How to Make Red Wine at Home

This guide explains how to make red wine at home, step by step, from sourcing grapes through to bottling. Making wine takes patience and attention to detail, and from vine to bottle there are many stages that change the taste of the finished wine. Making quality wine isn't a chore; it's an enjoyable process, so bring your friends and family together to help.

Step-by-step guide to making red wine

Sourcing grapes

This step is important for all kinds of wine. Depending on the variety, the harvest period for grapes can range from mid-January for the very earliest varieties all the way through to mid-May for the latest-season grapes.

Grapes should be picked when they are physiologically ripe. Once the grapes are harvested, the physical and chemical components that influence the wine's quality are essentially set, so determining the optimal moment of ripeness may be the most crucial decision in winemaking.

Great wine can only be made with great grapes. The best flavour and aroma generally come from grapes grown in cool-climate areas, where the fruit has a longer ripening period. Grapes should also be in good condition. Crushing as soon as possible after picking is ideal, and remember to avoid any squishy, old, mouldy grapes.

As a general rule, it's best to use wine grapes to make wine and to eat table grapes. Some table grapes can be used as fillers or for additional flavour, but not as the main winemaking grapes. Most of us are looking for Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot and a small range of other grapes that experience has taught us make the best wine.

Grape buying tips

1. Every grape harvest in every region will have different quality levels each year, depending on the weather and growing conditions from bud burst (shoots sprouting in spring) to the ripening period in the warmer summer. It's wise to talk to your grape vendor to understand what varieties they can offer, where they source them from and when harvest occurs. At the markets, vendors often say they have the best grapes from South Australia. However, they are unlikely to be from the premium Barossa Valley region at $2-6K/ ton, and more likely from the irrigated plains of the Riverland, where the bulk wineries also source the cheapest fruit, at $600-1200/ ton. That makes it viable for them to sell grapes at approx. $16-24 per box in the Melbourne area. So, provided your grapes are fresh (no mould etc.), you are methodical about cleaning your equipment and you monitor your process regularly (plus use our awesome products & services), you should be able to produce a quality wine at home to the level of most commercially made wines.

2. Avoid buying grapes on your first visit to the market just because the vendor has yesterday's grapes available. Instead, use the visit as a gauge of what they can offer and the average price to expect.

3. Try to strike a win-win relationship with the vendor, where you leave a small deposit for your agreed 10 to 40 boxes so you can collect them the next day (or when ready), as the truck arrives at 6-8am with fresh grapes that were picked only hours ago!

4. Be a wise grape buyer! Remember that a grape vendor's trust is earned through the quality of the grapes delivered. Before paying the balance, turn one foam box over into an empty 50 L crate you have brought with you, and inspect the contents:

   • Check that the grapes are all the same, i.e. the same variety and size of fruit throughout. You shouldn't pay extra for Shiraz if they give you its cheaper clone, Mataro grapes. (Still nice blended though.)

More importantly, check that the stems look green (not brown or woody) and that there are no traces of mouldy bunches below, as these will leave off-flavours in the final wine. Either reject the grapes or settle on a price reduction with the seller, and make sure you pick out as many of these bunches as possible before crushing. Also consider using our condensed tannin Rouge, added at the crusher, to salvage the best wine possible. (Use a high dosage of high-vanilla American oak chips amongst the skins for the 7-10 day ferment as well, which will improve the flavour profile and mask any odd mouldy smells.)

To understand winemaking, knowledge, industry networking and hands-on experience are key to slowly improving your craft and producing quality wines at home.

For help with product selection, come and see us in store for further helpful advice. If you need a little more guidance, we offer in-store wine tests, and during these sessions you can have many of your simple questions answered. Vintage is our busiest period, as we deal with retail equipment sales Australia wide, so it is a little more challenging for senior staff to offer longer consultative winemaking advice during retail operating hours. To help customers who would like to gain further knowledge in a more relaxed environment, The Artisans Bottega has set up various winemaking workshops for small groups to learn more about the winemaking process and what additives to use in which situations, and to try some hands-on juice testing and wine tasting.

Day 1: Set up and crush the grapes

Step 1: Set up your work area

Clean and sterilise all the equipment that may come into contact with the grapes. This step is vital and could make or break your recipe.

Step 2: Crush grapes in an open fermenter

De-stem (remove the stalks from) the crushed grapes for the best results. Dissolve the pack "Day 1 No 1" in a glass of water. When dissolved, add it to the must (crushed grapes) and mix well. "Day 1 No 1" is potassium metabisulphite, which kills wild yeast, bacteria etc.

Add "Day 1 No 2". These enzymes help to improve the juice yield and to separate the skins from the pulp. After using "Day 1 No 1" you must wait 12 to 24 hours before adding the Day 2 packs!

Take out a sample of the juice and test it with a pH meter. The pH should be 3.4 to 3.6. If the pH is higher than 3.6, add tartaric acid according to the following guide:

• pH 4.0 - 3 g/L
• pH 3.8 – 2 g/L
• pH 3.6 – ½ g/L

(The pH may need to be adjusted again after first fermentation.)

