Best Homemade Wine Recipes

HOMEMADE WINE

Steps:

• Combine the yeast, sugar and juice concentrate in a gallon jug. Fill the jug the rest of the way with cold water. Rinse out a large balloon, and fit it over the opening of the jug. Secure the balloon with a rubber band.
• Place jug in a cool dark place. Within a day you will notice the balloon starting to expand. As the sugar turns to alcohol the gasses released will fill up the balloon. When the balloon is deflated back to size the wine is ready to drink. It takes about 6 weeks total.

EASY HOMEMADE WINE

Steps:

• Pour grape juice into 5-gallon container.
• Bring water and sugar to a boil until sugar is melted.
• Let cool.
• Pour into container.
• Add 1 pkg yeast (activating beforehand is optional).
• Close with airlock stopper.
• Allow to ferment for 3 weeks in a sanitized 5-gallon container.
• After 1 additional week, bottle.

PAW-PAW & NANA'S HOMEMADE GRAPE WINE

Steps:

• 1. Pick your grapes when they are at their ripest but not starting to dry out on vine.
• 2. Stem & wash the grapes.
• 3. Run through a Victorio strainer with a grape spiral & the pumpkin screen attached. Or, if you are up to it, play like Lucy & stomp with clean feet or squeeze by hand, but I don't recommend the feet! Don't squeeze with anything that will cause the seeds to be broken. They contain tannin & this has a very bitter taste & will ruin your wine. The Victorio strainer does not do this, nor does by hand do it.
• 4. Place in clean 5 gallon bucket, the juice & all the seeds, pulp & skins. Only fill up to about 5" from top, as it will work & rise.
• 5. Crush a campden tablet with mortar & pestle. In a drinking glass, put about 1 cup of tepid water, the Campden tablet & one package of Montrachet yeast. Stir & let set for about 5 minutes.
• 6. Now, pour into the grape squeezings. Using a clean hand & arm, stir the bucket good to incorporate the yeast mixture well.
• 7. Place black plastic trash bag on top of pail & secure with rubber band string. Place pail in a dark cool place. Put a heavy piece of cardboard under it in case of spillage.
• 8. We start ours in the am hours. This will ferment in the pail for about 4 days. Each day at the same time & twice a day, you will need to stir it with your hand & really good to keep all the squeezings working. So, we start ours at say 7:00 am & then every day for the next 4 days, we stir it at 7:00am & 7:00pm
• 9. After 4 days, using the mesh bag, squeeze the mash into clean 6 gallon pail. Discard the squeezin's.Take the alcohol potential level with the hydrometer. It should be 0% at this time. You want to bring it up to around 12%-13%. We have found that it takes about 2# sugar to each gallon of liquid to do this. You should have about 3 gallons of liquid after squeezing. Add 2 gallons of the spring water with it to make 5 gallons of liquid. Therefore, you should need 10# sugar to the 5 gallons of liquid. Stir with a long handled wooden spoon until all sugar is dissolved. At this time, take another reading. It should read about 12%-13% alcohol potential.
• 10. Place funnel on 5 gallon carbouy & pour the wine into the carbouy. It will not all fit. You need to leave room for it to work. Just bring it up to the last line before the neck of carbouy (refer to picture). Place the stopper in it. In the airlock valve, drop in one campden tablet & then the little percolator thing. Fill this half full with spring or distilled water. Place the lid on airlock valve & place the valve in the cork on bottle. It should start to perk rather quickly. Now, just put in cool, dark place for about 1 month.
• 11. After 1 month, it will slow down or stop all together perking. Ours was perking once per minute when we racked it. This means all your sugar has been turned into alcohol. You are going to RACK the wine now to get it going again. To do this, you will strain it into a 5 gallon pail that has a tea towel over the top with your string/rubber band tie. Indent it slightly in the middle like a pool. Pour wine through this to strain.
• 12. Take your potential alcohol level reading again. It should read 0% again or close. You will need to bring it back up to 10%. Don't add more water, but do add enough sugar to bring it back up. Stir until dissolved. So, if it's reading 0%, you will need about 10# of sugar to the 5 gallons of liquid to do this. If it reads 2% to start with, use about 8# & then check it until you have it where you need it.
• 13. Pour back into clean carbouy & replace the same airlock & place in cool dark place. Allow to work until it stops the perking process. This could take up to a few months.
• 14. When the perking stops, pour wine into 5 gallon pail.
• 15. Follow directions on your bentonite & add to wine in pail. Also, mix 1/2 tsp. per gallon of Potassium Sorbate. Follow directions on bottle for mixing it. Add to wine also.
• 16. Return to clean carbouy & place airlock back on. Let set for at least 24 hours, but 2 days is better.
• 17. Now, you are ready to bottle. Strain wine into 5 gallon pail that is covered with tea towel again & pour wine into pail.
• 18. Now, using a funnel, & small pan, but not aluminum or cast iron, pour the wine into bottles & cork or use the screw on lids. Store in cool dark place. It is ready to drink. Enjoy!

