Any wine, even one that is quite clear to the eye, and even more so a cloudy one, should be cleared of any turbidity that may be present in it, although not noticeable to the eye, before being bottled. This is primarily achieved by straining or filtering.
Filtration When preparing wine at home in small quantities, it is most easily produced by passing the wine through white blotting (filter) paper, folded into a pound and placed in a glass funnel. But such straining is very cumbersome and time consuming. Moreover, it exhales greatly, because a lot of alcohol evaporates from it, which is why it becomes weaker, and therefore less durable for storage.
Therefore, it is best to filter the wine through flannel or tissue paper, but certainly with asbestos wool *.
* Previously, asbestos was used to filter wine. It has now been proven that asbestos is a carcinogenic substance. Kieselguhr (diatomaceous earth) and other substances are used to clarify wine. Special filters are also used. - Approx. ed.
Filtration is done like this. A cone-shaped bag is sewn from flannel or canvas and hung from a sawhorse or from the four legs of an overturned stool, and a bucket or bowl is placed under it. Then take another bucket, pour half the wine into it, add a handful of asbestos and stir everything well with a stick. After stirring, the wine along with asbestos is immediately poured into the bag. The still cloudy wine that has passed through the bag is poured back into the bag and this is done until a dense layer of asbestos is formed inside the bag and the wine is filtered completely clean, until it is completely transparent. To the next portions of wine they add very little (a pinch) of asbestos. But all the time you need to make sure that the bag is always full and not emptied, because otherwise, when you pour wine into it again, the asbestos layer will be washed away and the asbestos layer will deteriorate and will have to be formed all over again. This filtration makes it possible to achieve complete transparency of the wine.
But sometimes the wine, despite the fact that it is fully ripe, still remains cloudy. This is often observed in wines made from many fruits and berries (pears, plums, cloudberries) and depends on the fact that the dead yeast has broken down into tiny particles, so small that they cannot settle. In such cases, it is necessary to pre-clean the wine, which is called lightening, or pasting guilt.
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Homemade wine is made according to different recipes, from different ingredients and often with the addition of others, such as cognac, liqueur, white and red wines for blending. The ripening period of the drink largely depends on the composition and recipe.
The most famous homeland of homemade wine is France; for many centuries the French have been making wine using their own unique technologies.
Recipe features
There are different time frames for how long wine must sit to ferment. For example, if you want to get a young wine, not very sparkling, then 10-15 days will be enough, provided that you see that almost all the gas bubbles have come out of the bottle.
Ingredients for homemade wine
The period of infusion of wine depends directly on its filling. For example, wine from rowan berries is aged for a whole year, from gooseberries - for six months, and the “fastest” versions of the wine material are currants and cherries. You can taste wines made from these berries in just 2 months.
Signs that wine is ready
One of the signs that a wine is ready is its color. The wine should become clearer, and all the cloudy sediment should remain at the bottom. The drink will need to be carefully poured into another container at least twice during the entire fermentation period so that the sediment remains in the old bottle. Experienced winemakers recommend draining wine regularly - once every month or two. The more often you pour the drink into a new bottle, leaving sediment in the old container, the better the wine you will get, it will have an amazing light shade.
It is also important not to forget that during the period when the wine is infused, it must be placed in a dark room, preferably in one where it is cool.
Don’t forget that the longer the wine sits, the stronger and more tart its taste.
Many people use a rubber glove instead of a cork on the bottle; it is believed that if the glove no longer swells, the wine is ready and all the bubbles have already come out. You can also make a hole in the cork and stick a regular drinking straw in there, through which all gases will escape during the fermentation period.
If you follow these fairly simple rules, you can definitely understand whether your wine is ready.
Wine has long been considered a sacred, healthy drink, the secrets of which were passed down from generation to generation. Nowadays, there are also a huge number of connoisseurs of the variety of its aromas. And home-made grape wine is a completely natural, exquisite creation, largely dependent on hard work and maintaining the standards of the technological process of its production.
The secrets of making wine have been passed down from generation to generation since ancient times. Now everyone can try their hand at making wine at home.
