Making Red Wine from Grapes - Part 1

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In this video we are making wine from 200lbs of chilean cabernet sauvignon grapes. This is the first part of a several part series on how to make red wine. The series will cover prep work, crushing and destemming, starting your yeast, punch downs, malolactic fermentation, oaking, aging and more!

[@allotmentcheers]

I just started my first wine from fresh grapes, managed to get 20kg of Montepulciano grapes from Italy. Your videos have been a great source of knowledge! thanks!

[@adamlary5885]

Where and how did you buy them?

[@wood4me]

G'day mate, My grapes only (no-vines) were cut down to very small mash by using my kitchen blender. It took a little time to cut 100 kilos ( perhaps 1/2 an hour) of grapes but the end result was amazing. I would fill the blender bowl 3 quarters, and then blend for 15 seconds or less. Like I said, the result is absolutely amazing. Cheers.

[@howiworkthisshi]

ausiewood in a blender it's not as authentic, as a hand or foot mash, but it's up to you

[@kendalljavion3533]

Instablaster.

[@Skorpyon_kng]

I just followed. I’ve been wanting to learn how to make wine for awhile and from the look of it you know your stuff sir. I need to watch your videos a couple of times to really make sure I’m doing it right.

[@cckailua]

The dog peeking in at the back door is great.

[@kavehjypsy]

hahaha dude you are an observer

[@itranrodriguez9274]

hi everyone ,if anyone else wants to discover how to make wine at home step by step try Corbandy Tasty Wine Crusher (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now ) ? Ive heard some amazing things about it and my m8 got amazing success with it.

[@nickbyrnes7408]

That’s a super good boy

[@patrickyusko986]

I'm also from Southwest PA, love the work! Thinking about using my 3 acres to eventually start something serious. We're still very new to this.

[@budidmx6037]

It is very nice that you put scince behind your wine recipe, so beginer like me who can only learn from youtube began to understand where to start from. Measuring acidity, the starting sugar content to predict the procentage of alcohol on the finish product. Thank you for so much helping

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

You are welcome! Thanks for the good feedback

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

I love the milk crate idea. Since I got into wine making several years back, I've been using the tedious technique shown in my wine making videos. I will definitely give that as try this year. Thanks.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

+BEER-N-BBQ by Larry thanks! It works great. It is nice to have a couple different crates with different size holes on the bottom. Depending on the grape varietal some crates seem to work better than others.

[@SmurfBluez]

u know how to make wine

[@bcparanormal8572]

Love your low budget style! You've given me alot of ideas to improve/change my process.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Thanks! It can be pretty expensive to buy all the equipment so it is nice to have some easy alternatives.

[@draganaleksovski8198]

There are several factors in creating an amazing wine. One place I found that successfully combines these is the Pavas grape plan (check it out on google) without a doubt the best course that I have ever seen. Check out this amazing resource.

[@dexterblood6640]

Kudos for the video content! Excuse me for chiming in, I am interested in your opinion. Have you thought about - Lammywalness Green Grapes Guide (search on google)? It is an awesome exclusive guide for learning how to become a successful grape grower minus the normal expense. Ive heard some great things about it and my buddy after many years got cool success with it.

[@dares.3002]

Appreciate Video! Apologies for the intrusion, I would appreciate your opinion. Have you researched - Lammywalness Green Grapes Guide (google it)? It is an awesome one off guide for learning how to become a successful grape grower without the normal expense. Ive heard some amazing things about it and my BF got cool success with it.

[@butterflyparadise7669]

hi everyone ,if anyone else wants to discover how to make wine at home step by step try Nadazma Fast Wine Helper (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now ) ? Ive heard some pretty good things about it and my mate got excellent results with it.

[@AmzBackyardOrchardandVineyard]

Greetings from Arizona! thanks for the tips and tricks. we will definitely try your tips and tricks. Cheers! 🍷

[@duniabm3120]

I am making wine for the first time in my life. I live in the gulf. Would you please tell me what exactly I meed to use as a nutrients also, the temperature is really high in the gulf, does this affect the wine making?

[@capitonadoacolchadoquiltin406]

Gracias, excelente vídeo! Thank you so much guys!

[@sinanejat5243]

Hi In the first week of fermentation, should we close the lid of the container tightly so that oxygen does not enter the container, or is it not necessary to close it tightly? In the first week of fermentation, why is the air lock not needed? When is it better to add tannin and glycerin to wine?

[@JoseGarcia-zw2tn]

this channel is a channel that ive been looking for. thank you!! you made wine making easy :)

[@elijahmohammed6775]

I’m totally distracted by the cute dog standing in the doorway 😂

[@harringtonkyle2]

Do you have a contact to order grapes from overseas?

