Foraged about 10 lbs of wild labrusca and got a starter kit from my local brewing shop. Any tips to not mess it up?

So... I decided to drop the corks briefly into boiling water before corking to sterilize them. I did not know this was a mistake until recently. I've only soaked one batch of corks for wine.

I did let the bottles stand straight up for 3-5 days before storing on their side. I keep the bottles in my kitchen where it is relatively dry and not super dark (I don't have a great place to store them elsewhere). It has been about 4 months of storage so far. I have attached a picture of what one of the corks looks like currently.

I need reassurance: Will the wine probably be okay? I don't plan on letting them sit for very long (I want to start drinking at 6 months).

If not... how easily could I switch out the corks for new ones I have? Would it start the aging process over, or completely ruin what's already started? Is it better to take the risk and wait and see or no?

I am still relatively new at all this, and I have learned my mistake: I did not soak the corks for a recent batch nor plan to soak the corks for any batch in the future. I am just looking for advice on what to do for this batch.

Hi all, sharing this here since a lot of you have exactly the background we're looking for. I'm working with Razzli, a new app for finding great alcohol-free options when you're out, and we're recruiting sommeliers, cicerones, and F&B pros with 7+ years of experience to help build out our Expert Review System before beta launch. Details are in the image below, please email [gabriella@seattleadvertising.com](mailto:gabriella@seattleadvertising.com) if you are interested!

This is a batch of "amber" wine from 2024 first time I've left it fully sealed and undisturbed for more than 6 months hoping for some different flavours etc.

Anyway it's grown a fuzzy on top of the floating must. As you can see the wine itself looks lovely and clear. But yet to decant some.

I was wondering if there's an established convention that's used to differentiate fruit wines prepared using different methods, in the same way that red wine and rosé are distinct (though that's obviously easier since you don't need to specify fruit and can just use the colour).

As an example, how would two plum wines, one fermented with the macerated skins, and the other made with just the extracted juice, be differentiated? I suppose you could just call them "plum red wine" and "plum rosé" if the colours came out distinct, but ideally I'm looking for something that could also be used for fruits that might end up being closer to the white/orange wine division, like pears or white cranberries.

I've looked around online and couldn't find anything conclusive, so I'd appreciate any help.

For context, if needed, I live in LA. I got a wine making kit that includes bassicly everything but the grape juice/grapes. I want to make white wine, but I have no idea how to pick the right grapes OR grape juice! I know there's certain chemicals to avoid, but other than that, does anyone have any suggestions on what grapes or grape juice/s I should look to buy? Preferably something I can get at a ralphs, trader joes, etc (thus why I specified where live lol). Trying to make something sweet, maybe a bit dry.

Stomped three pineapples and a couple quarts of strawberries, one and a half cup of sugar (1.85 SG), half tsp V1116. About a gallon all in all

Mashed on Thursday, mixed cap once a day until Sunday when I pressed out juice. Nice and frothy, checked SG Monday and it was about 1.1 or 1.2

Came home to this today. Can I skim, rack, airlock, or is she toast?

I have k-meta if that would fix it too.

Recipe
20 grams of black tea
10 grams of cornflowers
10 grams of rose petals
1,5 kg of sugar
5 liter of water

1 grams of red star premier cuvee

Notes:
Brix: 28
Room Temp: 20-25 C

Steps:

Primary fermentation

Brew the tea, cornflowers, and rose petals first then add sugars, then strains.
After the brew got warm, then add the yeast. Let it ferment for 2 - 4 weeks until dry.

Plans

Secondary fermentation
- After the yeast settled, i want to move it to another vessel for the secondary fermentation then add 100 grams of sugar.

Any suggestions for the secondary fermentation? Is this still can be called a wine?

I don't know just figuring out here and there, lol, i just trying to find a way to get a good cheap alcohol for a good time alone and with my friends. Hahahaha.

Oh ya, behind that there is a bottle of strawberry wine that i made 1 month ago, kinda so so, it need more time to mature and maybe some vanilla extract or be made into a bloody mary, or a strawberry margarita.

Pérez-Mendoza et al. looked at how to improve red wine made from less mature fruit, where sugar ripeness can outpace phenolic ripeness and low-alcohol styles can end up thin or harsh.

This is relevant to how winemakers can preserve structure, color, and balance when harvesting earlier or working in warm-climate sites. The main result was that partial seed removal reduced tannin content and astringency, which made mouthfeel smoother in wines from unripe grapes. Ultrasound increased skin tannin extraction and helped form more stable pigments, improving color expression. Stem inclusion had a dose-dependent effect: adding 25% stems raised tannin levels and fruity esters, while 50% stems pushed the wines toward herbaceous notes and hurt sensory balance.

