How to make fortified wine at home – simple steps

“To fortify or not to fortify” is a question that craft winemakers have been arguing about for years. On the one hand, the fastener allows the drink to be stored better, increases its resistance to souring, mold, and disease. On the other hand, wine made using this technology still cannot be called pure. Well, let’s try to figure out why, by whom and in what cases fastening is used, what are the pros and cons of this method, and of course – how to make fortified wine at home in several different ways.

1

Are fortified wine and just strong wine the same thing?

Not necessary. Fortified wine is a wine in which strong alcohol or brandy is added at different stages of fermentation. “Strong wine” is a term from the Soviet classification, it was used to refer to both fortified wines themselves and those wines that acquire a high degree – up to 17% – directly during fermentation.

2

I thought that fortified wine is not made at home, only at wineries …

Indeed, fastening has been used in the world practice of winemaking, probably since the first distillate was obtained. Since time immemorial, they have been fortifying, for example, port wine, Cahors (by the way, we have an article on how to make homemade fortified Cahors), sherry. But home winemakers have been using this technology for a long time and widely, especially for unstable wines from raw materials that are not ideal in composition, in which there are few acids, tannins, tannins that ensure the safety of the drink, for example, from cherries, raspberries, currants, chokeberries. Fixing is indispensable if you are making wine without a cellar or cellar with a consistently low temperature, or if you are going to age your homemade wines for several years.

How to make fortified wine at home – simple steps

3

So why fortify homemade wine at all? I do not understand.

  • Stop the fermentation early to keep the flavor of the must and its natural sweetness without the addition of sugars.
  • Accelerate the bleaching process at room conditions so as not to mess with gelatin, chicken egg or clay. Fortification kills the remaining yeast, they precipitate and the wine becomes lighter.
  • Prevent re-infestation. For example, you received completely dry plum wine. But I wish the drink was sweeter. In this case, you simply add sugar or fructose to it, while increasing the strength, so that the yeast remaining in the wine does not start eating again, getting fresh food.
  • Increase the shelf life of wine and prevent diseases. Alcohol is an excellent antiseptic. Homemade fortified wines are almost not susceptible to disease, they do not turn sour or moldy, and, unlike dry ones, they can be stored for many years.

4

And what, fastening is the only way to interrupt fermentation?

Of course not. There are other ways, but each of them has disadvantages. For example, freezing can increase the strength of the drink and at the same time kill the yeast. But this method requires a big, big freezer and a lot of labor, and it also wastes a lot of wine. In production, wine is sometimes pasteurized and corked in a vacuum. Everything is clear here – the taste deteriorates, the tannins disappear, but I personally don’t know how to create a vacuum at home. Another way is to preserve wine with sulfur dioxide, Signor Gudimov recently wrote an article about the pros and cons of this method, read it. So adding alcohol is just one way to fix homemade wine. But it is definitely the most affordable, simple, 100% environmentally friendly and suitable for home use.

5

Yep, understandable. And to what degree to fix?

Wine is fortified to kill the yeast it contains. Therefore, the minimum degree depends on what yeast the wine was fermented on. Wild yeast has an alcohol tolerance of 14-15%. Purchased wine – in different ways, usually up to 16, but some can live with an alcohol content of the must of 17, 18 or more degrees. Alcohol or bread yeast for making wine, I hope, will not come to anyone’s mind to use. In short, if you put the wine “self-fermented” or on raspberry, raisin sourdough, you should catch up with the degree to the mark of 16-17. If you bought CKD – ​​at least up to 17-18.

6

Stop. How do I know how many degrees are in my homemade wine?

This is where the fun begins. Of course, you can use a good vinometer, but it is only suitable for grape wines, and besides, for measurements, the wine must already be completely clarified and dry. The second way, the most reliable, in my opinion, is to measure the density with a refractometer. We measure the density of the must at the beginning of fermentation, then before fixing (here we need an AC-3 type hydrometer, since the refractometer will show incorrect data due to fermented alcohol), subtract the difference and calculate the degree according to a special table that should be attached to the measuring device. Another option is to calculate the degrees yourself, using wine-making tables for the fruit from which you make wine (they can be found on the Internet or on our website, in the relevant articles).

There is another interesting way – it is very laborious and costly, but very curious, so I will talk about it. We take part of the wine we received and distill it without separation into fractions, to dryness. We measure the degree with a conventional alcohol meter. For example, from 20 liters of wine we got 5 liters of 40-degree moonshine, which is equivalent to 2000 ml of absolute alcohol. That is, in one liter of wine there was 100 grams of alcohol, which corresponds to a strength of 10 °. You can fix the wine with the same distillate, only once again distill it fractionally.