[@pepenips5095]

Was there water in the tube at the start or was that just 100% juice?

[@CharChar876]

How do you know how much juice you have when you have all the grapes with skins in the container for adding the sugar?

[@Rob-hw5wr]

do you need to separate the stems from the grapes? Could I just run everything through my apple grinder, press using a filter bag?

[@radupoleuca9710]

Do you allow the air to enter in the buckets? I don't know if this is good or not.

[@paulruess3939]

What company did you use to order and deliver the grapes?

[@mateuszbialowas8806]

Would you say that adding too much sodium metabisulphate can affect the fermentation and stop yeast from working properly?

[@debramaloney-evans7944]

Please tell me what you are mixing your yeast in? Is it tap water or distilled and are you adding any sugar? How many packets are you using for the amount of must you put together?

[@makenzieyoung8408]

Did you put water in your grape bin?

[@Zanzabar5]

When are you adding nitrates?

[@romelmadray6706]

Thanks for the video, can I use normal bread yeast when making rice wine? Second question is can I extract the yeast from a bottle of wine and use it as a starter, for example. Can I use a commercially avalable wine and use the liquid in there as a starter for my (grape juice). My guess is that any bottled wine should contain yeast?

[@EadricRicmund]

All commercial wine (if made properly) would not have yeast in it since for most wines the death of the yeasts in the wine marks the end of fermentation and then the dead yeasts will get filtered out prior to bottling.

[@andriyzezyulin765]

hello, would you add the pectic enzymes and sulfites more or less at the the same time, or there is any waiting period? Do these to guys affect each other in any way? Also, would you add pectic enzymes in the must if you plan to do the extended maceration? Thanks

[@Roikliger77]

Hi, thanks for the great video. I started my Cabernet Franc fermentation at 3.15 PH. Seems low to me. What should I do?

[@ruthcastillotorres1013]

Disculpa pero por que se hace como moho en la parte superior del vino por que yo hice y salio de esa manera

[@ronmayfield8703]

Thank you. Great series.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Thanks!

[@EuropaWill]

Why do you use packaged yeast when the grapes already have yeast on them?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

There are thousands of different strains of wine yeast (saccharomyces cerivisiae). The packaged yeast strains are some of the best known yeast strains in the world. In the wild you also have many different yeast species that are not wine friendly (kloeckera, schizzo-sacchoromyces, brettanomyces, etc). By selecting a well known and competitive strain, you are de-risking the fermentation process. When you have big money in premium wine grapes, many would consider it too risky to let whatever wild strains present to take hold and dominate the fermentation. If you do want to do a wild ferment it is best to chill the must while warming up a small sample of the must and letting it ferment. If it smells good and is fermenting well, it is likely that the yeast present is good, wine friendly yeast and will not spoil the wine or create off flavors and smells.

[@abolfazlkoushki8593]

What happens if there are ants in the container during fermentation?!

[@jupjuck]

Holy shit how fucken funny is the dog!!!! Hahahahahaha

[@impulsesystems]

Many thanks for the detailed videos. You don't tell us how much but it looked like you added two packets of yeast to 1 cup of water and then shared it amongst the 4 buckets of about 48 liters of juice?

[@cosmyccowboy]

good day sir! i am a brand new subscriber and have watched your 3 part series. i have a question if anyone can answer!? i have never made wine and have a yard full of grapes. how do i get started? if i order the master vintner kit will that be enough? what else will i need? you blew threw the enzymes added so fast i can't catch it? what is i need to add and where do i get it? will the master vintner kit contain the chemicals needed?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Im not sure that the master vintner kit is really what you need. You will want to estimate how many lbs of grapes you will get first. It usually takes around 100lbs of grapes to make 6 gallons of wine so that should give you an idea of how many carboys and buckets or food grade garbage cans you need to ferment in. You will need a wine press and a means of crushing and destemming also. If growing your own grapes you will really need to spray then for mildews and in most cases bugs also. If you are in the west coast, powdery mildew will wipe you out so you will need to spray a lot of sulfur. On the east coast, downy mildew and black rot will crush the vineyard which can be controlled with better airflow management, and a handful of fungicides. Once you see the damage it is generally too late so it is best to stay ahead of it. I'd they are a native variety it is a lot easier to manage but can still be a little tricky. I have a few vineyard videos on the channel and a lot more detailed info on the smart winemaking Patreon page.

