Home Winemakers

Back in the days of the Roman Empire 'amateur' meant 'lover' and referred to an individual who engaged in something from a love of doing it, and not for any financial gain. These individuals were thought of as the highest of experts because they perfected their craft motivated by mere joy for their work.

Despite the fact that wine professionals continue to fill their work with skill and passion, amateurs, with the help of knowledge passed down over the centuries and modern technology, can frequently now produce similar results.

The chemistry of the fermentation process was not well understood until the start of the 20th century but, even so, the process of fermentation has been used for more than 5,000 years. Left unattended a wine grape will ripen happily until the skin splits and the juice naturally ferments by itself. Today, however, this process is guided with a mixture of art and science.

Harvested grapes are put into a press where they are turned into must which is a mixture of skin, pulp and juice. Natural yeast (which is found on the skin near the stem) and added yeast reacts with the sugars in the juice to produce alcohol (ethanol), carbon dioxide and heat. This process continues until the sugars are depleted or the yeast is killed off by the products of the reaction.

As a result of the work of Pasteur and others we can now tightly control the process so that we get just the result we wish for. For those people who are not fortunate enough to have their own vineyard close to hand, concentrated wine juice can now be purchased reasonably cheaply.

Just add sugar, acids, yeast and nutrients (to feed the yeast) to a container like a carboy or other jug and let the mixture sit for several at approximately 75 degrees fahrenheit (24 degrees centigrade). Specific recipes are generally provided with the concentrated wine juice giving specific amounts and details of how to ferment the wine.

After several days, strain the liquid off the pulp and let it ferment at about 65 degrees fahrenheit (18 degrees centigrade) for several weeks until gas production (bubbling) ceases. Then, siphon the wine off the sediments (lees) and store the bottles on their sides at 55 degrees fahrenheit (13 degrees centigrade) for six months in the case of white wine and up to a year for red wine before tasting.

Naturally, it sounds easier than it is but it is most certainly not beyond the dedicated amateur's ability. Nowadays, the process is monitored and sometimes adjusted on a daily basis and, thanks to cheap refractometers to measure the concentration of sugar, thermometers, hydrometers, temperature controlled cabinets and a range of other items the job is much simpler than once was.

Naturally things sometimes go wrong as nature takes its own course. Fermentation might not begin, it may begin and then mysteriously stop prematurely, the resulting wine may be excessively sweet or hazy or full of sediments. The wine may contain too much pectin, too many bacteria, taste flat or sulphurous or even moldy. Crystals can form if the temperature is not high enough or secondary fermentation can result from storing the wine at too high a temperature.

Nevertheless, in no small measure thanks to the Internet, today there are several websites which are devoted to helping the amateur winemaker to produce wines which can rival those produced by the wine masters. The only thing that it needs is a little bit of practice.