Getting into the Process

The Grapes

There is an entire lifetime of study that could be dedicated to the process that got us to this point, and that is the science of viticulture (or in layman's terms, growing the grapes). Since the potential quality of the wine you are going to make is limited to the quality of the grapes that you start with you must consider your grape sources carefully. As the saying goes:

"You can make bad wine from good grapes,
but you cannot make good wine from bad grapes"

I don't live in the same area as the grapes that I use are grown, so I must rely on the work of others to ensure the quality of the fruit that goes into my wine. I'm not doing this aspect of the winemaking process justice, but since I don't have any real experience with it I can only work with the grapes that I can get.

The Equipment

You can spend as much time and money as you want to on winemaking equipment, but there are a few essentials. Above all else, they must be sterile! Wine is nothing more than fresh grape juice that goes bad in a very controlled fashion. All the chemical materials needed to spoil the wine are already present in the grapes, they are just waiting for the right environment to take over.

The Location

I started out in a cold, wet garage, but now that we have a new house I am working in my basement. At the end of the day a place that is clean, fairly dry, with a fairly constant temperature that does not get hotter than about 70° and colder than 32° (Fahrenheit) will work.