The Complete Guide to Making Your Own Wine at Home: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply
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About this ebook
Wine has been a staple of tables around the world for more than 4,000 years and in that time has developed into one of the most widely recognized and highly cultivated beverages in nearly every civilization on earth. From the rice wines of Asia to the grape wines of Europe or honey wines of Africa, wine is enjoyed by billions. For that reason, many people seek out ways to make and enjoy their own wine from the comfort of their homes, growing their own grapes and experimenting with a wide array of ingredients to facilitate one of the world’s oldest domestic processes. Yet, without the right instruction and resources, wine making can result in just another pile of sour grapes.
This book walks every potential winemaker through every process necessary in creating and enjoying wine from the comfort of your own home. From the basics of distillation to the ingredients used, homemade wine can be on your table and wowing your guests in no time. You will learn all of the basics of home wine making, starting with the wide array of ingredients available to you, including grapes and berries. You will learn what all is required to start and operate a home winery and what you may be missing right now. The basic aspects of all red wines and white wines will be detailed for you, giving you every bit of information you need to fully understand how the body and bouquet of each wine is supposed to taste and feel. You will learn how the grapes are pressed and how long you must wait between the pressing, the addition of other ingredients, and the bottling of the wine. We have also included a 16 page color insert that features pictures from various and the wine making process.
For this book, more than a hundred wine makers, winery owners, and home wine experts were interviewed to gain a general overview of how wine making is done, with details about the difference between each wine, the right mixture of ingredients, the better wine taste, and the testing and trying of new things in each bottle. You will learn how to measure and affect the sulfur dioxide levels in your wine and ultimately how to take control of every aspect of your wines, from taste to dryness to odor and color. Everything you could possibly want to know about wine making and much more is presented in this complete guide for anyone with an eye for the hobby.
Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company president’s garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed.
This Atlantic Publishing eBook was professionally written, edited, fact checked, proofed and designed. The print version of this book is 288 pages and you receive exactly the same content. Over the years our books have won dozens of book awards for content, cover design and interior design including the prestigious Benjamin Franklin award for excellence in publishing. We are proud of the high quality of our books and hope you will enjoy this eBook version.
John Peragine
John dreamt of being a writer since he was a little boy. He became a symphony musician, a social worker, even a Naturopath before returning to his love of writing. Now, he spends his days banging keys, tending his vineyard, and spending time with his family. John has ghostwritten hundreds of books, authored over 13 non-fiction books, is a journalist who writes for the NYT and other magazines, and is now an Award-Winning Middle Grade Fantasy Author. His award-winning series, Secrets of the Twilight Djinn has gained critical acclaim all over the world.
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The Complete Guide to Making Your Own Wine at Home - John Peragine
The Complete Guide to Making Your Own Wine at Home
Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply
By John N. Peragine Jr.
The Complete Guide to Making Your Own Wine at Home: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply
Copyright © 2010 Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc.
1405 SW 6th Avenue • Ocala, Florida 34471 • Phone 800-814-1132 • Fax 352-622-1875
Web site: www.atlantic-pub.com • E-mail: [email protected]
SAN Number: 268-1250
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be sent to Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc., 1405 SW 6th Avenue, Ocala, Florida 34471.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Peragine, John N., 1970-
The complete guide to making your own wine at home : everything you need to know explained simply / John N. Peragine Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60138-358-7 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-60138-358-4 (alk. paper)
1. Wine and wine making--Amateurs’ manual. I. Title.
TP548.2.P473 2010
641.8’72--dc22
2009051523
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Web site is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Web site may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Web sites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
Trademark Disclaimer: All trademarks, trade names, or logos mentioned or used are the property of their respective owners and are used only to directly describe the products being provided. Every effort has been made to properly capitalize, punctuate, identify and attribute trademarks and trade names to their respective owners, including the use of ® and ™ wherever possible and practical. Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc. is not a partner, affiliate, or licensee with the holders of said trademarks.
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A few years back we lost our beloved pet dog Bear, who was not only our best and dearest friend but also the Vice President of Sunshine
here at Atlantic Publishing. He did not receive a salary but worked tirelessly 24 hours a day to please his parents.
Bear was a rescue dog who turned around and showered myself, my wife, Sherri, his grandparents Jean, Bob, and Nancy, and every person and animal he met (well, maybe not rabbits) with friendship and love. He made a lot of people smile every day.
