Over the course of this article, I’ll show you the ropes of getting the juice fermenting, the mandatory stage for making wine, of course. In addition, I’ll mainly talk about making wine from the standard home winemaking “pasteurized” format (referred to here at http://kevindonato.blogspot.com/2009/12/buying-juice-and-kits-to-make-wine.html), which is generally 23 L (6 US gal) in volume.

1. You will need

A food grade plastic bucket (at least 30 L capacity) and lid

A long plastic spoon or paddle, to stir with

5 gram yeast sachet (provided in most kits but most can be bought for a dollar if not provided)

Sanitizer (potassium metabisulfite powder, or food-grade sanitizing powder product such as chloroclean)

Hydrometer and test jar (see Fig. 1)

A wine thief

Measuring cups

Optional items

Pectic enzyme

Yeast nutrient broth powder
Plastic or glass gallon jug

2. “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”. That’s right, sanitize everything! Organisms of all kinds, including bacteria, moulds, and wild yeast are everywhere and like to coat your equipment in their mucky essence. They would just love to have a bite of your expensive, sugary juice. They will eat their fair share and give you nothing back but stinky odours and most likely turn your batch into vinegar or worse. Get rid of them by washing and soaking your equipment with the sulfite powder (a tablespoon per liter of cool water will be strong enough, a teaspoon of citric acid helps too – try not to inhale the vapours) or alternative product (follow the manufacturer’s directions for dissolving in water).

From a microbiologist’s perspective, like my own, sulfites greatly inhibit the growth of these critters so that they won’t be a harm. Rinse everything in copious amounts of clean water and do not let your clean equipment touch uncleanly surfaces. Wash your hands as well, with hand soap.

NOTE: It is best not to use dish soap as it leaves a filmy residue that will make your wine taste just like the detergent you use (“Hey there, care to try my “Sapon Sauvignon 2006?” – yuck!). Do not use liquid bleach (e.g. Javex) as it too can leave a film and impart off flavours (or even poison your guests!). I often use a product called Chloroclean for big washes. It is a chlorinated product that is safe for food processing. It rinses clean from plastic and glass surfaces. Again, rinse everything well.

3. Pour the juice into the large plastic bucket (easy enough). If you bought a kit that is a concentrate, reconstitute the mix by stirring in the rest of the volume using lukewarm water. Example, if you have a kit that has a concentrate volume of 15 L and the kit makes 23 L, add 8 L of water).

4. Rehydrate the yeast culture: In 50 mL (1/4 cup) of warm water (Ideally, 40°C/104°F. I don’t think you would like to wake up from your slumber to an ice cold shower, would you?). Let the yeast sit for 15 minutes and then gently stir.

OPTIONAL: The yeast nutrients mentioned in the list refer to a mixture of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins that supplement yeast growth. Dissolve in warm water according to the manufacturer’s instructions and then add the yeast for rehydration.

5. Wait until the juice is approximately the same temperature, as the yeast solution (i.e. within 10-15 degrees of each other; the juice will warm up in the room while the yeast solution will begin to cool down).6. Pitch the yeast into the juice and stir very well.

*ProStar Tips*:

Remember your gallon jug? Place the rehydrated yeast slurry into the jug and then stir in 2 cups of juice every 30 minutes until the jug is full (or until you get bored) and then stir the mix into the rest of the juice. What this does is help the yeast to “acclimatize” to the new “juicy” environment. They will get used to the temperature changes, acidity, and begin to digest the juices ingredients (especially sugars). Acclimatization gives the yeast population a head-start and gives excellent, no-hassle, results until the fermentation ends. Picture it like you are ‘training’ the yeast cells to do their job exceptionally well before you give them a large task. Would your boss give you responsibility over the company’s biggest jobs right away? Not likely, but they would be glad to have you ‘work your way up’ first. This mixture is called the “yeast starter” and is a technique used by even the most famous winemakers.

Pectic enzyme? This enzyme breaks down pectin (a complex of sugars that are found in jams and jellies). Pectin causes juices (and newly made wines) to haze up and prevent clearing.

