Is it possible to pour wine during fermentation? How long to ferment homemade wine

09.03.2024

Quiet fermentation and care

The poured wine is not yet completely clear. It also contains some yeast and insignificant amounts of sugar that did not decompose during vigorous fermentation. In addition, from contact with air during pouring, protein substances previously dissolved in it begin to fall out of the wine, which must be removed from the wine, otherwise it may subsequently become cloudy forever and will be fragile. All this happens during quiet fermentation, also called post-fermentation of wine. Fermentation usually ends after 7–10 weeks. In some cases, it lasts 3–4 months and usually ends in the spring of the year following the preparation of the wine.

Its ending is determined by taste. The fermented wine begins to lighten, and sediment forms at the bottom of the bottle. 8–10 days after the end of fermentation, the clarified part is poured into a clean bottle using a hose, filled to the neck, and placed in a cool place.

After about a month, the wine is removed from the sediment a second time and filtered. You can add sugar to taste (from 2/3 to 3/4 cup per 1 liter of wine). When it dissolves, the volume of wine increases, so the alcohol concentration correspondingly decreases from 15–16 to 13–14% of revolutions. The need to open the bottle during fermentation to remove foam, remove excess juice, or add juice or sugar should not confuse the winemaker.

In appearance, quiet fermentation is manifested only by the fact that at first (1-2 months) bubbles of carbon dioxide are occasionally released - one every 5-10 or more minutes. Gradually, the release of gas decreases more and more and, finally, stops altogether. At the same time, a thin brown layer of sediment settles at the bottom of the glass, the wine becomes more and more transparent, its rough taste is replaced by a pleasant one, and a bouquet begins to develop in it.

Caring for the wine during this fermentation consists mainly of monitoring the temperature and frequent pouring of the wine.

The temperature of the room in which the wine is placed for such fermentation should be even, without sharp fluctuations and kept around 10–12 °C. When making wine at home, of course, you don’t have to be too demanding in this regard and be content with what you have on the farm. So, for example, you can put wine for fermentation in an unheated room, in a dry underground, in a dry basement or cellar, if it is not too cold in them and there is no danger that the wine will freeze. In a very cold (but not freezing) cellar, the wine will be preserved well, only its post-fermentation will last longer than it would have if the temperature had been within the specified norms. In extreme cases, you can use the refrigerator to ferment the wine.

Since in most cases of home winemaking there is a lack of appropriate premises, it is therefore more profitable to make stronger or sweeter wines at home, which are more durable and resistant to inappropriate temperatures. Of course, in the room where wine is fermenting, clean air is necessary, and neither sauerkraut nor other strong or unpleasantly smelling products should be stored, because the wine will acquire an unpleasant odor and spoil.

Pouring wine during post-fermentation is done for two purposes:

1) to clean the wine from sediment settling on the bottom of the vessel, which could give the wine bitterness, and 2) to aerate the wine.

The latter is very important, because it accelerates the precipitation of substances dissolved in the wine, which can subsequently cloud the wine. Therefore, the more often the wine is poured and aerated, the more it purifies and becomes transparent. If the wine is kept in a glass container, then pouring and airing should be done after 1 month and even more often, because the more pouring is done, the more fully the wine will ripen and the more completely all the substances that cloud it will fall out of it. They try to pour the wine so that the wine flows in a thin, long, strongly splashing stream, for better ventilation; The wine drained during pouring is poured into cleanly washed dishes, if possible up to the cork.

If dessert or liqueur wine is being prepared, then after the end of quiet fermentation, it is sweetened.

The filtered wine is poured into bottles and closed. Store in a dark place at a temperature of 10–20 °C in a standing or lying position.

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Fermentation The wort is poured into bottles, filling them to three-quarters of the volume and the bottles are plugged with a cotton swab, then placed in a warm room (with a temperature of at least 22–24 degrees). Sugar is added to the wort on the fourth, then on the seventh and again on the tenth day

During quiet fermentation, when the wine does not foam, carbon dioxide is slightly released and the temperature of the wine is equalized with the air temperature, top up the container under the tongue, lid or glass at least 2 times a week. To supplement and top up, take healthy, fermented wine of the same variety as the one being topped up. The remaining top-up wine is poured into slightly smaller containers so that they are full. In the absence of small containers, the remaining top-up wine is stored in a container with lighting, that is, 1-2 sulfur wicks are burned above the surface of the wine.

