Homemade dry wine: Video recipe
Dry wines, which smell so deliciously in summer and sun, can also be made at home. There are several ways to do this, as well as a number of certain rules, following which, you will make white or red wine on your own, without risking “enriching” your body with harmful dyes and preservatives.
For the preparation of dry wine, do not use unripe, overripe or rotten grapes. The required amount of sugar will be contained only in fully ripe berries – if the weather is rather sunny, you can take your time to pick the grapes from the bush, but let it be nourished by the sun. After collecting the berries, pour them in an enamel bucket, wait for the maximum juice release and cover the bucket with clean gauze. The grapes will ferment in it for the first five days – do not forget to stir it with a wooden spatula once a day.
When making dry wine, remember that there should be practically no sugar in it (or a maximum of 0,3%). With its high content, the drink will lose all its lightness and part of its taste.
In rainy weather, it is advisable to pick the berries as quickly as possible, since homemade grapes do not like excess moisture. It can develop a gray mold that makes it unsuitable for making homemade dry wine.
Dry wine is obtained as a result of complete fermentation of grape must with crushed grapes. During fermentation, alcohol increases the amount of wine yeast in the wort. When 7-8% of alcohol from the total wort volume accumulates in the containers, fermentation subsides and after-fermentation begins, which lasts from two to three weeks. As the fermentation subsides, it is necessary to add wine from the same grapes to the containers – this will reduce the volume of air above the surface of the must.
Be sure to install water seals on the bottles so that oxygen does not enter the wort, which contributes to the growth of acetic bacteria and other harmful microorganisms.
After fermentation finally ends and the wine brightens, you need to carefully drain the sediment and pour the resulting liquid into another clean container (smaller in size), pouring it to the very cork and placing it in a cool room. The wine must be there for at least a month.
After picking ripe white grapes, dry and crush them. Place the resulting wort in a container, then add diluted wine yeast (10% of the total wort volume) to it. The wort will begin to ferment violently for four to five days, during which it must be stirred periodically, making sure that the thick does not come into contact with air, which destroys its dyes and the wine yeast formed in it.
After the vigorous fermentation has subsided, top up the containers with fresh wort every two days.
Now the stage of quiet fermentation begins, which will last from three to four weeks. After the fermentation has completely subsided (gas bubbles stop coming out through the water seal), try the wine with sugar – it should not be felt. Close the container with an airtight stopper and place it in a dark, cool room to settle for two weeks. When the wine becomes clear, and a sediment falls to the bottom, drain the liquid and store it at a temperature of no more than 15 degrees.
To make dry red wine at home, pick ripe grapes, separate them from the twigs, crush them and place them in containers along with the berries. Do not wash the berries before this, so as not to wash off the yeast bacteria. The duration of wort fermentation in containers will be from seven to ten days, while the temperature should be 18-24 degrees.
After the vigorous fermentation has subsided, the color of the wine should be intense – if it is still inexpressive, leave the wine to infuse on the thicker for a few more days. Then drain the wine from the container by pressing the thick and pouring the resulting wort into a bottle (fill to 70% of the container). Remember to install water traps. Red wine will be fermented in the same way as white, but it must be aged for a little longer – about two to three months for the quality and grape taste to improve significantly.
If the wine seems sour during the preparation of the wort, it can be diluted with pure spring water.
The most suitable method for making dry wine at home is the method of its half-red production. For this method you will need: – a white grape variety; – red grape variety.
Collect ripe grapes of both varieties, separate from the ridges, crush and pour into separate containers covered with a clean cloth. The preliminary fermentation of the grounds will last from three to four days (this is the main difference between obtaining semi-red wine), then the liquid part must be carefully drained, the thickened must be squeezed out on a screw press, and the resulting wort must be drained into glass bottles (ten to twenty liters).
Place the bottled wort in a dark, cool room or basement where it will ferment for one month. After the expiration of the term, you will receive a fragrant, extractive wine with good taste, color and quality.
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