vino della casa

This year my grape harvest was, as I told you before, abundant and of good quality. Having spent summer in my beloved Umbria in the middle of vineyards, my mind wouldn´t let go of the idea of making my own wine.

I searched for recipes and almost got too scared to try. Reading about ferment bottles, siphoning tubes, acidity, percentages and above all, about pests and diseases is not an encouraging way to start something new. A very simple message on facebook pulled me out of the misery just in time.

I had ten kg. of grapes that had to be washed, dipped in sulfite powder and then rinsed. One sentence – two hours of work. The next phrase told me to remove the grapes from the bunches and bruise them. This meant another two hours, but by that time I felt the energy running through my veins. Maybe it was the smell.

I had to prepare a mixture in order to start the ferment. It took some time measuring all the teaspoons and calculating the desired amount of sugar, but I managed and ended up with a bucket full of must that smelled delicous.

Very comforting were all the pictures from wineries in Umbria that appeared in the social media, because my must looked exactly alike. I had to let it ferment for 10 days, stirring three times a day and the smell got better and better.

After that it was time to press and filter the must. Of course this also sounds easier than it in fact was, but I finally had a full ferment bottle, purple hands and a lot of cleaning to do.

The thing to do then was wait until the ferment ended.

In order to clear the wine, it had to be siphoned from one bottle into another and back. That was a very nice part of the job, because I could taste a few drops and they seemed to be just fine.

Finally, I had a clear wine that was ready to be bottled. It took me only ten minutes... and then I found out that the last mile is really the longest. It was impossible for me to push the corks into the bottles but my youngest son came to my rescue and closed the bottles professionally.

So now... all I have to do is wait.