[@cosmyccowboy]

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel thanks for the response! I am 30 miles north of Tallahassee Florida. I have a couple of muscadine vines and a scuppernong vine but the vast majority are Black Munnukka and Black Spanish a dark purple/black bunch grapes. 100 pounds won’t be a problem, I can get as many food grade 5 gallon buckets as I need at Lowe’s. I have a large storage container like you used also. So I would need a milk crate, star san to sterilize everything with, some Efferbakol or Camden Tablets? Should I get a refractometer or a hydrometer? What kind of yeast? Instead of a press I have several collender style strainers could I get some cheesecloth and do this by hand too? I have done that in the past when making grape jelly. I would need a large mouth carboy and the one with the airlock? I can see that I wouldn’t need any corks or bottles for quite a while correct? Thanks again for your response! Edit from watching your videos again it appears that I would need 2 of the fermentation carboy’s and a racking device?

[@dawngw26]

this is great! thank you!

[@joegillis7925]

Hi Rick, I went to rack my wine again today in hopes of bottling soon, but when sampled I found it fairly tart. Can you lend some advice to correct the issue. I made the Marechal Foch wine in October using your tutorage via KZbin and have racked it three times so far to remove the lees. I hope something can be done. Thanks in advance. -Joe

[@jbiz3491]

Can I ask how much it would cost roughly for equipment, would only be bottling for myself

[@malakwaqasawan4371]

haha the dogy wants to be part of wine making process, at 6:40 i think he got entry, i can hear dog huffing, . . :P

[@sandystapleton6526]

I see that you rinsed the grapes first to remove any added Sulphur spray from the field packaging. For homegrown grapes would you rinse first remove native yeasts?

[@sandystapleton6526]

I decided not to,

[@scottttym]

What kind of grapes?

[@AlanMolstad]

Im growing Valiant grapes and want to know what type of yeast to order

[@jonathanc8513]

hi, are these large containers food grade plastic? I Will try your Milk Crate trick next year!

[@larrypauly6551]

I am making some Cayuga White wine. the Brix is 20 and the PH 3.1. Last year I made some of the same and added sugar fermenting it to dry. Wasn't happy with it and backsweetened it. This time I didnt add sugar. When its done fermenting will I have a sweeter wine than if I had added sugar to start? I'm trying to eliminate adding all this sugar. Also, what percent alcohol do you think I'll end up with?

[@CoolStuffGuysLike]

Those look like pretty good numbers for a white wine. You will have about 11.5% alcohol and will be dry unless the fermentation stalls. It technically won't be more or less dry bit it should be a little more approachable with the lower alcohol. You can still back sweeten to taste if needed. The key on white wines is a good clean happy fermentation. For more aroma, ferment cooler. To retain the fruitiness, discourage malolactic fermentation by sulfiting relatively hard after primary ferm.

[@engop406]

From the website are you buying grapes for your wine?

[@leopaul3039]

For 10kg grapes, How much kilo sugar is added? And need to add water???

[@jaimetrejo5917]

how tight to you place the lid on the container?

[@rjparry1]

Great video. Do you snap the top shut on the buckets during this process or do you just lightly cover it?

[@vins8690]

Great video man. Love your setup. How much did you transport into each bucket? And how many yeast packets did you use? It looked like one yeast packet spread out through all buckets. Is that enough? Thanks man keep it up 👍🏼

[@ellisgivens6060]

Where did you get the grapes from

[@WhiteMoonLights]

dod they get air in at the end of video

[@aditya1ish]

How much we should wait, before adding yeast?(after adding Potassium metabi sulphate)

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

If you are only adding 40-50ppm you won't really have to wait long. I generally perform a cold soak for a few days after crush but will occasionally start the fermentation within a few hours of crush. Wine yeast has a very high tolerance to SO2.

[@sjshifrin1]

The milk crate idea is excellent! Since they all seem to have different size holes, can you please tell us the actual dimensions of the holes in the crates you use? Thank you very much for the very useful videos!

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Thanks! I have a handful of crates. The smallest holes are around 1/2in and the biggest is around 1in. 1 inch works well for the bigger grapes like Concord, and 1/2 in works well for the little blueberry sized grapes like cab sauv. Something in between would also be nice if you could find it or you could also use expanded stainless sheet if you can get your hands on it.

[@sjshifrin1]

Thank you for the response and information, again, very helpful. Expanded metal or McMaster-Carr sells perforated metal with various hole sizes, could also work as an overlay over the crate with the larger holes.

[@caseyturner8773]

Awesome

[@michaelc1042]

I see that you added some Pectic Enzyme and I was wondering what the benefits are? I have used PE for fruit wines (Strawberry); however this is the first time I am seeing this added to crushed grapes. Will this introduces any unintended flavor. Is this done in place of "cold soak"? Is it common practice among professional vineyards? Thank you!

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

The pectic enzyme will improve extraction and reduce the chances of having a pectin haze later on. I think most wineries use more sophisticated enzymes that are not as easily available to small scale guys. More Wine now offers some of the other enzymes in small packages though which is awesome. I am using Lallzyme EX in my red wines from California this season and it seems to be working really well so far. I am also using some FT rouge which is a reactive tannin that should help lock up the color once it is extracted.

