Making your own wine can be an enjoyable and gratifying experience.  Although the whole wine making process takes over a month, from start to finish (depending on the exact recipe you are using), any wine enthusiast will learn a great deal from the process.  As you learn what you like, you may begin to change the ingredients, like the variety of grapes and the type and quantity of sugar you put in, to create a wine that perfectly suites your own palette.  Some home wine makers even grow their own grapes, so they have a reliable source for the type of grape they like their wines made from.

Ingredients:

5 pounds blue grapes

3 gallons water

1 pound wheat

4 ounces dry wine yeast

8 pounds sugar (granulated, raw, or bar sugar are the best choices for your first batch)

2 egg whites

food coloring

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1. Wash all of your equipment.  It is absolutely vital that you start with a sanitary environment and  completely clean equipment.

2. Separate the grapes from the stems, and wash the grapes.

3. Smash up the grapes with your hands and place them in an earthen jar that has a lid.

4. Whip the egg whites.

5. Add 4 ponds of the sugar, the wheat, wine yeast, egg whites, and the water to the smashed grapes.

6. Cover the jar with the lid.  Make sure that the lid seals well to prevent insects or dust from getting into the wine.

7. Open the jar and stir the ingredients once per day for 21 days.  Make sure that the lid is properly sealed when you are finished stirring.

8. After 21 days have passed, add the remaining 4 pounds of sugar to the jar.

9. Keep the container sealed for an additional 21 days without opening.

10. After 21 days  have passed with the jar sealed, open the jar and strain the clear wine on the top portion of the container using a clean nylon cloth.  This will remove any unwanted sediment.

11. Food coloring can be added if you want, to achieve your ideal wine color.  You will want to add the food coloring one drop-at-a-time, because food coloring can be very strong.

There you have it, a basic recipe for making homemade wine.  Once you have gotten familiar with this recipe, you may want to add your own variations to the variety and amount of sugar that you use, the type of grapes you use, and even the length of time to age the wine once it has been bottled.

Think wine-making is hard? It doesn’t have to be! Technically, this starts out with a bit of ready-made wine and goes from there…but don’t let that stop you from turning a so-so red wine into a delightfully sweet blackberry wine of your own making!

This recipe is super-easy and makes enough to fill two wine bottles. Add a label with the name of your own “winery” on it and give the bottles as gifts. The recipe doubles or triples nicely, too — just make sure you’ve got a glass jar large enough to accommodate the extra batches, or be ready to separate the mixture into a few jars.

Sweet Blackberry Wine

• 4 cups fresh blackberries
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 vanilla bean, cut into pieces
• 1 cup vodka
• 5 cups red wine

Mix the blackberries, granulated sugar, vanilla bean pieces, and water in a deep saucepan. Bring the mixture to a slow simmer, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Continue to simmer until the berries are falling apart. Remove the mixture from the heat and let it cool.

Stir in the vodka and red wine. Pour the entire mixture into a clean, gallon-size glass jar. Cover the jar with a lid and place in a dark place for 6-8 weeks. Every few weeks, open the jar and stir well, then recover.

When you’re ready to prepare the wine, line a large collandar or strainer with a triple-layer of cheesecloth and set it over a large bowl. Strain the mixture through it, then bring up the corners of the cheesecloth to make a bag, trapping all the solid parts in the middle. Squeeze the bag to get all of the juice out, and then discard the cheesecloth bag and the contents.

Pour the wine into clean, dry bottles and cork them immediately. Dip the corks in wax for a pretty presentation, put your own label on the bottle, and offer the wine as a gift within a year, before the flavor fades. Or enjoy a bottle or two of your own!