Home Brew Red Wine

Younger wines tend to be an intense violet colour, whereas a more mature wine can be brick red and older red wines can be brown. The actual red colour of the wine comes from the skin of the grapes as the juice from most darker grapes is greenish white.

Ageing a red wine kit 

A red wine kit can be aged for some time, though this can vary from a few days, in the case of a Beaujolais Nouveau to 18 months or more in top Bordeaux reds. 

Commercial ageing is mainly done in stainless-steel or concrete tanks, or alternatively small or large oak barrels. The oak barrels impart some flavour to the wine, small, new barrels give more flavour than large, older barrels.

Fining and stabilization

Red wine kits sometimes need fining, which clarifies the wine and also corrects faults such as excess tannin. 

Fining agents include egg white and gelatin. 

Filtration and bottling

Most wine kits  are filtered at some stage before bottling. 

Filtration serves to make wine completely clear and to eliminate any remaining yeast cells and bacteria. These agents could render the bottled wine microbiologically unstable. Wine is generally stored in glass bottles with cork stoppers, though aluminium screwcap closures and plastic stoppers are standard. Alternative containers such as Bag-in-Box and plastic bottles are popular.

Seven of the best dry red wine types worthy of your consideration:

• Cabernet Sauvignon Red Wine
• Carménère Red Wine
• Malbec Red Wine
• Merlot Red Wine
• Pinot Noir Red Wine
• Syrah/ Shiraz Red Wine
• Tempranillo Red Wine

Click here for tips on how to make red wine