Wine has long been considered a sacred, healthy drink, the secrets of which were passed down from generation to generation. Nowadays, there are also a huge number of connoisseurs of the variety of its aromas. And home-made grape wine is a completely natural, exquisite creation, largely dependent on hard work and maintaining the standards of the technological process of its production. Anyone can easily master the art of creating their revered drink. To do this, you just need to carefully study the recommendations for carrying out sequential actions in creating a wine product.
Preparation for processing
Grapes are considered to be the most ideal berry for making wine. To make high-quality wine at home, you need to use only well-ripened fruits, collected in dry weather, and never after rain. This is necessary so that natural wild yeast remains on the fruit in the form of a whitish coating, which is indispensable for the fermentation process. The berries should not be rotten or frozen. Also, you should not use crumbled fruits to avoid an unpleasant aftertaste. Cut grapes must be processed within 2 days. Harvesting is best done no earlier than the second half of September.
You should know that not all grape varieties are suitable for producing delicious homemade grape wine. Muscat varieties that contain large amounts of sugar are ideal for creating sweet wines. Table varieties are best made from not quite ripe berries, using Isabella, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, etc. varieties.
Grapes are rightfully considered the ideal raw material for making wine. Grape wine with the addition of water has a subtle taste and becomes less cloying. You can complement the aroma of the drink by adding a little vanilla or almond powder.
The process of selecting berries is quite labor-intensive, but necessary to achieve the result of producing high-quality grape wine with a pleasant aftertaste and aroma.
To avoid contamination of raw materials with pathogenic microorganisms, it is necessary to properly prepare containers, as well as all accessories used. They need to be dry and completely clean. It would be a good idea to disinfect with boiling water, after which the surfaces should be wiped dry with a clean cloth.
Recycling
Prepared fruits must be carefully crushed with your hands or with a wooden rolling pin to avoid crushing the seeds, which makes the product bitter. The resulting pulp is sent to the prepared container, filling about 3/4 of its total volume. It is allowed to use glass, enamel, wood and plastic containers, but not metal.
It is recommended to cover the container with pulp with gauze or cloth, thus avoiding flies and other insects from getting into it, and put it away for three days in a warm place out of direct sunlight. After a short period of time, fermentation of the grape juice will begin, creating a foamy cap formed from the skin of the fruit on the surface. It must be broken twice or thrice a day, while gently mixing the pulp with your hands or with a wooden pestle to avoid peroxidation.
After three days, the juice in the pulp will lighten and a slight hiss will be heard. This will be a signal that it is time to move on to the next stage of preparing grape wine.
Transfusion and installation of the valve
The grape juice obtained during preparation should be placed in glass bottles for further fermentation. So, we remove the pulp and peel that has accumulated in the outer layer into another container, while squeezing the juice out of it. Next, you need to filter all the freshly squeezed juice 2-3 times using gauze cloth. At the same time, the process of transfusion fills it with oxygen, launching the action of wine yeast.
If a recipe for making grape wine with the addition of water is used, then at this stage of production it must be added to the juice in an amount of 30% of the total volume of liquid.
Place the resulting amount of prepared juice in glass containers, approximately 70% of the total volume of the bottle, for further fermentation. To avoid peroxidation of wine, it is necessary to prevent oxygen from entering it, while at the same time allowing carbon dioxide to escape. To do this, you will need to install any of the water seal devices on the container. This can be a water seal consisting of a lid, tube and jar, which is usually used for large-volume bottles, or a fairly common method using a medical glove, puncturing a hole with a needle at the location of any of the fingers.
Adding sugar
At this stage, it is necessary to control the amount of sugar in the resulting wort, focusing on sufficient sweetness to taste.
To make good wine without disturbing the normal fermentation process, the addition of sugar must be gradual. This means that every 3 days it is necessary to add it in a dose of 50 g per 1 liter of liquid, having previously dissolved it in a small amount of drained wort. This manipulation should be done about 4 times in the first 2-3 weeks of fermentation.
An important condition for the technology of preparing high-quality wine is further adherence to the temperature regime, which becomes: 22-28 C for red and 16-22 C for white wine varieties. It is not permissible to lower it to a limit of 15 C, since at this temperature the fermentation process will stop.
