WINE MAKING: GETTING STARTED

So lets get  you started. We went over a few things last time so you kind of have an idea of what you’re going to be getting into. I really do tend to think of wine making as almost a lost art form; being able to enjoy something you created from your own two hands of this calibre(and its legal to boot!!) is just so satisfying.  Covering the basics, here is what you are going to need to start making your own gorgeous wines:

MUST HAVES:

Carboy-ginormous glass jug-you can purchase these in various sizes; I say the more the merrier so lets go big and look for the 23l variety. You CAN get plastic carboys, but stay away from these. Anything plastic is porous.  What this means is that sooner or later, scents and flavors are going to be held in that material, which can produce off flavors in your wine.  Also, you wine potentially will spend more time in a primary than any place else, depending on what you’re making.  Plastic can eventually wind up with tiny nicks, which harbor bacteria-and bacteria is the enemy in winemaking.

Primary – this is a big plastic bucket with a tight lid-again, splurge for the 23l size. No, you can’t just use a Home Depot bucket.  Well okay, you can, but on some level that’s just gross and even too redneck for me.   Go and get a real primary.  I know I just said to stay away from plastic, but as long as you’re caring for your equipment and don’t scrimp on your sanitation, you’ll be fine here.  Bacteria forms more readily in still wine than fermenting wine, and your wine will only be in the primary for a relatively short time.

Airlocks-these are simply rubber stoppers with a reservoir on top made to fit the neck of your carboy.  Air locks allow the gasses your wine produces to escape, and helps to keep nasty things out while its doing its thing.  It also helps with keeping an eye on when fermentation is finished.  A bubbling airlock, especially with completely home made wines, is a good sign.  It means your wine is doing what it should, its fermenting.

Thermometer-get a floating one and tie some fishing line to it. Trust me. You really don’t want to be plunging your hands into your wine searching for your thermometer.  You’ll absolutely need to have one to make sure your wine is kept at the right temperature for fermentation.

Hydrometer-for measuring s/g, alcohol content, sugar content, etc….we’ll get into that, its not as complicated as it sounds.

Cleanser- for cleaning your gear (I hear the experts use bleach/water solution; I haven’t tried that yet.)  There are many different solutions on the market for cleaning your gear. Typically I use Sodium Metabisulphite in the powder form.

Sanitizer- for your wine making equipment. Everything that touches your wine needs to be squeaky clean and sanitary.  Not keeping everything clean will spoil all your work, and that will be really discouraging and off-putting regarding a pretty cool hobby.  These two steps can never ever, ever be skipped, so don’t cheap out. Even I don’t cheap out on these.

Bottles(unless you’re like me; refer to the previous post) Just kidding.  Any wine supply store will have a selection of bottles for a good price. They’re sold by the dozen.

Corks-You can choose from different sizes and materials. Make sure you get the correct size for your bottles. These do not come with the kits (although they should). I tend to favor the composite corks, but corks made out of…cork…are less expensive.

Corker-You can get either a floor variety or a hand held one. I have both. I adore my floor corker because it literally cuts your corking time in half and you don’t have to have Arnies guns to cork your bottles.

Wine Thief – I cheaped out and used a turkey baster.

Wine Tester-as much as I’d like to say that you’re the wine tester, its not quite what I mean here. A wine tester is just a long tube with a closed bottom for…you guessed it.  Testing your wine.  You’ll use this to keep an eye on your various levels using your Hydrometer.  Personally, I have gotten to the point where I just sanitize my Hyrometer and drop it into the primary to read-but I’m working with kits and all I’m doing is checking my SG.

Carboy Carrier-This is a big tong kind of thing that makes it easier to lift and move your carboys. Personally, I have a strapping son that I use to move my carboys when they need to be moved, so this is completely optional depending on your upper body strength. However, a full carboy is very heavy, and a broken or dropped carboy is traumatizing. You and your back will thank me. If you don’t want to invest in one, you can borrow my son. I have a flat rate for his services we can discuss if you email me.

Wine Siphon-vinyl tubing, while adventurous, is not for beginners(….and I’m a redneck)you can get them with shut off valves, which you will need when it comes time to bottle your wine. Trust me, just go get one.

Heating pad (or a heating belt, available at wine stores) but a heating pad will work when its used correctly.

