{"id":1053,"date":"2014-03-25T00:05:32","date_gmt":"2014-03-25T07:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hellbach.us\/blog\/?p=1053"},"modified":"2023-07-15T12:18:53","modified_gmt":"2023-07-15T19:18:53","slug":"beginners-guide-making-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hellbach.us\/blog\/food-drink\/beginners-guide-making-wine\/","title":{"rendered":"A Beginner&#8217;s Guide to Making Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:4247,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/winemakermag.com&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20251002120422\\\/https:\\\/\\\/winemakermag.com\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-19 12:13:18&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-10 01:59:55&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-10 01:59:55&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:4248,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.thewinefoundry.com&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20250909110855\\\/https:\\\/\\\/thewinefoundry.com\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-19 12:13:19&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-10 01:59:55&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-10 01:59:55&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:4249,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/vintnerscellar.com&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;new&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:4250,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/winenotinternational.com&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20241209230734\\\/http:\\\/\\\/winenotinternational.com\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-19 12:14:07&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-10 01:59:56&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-10 01:59:56&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:4251,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.eckraus.com&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20210308124223\\\/https:\\\/\\\/eckraus.com\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-19 12:14:09&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-10 01:59:56&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-10 01:59:56&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:4252,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.thegrape.net\\\/index.htm&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20231120230537\\\/https:\\\/\\\/www.thegrape.net\\\/index.htm&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-19 12:14:11&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-10 01:59:55&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-10 01:59:55&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150622063027\/http:\/\/www.mensjournal.com:80\/food-drink\/drinks\/a-beginners-guide-to-making-wine-20140310\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">A Beginner&#8217;s Guide to Making Wine<\/a><\/h2>\n<p>Much as do-it-yourself generations from the past home-brewed beer, scores of young professionals are now trying their hand at wine-making. And, just as home-brewers terrorized their friends and neighbors with their suds until they got it right, today&#8217;s amateur vintner&#8217;s have to go through a fair amount of trial and error before their rocket fuel tastes more like rocket juice. &#8220;I&#8217;m learning more and more each time we do it so that my cousins and I can continue the tradition,&#8221; says Anthony Alagia, 29, whose Italian grandfather was taught by his grandfather. Every fall, Anthony&#8217;s family gathers in Secaucus, New Jersey, to eat a big Italian meal, drink wine, and de-stem and crush 10 crates \u2013 about 220 pounds \u2013 of zinfandel grapes that they turn into 30 gallons of table wine.<\/p>\n<p>If, like the Alagias, you like the idea of your own vintage, there are essentially three approaches. The first is for those who don&#8217;t have the time, space, family tradition, or stamina to pore over issues of <a href=\"http:\/\/winemakermag.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wine Maker<\/a> magazine and go solo for the entire process. &#8220;I&#8217;d never make wine at home. That would be like assembling my own car,&#8221; says Rod Burns, 37. Instead, Burns uses <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewinefoundry.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Wine Foundry<\/a>, a San Francisco\u2013based winery that oversees the entire process, from choosing the grapes to creating the bottle&#8217;s label. For people who want to make their own wine with professional equipment, companies such as <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20141103130443\/http:\/\/www.carafe.ca:80\/main.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Carafe Winemakers<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/vintnerscellar.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Vintner&#8217;s Cellar<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/winenotinternational.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wine Not<\/a>\u00a0offer similar programs at locations throughout the United States and Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ron Wagner, a 38-year-old IT consultant, paid The Wine Foundry nearly $8,000 to make his first barrel (that&#8217;s 300 bottles&#8217; worth) \u2013 not cheap, but in addition to being able to put his own name on the label, Wagner has already received orders for his 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, at $27 per bottle, before the wine has even fermented.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The second approach is a baby step toward going it alone. Instead of grapes, start with a $100 kit that includes specially bottled grape juice from an online shop such as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eckraus.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">E.C. Kraus<\/a>\u00a0or the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thegrape.net\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Grape and Granary<\/a>\u00a0to avoid the messier parts of the process and increase your initial success rate. The third (and most ambitious) approach is to buy some grapes through a reputable local supplier. Everything else, from crusher to barrels, is also available online for about $1,000. The process is pretty much the same for all wines. After the grapes are crushed and de-stemmed, place the mixture, called must, in a small tub and combine it with sulfites to kill the wild yeast. Twenty-four hours later, add in cultured yeast to ferment the must, then &#8220;punch down&#8221; the skins that float to the top (mix them back into the must) twice a day for a week. At the end of the week, check the sugar levels and use a press to remove the juice from the skins and pulp. At this stage, the wine will be alcoholic but probably won&#8217;t taste great. Finally, the juice is poured into a wooden barrel (or a plastic or glass container called a carboy, with oak wood chips) for secondary fermentation. A few wines can be bottled and drunk in a matter of months, but others, like cabernet sauvignon, really need to age as long as two years.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150626113042\/http:\/\/www.mensjournal.com:80\/contributor\/annemarie-conte\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Annemarie Conte<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Beginner&#8217;s Guide to Making Wine Much as do-it-yourself generations from the past home-brewed beer, scores of young professionals are now trying their hand at wine-making. And, just as home-brewers terrorized their friends and neighbors with their suds until they &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hellbach.us\/blog\/food-drink\/beginners-guide-making-wine\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food-drink"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Beginner&#039;s Guide to Making Wine - Hellbach blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hellbach.us\/blog\/food-drink\/beginners-guide-making-wine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Beginner&#039;s Guide to Making Wine - Hellbach blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Beginner&#8217;s Guide to Making Wine Much as do-it-yourself generations from the past home-brewed beer, scores of young professionals are now trying their hand at wine-making. 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