Initial vigorous fermentation
If fermentation continues 50 days after installing the water seal, it is recommended to drain the liquid part into another container to avoid a bitter taste. The duration of the rapid fermentation stage depends on several factors:
- yeast activity;
- quantitative composition of sugar;
- temperature conditions.
The process continues until the yeast has completely processed almost all the sugar. This can be determined by the following signs:
- stopping the release of bubbles by the water seal;
- blowing off a medical glove;
- yeast sediment falls to the bottom.
If fermentation continues 50 days after installing the water seal, in order to avoid a bitter taste, it is recommended to drain the liquid part into another container, leaving the sediment in the same container, and again place it under the water seal for final fermentation.
After this, you need to move on to the next stage of production, namely the first transfusion followed by quiet fermentation.
Pouring and quiet fermentation
Quiet fermentation of the intoxicating drink lasts approximately 3-4 months at a temperature of about 10-12 C. If desired, a water seal can be installed on the container due to the slight accumulation of carbon dioxide. Place the container with the drink on a raised surface and carefully pour it into another, filling it right up to the neck using a rubber tube. It is very important not to affect the sediment. Otherwise, the taste of the wine will deteriorate, become bitter, and spoil the overall pleasant aftertaste.
The produced product is not yet transparent enough, since its appearance has not yet been fully formed, and it needs to be further fermented and also lightened.
Quiet fermentation of the intoxicating drink lasts approximately 3-4 months at a temperature of about 10-12 C. If desired, a water seal can be installed on the container due to the slight accumulation of carbon dioxide. During the quiet fermentation stage, the color of the drink will become lighter, leaving sediment at the bottom. Therefore, there is a need for its transfusion once every 30 days. At the same time, the wine will be saturated with oxygen, necessary for its full ripening.
When the process of quiet fermentation ends, there is a need to add sugar from dessert wine varieties. You need to learn how to do this correctly.
Semi-sweet wines are sweetened by adding 50 g of sugar per 1 liter, dessert types - 100-150 g - per 1 liter, liqueur types - from 200 g - per 1 liter.
You can also add alcohol or vodka, thereby obtaining a fortified wine, but making the taste less aromatic and more harsh.
The presented recipe for preparing a wine drink is universal.
Creating a quality wine product is a creative process that requires specific knowledge and certain skills. Proper conditions must also be met to ensure that the correct temperature conditions are maintained.
Maturation
Full-bodied red wines need to be aged for about 1-2 years, light reds - about 1 year, dense aromatic whites - six months, light ones - 3 months at a temperature of 10-15 C in a dark, dry room. The most suitable places for the product to fully mature are wine cellars, where the same air temperature is always maintained.
To obtain the ideal aromatic drink, it is recommended to use wine cryostabilization. The idea is to keep it for a short time at a low temperature, about a couple of weeks. You can use the refrigerator or basement for this purpose in winter. This procedure helps to lighten the product, and also helps to quickly and effectively get rid of crystalline particles and tartar. Exposure to cold also helps to cope with excess acid, making the taste of wine softer and more pleasant.
Wine bottling and storage
It is better to pour wine into special durable bottles, sealing them with long corks, having previously treated the container with soda solution and then thoroughly rinsed with water. Next, we proceed to the next stage of technology for the production of grape wine, which requires very simple steps. Before you start bottling, the wine needs to be filtered. This is done using a soft cloth or special filter paper.
It is better to pour wine into special durable bottles, sealing them with long corks, having previously treated the container with soda solution and then thoroughly rinsed with water.
The container should be filled completely, almost to the level of contact with the stopper, with a small air gap of 1-2 cm.
It is recommended to store wine at home in the basement, provided that there is no high humidity and the air temperature does not exceed 10 C. Bottles filled with intoxicating products should only be stored in a lying position, thereby maintaining the tightness of their sealing.
Of course, making wine with your own hands is not so easy. But having gone through all the stages of its production, while observing general recommendations as much as possible, a worthy result of labor is achieved in the form of a most pleasant and not only tasty, but also very healthy drink.
