A BEGINNERS GUIDE FOR HOME WINEMAKING

 A BEGINNERS GUIDE FOR HOME WINEMAKING IN BERRIEN COUNTY, MICHIGAN

AND OTHER NORTH AND CENTRAL STATES  (rev. 7/91, 2nd edition)

Introduction

     Berrien County abounds in fruit of all kinds suitable for winemaking.  

Good wine can be made from virtually any fruit, although some make better wine 

than others.  Fruits can even be combined, so that they compliment each other.

     Berrien and neighboring counties host Michigan's most famous wineries, 

including Tabor Hill and St. Julian.  Therefore, wine grapes are also avail-

able locally.  An Italian hybrid, Vidal, and a French hybrid, DeChaunac, are 

two examples of premium wine grapes usually available the 1st week of October 

each year.  Another red, Foch, is also sometimes available, but not every 

year.   Other reds are becoming available (i.e., Chancellor and Chambourcin).

     Winemaking supplies are available locally as well.  In St. Joseph, 

Lambrecht's liquor store has everything needed to set up a home winemaking 

operation.  Additional supplies are available by mailorder, such as Ken's Wine 

Supply (now known as Diversions Inc.) in Traverse City, and Cask & Keg in 

Mattawan.  Out-of-state suppliers are numerous.

     The Federal Government allows home winemakers to produce, tax-free, up to 

150 gallons of wine per household per year.  Wine may be used by the immediate 

family only, and may not be sold.  Commercial wineries must be licensed and 

bonded, and are taxed by the Inernal Revenue department.

     Wine is a healthful beverage taken in moderation.  It is probably man's 

oldest fermented drink, mentioned frequently in the Old and New Testament of 

the Bible.  Its health benefits were confirmed by Apostles Luke and Paul, and 

are supported by modern medical science.  Wine has anti-viral properties, and 

was used as an antiseptic in Biblical times.  Everyone knows the enjoyment a 

good wine adds to meals.

     Wine can be made at home easily, and with great economy.  The equivalent 

of a six-dollar bottle of fine table wine can be made at home for about 90 

cents in materials cost.  Equipment required is reusable indefinitely, and 

inexpensive.  All else needed is a little space, instruction, and patience!

Getting Started

     In the beginning, you will need to buy the following:

     o    Five-gallon glass watercooler bottles, 2 minimum

     o    Fermentation locks, one per bottle

     o    Size 6 1/2 center-hole white rubber stoppers, for above

     o    Plastic tubing, 4 feet, food grade vinyl (or syphon apparatus)

     o    Brix or Balling hydrometer (saccharometer)

     o    Liquid thermometer, immersion type

     o    Cork inserter and wine bottle corks (no taper)

     It will also be very handy to have the following:

     o    A sturdy bench or table (supporting 200 lbs or more)

     o    A 20-gallon plastic bucket or trash can

     o    A plastic yard-trash bag or Visqueen roll

     o    A wooden spoon or paddle 2 feet long

     o    Lots of empty (cleanable) wine bottles

     Obviously, you will need a place to set-up your equipment.  The ancients 

used cellars and caves, and with good reason.  The earth provided a constant-

temperature environment:  not too cold in winter, not too hot in summer.  

Modern man has his basement, which often is sufficient to provide the same 

function.  What you want is as constant a temperature as practicable, between 

60 and 80 degrees F.

     Why is this so?  Because wine is a delicate thing that spoils in the 

heat, and quits fermenting in the cold.  Average room temperature is therefore 

best.  If you have a basement, put your equipment in it near a sink, such as 

found in the utility room, because you will need a source of hot running water 

handy to wash things out.

Making the Wine

     So now you have all the equipment.  Next, you must decide what kind of 

wine you want to make.  The best way to start is to make wine from the clean 

juice of wine grapes.  There still exist a few farmers who press, filter and 

cold-tank such juice from one or two varieties;  for a few dollars a gallon, 

they will fill up your 5 gal. container.  If special arrangements are made, a 

few wineries will do this also.  Place your order well in advance!

     The easiest juice to get is Vidal.  Others may also be available.  NOTE: 

Get Concord juice only as a last resort, because it will not make good wine 

all by itself; it needs skillful blending, dilution, and manipulation to make 

it into something palatable (and then only as a dessert wine).  You might try 

Niagara, though (Concord's white brother).  Dilute the juice 25% first.

