How to Make Wine from Grapes at Home 

What? No horrid loud music? No rambling off on topics unrelated to the topic? Followed your directions and got a great batch of wine from our backyard grapes. Thkx!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the best step by step instruction on wine making. thanks bro.

Thank you very much for your appreciation and taking time to comment. It is always good to hear that my videos have been helpful. Best wishes from Nick.

I feel like an archeologist right now

Excellent how-to video, I remember watching this back in 2012 when I made my first 5 bottles, now I am ready to make more, thanks for the great step-by-step method!

I first made "wine" 35 years ago using wild berries and fruit in Irlande, I now live in France. I am gathering together the exuipement to make cider ( using your excellent recipe) and wine from my own grapes. I am so delighted to have found your videos , they are really excellent , to the point, no waffling and spot on good advice. On my very first attempt I did buy a hydrometer, kept careful notes and even did a secondary fermantation bringing some of my wine up to 18 degrees. I made 40 gallons and it was a great sucess. For those who are moaning about lab experiments, making wine is just that, but it is so much fun as the more you take it seriously the better will be the finished product. This man gives such wonderful advise , you need to make wine once just to realise how good he really is. His videos are absolutely the best I have ever come across. I have not looked at your site yet www.the gift of wine.com but if the videos are anything to go by, it will be a treat. All the work you do to bring your knowledge totally FREE to us, your viewers do dot realise how lucky they are. Merci beaucoup

Excellent video. Very understandable and informative. My Aunt used to make chokecherry and blueberry wine when I was a kid. We lived out in the country and she would make some of each every fall. By the time to pick berries the next year the former year would be ready to drink. The chokecherry was kind of tart, but the blueberry was great. Only got a small taste, but when she was fermenting the berries the whole house smelled wonderful.

Thanks for a informative article, here are a few more tips for how to make wine… Use the right equipment. Things like plastic buckets and bins come in different grades of plastic. You must use the food-grade plastic products not the cheaper buckets you might use to clean the floor! If plastic buckets and bins start getting scratched and grazed, replace them. The grazes will start harbouring microbes and eventually you’ll have a spoilt batch of wine. If stirring the must (the initial mix of fruit and water etc.) in a bin, scald the spoon with boiling water first to quickly sterilise it. Fill and top up airlocks with cooled, boiled water - not straight from the tap. Avoid metal spoons and sieves with fermenting wine - i.e. after the yeast has been added. Sometimes they can taint the wine. Avoid wooden spoons, which are hard to sterilise - plastic is far better. Reusing wine bottles is fine, ask friends to save them for you and check with local pubs or restaurants who are often willing to give them to you. Wash out immediately as a clean bottle will be a lot easier to sterilise when you come to use them. Rack your wine to clear it before bottling. That is, using a syphon tube, suck up the wine from one demijohn into another leaving the sediment (called lees) behind. The tubes with a base and valve are cheap enough and a make this quicker. Allow the wine to settle for a week and repeat if necessary before bottling Never judge your wine by the taste as you bottle it. Most often you will think it is a disaster. Some wines can take two years to mature. As a general rule, perhaps try a bottle after six months. If it tastes harsh, leave the rest for at least another 5 or 6 months. Allow time. Time is the great wine maker and you should never be in a rush. We’ve made wine that was nnine months in the demijohn before bottling and drunk it 3 years later. The following year it was even better! (I discovered these and why they work on Pavas grape plan website )

I wonder who was that first guy to drink rotten fruit juice

That was a informative article, here are a few more tips for how to make wine… Use the right equipment. Things like plastic buckets and bins come in different grades of plastic. You must use the food-grade plastic products not the cheaper buckets you might use to clean the floor! If plastic buckets and bins start getting scratched and grazed, replace them. The grazes will start harbouring microbes and eventually you’ll have a spoilt batch of wine. If stirring the must (the initial mix of fruit and water etc.) in a bin, scald the spoon with boiling water first to quickly sterilise it. Fill and top up airlocks with cooled, boiled water - never straight from the sink. Avoid metal spoons and sieves with fermenting wine - i.e. after the yeast has been added. Sometimes they can taint the wine. Avoid wooden spoons, which are hard to sterilise - plastic is far better. Reusing wine bottles is fine, ask friends to save them for you and check with local clubs or restaurants who are often happy to give them to you. Wash out immediately as a clean bottle will be a lot easier to sterilise when you come to use them. Rack your wine to clear it before bottling. That is, using a syphon tube, suck up the wine from one demijohn into another leaving the sediment (called lees) behind. The tubes with a base and valve are cheap enough and a make this quicker. Allow the wine to settle for a week and repeat if necessary before bottling Never judge your wine by the taste as you bottle it. Most often you will think it's a disaster. Some wines can take 2 years to mature. As a general rule, try a bottle after 5 or 6 months. If it tastes harsh, leave the rest for at least another six months. Allow time. Time is the great wine maker and you should never be in a rush. We’ve made wine that was nnine months in the demijohn before bottling and drunk it three years later. The next year it was even better! (Reference: Pavas grape plan website )

