June 9th, 2009  |
Wine symbolizes celebration and festivals among many Keralites.
Christmas, Easter and many Catholic Weddings are incomplete without sweet tasting wines.
Back Home in Kerala, Wine is usually made using Grapes, Ginger, Pineapple, Chambanga (Rose Apple) and so on. That wine is very sweet unlike the wine which we get in US and most of the other countries. It is not as strong as the Commercial Wines and has a sweet taste similar to grape juice or Dessert Wine. Home Made Wine used to be my favorite drink during Christmas and Easter.
Colored Caramelized Grape Wine
I decided to make Grape Wine for our First Christmas in Charlotte. My friends liked the wine and my friend Hanna had been asking for the recipe for a long time but I was too lazy to write about it. Finally, I made up my mind and here is the recipe for Home Made Grape Wine. 
Traditionally, in Kerala, wine is made in a Ceramic Jar called Bharani. Since I didn’t have a Ceramic Jar, I bought a brand new Glass Jar for making Wine. I selected pinkish red color grapes for this wine. You can use any variety of sweet grapes for making wine but red grapes would give a nice color to the wine.
Ingredients
- Seeded or Seedless Grapes – 2 lbs or 1 kg approx
- Sugar – 4 lbs (double the quantity of grapes)
- Water – 4.5 liters (Boiled and Cooled or you can use distilled/purified water)
- Active Dry Yeast – 2 tsps
- Luke Warm Water – 1/2 Cup (for dissolving the yeast)
- Cinnamon Stick – 1 (optional)
- Cloves – 3 (optional)
- Sugar – 1/2 Cup (For Caramelizing)
Preparation Method
- Clean the Ceramic/Glass Jar and allow it to sun dry before using it for making wine.
- Boil water and allow it to cool completely.
- Clean and wash the grapes well and remove the stalks.
- Dissolve yeast in luke warm water and keep it aside for 10-15 minutes so that it rises.
- Mash the grapes using a wooden spatula or crush the grapes with your hands. Add half the quantity of sugar (2 lbs) to the crushed grapes and mix well.
- Transfer the crushed grapes and sugar mixture to the ceramic/glass jar. Add the dissolved yeast to the jar.
- If using cinnamon and cloves, add it to the jar. This will give the wine a very nice spicy aroma and flavor.
- Add boiled and cooled water to the jar. Mix everything well. Keep the jar closed and airtight for around 21 days.
- You will notice air bubbles forming on the top when fermentation is taking place.
- Stir the mixture with a wooden spatula every day for 21 days. (Some people stir it on alternate days but I stirred it daily!)
- After 21 days, strain the grape pulp mixture into another vessel using a muslin cloth or a clean unbleached cotton cloth. Add the remaining 2 lb of sugar and mix well. The Wine will be hazy at this stage.
- Keep it for another 21 days so that the sediments settle down and the wine becomes clear. Strain the mixture again using a muslin cloth without disturbing the sediments. If you wish to caramelize the wine, you can do it a few days before straining. My wine had a light pink color because of the grapes I used.
- For coloring the wine, I caramelized sugar and added it to the wine and it changed into a rich golden color. You can add the caramelized sugar to the wine a few days before straining it for the second time from the glass jar. Please refer below for details on coloring the wine.
- Store the wine in clean, dry glass bottles. While serving, pour it carefully without disturbing the sediments. The longer the wine is stored, the better the taste.
Grape Wine Getting Fermented
Home Made Grape Wine
Procedure for Caramelizing Sugar
- Take a saucepan and add 1/2 cup sugar.
- Place it on medium heat and keep on stirring continuously till the sugar melts and becomes a dark brown color. Keep scraping down the sides of the pan so that the sugar gets caramelized evenly.
- Remove from fire and place the pan in ice cool water so the sugar doesn’t get burnt.
- Add 4-5 tbsps of hot water to this sugar syrup and mix well. Cool and add the syrup to the wine in the glass/ceramic jar and mix well.
- The wine will attain a darker color after a few days.
- For cleaning the pan after use, add water to the pan and bring it to a boil and throw away the solution.
Caramelized Sugar
Note
- I had to keep the wine for 21+21 = 42 days before using it, since it was pretty cold over here in December. But if you live in a moderately hot place like Kerala, wine will ferment quickly and it will be ready in around 21 days.
- Once the wine is fermented, there will be no air bubbles on the top. This indicates that the wine is ready to be strained.
- Some people add egg whites and wheat kernels for quicker fermentation but I didn’t use that for my wine.
- You may skip the spices like Cinnamon and Cloves.
- You can increase or decrease the amount of sugar used to suit your taste buds.
|
Posted in 
I was in search of making grape wine.I could find out all about the preparations about the wine making.so thank full to your site.
thanking you
p.p. raghavan.
Good,I’d like to share with you The Experiments With Wine Recipe,and Wine Making Tips.