Useful properties of hop products
Grape wine contains a rich chemical complex of valuable substances, indicating its medicinal effect on the human body. This has been proven by scientists who have studied the properties of the intoxicating product. Thus, according to their conclusions, any wine, especially homemade wine, is a valuable healing drink that has a positive effect on the human body to a greater extent than other food products.
The following medicinal qualities of grape wine can be distinguished:
- has a general strengthening effect;
- has an antiseptic and disinfecting effect;
- prevents the development of atherosclerosis;
- is an analgesic and wound healing agent;
- serves as a source of vitamins, various microelements and amino acids;
- helps improve immunity;
- slows down the aging process of the body.
Grape wine contains a rich chemical complex of valuable substances, indicating its medicinal effect on the human body. This has been proven by scientists who have studied the properties of the intoxicating product. Even in ancient times, some unusual observation was discovered. It consisted in the fact that entire states were dying en masse due to epidemics of various terrible diseases. But in areas where winemaking was widespread, where people made and constantly drank wine, the impact of disease was much lower, and the cure rate was much higher.
Grape wine has strong healing effects in the fight against various viruses and infections, and also helps to quickly and effectively cope with colds. Mulled wine lovers should know that this drink was created by one of the ancient pharmacists to treat tuberculosis, colds and for general health promotion.
Nowadays, obesity has become a rather pressing disease, even in children. Drinking grape wine can contribute to a significant reduction in body weight by restoring metabolic processes in the body, as well as normalizing the process of fat breakdown.
Following a therapeutic dosage, drinking wine significantly improves the normal functioning of the heart muscle, removes excess cholesterol from the blood, treats depression and gives an incredible surge of strength and energy.
You can make applications and small baths from a medicinal drink, which give the skin elasticity, while making it smooth and soft, smoothing out folds and wrinkles, and also help get rid of cellulite.
The healing effects of grape wine prepared according to various recipes are as follows:
- renewal of the body's immune forces;
- disinfectant property;
- strengthening the heart muscle and vascular system;
- normalization of metabolic processes;
- filling with valuable chemical elements;
- rejuvenating effect on the skin.
The provided technology for creating a noble, delicious drink from grapes is suitable for making different types of wine.
You can use all kinds of simple recipes, and more complex ones, using different varieties of grapes. In any case, you will get a unique taste of the wine drink. It is only important to have an idea of how to make homemade wine, and also to put maximum effort into this process.
Grape wine at home
5 (100%) voted 2Bottles are the most suitable container for home winemaking, based on the price-quality ratio. But they also have their drawbacks. To avoid product spoilage, you need to know how to choose the right containers, pour and seal bottles, and where to store them later.
What bottles can be used to store wine?
Most often, winemakers prefer glass bottles and cylinders - it is convenient to store wine in them, and the fermentation process is easy to control. But there are also disadvantages - fragility, airtightness, transparency and inability to retain heat. The narrow neck does not allow for thorough rinsing of the container.
The fermentation process slows down sharply as the ambient temperature drops. In order for the wine to “breathe” and absorb oxygen, it must be poured periodically. Store containers in a dark place, or additionally wrap them in cloth, paper, or straw.
Wine that is not planned to be stored for a long time can be bottled in used bottles. For aging for a year or more, it is recommended to purchase special containers made of high-strength glass. If the wine is white, the container should be transparent, pale yellow or light green; for red wine, it should be dark green or brown-brown. The same rule applies to fruit and berry wines.
Ceramic containers made from clay with special additives do not have these disadvantages, in addition to fragility, but they are difficult to obtain in the required quantities, and they are very expensive. Those that are coated on the outside and/or inside with glaze are also almost impervious to air.
In principle, enamel containers are suitable if there are not even tiny chips on the enamel. But they are almost impossible to seal tightly.
There is a heated debate about plastic. Most still admit that for a product that you are going to drink soon, this option is quite acceptable.
It is strictly forbidden to store wine in copper, iron, galvanized or aluminum containers. During the fermentation process, the metal oxidizes, and the chemical compounds released are hazardous to health. The only exception is stainless steel, specifically intended for the food industry.
