Amateur Winemaking

The Amateur Winemakers of Canada

Great wine is the product of a suitable climate, a specific site with the proper aspect to the sun and well-drained soil, protected from the harshest weather. The right varieties for the particular site are crucial. A talented farmer is the most important link in the chain leading to a great wine. And an unskilled winemaker can undo all the above. Nothing in this statement precludes great wine being made at an amateur level - from either the growing or the winemaking end - from known and unknown varieties of grapes or other fruit.

WINEMAKING ARTICLES


The 2008 Eastern Ontario Amateur Wine Competition Homepage

Winners from 1997 to 2008


AWO Club Growwine Home Page AWO Club Kawartha Krushers Home Page

Suppliers to Amateur Winemakers Amateur Winemaking Links

MAKINGWINE LISTSERVER

WINEMAKING 101

If you are just beginning, find a mentor. There are many good amateur winemaking clubs.Visit the Amateur Winemakers of Ontario Website

If you are experienced, help a novice. You can rediscover the thrills of first wine through the eyes of a newbie.

Use only high-quality raw materials, even to start. Try to win an award with every wine you make. This usually means the freshest fruit or juice only - and treating it with respect. You CANNOT be too clean!
Unless prevented, when yeast meets liquid containing sugar it will ferment. The basic equation is:

YEAST + SWEET JUICE = ETHANOL + CO2 + HEAT

STEPS IN WHITE WINEMAKING

1) Harvest ripe grapes.
2) Crush the grapes to release the pulp and the juice (called the MUST).
3) Gently press, separating the stems, skins and seeds from the juice.
4) Cool the juice, allowing heavier particles to settle.
5) Use a fining agent to clean the must.
6) Rack (siphon) the must off the LEES (sediment at bottom).
7) Add yeast and nutrient to allow fermentation. The must is now WINE.
8) Optionally, encourage malolactic (secondary) "fermentation".
9) Clarify the wine by RACKING, FINING, FILTRATION, (or by gravity).
10) Optionally, cold stabilize the wine.
11) Optionally, oak age the wine. Adds toasty, vanilla, spicy aromas.
12) Finish and bottle the wine.

STEPS IN RED WINEMAKING

1) Harvest ripe grapes.
2) Crush the grapes, releasing the pulp and the juice. Possibly destem.
3) Add yeast, allowing fermentation to begin with the skins.
4) Duration of skin contact will greatly affect type of wine.
5) Normally secondary "fermentation" follows directly.
6) Gently press the must to separate skins & seeds from the wine.
7) This is usually accomplished while fermentation continues.
8) Rack (siphon) the must off the LEES (sediment at bottom).
9) Clarify the wine by RACKING, FINING, FILTRATION, (or by gravity).
10) Optionally, cold stabilize the wine.
11) Optionally, oak age the wine (normally a longer period for reds).
12) Finish and bottle the wine.

CONSIDERATIONS:
1) Ripe grapes usually don't need adjustment to acid or sugar levels.
2) The above model is greatly simplified.
3) Sparkling wine sparkles because CO2 is trapped in the wine.
4) Both red and white grapes produce WHITE juice. The colour comes from the skins.
5) Careful yeast selection will lead to differing styles of wine. The type of yeast used can control how the fermentation process proceeds, and how the finished wine will taste.

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