Fermentation ends when all the sugar has completely fermented. This point can only be determined accurately by chemical analysis. The approximate end of fermentation can be determined by a combination of a number of signs. The wine is considered fermented if there is no sweetness to the taste, the temperature of the wine in the barrel and in the room is the same, and the release of carbon dioxide has stopped completely. The wine should already be sufficiently clarified. The fermented wine, after rough clarification, is separated from the yeast sediment. The wine material is removed from the yeast 2-2.5 months from the start of fermentation, in November-December. When removed from the yeast, the wine is poured with strong ventilation into a stand, from which the wine is then poured into another clean container. In this case, the work should be carried out so as not to stir the wine and not capture sediment.

Pouring wine materials

Without air access (closed) under pressure

Containers with yeast-free wine are placed in cooler rooms (cellars). Under these conditions, the best preservation of wine is ensured. The yeast sediments are poured into clean, medium-smoked containers (1-2 sulfur wicks per 300 liter barrel), which are also placed in a cool place. After two weeks, the wine is clarified, and it is removed from the yeast a second time. The yeast grounds are filtered through fabric filters. At home, yeast grounds are poured into clean (odorless) jute bags, which are placed in basket presses and gradually squeezed out. Yeast wine is unstable. It is not recommended to blend it with a good one. After clarification, it is quickly sold.

White table wines are best stored in containers with a capacity of 300-500 liters, installed in cellars with a temperature of 8-12 ° C. When storing wine, you need to be especially careful about the cleanliness of the room, dishes, hoses, stoppers, and lids. Once a week, containers with wine are topped up “under the tongue” (cork, lid), and then closed tightly. The surface of the container with wine is wiped with a 2% solution of soda ash. For topping up, take only healthy wine of the same age or older than the one being topped up. It must be remembered that adding sick wine leads to illness and spoilage of the entire batch of wine. The resulting film of bloom (mold) on the surface of the wine must be removed during refilling. Dowels and other closure materials that become covered with mucus and turn sour should be periodically washed with a brush with cold water, then steamed until the wine smell disappears. All dishes, equipment and siphons (hoses) soaked in wine should be washed thoroughly after use. A siphon that is not washed in a timely manner turns sour and, when used, contaminates healthy wine with vinegar souring. The room where wine is stored is fumigated once a month by burning sulfur at the rate of 30 g per cubic meter of the room.

When storing table white wine for a long time (2-3 years), periodic pouring of the wine is carried out. In the first year of aging, the wines undergo three open racks. In the second year of storage - two open and one closed. With each pouring, 50 mg/l of sulfurous acid is added to the wine, or the pouring is carried out into a clean container, previously fumigated by burning 1-2 sulfuric wicks. It is possible to add an aqueous solution of SO2.

With this storage mode, the wine cleans itself of colloidal systems, proteins and phenolic complex, which allows it to be bottled without filtration in the third year of storage and continue to be stored as a collection wine. The length of storage in bottles depends on the extract, the alcohol content of the wine and the presence of sulfur dioxide in the wine. Under these positive conditions, wine will improve its quality during storage for up to 7-10 years.

To make a good drink yourself, a person must carefully select the ingredients, know the nuances of the production procedure, and alsohow to restart fermentation of homemade wine .

Why might wine fermentation stop?

Novice winemakers need to know some reasons for the cessation or lack of fermentation of alcohol:

Lack of activation of added yeast. You need to wait a few days and then make some decisions;
Violated temperature conditions. Yeast dies when temperatures exceed 30 degrees, and their deactivation begins at 10ºC. It is advisable to place the container in a room with a temperature of 15-20 degrees, maintaining it constantly;
Using cold water. Sometimes water is added to wine recipes, the temperature of which should be at least 15-20 degrees;
The appearance of mold in the wort. Fungi appear as a result of the use of rotten or poor-quality material, poor hygiene (use of unwashed containers or dirty hands);
High level of wort sugar content. The optimal sugar content in wort is up to 15-20%. If the maximum value is exceeded, it will act as a preservative and stop fermentation;
Low sugar content is also undesirable, because the yeast will not have food;
Increased wort density that does not pass mechanical filtration well. This is observed with a small volume of juice;
It is necessary to check the tightness of wine containers. Air entering the container may result from souring of alcohol. Therefore, you first need to make sure that the bottle is securely connected to the water seal.