Made wine using this method for the first time 3 years ago. The wine was so good it put me off bought wine. Everything home made tastes better. I was even still slightly sparkling. Liked the comment about wine making in Georgia.

This is the clearest explanation of home winemaking I've seen! Thank you for this!

Excellent video! I have been growing a grape vine for 4-5 years in my back yard, and it is starting to give some good yields. They are green wine grapes, and cannot be eaten as they are sour and have seeds. Thanks for this, it looks like you can get a decent amount of wine out of not that many grapes!

Very interesting video! I can appreciate wine so much more after seeing the long process of it. Thanks for sharing!

On second thought, I'll just go to the local liquor store...

Looks like a very good video for homemade wine with grapes. Thanks for putting this together.

I can't believe half of these comments... "too much work" "chemistry lab" "you need alot of equipment". Haha. This sounds like the kinds of people who won't last very long after the apocalypse. This detailed video on how to make wine looks like a cakewalk compared to all grain beer brewing. Seriously, just do a bit of further research. You can buy all the tools to make wine for about £100 and that's being generous. Producing alcohol is extremely easy. But making quality products requires a research, experiments and experience. Its fun. Give it a go!

Description should be "how to prepare wine at lab"

Very nicely done, This is my first "harvest" I follow your basic instructions.. I have been making wine for oh 6 yrs now but have used juice from winery. I however do not use the cambdem or any sulfites I know they are widely used seems everyone recommends it but wines with sulfites I do not prefere. I have had 100% success with out them so far..for sterilization I use 1/4 cup bleach to 1 gallon water, I also do not use corks but use the resealable Grolsh type bottle.. Thank you for the help Great job! and to all those Haters! STEP OFF! you dont drink why you even here! Dont like his voice Leave! Again mate, GREAT JOB!

After several times making my own wine home I used this method and it worked very well

"Oh I could make my own wine, I have grapes in my garden, my own wine would be delicious" *sees video* "Measure specific gravity" Hellll nahh 😂😂 just gimme the regular from the bottom shelf and we call it a day, shall we?

Very good and short recap of how to make wine at home. Thanks for the video

Hands down this is the best vid for making wine from grapes. Thank you for sharing. Good job!

AT HOME? That looks like a chemistry experiment!

guys are you serious? , thse are too much steps. i always make wine and enjoy it with only 4 steps 1_ buy grape juice with no preservation added. 2_ add to it cup off sugar. add the sugar to its original container . coz it is already sterilized. 3_ add small spoon of any yeas even bread yeast is good. 4_ last thing cover it with normal balloon. and make a hole in the balloon using a pin so bad air go out and in the same time outside air can't get in side. this balloon works like an airlock> and then just leave it for 5 days. and then enjoy drinking it after you filter it. and the more you age it the better it will taste

Just watched a show on wine making from Georgia, the country, the birth place of wine, 8000 years ago, and all they do is throw all their grapes in this big clay jar covered with beeswax covering the walls inside, buried in the floor, and they use the long poled masher to mash the grapes up, and slap a lid on it, let it set to ferment for a while, and just drop a glass down in it to drink the first glass to taste it, then that's it. No fancy hygrometer, primary, secondary fermenting. Just start drinking. Supposed to be the best wine their is.

Great tips, we have made wine from our own grapes for several years, will integrate your method with the one we already use, thank you so much for taking the time to make this video, nice and clear instructions, thanks again.

Love it. Chap speaking sounds a little like he is completely uninterested and has a gun to his head.... however, this is by far tge BEST Instructional video on you tube and the chap...who makes me tired, is clearly fantastic at what he does and I will follow this step by step for my first bit of wine making.

its ok to stir at the beginning when the alcohol content is low. The problem comes later when the alcohol content is much higher as bacteria in the air could turn the alcohol into vinegar so thats why it is sealed - to keep bacteria and oxygen out (the bacteria needs oxygen to turn the alcohol into vinegar)

Wow, I'm an idiot. Never did I think you'd have to sterilize things before use. Good to know when I start making wines of my own. Thanks for the video!

