Winemaking is akin to art, the craftsmanship of its manufacture has been studied for years. But he who does not dare does not create. Following the technology, it is easy to prepare a fragrant natural drink at home.
General principles for making wine from black grapes
Stage 1. Spin. Mash the berries selected for wine with a wooden rolling pin. Attention! This should be done carefully so as not to crush the grape seeds, they add bitterness to the wine. That is why some winemakers believe that it is better to crush berries with hands in gloves, and in the old days grapes were crushed with their feet, this episode is shown in the film The Taming of the Shrew.
Stage 2. Fermentation. Fold the prepared raw materials in a container for making wine, filling them in three quarters, cover with a towel and put in a warm place for 3-5 days. At this time, the pulp will rise to the surface, during the day it must be mixed with must, so as not to acidify. Hissing and sour smell will indicate successful fermentation.
At the end of the set period, squeeze the pulp through cheesecloth, colander or press. Filter the wort and pour it into a clean bottle (other utensil), close it with a stopper with a carbon dioxide outlet tube or a medical glove. This is done so that the wine material does not come into contact with oxygen and future home wine is not sour. Two days later add sugar.
Sugar making technology
Pour a little wort into the pan, heat and pour sugar. Then pour the sweet wine syrup into the bottle and close it again with a cork or glove for further fermentation.
On average, the fermentation process takes from thirty to fifty days. An indicator of the cessation of fermentation is the absence of bubbles in a jar of water. During this time, the yeast settles to the bottom, and the wine brightens.
Stage 3. Filtering. Put the bottle of wine on a raised platform, lower the empty container and pour the young black grape wine into it through the tube. Strain through cheesecloth, folded in several layers. Check the sweetness of the drink, add sugar if necessary, stirring until completely dissolved. At this stage, the wine from the table can be turned into dessert or fortified.
In the manufacture of fortified wine add vodka or alcohol. Fortified wine is stored longer, but the taste and aroma suffer.
Stage 4. Ripening. A full bottle of wine is stored in a cellar or dark basement from 60 days to a year. This is a time of quiet fermentation. If sugar was added at stage 3, then the wine container must be sealed with a stopper with a water seal. Sudden changes in temperature cannot be allowed at this time; this makes the taste of wine deteriorate.
When a few centimeters of sediment appears at the bottom of the bottle, it is time to pour the wine into a clean bottle. This process can be repeated several times, thus clarifying the wine from black grapes.
Stage 5. Final. After ripening, the wine is bottled. Store in the basement in a horizontal position.
Crockery and equipment for black grape wine
One of the rules in the process of making wine from black grapes is the need to use absolutely dry and clean dishes, so that there is no infection with pathogenic microorganisms. At home, for these purposes, large glass jars and bottles are used, containers made of food plastic and wooden barrels are suitable. The size of the dishes depends on the amount of grapes. From two buckets of grapes you can get 10 liters of juice.
During the fermentation process, it is necessary to ensure the release of carbon dioxide from the tank. An ideal option for this would be a water trap designed from a cap and tube. Lower one end of the tube into a container with must and the other into a jar of water. The presence of bubbles in the bank will serve as an indicator of the normal course of the fermentation process. For these purposes, a medical glove is also suitable, the fingers of which must be pierced with a needle. Until the fermentation process is over, the glove will be inflated.
Some enterprising winemakers use medical droppers as a water shutter. The hose must be passed through the cap by placing one end in a container of wine stock and the other in a jar of clean water.
Dishes for aging wine should be filled with pulp and juice only three quarters. In the process of fermentation, an empty place will be filled with foam.
Preparation of raw materials for black grape wine
Clusters with berries are harvested in dry weather at the end of September or the beginning of October, before the first frosts. To make a good wine, ripe fruits are selected from black grapes, without rot and mold. It is important! Unripe grapes will add excess acid to the wine. However, overripe berries can spoil the drink, turning it into vinegar. Experienced winemakers do not recommend the use of scavenger, it will give the wine an earthy flavor.
Collected bunches of grapes cannot be washed, because on the surface of the berries are natural yeast that provides the process of wine fermentation. After harvesting, grapes are picked from the grapes by removing the spoiled and unripe. It is necessary to process the collected raw materials within two, three days.