We wanted you to know a portion of the profits of this book will be donated in Bear’s memory to local animal shelters, parks, conservation organizations, and other individuals and nonprofit organizations in need of assistance.
– Douglas and Sherri Brown
PS: We have since adopted two more rescue dogs: first Scout, and the following year, Ginger. They were both mixed golden retrievers who needed a home.
Want to help animals and the world? Here are a dozen easy suggestions you and your family can implement today:
• Adopt and rescue a pet from a local shelter.
• Support local and no-kill animal shelters.
• Plant a tree to honor someone you love.
• Be a developer — put up some birdhouses.
• Buy live, potted Christmas trees and replant them.
• Make sure you spend time with your animals each day.
• Save natural resources by recycling and buying recycled products.
• Drink tap water, or filter your own water at home.
• Whenever possible, limit your use of or do not use pesticides.
• If you eat seafood, make sustainable choices.
• Support your local farmers market.
• Get outside. Visit a park, volunteer, walk your dog, or ride your bike.
Five years ago, Atlantic Publishing signed the Green Press Initiative. These guidelines promote environmentally friendly practices, such as using recycled stock and vegetable-based inks, avoiding waste, choosing energy-efficient resources, and promoting a no-pulping policy. We now use 100-percent recycled stock on all our books. The results: in one year, switching to post-consumer recycled stock saved 24 mature trees, 5,000 gallons of water, the equivalent of the total energy used for one home in a year, and the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from one car driven for a year.
Acknowledgments
I dedicate this book to Phil, Kim, Amelia, and Ella: my dear friends and original winemaking inspiration. This also goes to my wife and my two girls, who have tolerated my out-of-control hobby.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction: Benefits of Making Wine At Home
Chapter 1: Wine: Start at the Beginning
Chapter 2: Basics of Winemaking
Chapter 3: Making Wine from a Kit
Chapter 4: Wine From Juice
Chapter 5: Wine from Grapes
Chapter 6: Common Winemaking Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Chapter 7: Country Wines
Chapter 8: Meads
Chapter 9: Adding a Creative Touch
Chapter 10: Creating a Home Vineyard
Chapter 11: The Next Step: Open Your Own Winery
Appendix A: Wine Yeast Strains
Appendix B: Conversion Chart for Specific Gravity / Brix / Percent ABV
Appendix C: Wine With Food
Appendix D: Resources
Glossary
Bibliography
Author Biography
Foreword
Making wine is a fun and fascinating pastime, regardless of how big or small you choose to start. Proximity to California’s wine country has given me and my family inspiration to try this hobby, and it has brought many hours of fun and togetherness along the way.
I am fortunate enough to live on a vineyard in California’s premier wine-growing region, Napa Valley. I suppose it was almost inevitable that with a ready supply of fruit, I would decide to try my hand at winemaking because I am an enthusiastic home chef and love to experiment with ingredients and techniques.
John Peragine’s book gives basic step-by-step instructions on how to create your own wine from fruits and vegetables you might never have considered. While grapes are the standard fruit used in wine; try some of his country recipes if you can’t locate a supply of wine grapes right away. The making of non-grape wines has a long and illustrious history in its own right.
Peragine guides you through choosing equipment and ingredients, then takes you through the steps of creating your own wine, from the first grape harvest to the first pour. Home winemaking is what my family does year-round, and we have a history rich in the craft.
When my husband, Frank Hewitt, retired after many years as an engineer for IBM, he and his first wife purchased her mother’s property in Napa Valley, which was planted as a prune orchard at the time. Frank and his then-wife, Flossie, wanted to find a retirement lifestyle. Frank began the process of converting the prune orchard to a vineyard by removing the trees and preparing the soil. Long before the time of unsecured loans, his banker insisted that he find a buyer for the yet un-planted grapes before he would grant a loan to plant and develop the property.
In what amounts to a huge stroke of luck, Frank was able to strike up a deal with Christian Brothers winery — one of the leading brands in California’s wine industry. They suggested that he plant Cabernet grapes and agreed to buy his crop for ten years. That arrangement allowed him to obtain the loan to plant his first vineyard. All 17 acres under cultivation were laboriously hand-planted by Frank, his wife at the time, and their four children. A true labor of love, it took five years for the vines to be planted, staked, trained, and nurtured before the first crop was picked.
