# Wine making



## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

Let me begin by saying I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the process, aside from the fact that its fermentation. (And I work in a microbiology lab, so that at least makes sense. )

But, I don't know equipment, process etc. 

We do have a LOT of grape vines, however. Old vines, concords I believe (seed). We have literally never done a single thing with them, besides idly eat them here and there. 

My dad also planted a few seedless grapevines over the past few years, that may bear a small number this year. 

And, we do have a juicer, but I have no idea if that's a good way to go about making wine. 

So, I'm looking for help in finding a good book to read up, and a place to get equipment for a good price.


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## dademoss (May 2, 2015)

A quick little look at making wine from grapes 

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/media/pdf-printouts/wine_from_grapes.pdf

I am just a dabbler, I do 1 gallon at time, it's a lot easier for me than the big batches.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

I have found the web resources of Pleasanton, Texas award winning wine maker Jack Keller to be an excellent reference in my wine making for recipes and introductory information for study.

Some of his resource information and recipes are

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/starting.asp his getting started page and over 300 of his recipes that he offers for free review at

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/recipes.asp and http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request.asp

For my additives equipment supplies and other books at mail ordered prices comparable to prices comparable to stores 40 to 60 miles away 

I call E. C. Kraus placing my order over the phone to their toll free number after making my selection from the paper catalogs I receive from them or doing my window shopping on their website at

http://www.eckraus.com/

Even though E.C. Kraus is located in Missouri the convenience of them shipping my supplies to my home is more appealing than the 80 to 120 mile round trips to the nearest health stores with wine making aisles for the small items.

The only thing I now travel to the brick and mortar stores here is if I have to replace a glass carboy jug as the freight shipping costs on those are more than the cost of the gas to go pick them up.

Hope you find these links of use as you study the art of winemaking.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Lots of homebrew shops in Michigan

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=home+brew+supply+stores+in+michigan

They would not only be a place for equipment but also advise. Many shops run classes on Wine making.

WWW


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## Cobber (May 22, 2015)

Hi Donna, I am really busy atm but will get back to you. How many vines do you have or do you know the amount of grapes you get off them? And don't water them too much, good to let them have a bit of drought at this time of the year.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

Well, we have vines we've planted over the past couple years - only one looks to bear this year. They're mostly climbing the trellis my dad made for them on our porch, with their main purpose (along with our hops plants that we also do nothing with, lol) is to shade him when he cooks on the grill.  

However, we have a few hundred feet of grape vines on a fenceline someone planted before my dad purchased our property 30+ years ago. These are old vines, purple grapes, and have seeds - we think they're Concords but who really knows.  We've never so much as cared about them, but they're doing quite well on their own. Besides eating a few as a kid, we've never done a thing with them. My goats trim them back every year. I'm going to have to ask my dad about how long that fenceline is, he'd know better than I.


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## Cobber (May 22, 2015)

To make good wine you need wine grapes, these are a bit different from the ones we eat. They have higher tannin levels, thicker skins, more color if they are red, smaller and get much sweeter. You can still use table grapes if you restrict the water to them as soon as they start to change color and let them get really ripe, as long as the rot doesn't get to them first. Restricting the water serves to keep the berries smaller and the stress increases the tannin level.

So we are talking about 100 pounds of grapes? For that quantity you are best to find a wide, strong tub and crush the grapes the old fashioned way, treading on them. Virgins are best at this job I hear but there has never been a scientific study to corroborate this (I jest). They are really slippery so you need to either get someone to hold on to or you hold on to the person who is doing the treading. Trust me, you will never be able to crush that quantity by hand, grapes are surprisingly resistant to mechanical pressure. After you have trod enough, the juice should be running freely and not much pulp left in the skins, you need to transfer to a narrow container. I use olive barrels but you want something tall not flat. At this stage the barrel does not have to be full.








Now it all depends on how much you want to do to ensure a good wine. You could just let it ferment with the wild yeast and see what you get or you could do some basic adjustments. 
1) Use tartaric acid (grape acid) to take the pH down to between 3.2 and 3.4 (usually at half to one gram per litre)
2) add sulfur dioxide (sodium or potassium metabisulfite) at a rate of half a gram per 10 litres.
3) Innoculate with a bought commercial wine yeast.
4) Add 2 grams per 10 litres of Diammonium Phosphate (yeast nutrient)

At this stage keep the air away from the grapes as much as possible, screwing the lid on the barrel and giving it a half turn back to allow the CO2 to escape should be enough at this stage. Twice a day you need to plunge the cap, that is the grapes will fill with CO2 and float to the top, you need to keep pushing them down under the juice. After about a week you need to separate the juice from the grapes. If you don't have a wine press then you can use a muslin bag and squeeze as hard as you can, one guy I know used the washing machine on spin cycle - nearly cost him his marriage.

At this stage you need to keep the wine away from air, so you need to put it in to a demijohn or large carboy with an air lock or a beer kit barrel with an air lock, as it finishes its fermentation, another few days.








After a month it is a good idea to decant it (racking) leaving all the dead yeast and muck behind. Give it another few weeks before you start to drink it.

At all times use absolutely clean instruments and containers, avoid wood and rough finished plastics. 

If you want to proceed after reading the above there is still more you need to know about handling the wine.


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## HowlingFarms (Oct 14, 2014)

Did you find the books you needed? I may have some somewhere in storage. Got them memorized so I don't need them any longer.


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## Itsroger (Aug 28, 2015)

Check out the "wine making talk" forums, there you can find all the information you need to make the very best wines, whether you want to make traditional grape wine or fruit wine from fruit that you have available to you.


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## bobp (Mar 4, 2014)

I second the wine making talk forums, and Jack Keller's site can't be beat... Tons of explanation and recipes to start with...

But a couple points of advice.... don't cut corners, sterilize everything with starsan or iodine etc, be ultra clean with everything, use good airlocks, keep tabs on them and keep them full, an accidental vinaigrette sucks, and is a waste of time and money, as well as irreplaceable fruit.


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## Eric Nik (Apr 4, 2017)

Stubby's Texas Brewing Inc. is a family owned and operated home brew supply store that has been serving home brewers and winemakers since July of 2011.Check out some of our instructional videos and the Come and Brew It Radio podcast series we developed to cover a variety of subjects related to brewing, winemaking, and more.


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## Clem (Apr 12, 2016)

Less than a month ago you said: I have been researching many websites for so long. So, I completely understand the turmoils that one could face it. The website that I trust the most & use for myself is ..................

But now you say: "some of *our*.." and "*we* developed"...

So, did you trust that website so much you went to work there, or were you just pretending to be researching in the first quoted post? Or are you a spammer? Or selling something? There is a vendor section that you'll find in the homepage with the subtitle "This section is for Vendor to promote their products and services"


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