I used your method and got great tasting wine. Thanks for the video.

i loved how drink and enjoy got a "step".....rock on!

how much water do you put in? how much suger too ? his bucket keeps rising with liquid for no reason.

measure the specific gravity? WHAT???!

Just now saw this video after years of making wine from backyard grapes. Good to know that the technics have not changed much except, we all understand that everything needs to be cleaned and sanitized even more!

Thorough and easy to follow. Thank you! Measurements and sterilization are minimized here, but quantity made and common sense will take care of this.

RIP to all the people putting glass with boiling water and cool water.

I disagree with the use of a plastic bucket for the primary fermentation, but looks like an interesting method!

Excellent video. Thank you VERY much for posting this. I will be harvesting syrah grapes from my backyard in the next two to four weeks and I will use your video to make my first batch of wine.

What a great video! You were so straight forward, perfect instructions.

Should have been titled “How to DISCOURAGE someone from making wine at home”....because you’ve definitely succeeded with ME .

This is a very lengthy process and requires alot of equipment

I love your pilot voice because it's the most soothing sound in the world when the pilot speaks to passengers 😂

This is one of the most fascinating things I’ve seen on the internet. Thanks so much for sharing!!!

1:19 makes me want to stick pencils in my ears

This is advertisement of the tools. How could people in old times make nicer wines without these measurement tools?

Very good detailed video for anyone serious about making wine to last and make the flavor pop

this is the greatest gift of wine, wow. yum yum yum

what was step 17 sorry but i keep falling asleep by then.

but i want to crush it wid my feet bcoz my dog likes to lick it afta

Wow! I didn't know so many steps and equipment is needed. Very informative. Thank You.

Thanks for a very interesting post, here are a few more tips for how to make wine… Use the right equipment. Things like plastic buckets and bins come in different grades of plastic. You must use the food-grade plastic products not the cheaper buckets you might use to clean the floor! If plastic buckets and bins start getting scratched and grazed, replace them. The grazes will start harbouring microbes and eventually you’ll have a spoilt batch of wine. If stirring the must (the initial mix of fruit and water etc.) in a bin, scald the spoon with boiling water first to quickly sterilise it. Fill and top up airlocks with cooled, boiled water - never straight from the sink.

I don't know why you have attracted so many 'absolute dicks' commenting on your vid! ' What do you expect from pigs, only grunts'. Thank you for going to the trouble to upload this vid.

Good video well done.

Everyone always talks about spoiling and sanitizing but if there's enough alcohol, and the fermentation is fairly rapid, you don't really have to worry about it.

Gotta love RU-vid comments. He is making wine and its probably very tasty. He doesn't have to do it your way. He doesn't have to use additives or processes. That's the beauty of brewing, and if you don't understand that then its you that's doing it wrong.

The easiest steps are: 1.Go to the nearest liquor store 2.Grab your favourite wine 3.enjoy your free time and save time 😀

to much for me i go to Walmart and buy me a bottle for 10 bucks........ty

This vid is awesome! I just got 30lbs of Concord grapes from my front porch vine - and mushed with a power drill and paint mixer attachment into 4 gallons of the raw juice. Superficial gravity was spot on 180 with no need to add surge

Tyvm...I made some strawberry wine..I am going to open a btl today..but, I did everything u did, except for the campden pills in the strawberrys...omg, I hope I didn't mess up. Oh well, a lesson learned...I am fixing to do more strawberry, after thanksgiving ..and I will follow your way. Ty again for this complete video..

to much work

This is the best video and most straighten forward instruction that i so far found in RU-vid. Thank you for this video and your VERY CLEAR and METHODICAL instruction. Finally someone succeeded to make a proper RU-vid video. Thanks a Bunch to nickmitch6

Thx mr! Making my millionth batch but 1st batch w home grown grapes :)

This is by far the best and clearest video for making red wine from scratch with minimal supplies. Thank you so much for this! My vine is only 4 years old. I harvested for the first time and got about 16 pounds. Can't wait to see how good a wine I can get from them!

Step 27. Learn how to record and edit your audio properly

don't be a dummy raw... that's what the tablet does. You people are rude.

Fantastic instructions... as a newby really pleased to have found you.. Thank youi

I think I would have to go to wine school to get it done with a teachers help. If I did it on my own, last time I tried to make wine it was no mericle.