Additionally, some winemakers add yeast starter to the wort (prepared from water, sugar and a small amount of unwashed berries and fruits). This is necessary if there is any doubt about the activation of wild yeast. But the temperature conditions of the starter must correspond to the same indicators of the raw materials.

Wine fermentation may be reduced if the bulk of the yeast is at the bottom of the tank. Therefore, you need to stir the mass periodically. When the strength reaches 12-14%, the yeast dies off, so the sediment should be separated from the young drink.

Resumption of alcohol fermentation using different methods

If you have made a blot, you must immediately take care to resume fermentation of the wine. First of all, you should move the dishes with wine to another area. When storing a drink at elevated temperatures, new yeast or a special starter should be added to it.

According to winemakers, another reason may be poor-quality yeast. In such a situation, you can add raisins in the proportion of 30 grams per 5 liters of wine.

Other methods for accelerating fermentation include:

Adding yeast. Sometimes the cause of reduced fermentation is a deficiency or death of yeast cultures. Therefore, you can add wine yeast;
Normalization of acidity. A suitable pH criterion is 3.5-4, and a decrease in fermentation occurs at a value less than 3.5. To increase it, alcohol is acidified with lemon juice of 1-2 fruits or tartaric acid per 3-4 liters of drink. If the pH is more than 4, you can reduce the acidity and restore fermentation by diluting the wort with water;
Temperature conditions. At temperatures ranging from -4 to +40 degrees, yeast activation occurs. When this criterion is exceeded, fermentation accelerates. However, at 25-30ºC, lactic, butyric and other acids may appear in the drink;
Oxygen. To enhance fermentation, dosed oxygen is required. Alcohol should be opened every day for 15 minutes to air out;
Ammonia. The component is sold in ampoules at pharmacies, added in a 10% concentration of 1 ml for each liter of container contents;
Chemical elements. Sulfuric acid enhances the reaction, for which sulfur wicks are lit in tanks;
Other activators. In addition to the above components, there are other elements that accelerate the fermentation of the drink - sterols, vitamins (pyridoxine, yeast extracts, fatty acids, fermentation intermediates (pyruvic acid, acetaldehyde).

An indicator of the successful completion of fermentation is the absence of bubbles in the water seal, the formation of a saturated dense sediment at the bottom of the bottle, the clarification of the wine and the appearance of a characteristic aroma.

Winemakers sometimes encounter a significant problem that threatens the process of making homemade wine - the cessation of fermentation of the wort. It would seem that all the ingredients are laid out in accordance with the recipe, and the raw materials are of excellent quality, but why doesn’t homemade wine ferment? , I can't understand. This problem has several causes, most of which can be eliminated before they even appear.

What does wine fermentation depend on?

Regardless of the technology for making wine at home, let the wine ferment , yeast fungi respond. They process artificial or natural sugar, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide as a result. Natural sugars are found in grapes and fruits - glucose, fructose, sucrose. Their number directly depends

from the ripeness of fruits, berries and grapes;
on the variety of fruits and grapes;
from the time of harvest;
from the time elapsed between the collection and placement of raw materials into the wort.

If there is little natural sugar in the wine material , It is very difficult to calculate the correct amount of granulated sugar to add to a recipe. In this case, the low sugar content of the wort will become an obstacle to fungal activity, and fermentation will slow down or stop.

Problems and solutions

The quality depends on the accuracy of adherence to the technology of preparing wine at home. the resulting drink. Here are the main mistakes made by novice winemakers and options for eliminating them:

not sealed. If oxygen from the air enters the container with the wort, oxidative processes start and acetic souring of the wine occurs. It is almost impossible to correct this mistake; all that remains is to take it into account and not repeat it in the future. The resulting wine vinegar is used in the household.

You can check the tightness by the absence of carbon dioxide bubbles that do not appear in the seal water or by the fact that the glove on the bottle with wort does not inflate. Why doesn't the glove lift up? There is no tightness at the point of its connection with the container.

