Getting a high-quality alcoholic drink at home is not easy, you need to learn. If you follow the technology, it is possible for a novice winemaker to make semi-sweet grape wine at home. If you follow the manufacturing recipe, the drink can turn out better than in the store. Semi-sweet is one of the most popular wines in home production. The drink goes well with almost all dishes.
Features of creation
Semi-sweet wine has a soft taste and delicate aroma. It can be made from any grape variety. Experienced winemakers identify several of the most suitable: Riesling, Rkatseteli, Sapevari, Feteasca, Arevik, Lidia, Muscat, Cabernet Sauvignon, Isabella.
The semi-sweet drink contains a small amount of sugar - up to 12%, and is served not only with fish and meat, but also with desserts and fruits.
To make it you will need grapes, sugar, and add water. A few cooking features:
- To prevent the product from turning into vinegar, pasteurization is necessary. It will prevent the proliferation of microorganisms and protect the drink from souring.
- The fruits are kept until fully ripe so that enough glucose accumulates in them.
- A yeast film forms on top, thanks to which the fermentation of the product will be correct.
The containers for the future drink are clean and dry. They can be smoked with sulfur to prevent the ingress of microorganisms.
Cooking methods
There are two ways to produce a homemade alcoholic drink.
From juice and dry wine
First, the wine is prepared and bottled. The juice is squeezed separately, bottled and pasteurized at 85%, left for storage. For a semi-sweet drink, mix two products in proportions 7:3.
For example - 700 ml of wine and 300 ml of juice. There is about 6% sugar, 8.5% alcohol. For a sweeter taste, instead of juice, add 100 g of honey per liter of wine if desired. Drink the drink prepared in this way immediately.
Method with pasteurization
It will require grapes with a sugar content of at least 23%. Actions:
- Squeeze the juice from the grapes, pour into a clean container, and leave for 12 hours in a cool place.
- Then they pour it into a new container through a siphon so that the sediment remains in the old container, and set it for fermentation. In this case, the air temperature is set to no more than 15 0WITH.
- After seven days, you need to try the wine and not miss the moment when there is an optimal amount of sugar to make the drink enjoyable.
- Then stop fermentation by heating at a temperature of 80 0WITH.
- Before the procedure, drain the wine from the sediment, pour it, and seal it.
- Leave 10 liter bottles for 50 minutes, then remove from the water and leave for 24 hours. Then take it to the cellar for 2 months.
When the drink brightens, it is poured, sealed with clean, steamed corks, and tied with parchment. Then pasteurize again at a temperature of +72 0C, 0.5 liter containers are kept for 25 minutes. After cooling, you are allowed to taste the wine. Store at +10 0S, no more.
Rules for choosing main ingredients
Before preparing the drink, you should know the basic rules. The grapes removed from the vine are not washed, even if they are dusty. After all, there is live yeast on their surface. There is no need to pick grapes immediately after the rain; you need to wait a few days.
To obtain a high-quality alcoholic drink, the bunches must be dry, without drops of moisture. The berries are separated from the branches, dry and moldy, and thrown away. The berries are thoroughly mashed, done in portions. Each is poured into prepared dishes.
Experts advise that if grapes are harvested in cold weather, you need to let them stand at room temperature for several hours.
How to make semi-sweet grape wine
There are many recipes for preparing an alcoholic drink; a few of the most popular ones are highlighted.
Simple recipe
To make an alcoholic drink at home, it is better to use artesian water or tap water. The technology is almost the same as for a dry drink. Ingredients:
- berries - 10 kg;
- water - 600 ml;
- granulated sugar - 1 kg.
Clear the collected bunches of debris. Then separate the grapes from the grapes and crush them, preferably with your hands, or with a wooden masher. Berries should not come into contact with metal utensils. Place the resulting mass in a large container, ideally an oak barrel, cover with a clean cloth, place in a room where the temperature is + 25 0C. Leave for 5 days, stir regularly with a wooden stick 1-2 times a day.
After a while, drain the juice into a separate container. Pour crushed berries without juice and peel with water, add sugar and leave for 3 days. Then mix both liquids in one container and install a water valve to remove carbon dioxide. For this they use factory-made, ready-made water seals or their own homemade design.
After three weeks, when fermentation is complete, drain off the sediment. Bottle the liquid, then pasteurize. Heat the water in the pan to +60 0C, put a grate on the bottom and place the bottles. Leave them for 20 minutes. Then remove and cool.
The wine still needs to ripen for a month or two.
From Rkatsiteli grapes
Making wine from this variety is characterized by a large amount of sugar. Rkatsiteli has a harsh taste, there is little glucose, but the product is stored longer. You will need:
- Rkatitseli - 40 kg;
- water - 8 l;
- sugar - 7.5 kg.
Crush the berries, place them in a clean container, and leave for 4-5 days. During this time, stir several times. Then drain the juice into a separate bowl. Dissolve sugar in water, pour over pulp. Let it sit for another 5 days. Then pour the juice and pulp into one container.Leave for fermentation for at least a month, installing a wine water seal. Then bottle it.
From the Isabella variety
Isabella fruits reach maturity at the end of October. To produce a sufficient amount of sugar, the grapes are harvested another week. Ingredients for semi-sweet drink:
- grapes - 20 kg;
- sugar - 2-4 kg;
- water - 0.5-0.7 l.
Place the crushed berries and squeezed juice into a sterile container with a wide neck. After 4 days, when fermentation just begins, strain the juice and squeeze the pulp through double-layer gauze.
Pour half the sugar into the juice and pour into a bowl for fermentation. Install the lid with the water seal tightly. Place the future wine in a dark place with a temperature of +18… +28 0C. After 5 days, add the rest of the sugar. When fermentation is complete, taste and add more sugar if necessary. You can use a special filter tube to pour it into another container without affecting the sediment. Place in the basement to age for 3 months. Then bottle it.
How and how long can you store
It is better to store wine in glass bottles, or in plastic bottles. They must be from food products and thoroughly washed, free of foreign odors. Then the containers are disinfected with a solution of iodine and water in a ratio of 1:2500. The lids are also soaked in the solution for an hour.
The disinfectant is drained and the bottles are filled with wine, 1-2 cm short of the neck. The closed container is lowered into the basement and kept in an upright position. The drink is tasted every 2 weeks.
Room temperature is desirable +14…+16 0C for dessert wines, +10…+12 0C for dining rooms, humidity - 80-85%. There should be no mold or products prone to rotting.
Grape wine is stored for 4 years, plum and cherry wine for 3 years.It is allowed to keep the drink in a plastic container for no more than 7 months.
The wine is also aged in oak barrels for 1-2 years.