HOMEMADE RED WINE VINEGAR

Steps:

• Pour the wine into a clean, wide-mouthed half-gallon glass jar. Put the lid on and shake it well to aerate the wine. Remove lid, and add drinking water until the jar is about three-quarters full, along with the live raw vinegar or mother. Cover the jar with cheesecloth and keep the cloth in place with a rubber band.
• Leave the jar undisturbed in a dark place at room temperature for 3 to 4 weeks, checking regularly to see that a vinegar mother (a translucent, gelatinous disk) is growing on the surface, and no mold is forming. (If you see green, black or white mold, scrape it off; if it grows back, throw out the mixture and start over.) You should begin to smell vinegar after a few weeks, and can taste it every week or so to monitor the fermentation.
• After about 2 months, when the alcohol has acidified, or when a taste of the vinegar makes your mouth pucker, it's ready to strain and bottle. (You can save the mother to begin a new batch.) The vinegar can be used as is, or aged in the bottle for up to a year to mellow its flavor.

HOMEMADE TOMATO SAUCE WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND RED WINE

Steps:

• Saute 1 lb. sweet italian sausage until light pink, almost done.
• Add olive oil, onion and garlic and cook on medium until soft and golden brown, about 8-10 minutes.
• Add the thyme and carrot and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is soft.
• Add the red wine and cook for one minute.
• Add the canned tomatoes and bring to a boil, stirring often.
• Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until consistensy is thick.
• Season with salt if desired (I usually don't need to) and serve.
• You can substitute 1 tablespoon dried thyme for the fresh thyme.
• Try adding 2 cups of grated fresh zucchini at the same time as the tomatoes for a fresh summer sauce.
• Try adding one pound of fresh sliced mushrooms at the same time as the carrots.

RICE WINE RECIPE / HOMEMADE FERMENTED RICE WINE

Steps:

• Wash and rinse rice and black raisins and keep it aside.
• Take a clean big ceramic jar or a glass jar. Add in all ingredients, rice, raisins, sugar followed by water. Stir it well with a wooden ladle.
• Next add in yeast and lemon juice and mix well.
• Cover the jar with its lid.
• Everyday stir it well for 2 minutes in morning and evening.
• Do it for the next eighteen days.
• On the 19th day open the jar and filter it (you can use a muslin cloth, I didn't use) to a clean big bowl.
• Wash the jar and allow it for pat drying.
• Transfer the filtered content to the jar back and close the lid. Keep it for another week.
• You can see the colour changing from the next day onwards.
• After the said period, transfer it to clean bottles and you can start using it.
• The rice wine is ready to serve.

HOMEMADE CRANBERRY RASPBERRY WINE COOLER

Steps:

• Mix cranberry, raspberry and riesling wine together and pour in a tall highball glass over ice. Enjoy!

HOMEMADE BLACKBERRY WINE

Steps:

• Mix juice, water and sugar in a large container. Get an old Tshirt or sheet (make sure it is clean please -lol) and place it over the top of the container but NOT touching the liquid or it will act as a wick! We like to tape the fabric in a few places so it stays up and doesn't sag down into the wine.
• Put container is a cool place and let it rest for 3 days. Skim the junk off the top as good as you can. Recover and leave for 6 more days.
• Skim off any junk from the top again and add brandy. Now cover this tightly to keep air out. After two days you will find sediment in the bottom. We leave it but you may want to ladle out the wine into another container until you are down to the sediment. Discard sediment- keep the wine!
• Pour wine into bottles and seal well. The wine will improve with age.

HOMEMADE RED WINE VINEGAR

Steps:

• Place the vinegar and the wine in a crock or jar, such as a large canning jar. It should hold at least 1 gallon, with enough extra space to allow for plenty of air circulation. Cover the opening with a cotton towel or piece of muslin, secure it with a rubber band, and place it in a warm spot (68-70°F.) for 1 to 2 months. Check it occasionally, and sniff it. It will gradually assume a distinct vinegar aroma, and you will notice a slight film, or voile, appearing on the top. Don't move the jar, for it might disrupt the film, which is the beginning of the bacteria that will create a blanket on top of the vinegar and turn any wine you add to vinegar.
• When the mixture has a distinct smell of vinegar (after at least 1 month), transfer it to a crock with a spigot, or to a small barrel with spigot and a bunghole, by pouring as much of the vinegar as possible into the new container, then carefully transferring the mère by hand. Draw off one third of the vinegar and bottle it for use. Replace that with an equal amount of wine. From then on, add ends of bottles to the vinegar crock, making sure you never submerge the mère and that you don't add too much all at once, which could cause the mère to expire.
• After adding wine, wait at least 2 weeks to draw off any vinegar.