Flossie never saw the project through to completion, as she was tragically killed in a car accident. Frank and his family continued to pursue his dream of retiring as a gentleman farmer. It was a dream he invited me to share with him a few years later, and I joined him in designing and building the home in which we now live. Though it took a number of years before we could move into our new dream home, we have been living here for more than two happy decades, and our family has expanded to include sons- and daughters-in-law along with a slew of grandchildren.
Along the way, Frank and I have had the opportunity to learn firsthand about the winemaking industry from some of the best winemakers in the world. Justin Meyer, founder and winemaker of Silver Oak Cellars and former Christian Brother, was struck by the quality of our vineyard’s fruit and the caliber of the young wine. Meyer bought a harvest, and thus began a decades-long relationship with Silver Oak Cellars. The something special
Justin identified in that 1982 crop became part of the signature of his winemaking style for the next 20 years until his retirement. It helped put his winery on the map and contributed to its recognition by such notable wine writers as Robert Parker of Wine Spectator, who described the Cabernet Sauvignon as some of the best coming out of the Napa Valley.
Happily, Justin and his team were more than willing to offer suggestions and guidance when I decided to try making my own wine. His most valuable advice was: Red wine makes itself.
With my family’s help, I planted a small row of Merlot along our driveway, and once the grapes were established, I added hundreds of bearded iris and daffodil bulbs. The spring blooms inspired the name of my Merlot, and it has been Purple Iris ever since. Our 26 vines produce between 45 and 60 gallons of wine, all fermented on the wild yeast. This is far more than we can consume ourselves, so I give a large amount of it as gifts to friends and visitors, all of whom are delighted to receive it.
This is all within your reach; this book will explain yeasts, measurements, recipes, fermentation, racking, and all the nuances of home winemaking. When you’re ready, you can use Peragine’s information on how to start your own winery, the regulations you will need to follow, how to grow your own grapes, and tips on how to label your own wine.
Both my Cabernet and Merlot wines have won numerous awards at state and county fairs. Even the labels have won prizes, thanks to my eldest daughter’s training as a graphic artist. These days, my winemaking team includes my youngest daughter and her husband, who have also been bitten by the bug. Together with their willing and enthusiastic friends, we pick, crush, ferment, and bottle the wines that accompany many of our family meals. I take pride in being able to pass along what I’ve learned to a new team of home winemakers. A special section of this book includes photos of our team harvesting and crushing the grapes, pouring the wine, and enjoying the vineyards.
While a lot of the history of my family’s vineyard has been due to good fortune, none of that luck would have happened if the grapes themselves hadn’t been of the quality to attract such positive attention. The lesson is: Use only the best ingredients. Whether you are making wine from grapes or wine from any of the other fruit in the recipes in this book, your wine will only be as good as what you put into it. And remember: Winemaking is a natural process. One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned is to step back and let my wine make itself.
While I don’t recommend starting off with a 60-gallon barrel as your first attempt at winemaking, I think it’s safe to say that if you do your research and trust your instincts, you will soon join the ranks of other enthusiastic home winemakers.
Skaal! (Cheers!)
Inger Hewitt
Hewitt Family Vineyard
Napa Valley, California
Table of Contents
Introduction: Benefits of Making Wine At Home
There is a craft that is thousands of years old. Both an industry and a hobby, families, villages, communities, and entire cultures engage in winemaking. Wine is so precious to the French that during World War II, the French hid their wines in caves during the Nazi invasion. Wine, at its most basic, is the fermentation of a fruit juice or other sweet liquid. The natural yeasts found on the skins of the fruit and in the air utilize the sugar as food, producing alcohol. From an accident of nature, one of the most diverse beverages known to mankind has evolved.
Wine has been the theme of love poems and songs, and made men and women strong in legends. The history and importance of wine is fascinating, and even today it plays a central role in many religions, cultures, beliefs, and commerce.
Unless there are laws forbidding it, you can go to just about any store or restaurant and find wine. It is almost as common as water, and the variations of flavors, colors, aromas, and even price are endless. The main ingredient in wine, the grape, is grown on nearly every continent in the world. It is a hardy vine that can grow in even the most unfavorable agricultural conditions.
