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We have about 20 grape vines, last year lots of grapes went to waste! Sooooooooooo I'm going to have a go at wine making, on my last trip to the UK I raided Wilkos for all the necessary bits and bobs, the only thing I couldn't bring back were the demijohns. Do you have any tips/advice for a total beginner?

Good book for beginners......... First steps in winemaking By C.J.J.Berry

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I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.
W. C. Fields

Seconding Bubblewrap's advice. Brilliant book for starting up making wine. You can also find loads of stuff on ebay.

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

1 gallon(or the new-money equivalent) make servicable fermenting jars.

Best advice - sterilise everything you use, don't let the wine have too much air as it ferments - ie proper airlocks on containers which have very close-fitting lids and don't let air in, and try and keep the fermenting wine at a constant temperature, lots of my demijohns are sticking (where the fermentation stops although they should be still going) at the moment because they have been subject to too much temp fluctuation.

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Dwell simply ~ love richly

I meant to say,1 gall. WATER BOTTLES!! make servicable fermentation jars!!
Forgive me,I am an old woman.

Silly statment 'cause you are in spain at the mo - but I have several demijons and various other wine making kit looking for a home at the mo.

Anyone interested? No charge but you have to be able to collect.

If you have 20 vines you will hopefully get 20 times my yield of 4 gallons per vine. You will need some large clean containers that can be air locked. If they are red grapes you can brew the crushed grapes for about 1-5 days depending on the colour you want to acheive.

Then filter off and continue to ferment the juice under airlock. It will plop away for about 2-4 months then you should rack it off the dead yeast and carry on. The larger the container the less the fluctuation in temperature. When it has gone quiet rack it again and leave it to mature if you can.

You have to taste it at each step including tasting the grapes to see how sweet they are.

Get a hygrometre - then you can just test the sugar using the density reading - saves sucking on a sour grape!

Also, use nice ripe grapes - don't fall into the trap of "they're no good for eating, I'd make wine instead"...

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Dwell simply ~ love richly

Great advice! thanks all!!

Please let us know how it goes for you, and good luck!