[@jonathanc8513]

Thanks!

[@laxmivithal2120]

Plastic buckets ??? It is hazardous for heath..instead can't we use steel containers?

[@esmith6412]

The guy is obviously intelligent enough to research which plastics are suitable for fermenting and which ones are not. If you think stainless steel is a better choice and can afford a vessel the size of a fermenter then go ahead. Then post a KZbin video and wait for a bunch of people to tell you that you used the wrong stainless steel, you should have used 316 series, steel causes Covid-19 etc. I would say that the toxic (and delicious) chemical compounds created by fermenting grapes, (like ethanol, methanol, acetone, furans) not to mention sulfites are be far more significant than the toxins from fermenting in, say, a 1980's styrofoam cooler left in the Arizona for 30 years.

[@livebait72]

After you put in the yeast do you covers on tight or loose to get air in? Thanks

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Let some air in. Until it is done bubbling, a little air is beneficial.

[@jimdent351]

With those 4 buckets, was that all of the 200 pounds that you crushed. I'm getting 210 pounds and I'm wondering about the number of buckets for fermenting. Thanks.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Yes, 4 buckets is about what you need for 200lbs. You are looking at about 12 or 13 gallons finished but about 15 plus some headspace during fermentation.

[@jimdent351]

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel Thanks

[@liborkriz2836]

you don't need to divide it in to 4 containers. I keep it in two large plastic containers. They are half full!!!

[@jimdent351]

@@liborkriz2836 Thanks for your reply. Yes, I understood that one large bucket can be used. The problem was I didn't have one, and was not finding a suitable one at the time. I had some 5 gal. and 6 gal. pails and was trying to determine if they would be adequate. Thanks

[@noelbaker2944]

I noticed you didn't add K-Metabisulfite before pitching the yeast. Wondering if you still do this. All the other wine-making videos (and personal wine-makers I know) advise to do this to stunt natural yeast replication before adding in the EC-1118 or other wine-yeast. One vinter I know adds K-metabisulf right after crushing (usually in the evening) and adds the yeast the next morning.

[@tizi0728]

He didnt show it in the video, but he said he added about 40 ppm of Pot. Metabisulfite

[@ATownSKS]

Cheers! Homebrewer grom Allentown, Pa. I prefer buying the juices since I don't have the equipment for grapes. Question, what's the benefit of going with grapes over just buying the juice?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

For white wines there is not a huge benefit. For red wines though it is night and day. The juice buckets are flash extracted so they really just don't have a lot of oomph and generally taste a little thin and sometimes "cooked" from the heat involved in the process. When using grapes, you ferment on the skins and seeds, so there is about 1.5 to 2 weeks of skin contact time. Two or three times a day you are churning up the skins to keep them wet and maximize extraction. Depending on how much skin contact time and how warm you let the fermentation get, you have all the control over what kind of wine you are going to make whether it be fruit forward and lighter tasting or intense and age worthy. I usually have a lot less trouble with grapes too. The buckets can start fermenting with some bad yeasts before you even get them. I would actually recommend good wine kits over juice buckets after trying them both a bunch of times. If you don't have equipment for grapes you can still make it work also. You can crush and destem with a milk crate and press with a cheese cloth bag if you doing less than a few hundred pounds. Good luck!

[@jonathanc8513]

Good recommendations, i tried the juice.last year and IT Turned out more rose style somewhat disappointing.

[@maunglalzauk6817]

Could you plz write for me the ingredients?

[@ajtaylor3861]

My red blend wine in fermentation is ph 3.0 exactly. What kinds of things can I do to raise it, or should I raise it? I have not yet racked the wine to a carboy yet.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Is it a kit or from grapes? Acids in kits can be a little funny. Often they will have a low TA and low pH so that they are drinkable but also hard to mess up too bad if people are a little careless about oxygen exposure. You can bring the pH up with potassium bicarbonate enough to then kick off malolactic fermentation to bring it up a little more. If you can get up to about 3.3, MLF should start if you use an acid tolerant. culture like CH35.

[@ajtaylor3861]

The Home Winemaking Channel it was a Kit. The Winexpert Trinity Red. There were times, to strengthen the yeast, that I took the lid off and stirred it to get out some CO2, and leaving the lid off to get oxygen into the wine.