In short, there are no absolute methods to find out how many degrees are in your homemade wine. From experience I can say that fruit wines with wild yeast rarely ferment more than 9-10°. You will have to focus on your own taste and use the trial and error method – fix the wine and wait. If fermented – fix it again. And so on until the result.

How to make fortified wine at home – simple steps

Update (from 10.2019). There is a very simple way to approximately determine the amount of alcohol of a given strength (we will determine the current strength of the wine material based on the indications of hydrometers at the beginning of fermentation and at the current moment), which is necessary for fortifying homemade wines. To do this, use the formula:

A = alcohol content in alcohols for fixing

B = alcohol content of the wine material to be fortified

C = desired alcohol content of the drink

D = C-B

E = AC

D / E = required amount of alcohol for fixing

For example, we have 20 liters of wine material with a strength of 11%, for fastening we will use fruit brandy with a strength of 80%. Goal: get wine with a strength of 17%. Then:

A = 80; B = 111; C=17; D=6; E=63

D / E u6d 63/0.095238 u20d 1,90 * XNUMX liters of wine material uXNUMXd XNUMX liters of fruit brandy

1 – to calculate the alcohol content of the wine material (B): calculate the potential alcohol (PA) before fermentation and PA with the current gravity. The resulting difference of these PA will be the approximate strength of the wine material at the moment. To calculate PA, use the formula:

PA = (0,6 *oBx)-1

For example, the initial density was 28 oBx, now – 11 obx. Then:

Initial PA u0,6d (28 * 1) -15,8 uXNUMXd XNUMX%

Current PA = (0,6*11)-1=5,6%

Approximate current strength of wine material: 10,2%

7

Hmm, okay … And what kind of alcohol to choose for fixing?

Most often, this is done with affordable alcohol – rectified alcohol or vodka, but this method, of course, is far from the best. Poor-quality “kazenka” will be felt in wine for a long time, spoiling all the pleasure of drinking it. The best option is brandy from the fruit from which the wine itself is made, for example, for grape – chacha, for apple – calvados, for raspberry – framboise. This, of course, is cool, but economically it is not entirely justified. In principle, you can use any fruit moonshine, which is not a pity, but it will still convey some, possibly unpleasant, nuances of taste to the drink.

How to fix wine at home if you do not make brandy and there is nowhere to get them? Nothing remains – use alcohol, only very good. You can do this – the cake left after receiving the wort, put in a jar and pour alcohol. Infuse until the wine ferments, then drain and filter. Such tinctures, by the way, are very good on their own, and they are quite suitable for fortifying wines.

8

What, just slosh hard booze into the wort?

No, well, why be brutal! The wine is fortified like this – part of the must is poured (10-20 percent) into a separate container and alcohol is diluted in it, designed for the entire volume of wine. Let it rest for a few hours, and only then add it to the drink itself. This way you can fix the wine without shocking it.

9

At what stage of fermentation is it best to do this?

How to make wine from fortified grapes is understandable. When is the best time to do this is the question. Fermentation is interrupted almost from the very beginning, for example, when preparing port wine, strong alcohol is added to the must for 2-3 days. Early interruption of fermentation allows you to maximize the taste and aroma of grapes, the natural sugars contained in the berry. But it really takes a lot of alcohol, and its quality will critically affect the taste of the final drink – in short, you can’t get by with sugar moonshine, you need at least an excellent chacha.

The optimal period for fixing the wine is after the end of rapid fermentation, when the yeast has already gobbled up all the sugar. But in this case, the drink will have to be sweetened artificially. This method will allow the wine to clarify much faster, reduce the requirements for secondary fermentation conditions – it can be stored at room temperature, – allow the wine to be bottled earlier, put on the shelf and forget about it for at least a few years, without worrying that it will deteriorate from improper storage. .

10

What to do next? Can I drink right away?

Of course not. On the contrary, fortified wines take longer to mature than dry wines – they take time to “make friends” with strong alcohol – so before making fortified wine at home, make sure you have enough time and patience. To begin with, after fastening, the drink must be defended in a large container filled with at least 95%, preferably in a cool place. In young fortified wine, the precipitate will actively precipitate – it must be disposed of by decanting, otherwise the taste will subsequently be bitter. Once there is no more haze in the jar, the wine can be bottled. It will be possible to start tasting not earlier than six months later, better – a year and a half after bottling.

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