Dissolve the tartaric acid in some cold boiled water. When dissolved, add it to the must and stir well.

At this stage, test the juice with a hydrometer. The ideal reading for making good wine is 12.5° to 13.5°. If the must gives a different reading, add grape concentrate, dextrose or water.

Consult our experienced staff for help. The quantity you might have to add will depend on the readings. Don't forget to cover the must to protect it from dust and insects.

Day 2: Add the yeast

Step 3: Yeast addition

Rehydrate the yeast and pour it into the must.

Day 3: Start fermentation

Step 4: Fermentation

Dissolve ¼ of the pack "Day 2 No 1" (yeast nutrient) in water, add it to the must and mix well.

Plunge the must from the bottom to the top to help fermentation and aerate the must.

Plunging and lifting is a very important part of the fermentation process for red base fruit (grapes, plums, berries).

Day 4 onwards: Fermentation, pressing and finishing

Dissolve the rest of the pack "Day 2 No 1" (yeast nutrient) in water, add it to the must and mix well. This will work as a "yeast booster".

By now the must should be fermenting visibly. When the skins rise to the top of the must, push them down and mix them with the must. If possible, draw must from below the skins with a pump or bucket and pour it back over the top of the skins, letting it splash to aerate the must. The gas produced by fermentation will protect the wine from oxidation.

Repeat 3-5 times a day. Keep the must covered with a cloth that still allows it to "breathe". Once fermentation starts, test the wine with a hydrometer, and check the colour and smell.

Step 5: Pressing

It is time to press when the Baumé is 0-6 and the colour is satisfactory. Typically, this is between days 4 & 7, but it depends on the temperature. Now is the time to add malolactic bacteria and nutrient.

The malolactic bacteria process is best done on fermenting grapes. Prepare the bacteria as per the instructions on the packets and mix them into a little wine. Distribute this evenly through the remainder of the wine. Fill the containers, leaving space for bubbling, and fit airlock(s).

Malolactic bacteria must be used only on wines with high malic acid levels (hot-climate grapes don't always need malolactic fermentation). Again, contact our staff for help with this process.

Strain the fermenting wine off the skins. Normally a wine press is used. If you used head boards, the quality of the "free run" and "pressings" will be equal, so there is no need to keep them separate. Put the fermenting wine into your barrel, glass demijohns or stainless-steel tanks, and place it in a warm place.

As the bubbling in the airlocks slows down, top up the containers as full as possible. Keep the wine warm (20-25°C) and check it with a hydrometer every day. Test the wine with a pH meter; it should read 3.5 to 3.6. If it is higher, more tartaric acid can be added. At this stage, add half of the quantity previously suggested.

Step 6: Completion of fermentation

Fermentation is complete when all of these tests are true:

• No more bubbles come through the airlock
• The hydrometer reading is well below 0 Baumé (-1.4 to -1.9 Baumé)
• The wine no longer tastes sweet

You might need to stir the wine weekly to help the fermentation finish. For best results, we recommend testing the wine to prove that the yeast and malolactic fermentation have ended before you proceed to the next step.

Incomplete fermentation is a common cause of wine spoilage.

When you are certain that the wine has finished fermenting, test it with a pH meter. Ideally it should read 3.5 – 3.6. If it is higher, ask us before adding any more tartaric acid. If any tartaric acid is added, allow the wine to cool and settle for 2-4 weeks before proceeding to the next step.

Step 7: Racking

Prepare PMS (potassium metabisulphite, in powder or tablet form) according to the directions and add it to the clean, empty container (barrel, demijohn or s/s tank) you're planning to put your wine into.

Take the wine out of the fermentation container and pour it into the container above, over the PMS. Be careful to leave all the sediment in the fermentation container.

Make sure the container is full of wine (if using a wooden barrel, check every week and top up if necessary). Rack the wine a second time at the end of winter and clean the barrel thoroughly.

Important to note: If the grapes were high quality and the wine already shows beautiful characteristics, it means that the "mother" (the lees) is particularly good and healthy, and it helps make the wine good and healthy too. In this case, racking is not necessary until a very late stage, because "the mother" keeps feeding the wine good nutrients.

Consult us if you have any doubts.

Step 8: Maturing the wine

For a less "home-made" taste, you need to mature the wine properly. Oak staves/chips will give the wine an oak flavour if you are using glass or stainless-steel containers.

The PMS added in Step 7 will preserve the wine for a limited time. Ideally, a further addition should be made every 3 months until you bottle, when the wine requires a final addition of PMS.

Contact us if you have any doubts and to test the sulphur amount in your wine, to check whether the levels are enough for storage and bottling. (This test is done in a lab and takes 5-7 working days for the results to be sent to you.)

Step 9: Bottling

Bottle the wine when it is ready to drink. For best results, use red wine finings, then filter before bottling. We recommend getting the wine analysed before bottling to make sure there is enough free sulphur dioxide (metabisulphite): the required levels will prevent spoilage and also improve the wine's characteristics while maturing.

Using insufficient preservative (PMS) is the most common cause of wine deteriorating in the bottle.

Step 10: Enjoy your wine!