     Once you get the juice, you must immediately begin the winemaking process 

or else it will spoil, or produce inferior results.  Therefore, before you go 

to the vineyard, be sure to stock up on these supplies:

     o    Granulated sugar (cheapest available), 10 lbs or more

     o    Montrachet or other wine-yeast packets, 1 per batch (Lambrechts)

     o    Potassium Metabisulfite (Lambrechts)

     After you have all these things listed above, your equipment, and your 

juice, you are ready to begin-

The Fermentation

     Fermentation is the process whereby the yeast cells change the sugars in 

the wine to alcohol, carbon dioxide, and esters.  Many other chemical changes 

occur as well.  Bacteria also accomplish a tertiary fermentation, discussed 

later.  Right now we are concerned with the yeast.  

**Note:  some feel that the Pasteur Champagne strain of yeast works best for 

white wines, and the Montrachet strain works best for reds.  My experience 

does not bear this out, although Montrachet sometimes "flavors" a delicate 

wine.  There are many other strains you can try, too numerous to mention.  Ask 

your supplier for his recommendation!

                         JUICE FERMENTATION PROCEDURE

     Step 1:  Immerse the Brix hydrometer in the grape juice, which should be 

     at about 60 degrees F.  Read the number on the Brix scale which is at the 

     liquid level.  For Vidal, it will be about 18-20;  for others, about 16.  

     Transfer the juice to your Primary Fermenter (new trash can).

     Step 2:  Stir-in sugar to raise the Brix (sugar %) reading to about 24.  

     This will take up to 1 pound per gallon of juice for initial Brix of 16.  

     Do it gradually, and check the reading frequently during sugar addition.  

     It may take up to 15 minutes of continuous stirring to dissolve 5 lbs of 

     sugar in 5 gallons of juice.  Alternatively, you could heat the juice up 

     to about 94 degrees F (in a new pot) to speed this process.

     Step 3:  Once the Brix is at 24 or thereabouts, add 1 packet Montrachet 

     wine yeast per 5 gallons of juice.  Follow directions on the packet.  Do 

     not use common baker's yeast.  Stir well for five minutes, and cover with 

     a sheet of plastic.  Clear sheet, such as Visqueen, lets you observe the 

     action.  Alternatively, use the lid that came with the trash can.

Within 24 hours, something very exciting begins to happen.  The mixture of 

juice, sugar, and yeast, now referred to as "must", is now in primary 

fermentation.  The must fizzes like an Alka-Seltzer tablet, and gives off 

fascinating aromas.  It may even "boil", tossing up blankets of foam.  Once 

this process begins, you must stir the must twice daily to keep the yeast 

cells in suspension and add oxygen.  After the end of five days, discontinue 

stirring.  You will find the action has quieted down:  the must is going into 

secondary fermentation.

     Step 4:  Wash out your 5-gal glass water bottle with a strong solution of 

     Potassium Metabisulfite in hot water.  Drain the solution out completely,

     but do not rinse.  Transfer the contents of the primary fermenter to your 

     5-gal glass water-bottle.  Do this by syphoning with the clear plastic 

     tubing, keeping the end of the hose about one inch off the bottom of the 

     Primary Fermenter.  This avoids transferring unwanted sediments into the 

     bottle.  This syphoning/transfer process is called "racking".  Make sure 

     must is no more than 2 inches from the top of the bottleneck.

     Step 5:  Attach Fermentation Lock, with white-rubber plug, to the top of 

     the bottleneck.  Wash the plug and Fermentation Lock (bubbler) in the 

     Potassium Metabisulfite solution (mentioned above) first.   Fill the 

     "bubbler" 1/3 full with water, adding a few crystals of Potassium Meta-

     bisulfite to the bubbler to avoid molds.

