Wine guides

Home made wine

Vino fatto in casa e castagne - EFW
Written by EFW Staff

How to do home made wine!

Home made wine is easy to prepare and with great results, just helping the nature to make the miracle of transforming the grapes in the precious nectar of the Gods, as it happens every year all over the world.

It is necessary a suitable place, a good aeration, clean, without unpleasant smell and vibrations of any time and some simple tools. But above all it is necessary to have high quality grapes, neither wet, not too hot to pour as soon as possible in the container where the pressing will take place.

Remind that a quintal of grape gives around 70 liters of wine, if you have a machine for pressing, otherwise the quantity decrease.

The pressing of the grape


The pressing of the grape has an unbelievable charm and past memories when it was carried out with feet in big wooden containers surrounded by an atmosphere of joy that give to young and adults a feeling of freedom.

Once picked, the grape shouldn’t be washed, even to not release the alcoholic part contained in the peels that is necessary for the fermentation. Then it is placed in the machine for pressing, the most traditional system of pressing; it can be manual or automatic: the pressing of the grapes gives the must.

To avoid an enhancement of acidity and thus to prevent any release of unpleasant substances, it is important to remove the stalks from the pulp and the peels.

The peels are in contact with the must and are able to give the color, perfume and the precious tannins to the final result. Some specific substances are added like for instance potassium metabisulfite that help to prevent the development of dangerous microorganisms protecting the colour and the perfumes of the wine.

Fermentation of the must

After pressing the grapes, the must is poured in specific containers filled just the 1/4 of their volume. In this containers the miracle of the fermentation take place, when the yeasts transform the sugar (glucose and fructose) into alcohol, carbon dioxide and other substances.

This is the most delicate phase to carry out at home. In fact, it takes place within the first 5 hours form the pressing of the grapes. The juice becomes wine and during the fermentation it discovers all its qualities and organoleptic characteristics.

Thus, in this phase it is recommend to not cover the container to allow the perfect aeration of the environment with a temperature around 23°C. The fermentation can influence directly the final alcoholic volume of the wine.

In a short period of time, 2 days at the most, it gives origin to a pleasant rosé wine, in 4-5 days you will have a well-structured wine with still a low alcoholic volume, whereas in a longer period of fermentation, up to 20 days, they will have higher characteristics with other characteristics.

At this point, to have a good final result, it is necessary to stir the peels on the surface at least two times per day, avoiding unpleasant effects given by the oxidation of the peels.

The alcoholic volume, that can be controlled with specific tools called hydrometer, can be enhanced adding sugar.

The racking of wine

The next phase is racking. Remove the pomace from the container, pressed aside in the pressing machine and the rest of the wine is subjected to clarification with deposit on the bottom of the sediments, a combination of potassium salts and calcium of the tartaric acid.

It is necessary to pour the wine at least for three times, washing every time the containers. Then, your homemade wine is ready to be preserved in demijohns and then bottled. It will be your best wine, the best you have ever tasted.

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EFW Staff