It is customary to call dry wine with a minimum sugar content (up to 0.3%) or without it at all. Dry wine can be made at home without using yeast or adding sugar. Only grapes with a sugar content of 15-22% are required.
The main condition for making delicious homemade wine is that the grapes should not be tart and sour, otherwise there may be problems with fermentation. The strength of the drink also largely depends on the sweetness of the berries. For example, a drink with a strength of 8-10% can be prepared from grapes with a sugar content of 15%.
Before you start making wine, prepare your dishes. It must be thoroughly washed and dried, otherwise foreign odors may appear in the finished drink.
Pick ripe grapes in dry weather. Separate the harvested grapes from the ridges and sort, removing unripe and spoiled berries.
Keep in mind that you cannot wash your harvested grapes. The fact is that water can wash away wine yeast, which is necessary for a high-quality fermentation process. Better to wipe the dusty berries with a clean cloth.
The prepared berries should be crushed. This is done as follows: a colander is installed over the enamel container, into which grapes are poured in small portions and pressed with your hands. It is not recommended to use a press for these purposes, as it crushes the berries together with the seeds, and the smack of the crushed seeds can spoil the taste and aroma of the drink.
Take a wide-mouth container and fill it about three-quarters with the prepared wort. Cover the container with cheesecloth. If you are making white wine, then the wort should be infused for 24 hours. The air temperature in the room where the wort is infused should be about 20-25 ° C. After insisting, drain the juice, and carefully squeeze the remaining pulp with your hands, passing it through cheesecloth. Pour the soybeans into a narrow-necked container for further fermentation.
If you make red wine, then the prepared wort is infused for 3-5 days at a temperature of 26-30 ° C. When the pulp begins to rise, it must be knocked down, stirring the contents of the container 3 times a day. If you don't, the wine will simply turn into vinegar.
When the wort ferments and the active formation of foam begins, it is necessary to drain the liquid and squeeze the pulp through cheesecloth. The resulting juice is poured into a container with a narrow neck.
The container in which the drink will ferment should be filled with juice only 2/3 of the volume. Otherwise, the carbon dioxide that is released during fermentation will simply have nowhere to go.
Install a water seal on the neck of the container or put on an ordinary medical glove with a hole made in one of your fingers. Fermentation should take place at a temperature of 16-20 ° C for 10-25 days. A prolonged absence of air bubbles in the water seal or a deflated glove indicates that the fermentation process is complete. Fermented wine brightens, and a cloudy sediment appears at the bottom of the bottle.
The wine should be poured into a clean container, being careful not to disturb the sediment. When pouring wine into bottles, fill them completely and seal tightly with lids.
Young wine usually has a very strong taste, so it is better to keep it in a cellar at a temperature of 10-16 ° C. Red wine needs to be aged for at least 3 months, white wine - about a month. After that, the wine is completely ready to drink.
