The resulting mixture is put into the primary fermenter for 6 days more or less. This allows the skin to color and add to the flavor of the wine. Be sure to stir at least twice a day! Now's a good time to whip out the old hydrometer to get an idea of how much sugar to add.

Fill your juice, sugar and water to a little below the neck in a bottle similar to the carboy below
There's a lot of latitude here. I've heard of Mustang grape wine with anywhere from 2 to 3 lbs of sugar per gallon of wine. So that you can duplicate this wine again - it is suggested that you kill any wild yeast with 1.5 crushed campden tablets per gallon.

After 24 hours, you may add one of the wine yeasts below. One packet is sufficient for 5 - 6 gallons of liquid. Peptic enzyme can also be added here for clearing haze particularly in the fruit wines. Montrachet is often used with Mustang Grapes.

Pectic Enzyme 1 lb.
(Item #690612)
Helps break down fruit prior to fermentation and aids in clarifying. Increases juice yields and color by breaking down the cellular structure. Also eliminates pectin haze from wines made from pectin rich fruit.
Add 1/2 Teaspoon to gallon of juice, or 1/10 teaspoon per pound of fruit, one hour before start of fermentation.

Now is the time to insert an air lock. The rubber stopper shown below fits most carboys and the airlock fits inside it. Don't forget to add water or some liquid to the air lock. (Some folks use vodka for sterility) The airlock is important to preserve the integrity of the wine so that the domestic yeast maintains control. Any infiltration of foreign bodies may just leave you a carboy of vinegar. Sterility will be very important from here on out.

After about 30 days, the fermenting should be finished. You will want to let the wine try to clear naturally but you will likely have to rack it at least once.

Now's a good time to sample your wine. Often we find that the yeast went crazy and converted almost all the sugar to alcohol. If it is too dry for you, don't give up. We have a Wine Conditioner that works great. One or two bottles should sweeten up 6 gallons and it includes Potassium Sorbate so the yeast won't start up again and blow your bottles all to smitherines.

Wine Conditioner 17oz
(Item #690658)
For sweetening finished wine. Add to wine after stabilizing and clearing.

Now that you've got your wine where you want it except it's still not totally clear, here is a clearing agent that should do it.

Now let's get our bottles and corks ready. The one step cleaner is hard to beat because it leaves no residue when used with a bottle drainer. (It sterilizes with oxygen and evaporates) Don't forget to wash and rinse anything that the wine will touch!

Wine Bottle Drainer Tree
(Item #690869)
Compact design to take up less space.Simplifies the bottling washing and sterilizing process. Holds 45 bottles and rotates for easy access.

Quantity:

Corking is next. Don't forget to soak the corks in the one step cleaner before using. If you are using a hand corker, you will probably want to use the #7 or #8 corks. The #9 corks are made for the wine bottles but you will probably only be able to cork them with the Floor Corker. If you don't expect to keep the wine past 3 years, (which is optimun for Mustang Grape Wine) the #8 corks will probably do fine.

A nice finishing touch are these sleeves. Labels might be nice too!

A little patience and enjoy! Mustang Grape Wine improves up to about 3 years.