How to Make Homemade Muscadine Wine

Muscadine Grape Wine

There's nothing quite so satisfying as opening a bottle of homemade wine and sharing it with friends. Although making your own wine might seem difficult, it's actually fairly easy. With a little knowledge and the right supplies and equipment, you can make some of the best wine you'll ever taste. In this article you'll learn how to make five gallons of muscadine wine.

Things You'll Need

• Ingredients:
• 30 lbs. of muscadine grapes
• 1 package Montrachet yeast
• 10 lbs. of sugar
• 1/4 tsp. pectic enzyme
• 1 oz. calcium carbonate
• 5 Campden tablets, crushed
• 6 tsp. yeast nutrient
• 1 1/4 tsp. potassium sorbate
• Equipment:
• Hydrometer
• Potato masher
• Strainer bag
• 5-gallon food-grade bucket with lid
• 5-gallon glass carboy
• Air lock and stopper
• Siphon hose
• Wine bottles with new corks
• Corking tool
• Sanitizing cleanser

Instructions

Prepare the Equipment

1. Specialized wine-making equipment such as hydrometers, glass carboys and siphons can be purchased from stores specializing in brewing and wine making or online. Costs for a complete wine-making kit generally run between $150 and $300. Other items can be obtained from your local retail department store.

2. Before making your wine, sanitize all equipment that will come in contact with the ingredients.

3. Obtain wine bottle from friends, local restaurants or save them yourself. It's less expensive that way.

Prepare Your Fruit

1. When selecting grapes, make sure they are fully ripened. Smaller grapes are better than larger for wine.

2. Wash your grapes thoroughly. Wear gloves because grapes are very acidic.

3. Place the grapes in Ziploc bags and freeze them for at least two weeks. Freezing breaks down the cell walls of the grapes, releasing the juice more easily.

4. Process your grapes after freezing by placing portions in a large bowl and crushing them with a potato masher or similar tool.

5. Pour each portion, once processed, into the strainer bag, allowing the juice to run into the five-gallon bucket. The bucket will act as your primary fermentation device. The processed juice and fruit is called the "must."

6. Seal the strainer bag after all the fruit has been processed, and place it in the bucket.

Adding Ingredients

1. Add the five crushed Campden tablets to the must, stirring well to dissolve them completely, then let it sit overnight. Campden tablets will sterilize the must, killing any wild yeast.

2. Add the pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient and calcium carbonate, stirring well and letting the must sit again overnight.

3. Dissolve the 10 pounds of sugar in one gallon of boiling water.

4. Once it has reached room temperature, add the sugar water to the must.

5. Stir the must, and add water to bring it up to the five-gallon level.

6. Check the specific gravity of the must using the hydrometer. The specific gravity should be around 1.09 or higher.

7. Add the yeast to the must. There is no need to stir.

8. Place the lid on the bucket loosely.

Primary Fermentation

1. Watch your must for fermentation to begin within the first 24 hours. Foam will begin to accumulate on the surface of the must.

2. Punch the strainer bag down into the must, and stir it gently twice a day.

3. Check the specific gravity of the must around day five to day seven. If the must has reached 1.04 or lower, squeeze the strainer bag to extract any juice, then discard the fruit pulp.

4. Sanitize the siphon hose with cleanser, and use it to transfer the must from the primary fermenter to the glass carboy, which will act as your secondary fermenter. Ensure that there is sufficient head space, about 3 to 4 inches, between the must and the top of the carboy.

5. Sanitize the airlock and stopper, then fill the airlock with enough water to prevent air from passing through it. On most airlocks, there is a fill line. Place the airlock in the stopper, and insert the stopper into the top of the carboy. This will seal the carboy, protecting the must from contamination.

6. Observe the fermentation process in your carboy each day. You will notice bubbles rising in the carboy and carbon dioxide gas escaping from the airlock.

7. Allow the must to sit in the carboy until the yeast settles. This might take several weeks.

8. Siphon the liquid into the bucket when the yeast sediment is about an inch thick, being careful to leave the sediment behind in the glass carboy.

9. Stir the wine vigorously in the bucket to drive off any excess carbon dioxide gas.

10. Clean the glass carboy, siphon the contents of the bucket back into the carboy and replace the airlock. Top off the wine with water to leave about two inches between the liquid and the top of the carboy.

11. Repeat Steps 7 through 10 each time the yeast sediment becomes an inch thick until the wine clears, usually within two to three months. During this time, the must will be turning into wine.

Bottling and Storage

1. Take the specific gravity of the wine once a week after it clears. When it is at or below 1.00, the wine is ready to bottle.

2. Siphon the liquid into the bucket for the last time, leaving the sediment behind in the glass carboy.

3. Stir in 1 1/4 teaspoons of potassium sorbate to the wine to stabilize it and prevent yeast from further developing once the wine is bottled.

4. Siphon the wine from the bucket into the sanitized wine bottles.

5. Soak the wine corks in warm water for about 15 minutes.

6. Cork each bottle using the corking tool.

7. Store your wine in a cool, dry place. To keep your wine from spoiling, store your wine on its side to keep the corks moist.

Tips & Warnings

• You can drink your wine immediately after bottling. Allow your wine to age for a while to improve it's flavor. Properly made, your wine will keep for years.

• Check the laws in your area pertaining to home wine making.

References

• Home Winemaking Instructions and Information
• Your First Wine from Fresh Grapes -Winemaker.com

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Beerwine.com