For ages, people have enjoyed wine for a number of reasons.
Many drink it just because they like the taste, but by no means is this the exclusive reason why the drink is so popular.
In fact, it's been used in important religious ceremonies for thousands of years, and an entire culture has been built up around the beverage that has shaped thousands of lives across the world.
Ultimately, those who love wine tend to take the drink very seriously and eventually end up wanting to make their own.
If this describes you, don't be daunted; with this article, wine making is within your grasp! When you first set out to make wine, it can seem like an overwhelming process with too many steps to make sense out of.
In a sense, this is true.
People have been making wine for thousands of years and naturally, there's a lot of advice on the subject.
However, for the purposes of just getting a feel for the process, the following four steps lay things out nicely.
All wine starts from a base ingredient, usually grapes and other flavoring agents.
When you hear wine lovers talk about "hints of cherry" and such in reference to their favorite wines, it usually means that such elements were used in this step.
What you want to do is reduce your ingredients to their very essence; grapes become grape juice, vanilla becomes vanilla extract, and so on.
Just focus on extracting your flavors into a base liquid primarily made of grape juice.
Now, here's the step that takes us from grape juice to wine: fermentation.
With a simple mixture of acids, sugars, and yeast of some sort added to your original liquid, fermentation will begin.
It's important to have a covered vessel for this to happen in, but it doesn't need to be airtight, yet.
After about ten days, you should have a container full of both liquid and pulp.
This step is all about straining off the liquid and leaving the pulp behind (though you'll want to squeeze it or compress it to make sure all the liquid leaves it).
Now, using an airtight container, continue fermentation for a few more weeks.
Sooner or later, you're going to end up with a nice clear final product as the yeasts die off from the alcohol content getting too high.
Now it's time to transfer your product to a bottle and cork it off! The hard part is waiting, but wait you must: at least a year for a good red, or six months for a white.
Now, you've got the basics of wine making down and you should be able to whip up a batch of your own special vino with ease.
As time goes on, you'll likely encounter some obstacles and begin to experiment for different results.
As you grow, remember that these four steps were the humble beginning from which your vineyard has flourished!