It's no secret I love wine. I'm not a wine snob or anything, but nothing beats a great meal with a glass or bottle of wine. My journey to Italy last summer gave me an opportunity to make wine "old school". One of my family members has a wine cellar 100 feet under ground that they insisted on showing me. "vienni" she said moving her car first to expose the cellar entrance. Walking down a spiral concrete staircase for what felt like forever opened up to a whole new world. 2,000 square feet with a 100 foot ceiling and one small light bulb that flickered on and off. I was hooked. The old school process of wine making makes a rough table wine. Im sure any connoisseur would cringe but for me its the best wine i had ever tasted.
After all i made it!
Here is the process in fast forward.
First you need some quality grapes. White or red your choice. In Italy they pick their own but in america the supermarket sounds like a good idea. Use your judgement to figure out how many grapes you need for the amount of wine you want.
Second you want everything the grapes are touching to be absolutely impeccably clean.My preference. Then you want to crush the grapes. Please restrain from the temptations jump in barefoot and start crushing like you've seen in the movies. This will only lead to itchy burning feet! I used a small rubbermaid container and a potato masher. after crushing the grapes let them sit for about a week this is my family's preference. Some families press them directly after crushing them. cover them with something light to keep out the elements.
Now third, your going to press the crushed grapes. You need another container the same size as the last and a new clean pillow case. While you hold the pillow case open somebody will pour the crushed grapes in over the new container , twisting the pillow case until all of the juice is out of the grapes. Do this with all. My family does not, but if you like your wine with some punch there are ways to make it more potent by adding sugar. With a little research you can find charts showing how much sugar to how much alcohol content you would like.
After you have pressed all of the grapes collect a few large water jugs and fill them with the juice and cap'em. Place in a warm area or outside if summer, and after 3 weeks or so pour from the jugs into smaller bottle to lesson sediment build up. Now after about a month this wine is ready to drink but nothing is better then last years wine.
Now after all of this hard work which it is
Enjoy with food friends and family.
After all i made it!
Here is the process in fast forward.
First you need some quality grapes. White or red your choice. In Italy they pick their own but in america the supermarket sounds like a good idea. Use your judgement to figure out how many grapes you need for the amount of wine you want.
Second you want everything the grapes are touching to be absolutely impeccably clean.My preference. Then you want to crush the grapes. Please restrain from the temptations jump in barefoot and start crushing like you've seen in the movies. This will only lead to itchy burning feet! I used a small rubbermaid container and a potato masher. after crushing the grapes let them sit for about a week this is my family's preference. Some families press them directly after crushing them. cover them with something light to keep out the elements.
Now third, your going to press the crushed grapes. You need another container the same size as the last and a new clean pillow case. While you hold the pillow case open somebody will pour the crushed grapes in over the new container , twisting the pillow case until all of the juice is out of the grapes. Do this with all. My family does not, but if you like your wine with some punch there are ways to make it more potent by adding sugar. With a little research you can find charts showing how much sugar to how much alcohol content you would like.
After you have pressed all of the grapes collect a few large water jugs and fill them with the juice and cap'em. Place in a warm area or outside if summer, and after 3 weeks or so pour from the jugs into smaller bottle to lesson sediment build up. Now after about a month this wine is ready to drink but nothing is better then last years wine.
Now after all of this hard work which it is
Enjoy with food friends and family.
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