     Step 6:  Place the Secondary Fermenter (the above apparatus) in a place 

     where the temperature will remain between 60 and 85 degrees F for the 

     next nine months (closet, basement, etc.) but near a sink.  The secondary 

     fermentation will continue unassisted for at least three months.  Observe 

     the action of the "bubbler".  You will notice it is slowing, and may even 

     stop completely.  You will also notice a layer of sediment has built up 

     on the bottom, up to an inch thick.  This is dead yeast and suspended 

     matter from the juice, and is called "lees".  It's not a good idea to 

     leave the must "resting on its lees" for a long time though, which brings 

     us to the next stage of the winemaking process.

Purification

     This stage is what takes the longest and is definitely the most frus-

trating part of winemaking.  There is nothing the amateur can do to hasten 

this process, without the end result being something less than real wine.  It 

will take at least a year for must to be transformed into something drinkable.  

Many wines need an additional year in a corked bottle to be at their best; 

some, two years or more.  

     Commercial wineries use filtration under pressure, centrifuging, and even 

ion-exchange to hasten wine development.  This can remove character, and is why

good home-made wine will often taste better than commercial.  Chilling clear 

wine at 25 degrees F may buy you a month or two, and helps remove harsh tartaric

acid by crystallization.  Put the bottle in the garage in wintertime for a week

or two, but watch the temperature!  If it gets colder that 15 degrees, it may 

freeze and crack your bottle, thus losing the batch.

     Time is the best purification method for home winemaking, coupled with 

regular, careful, racking.  NOTE:  WAIT UNTIL AFTER SUMMER TO BOTTLE YOUR 

WINE, OR THE BOTTLES MAY EXPLODE IN THE SPRING, WHEN TERTIARY FERMENTATION 

BEGINS.  More on this later.

     Step 7:  After the wine has nearly cleared itself (after about three 

     months), place the secondary fermenter on a table.  Try not to jostle it 

     and stir up the lees; if this happens, let it sit awhile until it 

     settles.  Remove the bubbler & plug assembly, and carefully insert your 

     plastic racking tubing.   Make sure the end is not in the lees, but over 

     it.  Start the syphon at the other end by suction, and rack all the clear 

     must to an identical bottle that has been washed-out with Metabisulfite 

     solution as in Step 5, and re-attach the bubbler as before.  Make sure it 

     has water in it.

     At this point you will have a bottle of clear or nearly-clear must.  It 

might look good enough to drink, but it isn't.  There is far too much harsh 

acid and bitter yeast cells in it to be tasty.  Taste a little and see;  you 

won't believe the difference six months from now.  

     By the way, make sure after racking that all semidents and lees are 

washed-out of the first bottle as soon as possible after it is emptied.  Also, 

make sure the liquid level in the new bottle is two inches from the bottom of 

the stopper.  The secondary fermenter must have as little airspace as possible 

in it, while allowing room for expansion due to temperature changes.  It is OK 

to add some storebought white wine to the bottle to make-up for any lost 

during racking (or, plain water can be used if less than a pint).

     The above racking steps will need to be repeated about three times more 

before bottling, as follows:

     Step 8:  If you chill the must during winter, rack it again just before 

     spring to get rid of the crystallized excess acid ("gravel").  

     Step 9:  Watch the liquid level carefully when Springtime finally 

     warms-up the bottle.  It may have to be lowered slightly to avoid having 

     it go up into the bubbler and spoil.  Insurance:  add a little Meta-

     bisulfite to the water in the bubbler after racking each time.  

When the bottle warms-up in late spring or early summer, it will "come alive" 

again with renewed action.  This almost always happens.  This can be caused by 

leftover sugar in the must, or by what is called "Malolactic Fermentation"; 

the must having gone through Primary and Secondary, it is now going through a 

Tertiary Fermentation.

     Malolactic fermentation is a process whereby certain bacteria in the must 

convert excess malic acid to lactic acid. Lactic acid is much smoother tasting 

in the wine than either malic or tartaric, present in the beginning.  This 

process creates gas, which can cause prematurely sealed bottles of wine to 

explode.  This is what the earlier warning was for.

     How can you tell when malolactic is over?   The scientific way is to 

perform a total acidity titration several times over the course of the 

fermentation.  When the reading falls and remains low, then malolactic is 

presumed finished.  But the amateur need not do it this way; it is possible to 

determine by observation (when the springtime bubbles stop) and tasting (when 

the harsh sourness disappears).