What to do? Seal the joints at the junction of the shutter tube with the lid, secure the glove more tightly to the can. This can be done with raw dough or other natural material.

The wort temperature is too low or too high. One of the main reasons why homemade wine does not ferment. The activity of wine yeast appears at temperatures from +10º to +30ºС. Low temperatures render yeast inactive; high temperatures kill them. Temperature fluctuations during the day negatively affect the activity of wine yeast.

The optimal temperature range for wort fermentation is +16+24ºС, without sudden changes.

What to do? Check the temperature, move the container with the wort to another place when

necessary. If the wort reaches a temperature of +30ºС even for a short time, you need to add starter and wine yeast to it.

The concentration of natural yeast is not enough for active fermentation. Strains of “wild” yeast from the surface of grapes, fruits and berries may cease to function, or there are not enough of them to activate fermentation in the must.

What to do? You need to add homemade starter, unwashed raisins (50-100 g per 15 l), and a handful of crushed unwashed grapes to the wort.

Increased or decreased sugar content in the wort. For active fermentation, the sugar concentration in homemade wine needs to be about 15 - 20%. If there is not enough sugar, there is no food for the yeast; if there is too much sugar, it prevents their work.

Check the sugar content by taste or with a hydrometer. The taste of the wort should not be cloying or sour, but moderately sweet.

What to do? If there is a lot of sugar, you need to dilute it (up to 15% of the volume) with water or a portion
wine material to which no sugar has been added, or sour juice. If there is a shortage of sugar, add about 50-100 g per liter of wort.

The fermentation is over. How long should homemade wine ferment? Until the alcohol concentration in it reaches 10-14%, approximately 35-45 days. The only way to raise the temperature is by adding alcohol. Regardless of how long the wine should ferment, signs of the end of fermentation will be its lightening, the appearance of sediment (tartar), and the cessation of gas evolution.

Stopping fermentation

The wine ferments too long;
It is necessary to maintain the achieved strength of the drink;
It is necessary to preserve the currently existing sugar content of the wine.

Experienced winemakers have several methods at their disposal that are suitable for all types of homemade wines.

How to stop fermentation by fixing with alcohol - the wine is drained from the sediment and grape distillate is added to it to 16⁰ alcohol concentration, or 10-15% of the volume of the wine being fixed.
How to stop fermentation by cooling - containers with wine are placed in a room with a temperature below +10⁰С. In this case, the yeast fungi go into a state of suspended animation, precipitating. After 4-5 days, the cooled wine is removed from the sediment and stored at temperatures up to +16⁰С.
How to stop fermentation by heating - the wine is pasteurized for about 15-20 minutes at a temperature of +55+70⁰С, cooled to +10+12⁰С, and sealed. When cooling, you need to limit the access of air to the wine, which is not easy to do at home.

If the wine does not ferment, you need to check the temperature of the room in which it is located, the sugar concentration, and add active yeast. Stopping fermentation can be done by heating or cooling the wine, as well as by fortifying it with grape distillate.

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The wort, corrected with water and sugar, should have a temperature of 22 ° C. Then it is poured into glass bottles or wooden (well-steamed) barrels, filling 3/4 full. If the wort has not been fermented together with pulp, then it is necessary to add yeast starter in an amount of 3% of the wort put for fermentation. No starter is added to the wort from fermented pulp. To feed the yeast, ammonium chloride is added to the wort (0.3 g per 1 liter of wort). The contents of the dish are thoroughly mixed until the sugar is completely dissolved. Then the container with the wort is closed with a cotton stopper, a number is stuck on it and placed in a room with a temperature of 20-22 ° C. The rest of the sugar is added in approximately equal parts for 4, 7 and 10 days of fermentation, dissolving in a small amount of poured fermenting wine.

In order to preserve the aroma of the wine and prevent possible oxidation processes that extremely deteriorate the taste of the wine, it is necessary to top it up. It is very important that the wine used for topping up is completely healthy. If you add even a small amount of sick wine to a bottle of wine, the whole wine will become sick. Therefore, wine for refills should be stored, for example, in bottles filled to the top. And in order to always have wine for topping up, it is necessary to ferment the wort in at least two containers. One of the cylinders must be much smaller so that the wine from it can be used for topping up.

