6 Crucial Steps to Making Good Wine

There are many facets to crafting an exceptional wine. It requires advanced knowledge and a minutiae of the craft that the average wine kit maker does not have. But everyone can make good wine from a kit if they follow a few simple guidelines. I’m confident if you adhere to the suggestions I’ve made here you’ll make excellent wine every time.

1) Cleanliness. Make sure your work area is clean and tidy. Wipe up any spills immediately after they occur. Your equipment should be spotlessly clean. Use a food friendly cleaner such as diversol (pink stuff) before and after you use your equipment. Soak your equipment in a strong solution of this periodically to remove stains and build-up. Don’t confuse cleanliness with sanitation. You sanitize clean equipment.

2) Equipment. Don’t cut corners to save money. It’s false economy. The wine kit industry has been around for over 50 years now and its method for making wine has been constantly refined over time to give the best results. Follow the wine kit manufacturers recommendations. Avoid using smaller buckets or buckets that contained other materials. Don’t use a bucket as a secondary fermentor. Don’t use water cooler bottles. They are too small and alcohol may leach unwanted chemicals from them. Never use wooden spoons to stir your wine. They are difficult to sanitize.

3) Environment. Ferment your wine under the right conditions. Wine kits should be fermented within a certain temperature range. This is usually between 22º – 25º Celsius. Lower or higher temperatures can have undesirable effects such as unwanted flavours or incomplete fermentations. For the same reason you should also try to keep your fermentation temperature constant and avoid wide fluctuations.

4) Oxidation. During the primary fermentation your wine gives off vast amounts of carbon dioxide gas. Carbon dioxide is heavier than oxygen so it creates a protective barrier that keeps air out. Once the vigorous fermentation has ended this barrier is no longer intact and your wine is susceptible to oxidation. Oxidation can ruin your wine. Make sure you transfer your wine into a carboy after the initial fermentation has ended and top it up to avoid excessive air space.

5) Degassing. Your wine should be fully degassed before fining and stabilizing. To accomplish this you will have to stir it vigorously. You can use a spoon but a drill operated stirring rod gives better results with less work. Just make sure that you get rid of as much gas as possible. Don’t be timid. Bottled wine with excessive dissolved gas will have an unpleasant taste and smell.

6) Bottling. Use spotlessly clean and sanitized bottles. Use good quality corks. I recommend synthetic corks. They are made from an inert material which eliminates cork taint. My aged wines have tasted consistently better since I started using them. Your bottled wine should be stored in a cool environment away from heat and light.