If you've been toying with the idea of trying your hand at wine making,
delay no longer. Go right ahead! By doing so you will be joining
thousands of happy people who have already discovered this
intriguing and rewarding hobby. Home wine making is a pastime that

truly brings its own rewards.

WINE MAKING - A DECEPTIVELY EASY PROCESS

Wine making at home is a deceptively easy process. In reality, all you
are doing is putting together either fruit or concentrate along with a
few other ingredients into a container and allowing Mother Nature
to do what comes natural.Your real contribution to the wine making
process is making sure that Mother Nature is given a fair opportunity
to do her part. This is done by putting together the right ingredients
in the proper proportions and making sure those ingredients are in
an environment suitable for a healthy fermentation.

There are many, many home wine making recipes available that
will guide you to the right ingredients and their correct amounts. And
they're no different than following a cookbook recipe.

Wine making books are a good souce for recipes and general wine
making information. There are many wine making books listed on this
site that offer and endless array of wine making recipes for making
wine from apples, blackberries, strawberries....

You may also want to take a look at the wine recipe chart listed on this
web site. You can use these wine making recipes to make wine by using
our 7 Easy Steps To Making Wine.

You can also make excellent wine from grapes at home. Wilder grapes
like Muscadine and Fox will make wine just like the more domesticated
grape varieties do. You can find more information on our web site
about making wine from grapes.

If you have trouble finding a wine making recipe to suite your taste
contact us and tell us what kind of wine recipe you are looking for and
we'll see how we can help you.

There are lots of concentrated wine making juices available. They all
come with recipes and directions right on the package. Most come
with all the wine making ingredients called for, such as our California
Connoisseur line.

Others are concentrated juices by themselves which provide directions
and a listing of the other basic ingredients you will need. One example
of this is our Sun Cal Vineyards line of concentrates.

In either case, these concentrated wine making juices are extremely
easy to use and make exceptional homemade wines, and they are
available all throughout the year. So no waiting for fruit to be in
season. You can find more information on our web site about
making wine from concentrated juices.

GETTING STARTED WITH A STARTER KIT

You may want to consider getting a complete wine making starter kit.
These kits include all the equipment and ingredients you will need to
get started making wine from concentrate or fresh fruit.

One of the main advantages to starting with a complete wine making
kit such as the SunCal Necessities Box or the California Connoisseur
Necessities Box is that they come with directions that apply specifically
to the supplies and ingredients that are in front of you.

In other words, the directions are very explicit. They take you by the
hand and guide you through each step with little to no guess-work; a
pleasant way to take on any new endeavor. You can find more infor-
mation on our web site about making wine using a starter kit.

WHAT WINE MAKING INGREDIENTS WILL I NEED?

There is a core group of wine making ingredients that are usually called
for in most all fruit and concentrate wine recipes. Each of these
ingredients play a specific and distinctly different role in the wine
making process. Here is a brief discription of what these ingredients do.

• Yeast Nutrient: This is not yeast, but rather, energy for the yeast.
  It insures that your yeast will ferment and make alcohol in
  sufficient quantities.
  
• Yeast Energizer: Used in place of Yeast Nutrient when
  fermenting fruits that severely lack the set of nutrients yeast
  expects. It has a more extensive array of nutrients.
  
• Pectic Enzyme: This is added to help break down the fruit during
  fermentation. By using it you will extract more flavor and body
  from the fruit. It will also help to insure that your wine will clear
  up successfully.
  
• Acid Blend: This is used to help control the sharpness of the
  wine. Many wines will not have enough acid on their own making
  the wine taste flat or flabby. By adding Acid Blend you can
  correct the deficiency.
  
• Wine Tannin: This is the zest of the fruit in powder form. It is
  added to increase the character of the wine and to aid in its
  clarification after fermentation. It also helps the wine to take
  better advantage of aging during storage.
  
• Wine Yeast: This is the stuff that actually does all the work. It
  is what turns the sugar in the juice into precious alcohol.
  
• Campden Tablets: These tablets are added before fermentation
  and again before bottling. They insure that your wine does not
  spoil and remains fresh tasting up to the point of consumption.

If you have these above basic ingredients then you will be able to
make wine from 95% of the recipes you run across.

WHAT EQUIPMENT WILL I NEED?

One of the things that makes wine making so attractive is that you
don't have to spend a ton of money to get started, and if you already
are buying wine at the store it can actually save you money. But there
are some fundamental pieces of equipment you will need before
making your first batch.Obviously you will need a container for
fermenting the juice. You will also need to be able to fit the container
with an air-lock. This is to allow gases to escape without letting stuff
back into the wine during fermentation. And, you will need some hose
for siphoning your wine off of the sediment. All very simple items. A
straining bag is also very handy when making wine from fresh fruit. It
is used for easy removal of the pulp during fermentation. You can
leave the bag in the fermentation, filled with pulp, and simply pull it
out at the appropriate time.Beyond this you will also want to get a
hydrometer. The hydrometer will allow you to determine the alcohol
level of your wine and it will help you to track the progress of your
wine's fermentation. An invaluable tool!

There may be other items that may pique your interest, but these
are the basics of what you will need to get started.

ADDITIONAL WINE MAKING INFO

Here are a few articles on our web site that may be of interest to
you. They are more specific articles that involve different areas of
wine making.

• Making Wine With Fruits
• Making Wine With Grapes
• Making Wine With Concentrates
• Wine Making With A Starter Kit
• Concentrates Verses Grapes
• 7 Easy Steps To Making Wine

NEED MORE DETAILED INFORMATION?

We also have an endless listing of helpful articles that cover
more specific topics on wine making at home. If you're looking
for an answer to a wine making question, or are just interested
in gaining more indepth knowledge about wine making at home
then take a look at our articles page.

• Detailed Listing Of Wine Making Articles

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