[@ajtaylor3861]

So I calibrated the ph meter and it says 3.22 to 3.30. Pretty wild fluctuations and it’s a brand new meter.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

@@ajtaylor3861 okay that is not too crazy for a kit. You can nudge it up a bit but I probably wouldn't. I actually recently had a wine expert trinity red from a friend and it by no means tasted like it needed any reduction in acidity. I'm guessing they did some funny business with the acids so that the pH is relatively low, but the perception of acidity is also relatively low so it can be drank pretty young. They may also have some non-fermentable sugars or glycerol to offset the acid a bit.

[@ajtaylor3861]

The Home Winemaking Channel ok thanks man! I love your channel and am a huge fan. Thanks for all your videos!

[@Roikliger77]

You mentioned that you add SO2 at the beginning. Doesn’t it hinder the work of the Malolactic bacteria?

[@joesallustio5748]

No, it will be consumed as the wine ferments.

[@ferreirapeixoto]

how the wine turn out?

[@brandonpeters1987]

Hi, I live north of Pittsburgh, where can I buy grapes in our area, and what do they cost ?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Consumer produce or Sunfresh in the Strip district. They should have California grapes for another week or two. Depending on the region and quality will depend on the price. You are looking at about $45+ per 36lb crate. You can also go up to Erie if you want some budget stuff to learn with. With a little networking you can usually get concord for free since they are so abundant up there. If you want to do white wine, I would recommend juice (let them do the pressing right off the vineyard). You can get Riesling up at mobilia farms (Arrowhead Winery), for about $13/gallon. About $5-10/gallon for everything else which will mostly be in the labrusca family (concord, Catawba, fredonia, Niagara, etc). They have very good juice and you can taste/smell it before you buy. The juice buckets in the strip are generally not too good after the trip from California.

[@brandonpeters1987]

The Home Winemaking Channel thank you. I think I might look into getting some concords from Erie.

[@allotmentcheers]

where do you order your grapes from? do you think they would deliver to the UK?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Calum's Homebrewing Adventures I get mine from a place called consumer produce in Pittsburgh. I bet you can get grapes from South Africa over there and possibly Chile or Australia. Look for a place that supplies produce to the grocery stores. Those are the places in the US that supply the wine grapes too. You really should be able to get grapes in the fall when the French and Italian grapes are in season.

[@allotmentcheers]

cheers, ill look into that Happy brewing!

[@winemeister]

I'm in the UK and planted my wines eight years ago after not finding any wine grape sellers. Now I see there is a seller appears in September on Ebay with Italian grapes. I google it all the time and hardly ever come up with suppliers for wine grapes, perhaps it's something that a group of people could look at, importing perhaps a pallet, but it is not cheap.

[@tenthperson2139]

Can I use ordinary bread yeast to make wine?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

No, definitely use wine yeast. Bread yeast will probably ferment to some extent but since it is not adapted to the high alcohol and high acid environment of wine it will likely stink out the place with hydrogen sulfide. You can get wine yeast online for cheap or if there is a home brewing store near you they should have it also

[@howiworkthisshi]

tenth person yes you can, that's what some modern French brewers use, activate it by putting it in warm water, and sugar, just let it sit for 1 minute then shake it, trust me 😊

[@KidCity1985]

Yes you can but you can order wine yeast on amazon and its cheap

[@RamblinRudnicks]

Have you done any videos on making a dry white from fruit (vs juice or kit)? Just found your channel. We will be harvesting our 50 vine vineyard this year for the first time. Without realizing how much more work it would be we did 1/2 Pinot Noir and 1/2 Chardonnay .... double work.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

I don't have any dry white wine videos but I can give you a quick rundown. You want to press right away and let the wine settle overnight. Rack or pump the wine off of all the sediment that will settle out and start the fermentation with a yeast that is tolerant to lower temperatures try to keep the temps lower, like about 60F. With the Chardonnay you are probably going to want to add some malolactic bacteria after primary fermentation. Sulfite lightly at the time of pressing (25-30ppm) and a little heavier after mlf is complete. Rack between primary fermentation and malolactic. Feed the yeast with some good nutrient like fermax or fermaid k and give a swirl every day to churn up the settled out yeast and particles. I think you might be glad you have two varieties. You can stagger your harvest so all the work is not at once. You could also try an experimental rose where you blend the two grapes and press after a few hours of skin time. Good luck!!

[@rpchost]

For 1 liter of grape juice, how many sugar (in Kg) I can put in it

[@EricH_1983]

10kg should be enough.

[@bobkeller8383]

How much did 200lbs of grapes cost?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Depends on the quality. Good grapes are usually around $2/pound from premium california regions. If you have vineyards locally they can be a lot cheaper if not free. The quantities we need as home Winemakers are negligable compared since they are used to working in tons.