ممكن اي حد عربي يترجم😳😊

Bad way. You should not use chemicals. Use wild yeast instead of commercial yeast. Dont use sugar in the primary fermentation.

Our new house has a grape vine in the back yard and I am so excited to make wine with them. : ) Thank you!!

Really useful video, makes it very clear, will be heading to your website because I feel I’ll get the right stuff first time.

Very interesting video, this year I also published a video in which I show traditional homemade wine as our grandfathers from Bulgaria made it. I will ask you to add subtitles so that people who don't speak your language can understand, I always add.

Excellent video. CJ Berry would be proud. I feel the time is right for the hobby to return to popularity and people need to be advised of different methods. I've resurrected my hobby but am focussing on herbal tea wines; still trying to perfect the method but I've had some good results so far. I made a bad video about easy fruit juice wine (wurzels orange wine) but I do know better. btw you forgot step 26 leave it to rest for a while; and I have the same vegetable masher as you. Cheers.

I thought it was just gonna be grape juice sugar and yeast. Theres so much more that goes into wine making than I thought.

OH ok thanks for responding so fast, my wife and i are thinking of making this a hobby, this is the most informative video on the topic i could find :D

The amount of sugar needed (if any at all) will be based on the grapes quality and maturity. Add enough sugar to bring the initial specific gravity up to 1.095 to achieve a final alcohol content of 12-13% if fermentation goes to completeness. Also add this sugar at the beginning before adding the yeast, do not add half way through as demonstrated, it can cause several problems that are rather technical and there is no advantages associated with it either. ther

No need to add sugar (not surge!). I've made wine before, but this vid is so sweet. It's a great adventure!

@801Hemingway Thanks for your positive comment - I'm really pleased you found it useful

Thank you for producing this video. It is very clear and easy to understand. Now I can go crush my syrah grapes!! Cheers

All about them grapes, bout them grapes, no treble. good video!

What's the difference between the process for making red and white wines? Or is it the same process, but just using different grapes?

Thank you for posting this..I always wondered how they did this.

1) I have no experience with bakers yeast but from what I have read it is not recommended. 2) In theory no ... but to achieve consistent results and the desired alcohol content then both are essential. 3) The tablets kill bacteria and stop it turning alcohol into vinegar. If used at the start then dont add yeast for at least a day - after this the tablets lose their effect so dont harm yeast.

I was gonna make some wine for and my mum 😂 Forgot that that’s a whole science experiment. Started talking about gravity 😂

very witty sir. *nodding with approval*

I use like 6 pounds of grapes and the rest grape juice from the store for 5 gal. of wine. want to make a better wine and I will save this into my favs. so when I get to that point I will use this as my go to for making a better wine thanks for posting this.

Question, when you sterilised your bottles or Demi john , do you rinse them with water afterwards or are they ok to use dry? I have a bit of an after taste that am worried about. Thanks

I appreciate the information about the sugar. Thanks.

WOW - sounds like a Huge project. Funny thing is that a good number of people have jumped into this over the past years. Guess its a calling.

Nice. I know how to wine now. It would be fun to try it someday.

Just what my dream house needed

Good video. The Campden tablets are essential - I tried last year without them and the wine oxidised - this year am doing it by the book and is much better.

After the step 19 when you add more sugar syrup to the grape juice in the bucket, do you leave it settle like that for a day or so, or do you just mix it and start with the second round with bottle distillation?

@cbeaudot thanks for the comment. Good luck with your wine making. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the video. Last week I picked about 5 gallons of Concord grapes. Unfortunately, I did not get at mashing them until today. I noticed throughout them there was some light greenish mould. I picked out as many of the mouldy ones as I could, but I'm afraid I may have ruined the batch. Is there anything I should do to ensure the mold does not affect the wine?

i've made wine from grapes grown in my own garden for several years, tis better than what I can buy in a shop and cost a fraction of - and soooo satisfying doing it yourself (no nasty additives either) - a bottle of my own wine cost me about 50p. Try elderberry too!!!

Very well explained. Thank You !!

Yes. As long as the yeast is still active you can keep adding more sugar to increase alcohol content.

@Nightrain80 Keep it in the dark, ideally about 21 degC. Not sure about other yeasts or other methods of measuring sugar - best do a google search. You can boil the juice but add a teaspoon of pectic enzyme to eaach gallon or else your wine may be cloudy.