HOMEMADE WINE COOLERS

Steps:

• Pour wine into an ice cube tray and freeze until solid.
• When cubes are frozen, plop 1 or 2 into a glass of ginger ale. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes so the cubes melt a little; stir.

HOMEMADE TACO SEASONING (SMALL & BIG BATCH VERSIONS!) - WINE & GLUE

Steps:

• Mix together all the spices. 3 tablespoons is equivalent to what you would buy at the store.

HOMEMADE BALLOON WINE

Steps:

• Combine the yeast, sugar and juice concentrate in a sterile gallon jug. Fill the jug the rest of the way with cold water. Shake jug to mix ingredients.
• Rinse out a balloon, and fit it over the opening of the jug. Poke one small needle hole in balloon. Secure the balloon with a rubber band.
• Place jug in a cool dark place. Within a day you will notice the balloon starting to expand. As the sugar turns to alcohol, the gasses released will fill up the balloon. When the balloon is deflated back to size; the wine is ready to drink. It takes about 6 weeks.
• Be sure to siphon off the top and/or strain through a coffee filter. You DO NOT want to drink the residue in the bottom of the gallon jug.
• This wine is great for cooking as well as drinking. We tried grape juice concentrate, but the original recipe preferred the red.

GORGONZOLA ROMAINE SALAD WITH HOMEMADE RED WINE VINAIGRETTE

Steps:

• MAKING THE SALAD: FIRST THING TO DO IS PREP. THE FIRST 6 INGREDIENTS. IN A LARGE BOWL, TOSS ALL 6 INGREDIENTS . THEN ADD THE MUSHROOMS, CARROTS, AND THE RED CABBAGE. THEN TOSS UNTIL WELL BLENDED. THEN ADD THE CHEESE BLEND WELL WITH TONGS. THEN YOU SET THE SALAD IN THE REFIGERATOR UNTIL VINAIGRETTE IS FINISHED!! MAKING VINAIGRETTE: IN A SHAKER CONTAINER FIRST ADD WATER, RED WINE VINGAR, AND THEN OLIVE OIL. PUT A COVER ON THE CONTAINER AND SHAKE WELL. THEN YOU TAKE OFF THE COVER AND THEN YOU ADD ALL THE SEASONINGS. YOU YOU THEN PUT THE COVER BACK ON THE CONTAINER ONCE AGAIN AND SHAKE WELL. NOW THE THE VINAIGRETTE IS DONE. YOU TAKE THE SALAD OUT OF THE REFRIGEATOR AND IN SEPARATE SALAD BOWLS YOU PUT SOME SALAD. THEN YOU ADD THE VINAIGRETTE TO FINISH THE SALAD!! MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS (SALAD) MAKES 8 OZS.0R MORE (VINAIGRETTE)

HOMEMADE BLACK CURRANT WINE

Steps:

• Add sugar or honey to boiling water to dissolve.
• Allow to cool to 105* F.
• Add yeast and yeast energizer, stir, then cover with cloth.
• While allowing the yeast time to wakeup (1 hour) sterilize the stopper and airlock.
• Open the quart bottle of juice or nectar and pour out 1 and 1/4 cup of it (this doesn't need to be saved.).
• Add the mixture to the juice/nectar, put the lid on and invert the bottle a couple of times to mix up the two.
• Insert your sterilized bottle stop and then insert your airlock into that.
• Add water to the airlock, enough to meet the watermark in both chambers.Place it in a warm area and let it sit until the airlock bubbles only every 3 minutes or so. (one to two weeks).
• Once the fermentation has slowed down considerably, pour (or 'rack' with a siphoning tube) to a bottle of the same size. This will separate your wine from the 'lees' (the dead yeast that accumulate in the bottom of the bottle).
• Remove 1 cup of the wine and taste test or dispose of. It's not needed at this point. If the fermentation went well it won't be sweet at all at this point.
• Add another cup of warm sugarwater (1/2 water & 1/2 sugar dissolved) to the bottle and reinsert the stopper and airlock (sterilized again if necessary).
• Let ferment until the airlock is bubbling once every five minutes.
• 'Rack' again and at this point you can either drink the wine or let it age for another two months before enjoying.

EASY HOMEMADE WINE

Steps:

• Pour the package of yeast and the sugar into the gallon of fruit juice and mix thoroughly (put the cap on and shake it).
• Uncap the bottle, poke one tiny hole in the balloon with a pin, then secure the balloon over the opening of the bottle.
• Set aside in a dark place. The balloon will rise over time. Wait until the balloon is deflated once again, this will take weeks.
• Siphon into bottles or mason jars (leave the gunk at the bottom of the gallon container) and cap securely until you're ready to drink it.