What do I need to make a good wine?

[admin]

With today's budget I think I might start making my own.

Can someone do a FAQ for wine making noobs?

[Spud395]

From my attempts I decided you need a vineyard in the Alps!

[rukkus]

I've done a few of the kits that dont require sugar and they turned out ok.

[Shane Phelan]

I made red wine once using a 6 bottle kit. I didn't want to commit to 30 bottles without seeing what the wine tasted like.

I made it in 1 gallon demijohns which I were empty at the time. I followed the process of adding the additives, clearing agents, stabilisers and oak chips etc.. over a period of 3 weeks or so. I tasted a bottle of wine after 6 weeks and it tasted odd. I don't know if that was because I knew I brewed it or not. I tasted one after 8 weeks and it still tasted odd, I finished the bottle so it was drinkable, just tasted strange.

I forgot about it for a while and then had a bottle after 12 weeks, it tasted great at this point and I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between it and a normal (cheapo) red wine. So in the case of the merlot kit, don't bother going near it for 3 months after bottling as it does need a bit of time to mellow out.

I got a corker and used normal wine bottles. If I was doing it again I would use swingtops or used screw cap wine bottles. They work just as well apparently.

[johnrm]

I did a kit which was drinkable but my Merlot ended up more like a Rose.
Brett Dundee up Birdhill way has lots of experience of these and has said that the expensive kits are worth the money.

I have a hedgerow kit with yeast getting close to date and about 10kgs of strawberries taking up 1/3 of the freezer. I get dirty looks every time herself comes home with shopping... : Soon, very soon...

[DoWn2DiE]

Full instructions come with the kits.
here are two good series to watch
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZracDbcAGw&list=UUc2XCUgME-Pnb_vfF-EjP7w&index=18[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GVmIp4-VKg[/media]
if you want to make good quality quaffable wine stick with the beaverdale kits they're all quality wines.

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/wine-kits-beaverdale-30-bottles-c-103_126.html

53 might seem expensive but its under 2 quid a bottle and is similar to a 8-10 quid wine you'd buy. stay the crappity smack away from anything that requires 3-4 kg of sugar 20 quid kits. nasty stuff.

[Churchman]

Of the few kits i done of red the winebuddy 30 bottle merlot worked out the best value at around 80 cent a bottle plus 4 kgs of granulated sugar so around a euro a bottle all in. It doesnt have a dark red finish but somewhere between a rose and a red. It tastes ok and is fine as a table wine not too dry but hey am no wine buff so differant strokes for differant folks. I did a few 6 bottle 28 day but a lot of work for a few mouthfulls

[LordEoin]

You need September.
elderberries, blackberries, plums, apples, raspberries, can all be taken from the hedgerows by the bucketload to make outstanding wines for the cost of a bit of sugar and yeast.
later on, rosehip and sloes can be found too
pity this year was such a wipeout

[Col]

I have made wine for more years than I care to remember, from everything up to an including car tyres...
But for the beginner, you will simply not beat WOW, a wine created by a user on an English website. This stuff is the Dog's danglies, and you simply will not get a budget kit to come near it.

1 L carton of orange juice (not from concentrate)
1 L white grape juice (ditto)
1.5 lb. white sugar
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tsp wine yeast
1/2 tsp wine tannin
1 tsp pectolase
1 tsp glycerine

Dissolve sugar in 1 pt boiling water, and then add all liquids to 1 1/2 pts of cold water in a demijohn. Add additives, and stir until dissolved. Top up to neck, and adjust to approx. 1.090. Fill demijohn when initial ferment has calmed down, and ferment out to dry. Rack, and add camden tablet and potassium sorbate, then sweeten with sugar to taste. This can be drunk as soon as it is clear (finings are optional-it usually clears pretty quickly), but improves immeasurably after just a few weeks. Try this - you may be pleasantly surprised.