After the end of vigorous fermentation, it proceeds very quietly. During this period, the bottle is filled to the top, and from the smaller bottle the wine is poured into an even smaller container up to the neck. The cotton plug is replaced with a water seal. This is a curved glass tube inserted at one end into a tongue and groove, and the other into a glass of boiled water.

Quiet fermentation usually lasts three to four weeks. Its end is determined by the absence of sugar to taste. At the same time, the wine begins to lighten. A yeast sediment forms at the bottom of the pan. The wine must be drained without clouding it. To do this, place a bottle of wine on the table, and empty dishes on the floor. Then a rubber hose is immersed in the wine until it is approximately 3 cm above the sediment. On the other side of the hose, clear wine is sucked into the mouth, and when it begins to flow, its end is lowered into the bottle below. The remaining yeast sediment is poured into a smaller bottle, allowed to settle again, after which the clear wine is drained in the same way. This wine is filled into clean cylinders up to the neck, sealed with corks and placed in a cold room to settle. After a month, the wine is removed from the sediment again, just like the first time. The grounds are filtered through a cloth filter.

The wine obtained in this way is called wine material.

Everything seems clear. But something still needs to be clarified.

First, let's talk about the water seal. The valve tube is relatively narrow and often clogs. Even particles found in the foam cap on the wine can clog it. The result of this is the knocking out of the plug with the valve from the pressure of carbon dioxide. But, if this pressure is already high, and the cork is firmly seated, then... either all the contents are on the ceiling and the surrounding area, or the bottle will explode...

And therefore, if you install a water seal, then at the very end of fermentation. When you need control that fermentation is still ongoing. This is determined by the appearance of bubbles in the valve capacitance.

In other cases, it is better to refuse it.

In addition, the water in the seal must be changed quite often. Otherwise, it will simply “bloom”, i.e. it will harbor algae and other microorganisms. And instead of protection, the shutter will become a “passage yard” for all kinds of infection...

Fermenting wine is a generator of carbon dioxide. Gas is formed in large volumes and there is always increased pressure in the container with fermenting wine. At all stages of fermentation. And therefore, it will be quite sufficient to have a stopper that only covers the neck of the container. It prevents pressure from equalizing and prevents outside air from entering the container. If the container has a screw cap, then during the first stages of fermentation the cork simply falls onto the neck, without entering the threaded connection. And then, when fermentation activity is already low, the plug is slightly screwed onto the thread, but the gas must pass freely through this connection. You just need to make sure that the plug moves freely on the thread.

This is quite enough to protect the wine from unwanted invaders. For example, acetic bacteria or other yeasts. For the entire period of wine preparation.

And therefore, the use of a water seal is a matter of taste. You can completely do without it. Without compromising the quality of the wine.

You can completely dispense with the addition of ammonium chloride if the wine ferments on the lees. In this case, nitrogen compounds will be quite sufficient to feed the yeast. Sugar for yeast is not a nutrient, but an energy source. They need nitrogen compounds for their own maintenance and reproduction.

You cannot do without ammonium chloride if you are making wine from settled juice from which the sediment has already been removed. The amount of sediment after fermentation will be insignificant, the wine will not have astringency, but the yeast will have nothing to feed on. And in this case, ammonium chloride will have to be added. You have to pay for everything...

About fermentation. Experts distinguish between top and bottom fermentation. Typically, top fermentation is assumed to be a vigorous fermentation, and bottom fermentation is considered to be a quiet fermentation. The difference is in the location of the bulk of the yeast. They say that in winemaking the main thing is rapid or top fermentation, and for the fermentation of beer bottom fermentation is used. Even the yeast is different. But in Rus', “bread” wine has long been prepared. Fermentation was carried out with wine yeast, and the input was, indeed, wine. With a strength of about 15 degrees, with a bready smell. By the way, it was originally called beer. English ale was also prepared. It is still made without the addition of hops, but the technology has become beer-like, low-temperature. Hops, as a bitterness masking the acidity and taste of the drink, as well as malt, a source of sugar, changed the technology.