Homemade black grape wine
To make a simple homemade wine, it is enough to take the berries of any wine variety.
Ingredients:
• Grape juice and pulp - 10 l
• Sugar - 2.5 kg
Cooking method:
This ratio of ingredients in the recipe is the average and most used among home winemakers. But this does not mean that each of them cannot have its own, over the years, verified family recipe.
Black grape wine with honey
Ingredients:
• Grape juice - 10 liters
• water -10 liters
• natural honey - 3 kg
• wine yeast or sourdough from 500 g of raisins.
Cooking method:
Pour juice and water into the prepared dishes, add 1 kg of honey and sourdough. The process of fermentation and maturation takes place according to the technology described above. The remaining honey is added when filtering.
Semi-sweet wine made from black grapes with water
Ingredients:
• grape pulp (skins, flesh)
• sugar - 300 g per 1 liter of water;
• the amount of water is equal to the amount of pulp.
For reference: in the production of dry wine, sugar is put less than 200 g per 1 liter of water, for dessert wines - 400 g of granulated sugar.
Cooking method:
1. Add water to the bottle to the grape pulp, pour out sugar, mix everything thoroughly and tie the neck with gauze. Insist wine material 10-12 days.
2. At the end of the period, the pulp must be removed and the wine filtered through gauze, folded in several layers or sterile cotton wool. Drain the filtered wine into a clean bottle by putting a glove on the neck. Watch the fermentation process.
3. After fermentation, it is necessary to conduct a tasting of the young wine in order to understand whether it is sweet enough. At this stage, you can add sugar, focusing on your taste.
4. Ripening wine from black grapes 3-4 months. At this time, you need to pour the drink twice a month into clean dishes, removing the sediment.
5. Then bottle the wine, put it in the basement.
Aromatic black grape wine with spices
For 5 liters of finished wine, take 1 tablespoon of cinnamon or 1 teaspoon of cloves (focus on your own taste preferences), chop and put in a linen bag.
Dip the prepared spice in a vessel with young wine, close the cork and leave for 2 weeks. Strain and pour into a container.
Fortified black grape wine
Ingredients:
• 5 kg of black grapes;
• 600-800 g of sugar;
• 1 liter of medical alcohol
Recipe:
Mash the berries until gruel, transfer to a clean container and leave for three days. Then add 600 grams of sugar to the pulp with juice, close the container with a stopper with a tube or glove for fermentation.
When the fermentation process is completed, the grape must must be filtered and add alcohol, at the rate of 18-20 percent of the wine received. To fix, add alcohol to the strained grape must.
After two days, the fortified drink must again be filtered and left to ripen for 2 weeks in the cellar or basement. Finished products bottled. Store horizontally in a cool place.
Tricks and tips for making wine from black grapes
Experienced winemakers are advised to take into account some of the nuances when making wine from black grapes.
• In the process of wine production it is not recommended to use metal utensils, tools, equipment. The contact of juice and metal will worsen the taste of the future drink and oxidize it.
• The quality of wine depends on the amount of water: the more it is, the worse the quality. Tip: water should be added if the grape juice is so sour that it reduces the cheekbones. For 1 liter of water juice should be no more than 0.5 liters.
• Before you start crushing grapes in the pulp, it must be warmed up to room temperature.
• To get a fragrant rich wine from black grapes with a refined aftertaste, you need to use not only juice, but also pulp.
• If the fermentation of wine stopped at the beginning of the process, then the yeast died. Unwashed raisins will help correct the situation. A handful of dried grapes added to the wort will resume the fermentation process.
• Some winemakers use homemade sourdough to ferment faithfully. A glass of raspberries, raisins and fresh grapes, pour the same amount of warm water, adding 0.5 cups of sugar. Insist in a warm place until it acidifies. Add the leaven at the rate of 1 glass per 10 liters.
• At the entire stage of fermentation, it is necessary to withstand temperatures of 22 ° C.
• Sometimes after repeated sugar is added, the new wine starts to ferment again. There are several solutions to the problem:
1. Leave the wine to ripen in the bottle, corking it with a lid with a water lock or glove.
2. Pasteurize wine. To do this, the wine bottles are closed with corks and warmed up in a saucepan with water for up to 65 about no more than 20 minutes.
