🍷 Home winemaking
Also known as: home winemaking, homemade wine, making wine at home, home wine making, DIY wine
Wine made at home from your own grapes or fruit for yourself and family, not for sale.
Home winemaking (homemade wine, or making wine at home) means making wine for yourself and your family, not for sale. It starts with grapes or other fruit and ends with bottles. In between come cleanliness, patience and fermentation.
The Virginia Tech extension guide puts sanitation first: bacteria and fungi from the kitchen counter, the produce and even the air can spoil wine. Equipment is sanitised with potassium metabisulfite, for instance from Campden tablets. Chlorine bleach is not recommended because it leaves a bad taste. The second principle is to limit oxygen once active fermentation is over, since it damages colour and flavour.
The steps run like this. Fruit is prepared and put in a wide container, and wine yeast goes into the must; bread yeast will not do. For three to ten days the must ferments in the dark. Red likes about 21 °C (70 °F), white 10–16 °C. When the density falls to roughly 1.030, the liquid is moved off the sediment into a secondary glass vessel with an airlock. That vessel is called a carboy, or in many countries a demijohn. The airlock lets carbon dioxide out and keeps air out. The wine is racked several times until it clears, then stabilised, sweetened if you like, and bottled.
Law varies. In the United States, TTB rule 27 CFR 24.75 lets an adult make wine tax-free for personal or family use, but not for sale. The limit is 200 gallons a year in a household with two or more adults and 100 gallons with one. That is about 757 and 379 litres. State or local laws may be stricter.
Compare this with factory wine: everything is in your hands, and so are the mistakes. For the story of the craft, see the history of wine. As with any alcohol, enjoy homemade wine in moderation.
Facts
| Bottle size | Up to 200 gallons (≈757 L) a year with two or more adults; 100 (≈379 L) with one 1 |
|---|---|
| Status | For personal or family use only, not for sale; state and local laws still apply 1 |
| Legal basis | 27 CFR § 24.75, United States (TTB) 1 |
| Duration | Primary fermentation 3–10 days in the dark 2 |
| Temperature | Reds about 21 °C, whites 10–16 °C 2 |
How it connects to Wine
🍷 Home winemaking → kind of → 🍷 History of wine → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Previous step
- 🍷 Demijohn
- Next step
- 🌿 Isabella (grape)
- Part of
- 🍷 History of wine
Frequently asked questions
How much wine can I legally make at home in the US?
Under TTB rule 27 CFR 24.75, up to 200 gallons a year for a household with two or more adults and 100 gallons with one adult, for personal or family use and not for sale.
What equipment do I need to make one gallon of wine?
Virginia Tech lists a primary fermenter of two or more gallons, a one-gallon carboy with a bung and airlock, a hydrometer, a siphon tube and a straining bag.
What temperature should homemade wine ferment at?
About 70 °F (21 °C) for red wine and 50–60 °F (10–16 °C) for white, in a dark room, for roughly three to ten days of primary fermentation.
Is it true that wine will simply make itself if fruit is left to sit?
Partly. Fruit left alone can ferment, but the extension guide says a pleasant wine takes more effort in preparing fruit and equipment, and cleanliness is essential.
Can I sell wine I make at home?
No under the federal exemption, which covers personal or family use only. Making wine in breach of state or local law is not allowed either.
Similar
🍷 Jean-Antoine Chaptal · 🍷 Noah's vineyard · 🍷 Saint Nino · 🍷 Saint Vincent of Saragossa · 🍷 Omar Khayyam · 🍷 Jiahu
Sources
- U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). 27 CFR § 24.75: Wine for personal or family use
- Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech. Wine Making for the Home Gardener (HORT-213)