Homemade grape wine

Separate the grapes from the branches and place in a large enamel basin or pan to fill no more than ¾ of the volume. Mash the fruits with your hands or a wooden pestle.

Cover the container with grapes with a clean cloth and leave at a temperature of at least 20°C for 4 days. The berries must be mixed: within the first day the fermentation process will begin and without “movement” the berries will simply sour.

Squeeze the juice out of the resulting mass through gauze folded in half or four. Pour it into large bottles. Put an ordinary rubber glove on each one and pierce it on top. Leave the juice to ferment at a temperature of at least 20°C for 2 days.

Distribute sugar (50 g per 1 liter of liquid) into bottles of grape juice and mix. Cover each one again with a glove and put the wort in a dark, warm place for 1.5–2 months. During this time, active fermentation should stop (the glove will “deflate”).

Pour the grape must into clean bottles through a straw, being careful not to disturb the sediment. Taste and add a little more sugar if necessary. Put gloves back on the bottles. Leave for quiet fermentation for 60–90 days in a cool place with a temperature no higher than 15°C.

Pour the finished grape wine into clean bottles and seal. Place in a cool, dark place away from sunlight. This wine can be stored for up to five years.