     The final stage in purification is called "fining".  This may or may not 

be required.  If some slight cloudiness remains after all fermentation is 

complete and the new wine is completely quiet, then fining is in order.  In 

old times, the cellarmaster used the "candle test".  This involved placing a 

clear bottle of new wine in front of a lit candle on a stand, in a darkened 

room.  If the candle flame could be clearly perceived, with sharp edges all 

around, the wine was deemed fine and ready to bottle.  Modern man can use a 

narrow-beam flashlight.  The beam should not be seen in the bottle as it is 

shone through for the wine to be judged "perfect".

     If the wine fails the above tests, it can be fined for maximum enjoyment.  

Many fining agents are available:  Gelatin, egg-white, isinglass, powdered 

nonfat milk, Bentonite.  Special gelatin from the winemaker's supply shop is 

probably the safest thing to use.  Follow the directions on the package, and 

wait two weeks for the wine to settle.  NOTE: if you don't care about sediment 

forming in your bottles, omit this troublesome step.  Or, you could buy a 

filter for about $80.  Commercial wineries usually filter the wine rather that 

go through the delicate fining process.  But filtering can be tricky.

     Step 10:  Rack the wine one last time after fining to ensure purity.  

     Follow previous procedure.  After a week or two of observation, the wine 

     is finally ready for-

The Bottling Process

     There is some discussion on this subject.  Some say it is essential for 

all wine to be bottled with corks, and some say it's OK to use screw-cap 

bottles.  The writer believes in both: premium wine for long-term aging should 

always be in a corked bottle, but fruit wines, white wines, and wines to be 

consumed within a year of bottling should have no problems with screw-cap 

bottles.  Evidently, the cork acts as a semi-permeable filter, releasing 

volatile components to the atmosphere, but preventing air from re-entering.

     Step 11:  Obtain enough wine bottles for the entire amount of the batch.  

     A standard 750ml bottle is one-fifth gallon, so you would need 25 of 

     these for a 5-gal batch.  Wash the bottles with a non-scented detergent, 

     rinse thoroughly, with hot water and Metabisulfite as a final rinse.  

     Remove labels from bottles before washing!

     Step 12:  Make or buy your own labels, and attach to clean bottles.  Set 

     up the racking syphon, as before, and fill each bottle to within 1/2 inch 

     of the bottom of the cork (or stopper, or screw-cap).  A tubing pinchcock 

     is handy to stop the flow while maintaining the syphon.  Note:  a special 

     syphoning apparatus is available with a spring-loaded foot valve, which 

     makes this bottling quick and easy.  You simply release pressure on the 

     valve and the flow stops.

     NOTE:  Corks must be soaked overnight prior to insertion; other closures 

     should be dipped in a bowl of hot Metabisulfite solution before use.

     Immediately after each bottle is filled, insert corks to 1/8 inch below 

     top of bottleneck (a lever corker makes this easy) or attach screw-caps 

     tightly.  You're done!

     NOTE:  Corks must be allowed to dry for a few days.  You may wish to put 

     covers on them for a final touch.  Then, the bottles must be stored on 

     their sides, so that wine may contact the cork.  Screw-cap bottles can be 

     stored upright.  Check for leaks before putting on the covers!

                              RECOMMENDED READING

     WINE MAKING AT HOME

     by Homer Hardwicke

No longer in print, but usually found in public libraries.  Dated methods and

procedures.  Features 200 recipes for wines of all types, many fruits.  It's a

good, fundamental study in the art.  Author prefers late bottling and mostly 

natural methods.  Glass jugs were not widely used at the time of writing.

     GRAPES INTO WINE

     by Philip Wagner

Modern, revised text.  Author is a professional winemaker and has his own 

large-scale operation.  Tremendous amount of information;  a good "reference 

book".  Author advocates heavy use of chemicals and early bottling.  Written

from a California winemaking perspective, notably differing from North Central

and Eastern climates.  Book is available in bookstores at the time of this 

writing.

A FINAL NOTE TO NON-MICHIGANDERS:  All the things you've just read apply to

your state as well.  Winemaking supply stores can be found in most major

cities;  start by looking in your Yellow Pages.  Your supplier, once you've

found him, will be glad to tell you where grapes and juice can be found.  He

will also be happy to share his experiences in the art with you.