Wow, good recipe and well illustrated. shall def. try it out sometime soon. but i loved the puttu recipe most of all.
good site and traditional recipes on the whole
thanks
This wine sounds really good. How much wine does it make? If I wanted to bottle it and give it to friends, how would I do the caramelized sugar in the bottles? I am new at this so I may have more questions.
I made it, very tasty .
Hi
I have a habit of searchingfor good recipes. My mom used to make wine but it’s not golden brown color (because we didn’t caramelize the wine). It is a great idea, surely i’ll tell mom. one more thing – your presentation is too good. Because i am lazy girl, it has tempted me to give response. keep it up and God Bless You. I will surely remember You during Christmas eve. Take care n all the best.
Hi,
Its very interesting to know abt the home made wine making in easy steps. I have a great passion in wine making. I will try your method of preparation. I wish to know whether we can use only white sugar or we can substitute with sugarcane sugar which is brown in color or country sugar which is made from sugarcane. Wish to get more recipes of making different varieties of home made wine.
thanks,
Mahalingam.
Thanks for sharing this wine making recipe, I did add dried ginger to the wine. Taste excellent. Thank you.
does anyone know the recipe for banana wine…my aunt made it a few years back from a recipe in vanitha (magazine) she didn’t bother saving the recipe and I’ve been looking for it everywhere!….it was really simple and quick! and tasted like vodka! please help!
i will try it today
I have made several batches of wine using your recipe and directions. I find it to be very wonderful and full of flavor. The batch of wine that I am making currently seem to have a white layer of something on the top of all the jars. I believe that I followed the directions the same this time as in the past, so I’m just wondering if you have experienced this problem also. Thanks for any advice you can send my way. Michelle
Hi,
Thanks for this wonderful recipe to make Grape wine at Home. I made the wine and now it is ready to be bottled. It is a very nice, easy and useful recipe (no complications). Happy Xmas 2011! I would have read through this recipe over and over again to make sure that I get a wonderful end product. Thanks once again.
My family ( Husband Eric, Sons – Eril and Stefan) too got involved in making this wine. It is a family effort.
good, thank you
Thanks for the effort.. Will try it soon.
Hi,
I want to try making wine at home for the coming Easter. Could you please tell me where you brought the glass jar from and how much did it cost?
Thanks
Jissy
I found this recipe while looking for a simple, promising recipe for making wine at home. I remember Liz aunty used to make wine at home and I was looking for something that might make something similar. I live in India, and you said that the grapes would ferment earlier than the 42 days it took you. Can you please tell me what indications I should look for, so that I know that the grape pulp mixture is ready to be strained, and also to indicate when the wine is ready? Thanks so much!
Dear Madam,
Pls tell me what is the taste of the wine after 10 days of putting down ??
Hello,
I had prepared one batch exactly as per your recipe and it turn out to be excellent, now I am preparing again, but as you know in India the temperature is very high in the month of April and it has reached 42 degree now. So for How many days shall I keep now? will be ready in 12 days to drain or please advice.
Regards,
Dinesh
Hi Jisha
I live in Kerala. I had made the wine quite similar to ur recipe. I used green grapes. But this time, the grapes did not disintegrate… it remained firm, I did not crush the grapes before putting in the jar. could it be because of that?
Caramelize the sugar very carefully.
Don’t add cold water to the boiling sugar.
Could you please send me recipes for banana wine and mango wine?
When should we add caramelized sugar on 17th day or 37th day? Pls confirm , am making wine as mentioned above.
Thanks
baiju joseph
This is my first time making wine. I love how simple your recipe is. I only have one question do you stir it the first 21 days or the last 21 days?
Thanks, Dana
Hi Everybody,
This is the third time, I am using this recipe and this works wonderfully. We have Concord grape vine in our backyard. I used concord grapes which is meant for making red wine only. No need of sugar if you have the perfect grape. Thank you
Prince
usa
No need of sugar for coloring, if you have the perfect grapes.
Prince
usa
Looks great. We use a similar recipe at home. I kept the mix in ceramic jar for 21 days (1 kg grapes, 1 kg sugar, yeast,3 cloves,cinnamon 1 inch stick and one ltr water). Air bubbles are not there but it looks very thick. Shall i add some more water?
Dear friend,
Thank you for your recipe.
I make wine with a little change. After cleaning the grapes, I boiled it for five minutes and after it become cold I added yeast and sugar. That wine shows very good colour. what is your comment on boiling the grape. pl advise.
Wilson
keralam
I used steel spatula to crush the grapes. Is it okay? I noticed wooden spatula or hand to crush after i finished the process). Since the black grapes was sweet and juicy I have added 1 ltr water for 1.5 kg of grapes and 500 gms of sugar.
Thanks
Jisha
I want to try it.But I don’t need 4.5 L. What will be the ingredients needed for just 1 lit wine ?