingredients except yeast, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the rest of the water to bring the level up to just under a inch from the top. Cover and let sit for 24 hours. After 24 hours add yeast and stir. Check hydrometer reading.Cover Primary back up. Stir everyday until until S.G. is 1.030 (around 5 days )
Once it reaches 1.030 strain juice from the bag. Siphon wine off of the sediment into a glass carboy. Attach airlock. Let the wine age in the carboy and rack the wine in a few months. keeping the air lock attached at all times. siphon when sediment starts to settle to the bottom of the carboy.
let the wine age as long as you can wait. A year is best.

ADOLPH IMBODENS WINE RECIPE

This was a recipe that I recently learned about . My Grandpa seemed to make wine long before I did, and gave this recipe to my kinfolk's from California. This is the recipe word for word from is transcript.

1 bushel Concord grapes
Put mashed grapes in a crock or wooden barrel. Dissolve 2 pounds sugar in approximately 1 gallon warm water; pour over the grapes. Add enough warm water to almost cover ( to make the grapes very juicy ) ; cover with a cloth. Let ferment for 3 days, stirring twice a day. Set crock up on a table, insert a Small siphon hose down inside the crock to the juice; siphon juice out into a 10 gallon wooden barrel ( let it run through a kitchen strainer ). Dissolve 12 pounds sugar in warm water; add to juice; add warm water to fill the barrel. Cover the hole with a sand bag. Let stand for 10 days; then every 2 or 3 days, dissolve 1 cup sugar in warm water and pour in the barrel. It'll cook 3 to 4 weeks. ( To hear "cooking" put ear to barrel; will hear a sizzling sound.) When it stops cooking, take the sand bag off and put stopper in. Every 4 or 5 days, remove stopper to relieve pressure; immediately replace stopper. Let stand for at least 4 months; can be used then but gets better with age.

I have also learned that my Great Grandmother Imboden also made wine. She was from Switzerland, so I presume that this recipe was Swiss in origin. As are a lot of wines.

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