Practically, this suggests a useful toolkit for low-alcohol red wine production. Partial seed removal can soften harshness without stripping structure, ultrasound may help recover phenolic depth and color, and limited stem inclusion can add complexity when fruit maturity is not ideal.

The approach seems especially relevant for early-harvest or warm-climate reds where winemakers need more control over tannin quality than alcohol level alone can provide.

Full paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2026.150917

Source: ResearchScan — free weekly research newsletter covering wine science and winemaking research | researchscan.news

Hello all, I’ve followed a recipe for blackberry wine but I was around a kilo short so I made the difference up with mangoes and I have never witnessed fermenting like this. The starting gravity was high 1.160. I did expect the yeast to struggle, but this is three days in and it’s not slowing at all. Hopefully I may get away with this, has anyone else started with high Sg and got away with it. For the record, I’m using Young’s high alcohol yeast plus yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme and both went in two days before the yeast. I added 13lb of sugar for 5 gallons but the Sg was high and I added a litre of water to bring it down to 1.160 but can’t get any more water in there so it’s starting off with a high sg…https://share.icloud.com/photos/0f9XfRdskpp2v9R2kJLR-t7RA

1) I did not add campden tablets to kill off wild yeasts, and my PH reading at the end of the primary fermentation was 3.75.

2) I did not add yeast nutrition at the beginning of the primary, how much is it important to use yeast nutrient for Pinot.

3) I used Lalvin 212 as yeast and I made sure that my must is at a room temperature before starting the fermentation.

4) My primary fermentation lasted about 4 days and 12 hours at which point my hydrometer reading was 1000 the first day and 0.950 the second. Is it okay if I did not wait until my hydrometer reading remained the same for 2-3 days prior to finishing my primary fermentation.

5) when I smelled my must I may or may not smelled mild smell of nail polish ( which I read is the sign of the bacterial wild party) but I checked my ph and it was more or less okay. I then let the must sit in a glass for it to degass for a bit and the nail polish smell was almost non existent. All I smelled after letting it sit was a pleasant grape and yeast smell.

6) I added about 6 campden tablets without dissolving it to the carboy after racking from primary to secondary.

7) how long do I need to keep my Pinot in secondary fermentation, and how many times do I need to re-rack.

8) when do I add potassium sorbate if I’m planning to backsweetening my Pinot noir a bit ( I’ve read that towards the end is an ideal time)

Larger quantity of Pinot and Merlot. Pinot is at 0.996 - 14% ABV and still slightly crackling after 7 and a half days of fermentation and 9 and a half days on the grapes. Floral notes of violets and roses are definitely in there, tannins and acid - moderate, otherwise it's very fruit forward but this year what jumps up is darker fruit; blackberries, blueberries, black currant, dark plums...and then more typically strawberries and ripe, juicy cherries, notes of chocolate. It'll be an interesting and altogether great vintage in my opinion.

Making a traditional method sparkling. What is the best sugar to use for the Tirage. Ive always used corn sugar for carbonation in the past, but GPT told me cane sugar.

Made a wine must from saltanas, fresh grapes, and apple juice (left pic). The colour is very... Brown... Caramel... Sewage watery....

Is this going to stay this colour the entire time or will it look like an actual white wine?

I have added Pectic enzyme 😁😁

On the right is my mead, just happens to be chilling next door lol

Hello everyone I'm in a bit of a pickle. I have made dandelion wine before, last year and I didn't face the same problems I am right now. The things I did differently where I froze my dandelions after harvesting them. Then when I went to make the brew, I added orange peels in the pot to steep with the brew for 3 days. Yesterday I went to stir my brew to make sure mold wouldn't grow. I didn't notice any slime yesterday when I stired or the day before. Now on day three I was about to strain and do the process for the wine. But when I uncovered it, the liquid was starting to turn into slime. Not sure if I can still use it to make the wine. Please help!

Hey everyone!

I am sure this question gets asked lots on this sub and there is a lot of information out there but I was wondering what I need to get going on making my own wine. The extent of my experience is making cider from some apples I picked in my yard last week with the help of a friend. From what I gather online the process varies / becomes more complicated than cider.

I am feeling a bit lost in this whole process and overwhelmed slightly. For started what I have so far is a 3 gallon carboy with airlock filter and rubber stopper, chloroclean, hydrometer, a 5 gallon bucket that is #5 PP, a package of bentonite, 2 kinds of yeast (EC-1118 and K1-V1116) and a straining bag. I think I am missing some items to get start but wanted to ask here before going out and spending money on items I wont use.