But let's get back to the wine. The term “top” fermentation appeared when pulp was fermented into wine. The crushed and crushed parts of the fruit rose up and formed a cap above the liquid. This hat was constantly broken and stirred. And she was getting ready again. That is why the fermentation is high. When they began to remove the pulp, it became clear that the fermentation in the wort was proceeding throughout the entire volume. Stormy, with foam. And the term appeared - violent fermentation.

Then the particles settle, and the main fermentation already occurs in the lower part. But, long and calm. This is a quiet fermentation.

It is not always possible to determine which type of fermentation is currently the main one. And therefore, this division is justified, but rather conditional. In fact, the fermentation process begins with rapid growth, stabilizes for ten days, and then activity gradually decreases over the course of a month or a month and a half. The types of fermentation in early-clarifying wines are clearly distinguished. For example, in apple or strawberry. The sediment has already fallen, the wine has become transparent, and fermentation is still very active. Of course, in the sediment. If the sediment is dense and there is poor access to fresh liquid, then such fermentation can easily stop. The yeast will die from oxygen starvation and local excess alcohol. But the wine will remain sweet and low-grade. And therefore, if the sediment falls too early, you need to shake and pour the wine more often, until the natural end of fermentation. By the way, the sediment in strawberry wine is loose and does not require additional effort, but apple and especially pear wines require attention.

According to all winemakers, it is better not to keep wine on the lees for more than two months. The lees may rot, giving the wine a putrid odor. This means that the period for preparing wine from preparing the pulp to complete readiness should be within 1.5 -2 months.

This can only be ensured by intensive fermentation at all stages. “Wild” yeast does not provide such fermentation.

High yeast activity is also ensured by maintaining a constant temperature of the wine within 20-25 degrees, timely transfusion of the wine to saturate it with oxygen, and timely removal from the sediment.

By the way, the method of fermentation on pulp, almost forgotten today, gives the fastest fermentation. It reduces the fermentation period to 1 month. But this is troublesome, and sometimes the wine turns out tart, which is not to everyone’s taste.

Good sediment also speeds up the fermentation process. This is achieved by coarse filtration of the wort during extraction. The wort is thick and the sediment is large. With good sediment, the wine matures and becomes clearer faster.

The sediment can then be squeezed out and the resulting wine allowed to settle.

As it turns out, there is a ton of personality in the fermentation process. Everyone chooses their own path...
Pouring wine.

Pouring wine– a necessary part of the technological process. This operation allows you to remove excess carbon dioxide from the wine and saturate it with oxygen. Yeast needs oxygen for respiration. Without oxygen, the wine “suffocates”, fermentation stops, and the wine remains a cloudy liquid.

If you notice a sharp decrease in yeast activity, which often happens at the end of a period of rapid fermentation, then decanting the wine is necessary.

A transfusion is just that – a transfusion. You slowly pour the wine in a thin stream from one container to another. Better completely. This way you will raise the sediment and saturate it with oxygen. Usually, this is followed by the reverse procedure of pouring the wine from the temporary container back into your own. At this point the transfusion can be considered complete. A simple but very important operation.

The results of the transfusion are usually visible within a couple of hours. Either yeast activity increases, or, if the racking is done at the end of the fermentation process, the wine immediately begins to clarify. And fermentation activity, after intensification, sharply weakens. This indicates that the wine is ready soon. During fermentation, 2 and sometimes 3 transfusions are usually carried out.
Clarification of wine.

The most pleasant moment for a winemaker. The wine acquires its color and transparency. Dark wines become even darker because there is nothing for the light to reflect off of. Light wines become transparent and sparkling.

Typically, wine fining occurs at the end of fermentation and occurs gradually over several days. The sedimentation of particles begins, which were previously kept in the thickness of the wine due to the gas produced by the yeast. The yeast has completed its work, the gas has left, and the process of sedimentation of fine suspension begins.

Everything is fine if the wine has already reached its main degrees by this time. And if not? Then you will have to start maintaining suspension in the wine. You will have to shake the wine and raise the sediment. Carry out an emergency wine transfusion. It is necessary to ensure that fermentation continues. Most likely, after these measures, fermentation will resume, but you will have to carefully monitor the activity of fermentation, and from time to time shake the wine, raise the sediment and avoid premature clarification of the wine.
Removal from sediment.