[@djohnson4465]

one thing im always confused about is that when you hear a old man talk about wine making all they tell you is a simple "sweet great and yeast sometimes even best to not wash the grape... now what im lost about is every wine making video i see now always involve chemicals like pectic enzymes, potassium sulfate... are all those things really needed like when some of you youtubers make videos can you not tell us what to add can you explain WHY WE NEED TO ADD THIS THINGS?

[@CoolStuffGuysLike]

Technically the grapes naturally want to turn into wine as part of the decomposition cycle that would otherwise happen in nature. The yeast is already there and eager to start fermenting. In some cases, you could actually make a very good wine by just letting nature take it's course and keeping an eye on it but it is also very risky. There will be many wild strains of yeast on the surface of a grape, some good, and some extremely bad like kloeckera, brettanomyces, or schizzo-saccromyces. By doing the more natural fermentation you are hoping the good yeast take hold and overpower the bad yeast but it is really a gamble and it can be a very expensive gamble. The bad strains of yeast generally have a very low sulfite tolerance, so by adding a bit of SO2 pre fermentation you are taking those guys out of the picture while also providing a bit of oxidation protection before the fermentation kicks off. In addition to the bad yeasts, you also will have acetobacter in the grapes (a bacteria carried by fruit flies). In the presence of oxygen, this will create ethyl acetate, acetaldehyde, and vinegar (all bad things for wine). So the sulfites help to scavenge the oxygen before the bacteria gets to it, and also help to eliminate the bacteria all together. As for the enzymes, these really are more optional. The enzymes just help to break down the cells of the grapes and improve color and flavor extraction. They can also reduce the risk of a pectin haze in your wine which is just a stubborn cloudiness that won't naturally clear up. The washing usually isn't necessary unless there is obvious sulfur residue on the grapes left over from vineyard spraying. In the winery, there are all kinds of bugs, bird poop, bees, etc going right into the fermenter but the yeast and SO2 will knock out any bacteria that would be associated with those things. Any acid or sugar adjustments are just to bring the grapes into balance so the wine is well balanced and tasty. Often tannins are added also to create texture and also help bind up the color molecules in a red wine. Then of course oak chips or cubes if you are not going to use an oak barrel. Hope this helps!

[@CoolStuffGuysLike]

Just realized I replied from my other youtube channel... But this is Rick from "The Home Winemaking Channel"

[@djohnson4465]

thanks now thats a information ive been waiting to hear

[@Roikliger77]

Hi, thanks for the great video. Have you ever corrected the PH levels?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

You are welcome! Yes, I almost always end up doing a small correction. With california grapes they usually need a bit of tartaric acid. On rare occasion I will adjust the other direction with calcium carbonate or potassium bicarbonate.

[@Roikliger77]

The Home Winemaking Channel thank you

[@SagelyfeVision]

What website did you buy your grapes

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

I get most of mine locally in Pittsburgh from www.cfpwinemakers.com/

[@WineMakerTV]

Where do you get your grapes from?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Consumer Produce in Pittsburgh. They can bring them in from Chile in the spring and a few different regions of California in the fall.

[@loriwilliams2196]

Could you tell us how/if to use tartaric acid?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

You will want to use tartaric acid if your pH is to high. You shouldn't need to add more than 1 or 2 grams/liter. For a Cabernet Sauvignon, I want my pH to start around 3.4 or 3.5 which will climb to about 3.65 after primary fermentation and malolactic fermentation. If you are in the ballpark, I would wait to make adjustments until after malolactic fermentation but it you are up in the 3.8 range, definitely add a bit. To get a more accurate pH reading, measure after the juice has soaked on the skins for 24 or 48 hours. To add acid, just pull a sample of your wine and mix the acid in until it dissolves then add back to the batch of wine, mix and check your pH in another 24 hrs.

[@checkyourhopper]

How much yeast should we add?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Normally you will add one gram per gallon of must.

[@checkyourhopper]

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel thank you so much for you quick response. I appreciate you!

[@RyanB.222]

I'm in Pittsburgh also. Where did you get your grapes from?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

I get them from consumer produce in the strip district. They bring in grapes from quite a few regions at a few different price points. The best are the Lanza from the Suisun valley on California but probably fiddle with the cheaper grapes for a couple years before stepping up to Lanza because they are about twice as expensive.

[@RyanB.222]

I've been making wine for roughly 7 years but I want to get into making wine from grapes. I've heard of that store. I will have to check it out.

