If you are going to make your own wine you will need to learn the basics of making wine. There are many flavors of wine that can be made by you, but the basics are similar throughout most of the recipes.

To discuss the basics we will use a grape wine recipe for our example. First have some kind of idea what the wine you are going to make is suppose to taste like. This will help you pick out the correct grapes. Your fruit needs to be inspected real close to make sure that you only have the best grapes going in the wine. Make sure to throw away any rotten ones, and be sure there are no stems or debris.

Even taste your grapes or measure them with a hydrometer so you know their sugar content. On the hydrometer they should measure 22 to 24 brix.

Make sure that all your equipment is clean for your wine making. Your bottles have to be sterilized prior to using them. Make sure your prep area is sanitary too.

Then you have to extract the flavor from the grapes through either soaking, chopping, pressing, crushing, or boiling them. This will vary according to the different recipes. After you process the grapes to get the flavor from them, this mixture is the must!. The must needs to be put into your primary container for fermentation.

Now there are other ingredients in wine besides the fruit. You have additives that go in too. Add these additives in the proper order according to your recipe. Most do go in the primary container though.

Campden is usually always added to wine. This helps stimulate the cultured yeast to grow for one thing. Pectic enzyme is added to enhance flavor of the fruit, it could help with bringing out the acidity and the aroma of the fruit too. The whites wines get their bite often times from tannin.

Sugar and yeast both are needed for the fruit must to create the alcohol for the wine. Most recommend granulated sugar to make your own wine with but go by the recipe because some call for other sugars such as honey. Make sure to add the right yeast because it is not the bread yeast.

After the first fermentation process is over, place the wine into a carboy, which is a glass jug. To achieve this you have to strain the mixture to remove any of the pulp. Then the carboy is put into a what is referred to as an airlock. It will stay here for a few weeks.

Then you rack the wine by siphoning the liquid off leaving the sediments behind. Place the liquid or wine in a secondary container for further fermentation. This is usually repeated over the next few months to attain a clear wine that is then ready for bottling.

Siphon the wine into your bottles without over filling and cork tightly. For three days store upright, then they can be placed on their side and store them at the the temperature of 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending on whether it is white or red the wine needs to be aged 6 to 12 months before drinking. The last step when you make your own wine is to drink it and enjoy!