Another nice moment. We prepared a siphon, this is a flexible tube approximately 5mm in diameter. A larger diameter means you will remove the wine from the sediment faster, but the draft of such a tube is greater. It must be kept away from moving sediment. Otherwise, along with the wine, you’ll drag down the sediment. You will have to repeat the procedure again after the wine has settled.

The length of the tube is more than twice the height of the wine container. With a small margin. Otherwise, you won’t be able to reach the bottom, and some of the wine will remain in the container. And you won’t be able to get pure wine from there.

The second container should be lower. Even its neck should be slightly below the level of the bottom of the container with wine. The first end of the tube is in a container with wine. After drawing the wine into the tube, you lower the second end of the tube into the second lower container. And the wine flows through a tube by gravity from the upper container to the lower one. Now just make sure that the upper end of the tube does not suck in the sediment. And he couldn't get enough air. Otherwise, the movement of wine will stop.

Everything possible was pumped over. There is some wine left on the lees. If the sediment is coarse, then squeeze the wine out of the sediment through double gauze. The coarse sediment can be thrown away, and the cloudy wine can be poured into a tall, narrow bottle. The wine will settle and sediment will again accumulate at the bottom. And again we remove the wine from the sediment. The removed clear wine can be combined with the main one. And the thin sediment goes into a jar. And in the refrigerator. Now this is the starter for the next wine.
Aging of finished wine material.

The wine is removed from the lees. It is strong and... sour. Also, it smells like yeast. Put it on stand. For a week. Under a loose plug. Precipitation may form again. And you will have to remove the wine from the sediment again. And let it stand again.

All. There is no more sediment.

The wine is ready. But it is sour, with a pungent taste and smell.
Let's add sugar...

The wine obtained in this way is called wine material. It is not maintained according to sugar standards, and therefore is not harmonious. To give the wine material softness, fullness of taste and sweetness, sugar is added to it: for liqueur wines 200 g per 10 l, for dessert wines - from 100 to 160 g per 1 l.

Sugar is added in the form of syrup, dissolving it when heated in a small amount of poured wine. The finished sweet dessert wine is poured into cylinders 3 cm below the edge of the cylinder or bottled also 3 cm below the edge of the bottle, tightly sealed with corks and, if the corks are cortical, filled with resin. Labels are placed on the bottles with the name of the wine and the year of its production.

For semi-sweet wines:

First way. Add 50 g of sugar per 1 liter of wine to the finished, clarified wine material removed from the sediment. Semi-sweet wine, having low alcohol content, is fragile and easily ferments. Therefore, to give the wine strength, it is pasteurized. To do this, the finished sweetened wine is poured into bottles up to half the height of the neck and closed with corks. The corks are tied with a string to prevent them from being knocked out during pasteurization. The bottles are placed in a pan of water on a stand. The water in the pan should be at the same level as the wine. The water is heated to 75° C and maintained at this temperature for 30 minutes. Then the bottles are removed. When the wine has cooled, the ropes from the cork are pressed tighter and filled with sealing wax or tar.

Second way. The finished wine material, without sweetening, is bottled, corked, the corks are filled with sealing wax and stored until consumed. Before use, sugar syrup is added to the finished wine material to add sweetness.

The syrup is made from the juice of the berries from which wine is made. To prepare the syrup, add 800 g of granulated sugar to 1 liter of juice. The juice is heated until the sugar dissolves, poured into small bottles, closed with boiled cork stoppers, tied with ropes and pasteurized for 15 minutes at a temperature of 75 ° C. Then the stoppers are filled with paraffin or tar. To make the syrup aromatic, crushed berries should be heated in an enamel bowl before squeezing the juice out of them. In the absence of sugar syrup from berry juice, you can prepare syrup using water, but even better using the same wine. In the latter case, the syrup does not need to be pasteurized.

Before drinking, add ready-made syrup to the wine to taste. It is recommended to add about 0.5 cups of syrup per 1 liter of wine.

A very tasty wine is obtained if, instead of syrup, 50 to 100 g per 1 liter of linden or flower honey are added to it. Honey should be added to wine just before drinking. Apple and gooseberry wines especially benefit from this.