Your Next Great Bottle of Wine Could Come from Your Own Ingenuity

Next time you uncork that $20 bottle of your favorite Californian vintner, just think of the satisfaction of knowing you can produce an excellent handcrafted wine at a fraction of the cost. Making wine is not a highly technological process, but making good wine does require patience and care.

The earliest production of wine, made by fermenting grapes, took place in sites in Israel, Georgia and Iran, from as early as 6000 BC according to archeological findings. The common grape vine known as vitis vinifera is native to the Mediterranean region , central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco, Spain and Iran.

You can do this folks. Wine was produced successfully by civilizations far less advanced than us. The Sumerians, Greeks and Romans worshipped their vintages so keenly as to devote gods and festivals to these magic potions.

Your primary mission is to get quality grape juice so you began the fermentation process. Whether you buy the grapes and stomp (press) them yourself or purchase grape juice there are plenty of informative web sites such as www.reginagrapejuice.com which can advise on wine making methods. You can also check on some of the supplies you'll need such as a 6 gallon carboy (really just a 6 gallon empty water tank) and siphon, or just go to a local home brewing shop which seem to be growing in popularity.

You can make this process as complicated and exacting as you please, but techniques have been developed over the centuries which make this a simple process of measuring, squeezing and siphoning, the latter of which you will use this process to clear your batch of wine from sediment.

I suggest purchasing grape juice produced by vineyards in California. Nothing fancy here, if you like pinot noir check for availability and price for a 6 gallon bucket at your local grape juice distributor or order kits online. That same 6 gallons will produce about 30 750ml bottles of wine, of which you can be proud of and share with family and friends.

Ancient cultures have cultivated grapes, fermented their juice and handcrafted these potions for eons providing something that has had a stimulating or intoxicating effect on all that enjoy.

Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine and can be very fun when blindly injecting some of your homemade creations at a party. You'll be surprised at how well your vino is received especially if you get creative and use you computer skills to design your own personal and cool wine labels.

So this Gravino recommends you raise your glass of homemade vino and toast to health, prosperity and job well done!