Winemaking is a deceptively simple process; just mix your varietal grape juice with yeast, and let it ferment for four months before bottling. Unlike brewing, which requires you to boil malt with hops to create fermentable wort, winemaking does not require a boiling pot, forced cooling, or delicate liquid yeast cultures to produce great wine. Great wine does require good quality varietal grape juice, undiluted by added sugar or generic concentrate, and it also needs extended aging periods of 3 to 6 months for whites, and 6 months or more for reds.
Making your own wine is satisfying and easy. As long as you ferment great juice, keep everything clean, and give it enough time to age, you will get great wine. Another benefit is the cost savings; the cost of our William’s California Wine Kits works out to under $3.50 per bottle.
Which William’s California Wine Kit to choose? If you like reds and want something that is ready to drink in 6 months or less, pick the rich Petite Sirah or for a lighter red, Pinot or Merlot. For whites, Riesling can be quite good after only 3 months in the bottle, and Viognier has a smooth fruitiness that develops quickly with touches of pear and apricot in the finish. Our whites tend to be a bit sweeter, fuller in body, and slightly darker in color than many commercial white wines, due to the warm climate of Lodi where the grapes are grown.
Wine should be bottled, corked, and stored on its side for proper aging. Some aging does occur in the carboy or barrel, but the final aging only begins once the wine is bottled and corked. One thing that should never be done is to take off (or draw off) a portion of a carboy or barrel for immediate consumption and leave the rest. This invites oxidation to the remainder of the wine. Oxidized wine turns brown and bitter. In general, 2 cases (24 bottles) of 750 ml bottles will be needed for each 5 gallon batch of wine. Used wine bottles are fine as long as they are clean and sterilized before use. Always use new corks.
2. 10-30 minutes prior to bottling, drain off the water and add sterilent: sodium or potassium metabisulfite solution. Again make sure the corks are submerged. They do not need to be drained or dried before inserting into the bottle.
3. After bottling, keep the bottles upright for 24 hours, then put them on their sides for storage.
A standard wine bottle (375 ml, 750 ml, or 1.5 L) all take a #9 cork. To use this size cork, you will need a corker. A corker is the tool to insert the corks. The number of the cork refers to the size: a #8 cork is smaller, and is needed for some older and cheaper corners. A #7 cork is used only if champagne bottles are used (they are not champagne corks) or the cork is being inserted by hand (no corker used). The #9 gives the best seal.
Once the wine has been racked, to secondary, it should be topped off. This means the wine should be within 1-2 inches of the stopper. If a large air space is left in the carboy, the wine will oxidize, turn brown and taste bad. When racking from primary, extra wine should be put into a smaller bottle (wine bottles with stoppers and air locks) and used for topping off after each racking. This smaller quantity of wine should be treated the same as the larger one, as it is fermenting along with the rest. If extra wine is not available, a similar finished wine should be used. Water should be avoided if the quantity needed is more than 1-2 cups per 5 gallons. Adding water in greater amounts will thin down the wine making it taste watery and reduce the body.
How many Grapevines do you need to make a Bottle of Wine? | Growing Grapes in 5 Gallon Buckets
FAQ
How many bottles of wine will 5 gallons make?
How many 750ml bottles in 5 gallons?
|
gallons
|
mL
|
750 mL bottles
|
|
1
|
3785
|
5
|
|
2
|
7571
|
10
|
|
3
|
11,356
|
15
|
|
5
|
18,927
|
25
|
How many bottles are in a 5 gallon?
How many wine bottles make up a gallon?
How many bottles in 6 gallons of wine?
Six gallons of wine will typically yield approximately 30 bottles, depending on the size of the bottle. On average, a 750 mL bottle of wine holds about 25 ounces of liquid, and 6 gallons is equal to 768 ounces. Therefore, 768 ounces divided by 25 ounces per bottle equals an approximate total of 30 (exactly 30.72) bottles.
How much red wine can one drink per day?
Despite the popular belief that a glass or two of vine is good for health due to the amount of resveratrol and polyphenols, the amount of these substances in wine is small, making their benefits to be achieved in the long term and difficult to confirm even in large studies. That way, consumption should not be daily, and the dose would be a glass at most 3 times a week.
How many gallons in a case of wine?
A typical case of wine consists of twelve 750-milliliter bottles of wine, which is equivalent to about 2.3 gallons. In other words, a single case of wine contains approximately 2.3 gallons of liquid in total. The actual volume may vary slightly depending on the type and size of the bottles included.
How many bottles of wine fit in 3 gallons?
Approximately 15 bottles of wine can fit in 3 gallons. This number may vary slightly depending on the type and size of the bottle, as some bottles may contain a bit more or less than 750 milliliters which would affect the total amount of liquid in the 3 gallons.