[@slyfox1983]

I from Pittsburgh too! But I live in Atlanta now. I was just there 4th of July weekend and went to Wholey’s in the strip. I brought a cooler to take my chicken, hot sausage and fish back. I can’t find real hot sausage down here. I made sure I got that chicken on the stick too from the Korean lady. Mmmm good 😂😂

[@umitacar7427]

Bu böyle yapilmaz ki 0000 puan veriyorum

[@clarivelgomez1706]

Isnt yeast bad though ?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

In wine, beer, and bread yeast is a good thing. Wine yeast (Saccharomyces Cerivasaie) converts sugars to alcohol and CO2 which creates an environment that is unfriendly to any harmful pathogens. There are some pathogenic yeast species out there that can cause infections in humans but they are very different from wine yeast and will not survive in a high acid, high alcohol environment like wine. There are some spoilage yeasts like kloeckera or brettanomyces in the wild that could cause off flavors in wine but they are not harmful to a human.

[@clarivelgomez1706]

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel wow good to know ...but what type of yeast then should be used in wine making? I dont want to buy the wrong yeast

[@tarbaris]

I appreciate your effort but really I didn't like the idea of importing 200 pounds of cabarnet from Chile to PA by a refrigerated truck. There must be better local alternatives.

[@winemeister]

Then look for yourself and tell us how you got on.

[@devrimozturk4362]

You used natural yeast in your grape stalks ..! Why did you use chemical yeast?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

I'm not too big of fan of natural fermentation, especially if you don't have any experience with the specific vineyard. Too much risk of H2S, or a spoilage yeast dominating. commercial yeast strains are not chemical but rather strains of wild yeast that have been found to have good characteristics and reliability and have been isolated. EC1118 was specifically isolated from french champagne fermentations. There definitely is a chance of getting more complexity from a wild ferment but at the risk of a while lot of problems. The few good wineries that do it know their vineyards inside and out and know that their local yeasts play friendly together.

[@maltmode]

I'm a HUGE fan of natural wine and really want it to become more popular in the United States. I just made my first batch using Tempranillo grapes, which I naturally fermented. So far so good thankfully!

[@pilsplease7561]

Natural wine is popular, but my home vineyard does not have a good naturally occurring strain and I prefer to use pre packaged yeast i use rc 212 and BM 4x4. Mostly because if i lost a batch that would be really rough on me. Ive got 125 or so vines.

[@Adol666]

What is a Chemical yeast lol? Your Ignorance is showing. Commercial wine yeast is Natural yeast that has been isolated from the grapes in the great growing regions of the world.

[@pilsplease7561]

Exactly its just picking yeasts well known to make good wine, and culturing and removing any other organisms. Picking reliable yeast so that you dont have to chance bad fermentations!

[@rak9681]

part 2

[@mattlehnardt8035]

his garage is the kind from horror movies where a hick in overalls chops up zombies

[@ToddEdmondson]

Good Dog

[@97Caylum]

2:33 ... I should call her

[@tbar1047]

You should of add about 10lbs of sugar all together.

[@zoemeow7677]

Is squishy is how

[@juliojack1862]

Those plastic jars are carcinogenic and full of xenoestrogen

[@gxtube]

Agree!

[@jimyost2585]

The wine making gurus say that grape wine is far down on the list of the best fruit wines. According to them the #1 fruit wine is elderberry. #2 is blackberry. #3 is blueberry. #4 is Cherry. # 5 is pear. #6 is apple. # 7 is plum. # 8 is grape. Personally, I think all this obsession with grape wine has to do with advertising brainwash.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

I think it just all depends on what you want. You can make some pretty delicious wines out of any of the fruits listed. They are usually going to be more crowd pleasers too if they are fruit forward and familiar. I think the reason people eventually gravitate to grape and especially red grape wine is the complexity and multi-dimensionality of the wines. There is always something new to discover in a sip but it takes a lot of time to desensitize to the bitter components and taste through to the excitement. I would compare the fruit wines to a good pie and a good dry red wine to a good steak. Both are awesome. I actually used to prefer the fruit wines, but now I crave the tannin and intensity of a big red wine and mostly make the fruit wines for party pleasers. I think it is a lot like how people love blue moon and hoegaarten when they are first getting into beer, but later gravitate to the pale ales and IPAs.

[@winemeister]

I started out making cherry wine and apple wine despite a lifetime of grape wine drinking, but soon gravitated to grapes. Throughout history man gravitated to grape wine making because it generally is a ready balanced ready to make wine, no need to add much of anything at any stage. In some countries they don't even add yeast, they just crush and let it ferment, houses are even built with a wine vat under the living room in Georgia ( the country)! Growing grapes is probably the easiest of fruits to grow also. I've always loved various fruit wines but you just don't get, as Rick says, the complexity or multi-dimensionality that you get with grapes. What makes a wine making guru and what does 'best fruit wine' mean?

