- 1). Look at local vineyards or grow your grapes yourself. The taste of your wine depends on the grapes you use. European grapes will have a different flavor than native grapes. It will be just as well for you to start off with the standard 20 to 40 pounds of white grapes to get started.
- 2). Process the grapes. White grapes should be crushed with the stems still intact and then pressed right away. Use a grape crusher to crush all of your white grapes into 5-gallon buckets. If you are only doing a small amount of grapes, then you can do this by hand.
- 3). Press the grapes. You can use a small table press to press your white grapes. You simply put the crushed fruit into the presser and apply pressure as the juice is directed into another bucket. With a standard table press you can get about a gallon of juice with each press.
- 4). Check the acidity and sugar levels with your hydrometer. Keep in mind these are the readings you will use to determine the right mix for fermenting.
- 5). Prepare the mix. Add a yeast nutrient (1 tsp. per gallon). Add pectic enzyme (1/8 tsp. per gallon). Add potassium bisulfite (1/16 tsp. per gallon). These ingredients will be used to sterilize the mix and kill off any wild molds and gain more flavor from the pulp. After waiting about 24 hours, you can then add the yeast. Add one package for every 5 gallons of wine.
- 6). Ferment it. Within 12 hours, you should see the mix start to ferment, with foamy patches on the surface. You should cover the container with just a thin cloth, as the mix needs to breathe to properly ferment. Around the sixth day, move the mixture into a new container, filtering out any additional pulp or sediments. Use the air lock to cover the container, as the air lock will let the mixture breathe. After fermentation is stopped as indicated by the hydrometer, add some more potassium bisulfite to the mix to ensure the flavor and color.
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