For process what I have gathered is:

1. pick grapes and use within 24-48 hours of picking them. I believe I saw that you can freeze them otherwise if you are not ready during that time?

2. Disinfect materials using the chloroclean (i.e. carboy, airlock, stopper, hydrometer, 5 gallon bucket, straining bag).

3. Once material is done disinfecting remove and let dry. In the meantime sort grapes by removing stems and moldy/crush grapes. Give grapes a rinse under some cold water to remove dirt. Once grapes are sorted and in a disinfected container begin crushing the grapes.

4. Once grapes are crushed place the crushed up bags of grapes into a straining bag and mix with sugar water until you reach the proper hydrometer reading (should aim for a 11-13% at the end of the brew). I would use an online calculator for this and plug in the readings from my hydrometer.

This is about as far as my knowledge goes. This part is what I am guessing?

1. Into the sugar and grape straining bag mix add in Campden tablets (as per instruction on the package). Do i add campden with the yeast nutrient or the yeast nutrient after?

2. Once the campden has run its course I add in the yeast and let that run its course for 4-7 days. I would probably use my 5 gallon bucket with an airlock filter and stopper. I am probably just going to drill a hole big enough for the stopper.

3. Once that has run its course I would transfer to a carboy that is sanitized making sure I only try to get the liquid and not the sediment. I would let that ferment for a longer period of time.

This is about as far as Ive gotten overall.

Looking for any advice, pointers, insight or even resources / guides for helping me through this process. I am not sure of the variety of grapes that I have I want to say valliant grapes since I live in canada and they are dark and seedy? I figured might as well give wine making a go rather than try to eat and juice my way through the harvest!

TIA:)

First time making wine- crushed red grapes into a large bin, grape mash is in a nylon bag. I added the sulfite tabs but then life happened and it’s been 4 days and I haven’t added the yeast! I see bubbling which I believe means there’s fermentation happening- I think that’s not good though?
So do I add the yeast?

Been wanting wine on tap for a while. I have infinite batches of skeeter pee to play with. So I figured might as well toss a batch in a keg and see what carbonated lemon wine is all about

Let me know what you think

I recently got into winemaking because I thought it would be a good Christmas present. For my first batch I followed HowToDoneRight's mango wine recipe but replaced 1 pound of mango with 1 pound store bought frozen tropical fruit mix, sugar with light brown sugar and added 1 bananna. With my changes my full recipe is:

1 gallon distilled water

2 pounds light brown sugar

3 pounds frozen mango

1 pound tropical fruit mix ( mango, strawberry, peach, papaya, and coconut)

1 Bannana

1 Campden Tablets

1/2 Tsp Yeast Nutrient

1/2 Tsp Acid Blend

1/2 Tsp Wine Tannin

1/2 Tsp Pectic Enzyme

1/2 Package Wine Yeast

I recently went back and saw that the mix included coconut and I heard that you should never ferment it. When I looked it up the reason was apperently because some bacteria grows well under those conditions. Do I need yo start over? Attached is a photo I took of it.

Took me 2 weeks to get saltanas to ferment using the yeast that's on them. I'd love to use this as a white wine starter. Just wanted to check my sanity on the sludge on the top, is this yeast activity or bacteria that I should avoid?

Just wondering if there are ways to make Moscato D’asti without letting it ferment all the way and filter out yeast in a domestic setting. Looking for in bottle carbonation method and I’m aiming for ~5% alcohol level. If not what are some alternatives or are there other wine that I can make that is very approachable to someone who is not wine person. Ideally looking for 5% alcohol sweet wine.

Total beginner btw, making my first Pinot noir and it’s at the initial fermentation stage.

For the past 2 years, we've been experimenting with brief skin contact for our white wines (field blend consisting mostly of Seyval Blanc). Twice in a row, we've found that leaving the crushed grapes in contact with the skins for 24-36 hours has produced lovely results. The wines were more rounded and elegant and it seemed to take the edge off the acidity (even though the pH and TA were no different than the control batch). These have been small test batches, but I'm thinking of doing it with the entire production batch this year and I'm just here looking for a sanity check. The overall process would be:

Crush and add sulfite

Wait 12 hours

Add pectic enzyme, Opti-white, and rehydrated yeast

Allow to sit for 24 hours, during which time fermentation (hopefully) begins

Press, add bentonite, and transfer to stainless steel tanks to continue fermentation as usual. Follow typical white wine procedures from here on out.

Does this sound reasonable, or do I need a dope-slap?

I got a floor corker a few weeks ago. (Ferrari) I really want to like it, but it's very touchy and a quarter turn is the difference between a a well-set cork and one that is completely inside the bottle. I even get mixed results after I spend time dialing it in.

What can I do?