For those who produce wine on an industrial scale, the shape of the bottle is most often the trademark of the manufacturer, then convenience fades into the background. The most striking example is a bottle with a crooked neck by Jean-Paul Genet, which is over 400 years old.
How to bottle wine?
Before pouring the wine, the bottles are thoroughly washed several times in water as hot as you can bear, and cleaned with soda or lye. If available, you can use any dishwashing liquid, followed by a weak solution of sulfuric acid.
Then they are rinsed no less thoroughly several times to wash away all traces of chemicals and smell, and wait until they dry.
A glass or plastic funnel is inserted into the bottle and wine is poured in. The cork should not touch it - this will give an unpleasant taste, so do not add 1.5-2 cm to it.
You can use a siphon. But then the gap between it and the walls of the neck is tightly plugged with cloth, paper or cotton wool.
Choosing a cork and corking wine
The longer you plan to store your wine, the better quality the cork should be. Used ones will not fit.
The corks are poured with boiling water for 1-2 hours to soften them, then they are driven into the necks with a special device.
The entire bottle is wiped dry, the cork is filled with wax, paraffin, resin, sealing wax or garden varnish until completely sealed.
A special long wine cork made of natural material is the only option when aging is expected for more than 3 years. It allows the product to “breathe”, so chemical reactions do not stop. Just expect that this is quite an expensive pleasure. 
They are divided into several types.
- Whole. Cut from one piece of bark without defects.
- Agglomerated. Pieces of bark are crushed, food glue is added, the resulting mass is rolled into cylinders of the required diameter and cut. The obvious disadvantage is insufficient tightness and a possible taste of glue.
- Combined. The same agglomerated ones, but with a solid piece of bark at the bottom, which eliminates contact with the glue.
Nowadays natural cork is largely a tribute to tradition. Winemakers simply cannot wrap their heads around the fact that plastic or screw caps are not only no worse, but even superior in some respects. In addition, there is a risk of violating the cork manufacturing technology, then the wine will be irreparably damaged. All that will remain from the bouquet is the smell of dampness, paper and dirty rags.
For wines with a shelf life of no more than 2 years, a screw cap is suitable. The beauty of the bottle opening ceremony is, of course, lost, but it is simple, accessible and there is no question of what to do with the unfinished container.
There is another alternative. High-quality plastic stoppers are more expensive than most agglomerated ones. They do not have any foreign odors, are easy to remove, but do not allow oxygen to pass through them as well. It is also unknown how wine sealed with a plastic cork will behave during very long aging. Nowadays they are used only for young wines - they are guaranteed to remain fresh and retain their aroma.
A completely new option is glass plugs. This is beautiful, but requires special bottles and devices for sealing, so it is still very rare.
Secrets of proper storage of wine in bottles
Bottled wine is stored under certain conditions. Please note the following:
The best thing you can think of is a wine cellar or wine cellar. Ideally, only natural stone and/or wood should be used for finishing. But such luxury is not available to everyone.
There are also special cabinets for storing wine, equipped with climate control. Depending on the capacity and set of other parameters, you can choose one that is quite affordable.
Another option is a stand. This solution is suitable for small living areas. Correctly selected 
The stand is not only functional, but will also become a wonderful “highlight” in the interior.
Why are Georgian wines stored in clay bottles?
Georgian wines in clay bottles and jugs are a special “Kakheti” production technology.
First, the crushed grapes, along with the peels and seeds (and in some places even with branches), are laid out in huge clay jugs - “qvevri”, buried in the ground. They can exceed 2 m in height. Such a container is made of clay with special additives, using a special technology, so that the vessel allows air to pass through. It is also covered with earth on top or the neck is covered with clay.
Glass is not suitable due to its impenetrability, and also because it is almost impossible to produce containers of this size in artisanal conditions.
After six months, the wine is filtered, poured into another jug, and left for another 3 months. Then they fill smaller clay bottles with it for sale. This is a traditional Georgian container and a kind of “quality mark”. It allows the wine to “breathe” and not ferment.
