How to Make Wine out of Grape Juice

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: May 6, 2021 References

Making your own wine at home is a fun and interesting project. You can also make wine from juice instead of grapes, and using grape juice will produce something very similar to traditional wine. The key to making wine at home is using clean and sanitized tools, otherwise you could allow bacteria into your wine. You can purchase most of the equipment and ingredients you'll need at a wine or beer supply shop.

Ingredients

1 gallon (3.8 L) grape juice
1 cup (225 g) + 1 tablespoon (14 g) sugar
2 Campden tablets
0.176-ounce (5-g) package wine yeast
½ cup (118 ml) lukewarm water

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Sterilizing the Equipment and the Juice

1
Clean the equipment. Equipment that’s not cleaned and sanitized properly can lead to mold and bacterial growth. This could make you sick, and prevent the wine from fermenting properly. Mix a cleaning solution with water and thoroughly scrub all tools and equipment with a non-abrasive pad or cloth.
- Good cleaning products for winemaking equipment include Pro-Zyme, Sparkle Brite (also called Diversol), P.B.W., B-Brite, and Straight A.^{[1]
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- To clean demijohns, fill the container halfway with cleaning solution, plug the hole, and shake and tip the demijohn back and forth to slosh the solution around.^{[2]
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2
Sanitize the equipment right before use. Once the tools and equipment have been cleaned, you must still sanitize them by soaking them in a solution of water and cleaner. Mix your sanitizing cleaner with water and soak all tools and equipment for between five and 30 minutes, according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Good sanitizing products for wine equipment include sodium metabisulfite, potassium metabisulfite, and iodophor.^{[3]
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- For equipment that you aren't using right away, clean and sanitize the equipment right before you need it.
- When the soaking time is up, remove the equipment from the solution and allow it to drip dry.
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3
Transfer the juice to a fermenter. The best grape juice to make wine is a preservative-free juice with no additional ingredients.^{[4]
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Research source} The ingredients should be 100 percent juice. Pour the juice into the sanitized wine fermenter, which is a special plastic bucket with an airtight lid, tap, and built-in hole for an airlock.
- After soaking
- To make more wine, simply increase the quantities of all the ingredients equally, with the exception of the yeast.
- You can also use a demijohn (also called a carboy) for the first fermentation. You will need two demijohns to make the wine in that case.
- Do not use polyethylene containers or blue water bottles to make wine.^{[5]
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4
Add the sugar. Reserve 1 tablespoon (14 g) of sugar and pour the rest into the fermenter with the juice. Stir the sugar with a sanitized spoon to mix it into the juice. The yeast will eat the sugar and convert the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This process is known as fermentation.
- Granulated white sugar is the most common sugar to use for wine. You can use other sugars, such as brown sugar, but this may change the flavor of the wine.
- Do not use confectioner’s sugar to make wine, as it contains corn starch as well as sugar.
5
Add a Campden tablet. Campden tablets are sulfur-based tablets that can be used to sterilize juice, wine, cider, beer, and beverage-making equipment. They kill bacteria and prevent mold and yeast growth. Add one tablet to the juice and let it dissolve.
- Use one tablet per gallon (3.8 L) of juice.^{[6]
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6
Cover the fermenter and wait 24 hours. Cover the top of the fermenter with a clean, lightweight towel or piece of cheesecloth. Secure the towel in place with an elastic around the outside of the fermenter. Leave the fermenter somewhere out of the way at room temperature for the next 24 hours.
- It’s important to wait 24 hours before adding the yeast to the juice, because the Campden tablet is creating an environment that would kill the yeast if you added it right away.^{[7]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Fermenting the Wine

1
Activate the yeast. In a small, clean bowl, combine the package of yeast, the remaining 1 tablespoon (14 g) of sugar, and the lukewarm water. Let it sit for five minutes. During this time, the yeast will activate and become frothy and bubbly.^{[8]
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- A single package of wine yeast is sufficient for up to 5 gallons (19 L) of juice.
2
Add the yeast mixture to the juice. Remove the towel from the top of the fermenter. When the yeast is frothy and foamy, pour the mixture into the juice. Stir the mixture with a sanitized spoon to incorporate the yeast mixture into the juice.^{[9]
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- Place a clean towel or cheesecloth on top of the fermenter and secure it in place with an elastic.
3
Let the mixture ferment for a week. Place the fermenter in a warm place in your house. Let the wine ferment, undisturbed, for five to seven days. During this time, the juice will begin to bubble as the yeast converts the sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide.^{[10]
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- The initial fermentation is complete when the bubbles start to slow and signs of fermentation die down.
4
Transfer the wine to a demijohn. Place a sanitized funnel into the mouth of a sanitized demijohn. Remove the towel from the fermenter. Pick up the fermenter, being careful not to agitate the contents. Slowly and carefully pour the liquid from the fermenter into the demijohn through the funnel.
- Stop pouring just before the fermenter is empty to leave the layer of sediment in the bottom of the fermenter.
- This process is known as racking. The purpose of it is to eliminate sediment that’s settled on the bottom of the fermenter. Each time you rack the wine, you'll remove more sediment, which will result in a clearer wine.
- Demijohns for winemaking should be made of glass or PET plastic.^{[11]
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- If you're making more than a single gallon of wine, make sure there's plenty of headroom inside the demijohn. Divide the wine between two demijohns if necessary.
5
Add a wine airlock. Place the wine airlock into the mouth of the demijohn. Fill the airlock halfway with water. This device will allow gasses to escape from the demijohn, but will not let yeast, bacteria, or oxygen into the wine.^{[12]
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6
Let the wine ferment for five weeks. Place the demijohn somewhere that’s room temperature and let it sit for another five weeks. The winemaking process usually takes six weeks in total, so it still needs another five for the fermentation process to complete.^{[13]
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- If you're in a rush, you can get away with leaving the wine for just three weeks, but it may not be as strong and the flavors won’t be as developed.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Bottling the Wine

1
Sanitize the corks. Fill a bowl with a pint (473 ml) of water. Add ⅛ teaspoon of sodium metabisulfite and stir to combine. Add the corks to the bowl and let them soak for one to two hours, until they become slightly soft. This will sanitize the corks and prevent them from contaminating the wine.^{[14]
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- When the corks are soft, but not spongy, remove them from the cleaning mixture and transfer them to a colander to drain.
- T-corks are the easiest to use for home winemaking, because they don’t require a corking device.
2
Transfer the wine to a sanitized fermenter. After the five weeks are up, remove the airlock from the demijohn. Pick up the demijohn carefully to avoid agitating the sediment on the bottom. Slowly pour the wine into the re-sanitized fermenter.
- Leave the bottom inch or so in the demijohn to keep the wine clear of sediment.^{[15]
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3
Add another Campden tablet. Crush a Campden tablet into a fine powder. Add the powder to the wine and use a long spoon to stir it in. This will kill any bacteria or organisms that could spoil the wine after bottling.^{[16]
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4
Bottle and cork wine. Place a sanitized bottle under the tap on the fermenter. Turn on the tap and let the wine run until the bottle is nearly full. Turn off the tap.^{[17]
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Research source} Leave at least an inch of headroom for the cork. Push a sanitized cork all the way into the mouth of the bottle. Repeat until all the bottles have been filled and corked.
- Five 25.3-ounce (750-ml) bottles should be sufficient for a gallon (3.8 L) of wine, because some liquid will have been lost during racking.