Wine Making

As the fall season begins to set in, I decided to start brewing my first batch of wine for the year. Wine making is a rather simplistic process where cleanliness and timing are two of the most important factors. Over the past few years, I have brewed over 120 bottles of wine. Ranging from White Zinfandel, Piesporter, Pino Blanc, and Gewurztraminer. I have enjoyed all of those wines except for the Pino Blanc, which is a little too dry for my liking.

I chose to make a White Zinfandel. It will take me anywhere from 29 to 38 days from start to bottle. The time variation depends on how fast the yeast is fermenting the sugar and how quickly the wine clears towards the end of the brewing process. Then after bottling, the wine will sit another month before drinking.

Getting started it not that expensive. Check out Wine and Hop Shop to see various starter kits. I use a 6 gallon set up, which ranges from about $130 - $155 depending on the quality of the supplies you buy / extra accessories that are not absolutely required, but help make the process easier. On top of that it costs anywhere from $65 - $155 for a kit that contains all the additives and juices to make the wine. Then all you need are 30 bottles and corks. Cheaper bottles tend to run around $1 and corks are much cheaper. Some people use old used wine bottles which is perfectly acceptable. However, I prefer to buy a set of bottles for a couple of reasons. 1) It only costs $30 2) You have a consistent looking end product 3) The bottles are reusable, so next time you can reuse all the bottle [of the ones that do get returned]