The wine is first brought almost to a boil, so not everyone likes the taste; they say that the bouquet is not so pronounced and the aroma is lost.
Such a bottle of Georgian wine is a wonderful gift and souvenir, but fakes are much more common among them than in ordinary glass bottles. Therefore, purchase them only from places where you are completely confident in the quality of the product.
How to uncork wine without a corkscrew?
How to open a bottle of wine if you don't have a corkscrew? If you remember about its absence during the purchasing process, choose containers with a screw cap or a cardboard box. If at home, there are several ways.
Trade in food products is entirely based on selling them by weight or volume. It would seem that grape wine should obey the general rule, just like the situation with milk, vodka, cognac, vegetable oil, mineral water, etc. All these liquids are poured into glass containers on special filling machines, in which accurately measure the volumetric quantity of products.
The same method has now been introduced into the business of bottling grape wine on machines that provide different levels of filling of bottles.
While for all other liquids this circumstance is not significant, for grape wine the distance between the cork and the wine is extremely important. The fact is that wine requires a particularly careful and conscious attitude towards itself: exposure of the wine to atmospheric oxygen should be avoided; meanwhile, when pouring wine, first into the measuring cups of a bottling machine, and then when lowering it into bottles, the wine constantly comes into contact with air and is even saturated with it; oxygen in the air strongly oxidizes the wine and disrupts the established balance of its components.
Of course, the air chamber that forms in the bottle under the cork also affects the condition of the wine. The best thing would be to pour the wine right under the cork, without leaving an air chamber, but this cannot be done, since when the temperature changes, the wine, expanding, pushes the cork out of the bottle. The normal distance between the wine and the cork for table wines is 2 cm, and for strong and dessert wines - 3 cm.
With these sizes of air chambers, the oxidative effect of air on wine will be the least possible and acceptable; in order to achieve this, it is necessary to bottle wine not by capacity, but by level, and at the same time it is necessary to have bottles that are uniform in capacity so that there are no noticeable discrepancies in the amount of wine: firstly, the interests of the buyer cannot suffer - consumer; secondly, production should also not be allowed to suffer from the overflow of wine.
It is necessary to organize the production of bottles so that they are produced in a certain capacity with very minor deviations from the established quantity of 1, 0.8, 0.75, 0.5 liters.
What do we currently have in the practice of bottling wine? Typically, these bottles create a huge air chamber when pouring wine into them. Firstly, such a bottle of wine looks very ugly; secondly, table wine creates conditions for the development of mold on the surface of the wine; thirdly, the air of a large chamber strongly oxidizes any wine and removes it from a stable state of purity and transparency.
As an afterword, I will touch upon the question of how to get out of the current situation, when a half-liter bottle is inaccurate in capacity? For now, ordinary wines will have to be poured into containers on bottling machines, since such wine will not linger in the bottle and will be quickly sold. This circumstance must be taken into account and a plan and procedure for bottling and sales must be built in such a way that the bottled wine does not sit excessively in bottles; As for vintage wines, they must be poured according to the level.
Quality inspectors have two instructions: one of them requires that the wines be poured into containers, and then the air chambers will be different in size; another says that the distance between the wine level and the cork should be no more than 2-3 cm.
The resulting contradiction in practice puts both production workers and control in a difficult position - to look for an arbitrary way out to resolve the issue.
It is necessary to have a precise indication of which of the two requirements should be given preference, in which case and for which wine?
Glavvino bases and trade organizations must firmly understand the rules for handling wine, the rules and conditions for bottling it. The question of the quality of grape wine should always be in the foreground and place, and this should not be forgotten when working with wine and when releasing it for sale.
You can avoid the harmful effects of air, or rather the oxygen contained in it, if wine is bottled in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, or generally neutral gas.
Undoubtedly, such filling machines will be invented, which will, in addition, provide for pouring wine into bottles previously filled with neutral gas. Then automation of the production of bottled wine will be easier to solve, and this procedure will be carried out faster. In the meantime, this does not exist yet, there are no such machines, the question of the quality of grape wine should be protected by the considerations and conditions I outlined above.