Wine Kit–DO NOT spend a ton of money on one when you’re starting out. In spite of what you might be told walking into some wine supply stores, you don’t need to. The last thing I (or you)want to do is dish out your hard earned money on something you’re just beginning to learn how to do.(If you have a lot of cash to throw around, email me and I’ll send you my bank account info.)  Wine kits can be gotten for around $40.00 or so. You can move up to the higher end ones once your comfortable with the whole process. You can use one of the recipes for fresh fruit or veggie wine I’m going to post later on here, but as a starting point I don’t advise it. I’ve been doing this for a few years and its daunting when a batch goes bad-and I decided to do this to promote the hobby, not to discourage you- and the potential for this is pretty high when using fresh produce. Leave that for a little later on as well(and yes we are going to cover that), unless you’re feeling really adventurous. You’ll thank me later.

Long handled spoon-No, you won’t get one long enough from the dollar store. Go to a decent wine supply place and pick one up. You are going to need to be able to stir up an awful lot of wine and a standard long handled spoon is not going to work.

Measuring cups-Yes, you can get these from the dollar store.

Measuring spoons-You’ll need these if you’re adding portions of additives to your wine, and you likely will be.

Water- Quite frankly, I don’t use filtered water for my wine, and I have not suffered because of it. If you want to spend the extra money on some filtered water for your wine, by all means do so.

THINGS YOU DON’T NEED, BUT MIGHT WANT:

Wine Filter. This isn’t strictly required, but if you want a crystal clear wine by all means get one. I have one and personally, I’m not picky enough about how my wine looks to use it.(are you kidding?  I’m working on killing a carboy of Rhubarb wine cloudier than the BC coast) The additives available for clearing wine work well enough for the average person-unless you’re bucking for some awards, in which case you’re already smarter than me and don’t need to read this blog.

Shrink wrap crown caps-seals your corks and makes your bottles really pretty and very professional; impress your friends! These are shrunk to the wine bottles with the help of a blow dryer.

Labels-Most wine kits will give you at least two dozen of these, but any wine store will have a great selection of self stick labels for less than $5.00. You can get some pretty neat ones instead of the generic ones. Also, you can download and print labels off the web, and even custom make your own labels if you have the right kind of printer.

Bottle drying rack-Handy, but you’ll be fine without one. Kind of like the wine filter, if you’re not counting your pennies when you start this, its a good toy. I do use mine, but I got it for free.  Would I have bought one?  Probably not really. It just behooves me (who came up with that word?)to let you know they make these if you want one.

Seems like a lot to have to go and invest in, but in actuality you’re going to be saving a ton of green here. And to be quite honest, there is still more “stuff” you can get if you find you enjoy your new hobby. The above list is not exhaustive by any means.  Like I said in my previous post, the initial cost is likely the most you’re going to have to spend to get started. Don’t rule out places like Kijiji, thrift shops, dollar stores(for the utensils-if a dollar store starts offering winemaking supplies, run like hell)  or friends who previously may have had this as a hobby and gave up on it for one reason or another-with a little patience and persistence, you can find some pretty good deals for the supplies you are going to need. You can count on spending about $150 first time out if you buy everything new, minus the floor corker(if you can afford one, you really need to get one of these fun toys)…but think about how much a decent bottle of wine costs. A good one will be at minimum $10.00 on sale. For 750ml of wine. You can get the cheaper stuff, but don’t blame me when you wake up and can’t remember who you are, where you are, or how you got there. Or for your spiffy new tattoo and possible criminal record. Just kidding. Kinda.

You WILL want to designate a specific spot in your house to do this all in. For me, I start out in my kitchen and eventually move everything into the spare bedroom aka “the wine room”.  I initially thought I’d do this all in my utility room in my basement, but that’s a bad idea for a couple of reasons.  You want your starting wine to be kept warmish. Most utility areas, being in basements, don’t have a good heat flow-and you do not want to be trying to tote a full carboy upstairs to warmth when you need it. Yes, you can set up  a heater, completely re route your ducts,  use heat belts or heating pads….but this endeavor is supposed to be mostly painless, and really, its supposed to be fun.  You’re going to want your baby wine to be at a constant temp of about 70 degrees for the best possible fermentation; and if your fermentation gets messed up then what you pretty much have is a lot of really expensive(relatively speaking) fruit juice. Which is fine…if you have someone that’s going to drink 23 litres of it.

I cannot stress too much the importance of cleanliness. Clean everything, and anything, that is going to touch your wine. I don’t care if its a spoon, an airlock, or your finger to poke at the foam in your primary fermenter.   I’m pretty anal when it comes to this; I have seen wine bloom with mold and bacteria because I wasn’t on top of keeping absolutely everything absolutely squeaky clean and to see an entire batch of wine go bad after all your hard work will totally put you off the hobby. You sure won’t kill anyone with contaminated wine, but having to explain why your latest vintage had someone doing the backdoor trots for a week won’t gain you any favor, either.