[@jimyost2585]

@@winemeister Lucky you having access to cherries. I'm 77 years old and I've been living in north Alabama for 2/3 of my life, and I can recall seeing only two cherry trees. So I haven't made cherry wine. My favorite wine is elderberry, but I haven't made any in ten years because every year the birds eat them before they get totally ripe. In 2009 I made thirty gallons of elderberry wine, and in 2010 I made 90 gallons of it. But like I said, it's been ten years since I made the last batch of it. That was in 2013 and I made fifteen gallons of it. I make a fair amount of pear wine because pears are plentiful here. I also make a fair amount of fig wine. I also make a fair amount of blueberry wine when I can get the berries. Most people rave about my blueberry wine. I've had a few people say that it's the best wine they've ever tasted. I use the same recipe for it as the one I use for elderberry and blackberry wines. I make apple wine when I can get the fruit. A buddy of mine who owns an upscale nursery has several apple trees of some exotic small apples that are really sweet. They're really small and really hard (really hard to grind with my big hand-crank meat grinder). But they make the best apple wine I've ever tasted. Winemaking grapes don't do well here because the summers are too hot. I have made a few five gallon batches of grape wine from grapes grown locally, and it turned out ok, but not great. Actually one batch did turn out to be close to excellent. I made it from some small grapes (that nobody can identify) that came from a really old overgrown vineyard that a buddy of mine bought and cleaned up. I wish I could get some more of those. Evidently he's keeping them for himself. I taught him how to make wine (maybe that was a mistake). Many years ago I read a comment on a winemaker's forum in which a guy said he had done extensive research into the history of winemaking, all the way back to the beginning of human record keeping, and he said he was much surprised to find out that the ancient Romans regarded pear wine as their favorite wine. And there they were in the middle of the world's premier grape growing region. Maybe they were tired of grape wine and pear wine was new to them. Of all the wines I make pear wine is the one I drink the most of, mainly because I make more of it than any other wine. I also make quite a bit of muscadine wine when I can get the fruit. People in Alabama rave about it because they think it's a "Dixie" thing. I like it ok but I'm not crazy about it. I think the bronze is far superior to the red, but most people around here want the red. The red is too tart for my liking. Several years ago I read an article telling about a research project someone had done to find the antioxidant content of wines, and they found out that red muscadine wine has four times the antioxidant content of Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Merlot. Maybe it's the antioxidants that give it that overly tart taste.

[@filipmitkov84]

I have spent months studying making good wine and discovered a great website at Pavas grape plan (google it if you're interested)

[@devnavrange1163]

नमस्ते सर जी

[@aleksandarmirchev5792]

I have spent months studying making wine and found an awesome site called Pavas Grape Plan (google it if you're interested)

[@genevevaconalarga]

this video looks like the word grime

[@jasonshoraka1098]

Nice video but it'll be easier to grow your own grapes they grow in Most states in the United States,!!! and grapes grow back every year so it's better than tomatoes where you have to replant them every year grapes grow back every year why I order them online with all that money when it can grow your own grapes hello hello hello be a logical about it dude!!! LOL 😎

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Grapevines are hard to kill but but growing high quality wine grapes is extremely difficult and not possible in many climates. I have a small vineyard but am limited to what can ripen successfully in my climate and compared to the garden they are insanely temperamental and require constant care. You are basically attempting to achieve optimal pH, TA, seed maturity, and flavor ripeness all at the day of harvest without any one of those numbers drifting too bad and without getting wiped out by birds, bugs, disease, fungus, or berry splitting. Wine grapes are propagated by cuttings so each new generation is a clone of the last. Because of this they do not develop resistance to natural pests over time like other plants would. Grapes are also a product of the climate that they are grown. A seasoned taster can relatively easily distinguish a merlot from Sonoma county vs Oregon vs the Finger Lakes. Even within those relatively optimal climates, many years are a bust. I do recommend everybody who can grow grapes, give it a try but it is certainly not the easier route. Not by a long shot. Most backyard grapes are delicious to eat but very few will compete with California wine grapes for wine quality. That being said... You can make wine out of whatever you have, and I certainly will experiment with any free fruit I can get my hands on, optimal or not.

[@Aagata4071]

Фу шмурдяк делают....

[@AToddFleck]

Your music is awful and where are you gloves? Are you selling this wine!?!

[@nazmussakib1551]

eww no gloves

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

It really doesn't matter at this stage. Within fresh grapes will be bugs, bird poop and all kinds of non sanitary bad-ness. Luckily wine yeast is extremely competitive and will wipe out any bad bacteria that is in the grapes. The sulfites and acid also help to make a very bacteria unfriendly environment. It used to be the norm to crush grapes with your bare feet... Which is way grosser than your hands but still didn't really matter

[@LavenderLori406]

Is that your dog breathing?

[@mattlehnardt8035]

mmmm..wipes nose with back of hand at :43.

[@someguy4909]

As beer brewer this looks nasty.