BASIC STEPS TO HOME WINE MAKING 

My first visit to a brew shop in Chico revealed countless items for wine making & home brewing. Dawn is the owner, & soon became a source of information I counted on. I left the shop with the book "Home Wine Making A Beginner's Book".

There are four basic steps to making wine at home, primary fermentation, secondary fermentation, racking, & bottling. The book gives detailed instructions on each step, & the chemicals needed to make your own wine.

PRIMARY FERMENTATION: 
Combine all your ingredients in a food grade bucket and let it stand for 24 hrs. This allows the sterilization chemical to kill the natural yeast. The following day mix in the wine yeast, & let it ferment 5-7 days.

SECONDARY FERMENTATION: 
Rack (siphon) the fermented wine into a carboy (glass jug usually 5 gal) & top with an air lock for 3-4 weeks. 

RACKING: 
Racking is siphoning the wine from one carboy to another leaving the unwanted sediment in the first carboy. The first racking is done when secondary fermentation is complicated. The wine is racked again about 3 MOs later, & one more time in another 3 mos. This enables your wine to clarify.

BOTTLING: 
At bottling time you should add a stabilizer to prevent renewed fermentation. With the aid of a bottle fillet attached to your racking tube equipped with a shut off valve you can fill the bottles to the desired height for corking. Age your wine on its side to keep the cork from drying out which will allow unwanted air to contaminate your wine.

SOURCES: 
Home Brew Shop, Dawn 530-342-3768 
Listings of u-pick grapes 
Books: Home Wine Making, & Home wine making step by step 

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