7. Remove some juice with your wine thief and place into your hydrometer and test jar. Float the hydrometer in the jar and read off the point at which the surface of the juice meets the meter. Record this value because we’ll use it later! Generally it should read between 1.100 and 1.070.

Believe it or not, you have just started your first ‘primary fermentation’. It is best practice to keep monitoring the specific gravity of your fermenting juice daily. In about 5-7 days the S.G. should reach close to 1.010.

Fig. 1 A hydrometer. See the gradations and numbers along the stem. Simply drop the hydrometer in the juice and it will float or sink depending on how dense the juice is. More sugar causes the meter to rise higher. As the juice ferments, it will sink into the red zone shown here which corresponds to a specific gravity of 1.000.

With a little more knowledge about your likes and dislikes as far as wine is concerned, you are ready to make your first purchase of juice to make your favourite wines yourself.

Oh boy! Hang on a second! Don’t you start with buying the grapes first? The short answer is, maybe. You see, years ago, the situation was generally like so: Around mid-September a farmer or grape importer/purveyor would simply set up shop in a market for just a few weeks (the importers were like members of my family who would bring crate loads of grapes, delivered by train, to Toronto from California). People would come from all over the neighbourhood to buy cases of grapes of whatever variety they fancied. Generally, the grapes were brought home already crushed by the purveyor’s crusher and placed into pails, skins, stems, seeds and all. A few days would pass and the juice-skin mixture, called the ‘must’, would start to ferment. Then, the whole mish-mash was pressed and all the juice would flow out into a collecting pail for the rest of the fermentation process.

The process was messy, very large scale (it often took 85 pounds of grapes to make two cases, 24, bottles of wine), and generally done outside. In addition, people that bought juice from starting with crushed grapes had to put in the extra effort to extract colour, especially for red wine (more on this later). Over the years, the consumer has gained a few more options to make the process simpler and more friendly so that first-time winemakers can join in the fun.

Now, you can buy the juice from the purveyor already processed. Crushing and pressing is done for you, the colour is all extracted, the yeast is already fermenting away because it lives on the skins of the grapes, and sometimes, a laboratory technician will “balance” the juice to the appropriate acidity and sugar content to make great wine. This is known as a “fresh juice format” because the yeast has already started working to convert sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide (the source of the characteristic “fizz” you see). This is a great format for those that don’t want to deal with the mess of pressing grapes. However, I wouldn’t recommend it for a beginner because the juice has to be worked with right away and hence, won’t wait for you to take a workday off so you can tend to it. Generally, the juice is stored in large fridges to slow the fermentation process until the customer is ready to buy it. There are also even simpler options for the beginner.

If you want the juice to sit around ‘silent’ until you are ready. The “pasteurized” or “wine-kit” format is the right one for you. In this format, the juice is made just like the above fresh format but is flash heated. This “pasteurization” is intended to kill (or at least stun) the yeast living inside the juice. These formats generally come with all the instructions you need to make good wine and come with all the ingredients you may want along the way. Most important of these ingredients is the yeast culture that you’ll add back into the juice when you are ready. Because they aren’t actually fermenting when you purchase them, these juices can be kept at room temperature and can be made into wine at any time of year.
Even more exciting is the fact that you can buy pasteurized juices from grapes sourced internationally.

After my first (and botched) attempt at making wine from crushed grapes, I swallowed my pride and opted for a wine kit. It’s the best place to start and you’ll almost never run into any rude surprises along the way.

What about the price? It’s the same concept as buying anything at all – you pay more for convenience. Pasteurized formats cost anywhere between $60-$150 (yielding 30 bottles of wine, and higher quality generally commands a higher price), while pressed juice ranges from $35-90 (also making 30 bottles) and the price is just a tad cheaper when buying a corresponding amount of grapes.

The entire process to make wine from a kit lasts 4-8 weeks, depending on its quality. In addition, these wines generally benefit from aging, from a month to a year, before enjoying them.

Fall 2008: I enlisted the help of my best friend Nader (left) for this batch. Over 250 litres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc juice and 100 pounds of skins went into the drums behind us.
Here we are, you’ve learned about your tastes in wine, decided on a format you wish to purchase and now the work (fun) begins!