I had always assumed creating wine, even great wine, was something that could only be done in a factory or specialty winery. I never imagined that I could not only create wine in my own home, but that the creations were as good as or even better than commercial offerings.
In North Carolina, there are a number of different wineries. As tobacco crops have been in less demand, many farmers have turned their land over to grape growing. There are many small wineries that dot the North Carolina and Virginia landscapes and in the Yadkin Valley, where vintners have found prime growing conditions for many types of American vines.
One of the most spectacular of these wineries, the Biltmore Estate, located in Asheville, North Carolina, is tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Biltmore Estate’s winery was created out of a dairy barn and has been one of the estate’s main forms of income since 1985. I have been making wines at home for a number of years, but I learned even more when I visited the estates in August 2009 because I was able to go on a behind-the-scenes tour and was inspired to try new techniques and create some wines I had not tried in a while. Even on the large scale like the one at the Biltmore Estate, the techniques and processes of creating wine are the same as those you would use at home.
The next step was buying basic winemaking equipment, purchasing a wine book, and getting to work. It has been 18 years since I started making wine, and my house and rented storage space are full of wine, empty wine bottles, and equipment. My wife has been tolerant because she loves the new wines I create for her to try. Every Christmas, I always have the perfect gifts to give to family and friends.
I warn you: Once you start making your own wine, you will not be able to stop. The basic process is simple, but the subtle variations in ingredients, maturation time, and other variables that are involved in the winemaking process are what give wine its intrigue. Every batch of wine you create will take on a character and life of its own.
In these times of economic uncertainty, isn’t it nice to know that you can create world-class wine in the privacy of your own home for about $2 a bottle? The price can vary depending on the ingredients, but making your own wine is not an overly expensive hobby. Once you buy the basic equipment, all you will need to buy are the ingredients. All of the recipes included in this book will create either 1 gallon or 5 gallons of wine, though each of the 1-gallon recipes can be adapted to create 5 gallons. Five gallons of wine will make approximately 25 average-sized 750-ml. wine bottles.
Making wine is a social hobby. It is one that you can include friends and family in during the process. I have been a part of different winemaking clubs around the area I live in. Being a member of such a group helps to cut down on the cost of making larger batches of wine and helps defray the cost of purchasing more advanced — and more expensive — equipment.
Is Winemaking Legal?
Until 1979, it was not legal to produce wine at home without a permit. The federal government waived that requirement, but there are still a few restrictions. You can produce 100 gallons of wine per person, or 200 gallons of wine a year per household, without a permit. If you are bitten by the winemaking bug and want to produce more, you will need the appropriate permits from your state’s Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC) that is the governing body that a winemaker must apply to. Each state may have different rules and applications; in order to find your state’s ABC, type your state’s name and Alcoholic Beverage Commission
into a search engine.
Do not worry that you are limited by the 200-gallon limit. Consider that 5 gallons of wine produces 25 standard 750-ml. bottles; therefore, 200 gallons of wine will produce 1,000 bottles of wine. You would have to drink almost three bottles of wine a day for a year to consume that much wine. If you create a 5-gallon batch every month or two, you will produce 300 bottles of wine a year, which is nowhere near the 1,000-bottle limit.
Throughout this book, I have provided some 1-gallon recipes; it gives you the chance to produce more varieties of wine without having to move out of your home or dig a large wine cellar. Besides, producing 100 gallons of wine can get expensive. It will feel less wasteful to dump 1 gallon of wine than to dump 5 gallons. Every home winemaker I have ever met has more than one story of a failed batch of homemade wine. It comes with the territory.
A Brief History of Winemaking
The process of creating wine is a relatively simple one. In fact, spontaneous fermentation of fruit juice happens all the time without human intervention. There are many different stories about how winemaking first began, but none are confirmable. One of the theories is that juice or some other fermentable sugar, such as honey, found its way into water. This could have occurred after a rainstorm, in which the honey and water mixture sat. Wild yeasts took over and created a natural brew.
Who was the brave soul who first tried a natural wine? What did it taste like? Was it the result of a dare? Someone may have used their hands to scoop up the brew and probably experienced the world’s first hangover. For whatever reason, someone actually tried it a second time, and winemaking has been an integral part of man’s culture and history ever since.
Winemaking is quite ancient and reaches back to Neolithic times. During the period when man began to domesticate plants and animals and civilization began, formerly nomadic