How to Make White Wine From Fresh Grapes

While red wines are fermented with the skins and seeds of grapes, white wines are fermented from the clear grape juice. These guidelines are for the novice winemaker. You can buy or rent the equipment at a winemaking supply shop.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Fermentation Locks
• Glass Wine Fermentors
• Sulphite Crystals
• Wine Grapes
• Wine Yeast
• Acid-testing Kits For Wine
• Plastic Bucket

Before Fermentation

1. Crush grapes and remove stems.
2. Press into plastic buckets, discarding the pulp and skins (pomace). You should have clear juice left.
3. Add sulfite crystals. Use about 0.1 gram of sulfite powder per liter or 1 campden tablet per 10 liters. Dissolve into 1 cup warm water and stir into juice using a wooden or plastic spoon.
4. Check Brix of juice. It should be around 22 to 24 degrees, depending on varietal.
5. If Brix is lower than 21 degrees, add sugar to juice. (See "How to Monitor Brix of Fermenting Wine Must.")
6. Check and adjust acid level of juice using an acid-testing kit supplied by winemaking shops. Acid content should be at about 6.5 to 7.5 g/liter.
7. Check temperature of juice and adjust if necessary. Temperature should be between 55 and 65 degrees F. Monitor temperature. It is absolutely necessary that the temperature be lower than 60 degrees F throughout entire process, including fermentation.
8. Transfer juice to glass fermentors and fill only 2/3 full. Attach a fermentation lock.
9. Let sit 24 hours.
10. After 24 hours, add 1 gram yeast pellets dissolved in 1 cup warm water for every 3.8 liters of juice. Let yeast solution sit for 10 minutes before adding to fermentor. Attach fermentation lock.

Fermentation

11. Check Brix twice daily.
12. Check temperature twice daily. Remember that the temperature must stay at or below 60 degrees F.
13. When Brix reaches 0 and the fermentation is complete, leave fermentation lock attached and let sediment settle out.
14. When sediment has settled, rack, or siphon off the sediment from the clear wine, into clean, glass containers. Containers should be completely filled. (See "How to Rack Wine.")
15. Add sulfite. Fit with a fermentation lock. Keep temperature at or below 60 degrees F.
16. Rack each time sediment settles out, usually at intervals of three to six week.
17. Add fining materials to wine. (See "How to Add Fining Materials to Wine" for instructions.)
18. When sediment has settled, rack and add sulfite.
19. Depending on varietal, let age for the appropriate amount of time.
20. Bottle. (See "How to Bottle Wine.")
21. Let wine bottle age for appropriate amount of time.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid carbon dioxide fumes during fermentation.
• Be careful about the amount of sulfite you add after each racking. Too much sulfite can damage wine. Ask at a winemaking shop for necessary amounts.