Homemade Easy Grape Wine Recipe / Kerala Munthiri Wine / ഗ്രേപ്പ് വൈൻ
Allow me to introduce you to this exquisite homemade grape wine, crafted with precision and care. With its rich, complex flavor profile and affordable price point, it’s a worthy alternative to commercial wines, It’s remarkable tastes deserves recognition, and I’m excited to share it with you.
Can’t believe it’s been a while since I shared my Rice Wine recipe! Since then, I’ve been getting loads of requests for my Grape Wine recipe. With Christmas just around the corner, I figured it’s the perfect time to share it. What do you think? Should I share more festive recipes like Mulled Wine or maybe some holiday treats?
Whenever I think of homemade wines, I’m instantly reminded of my mom. She had a true passion for winemaking, and her signature grape wine recipe is a treasured family heirloom. I’m grateful to have inherited her love for winemaking, and I’m thrilled to share this recipe with all of you. This grape wine recipe is one of her best. Thanks, Mom, for passing on your skills and tradition and thanks to your legacy! I am happy to share it with you all.
While wine can be crafted from a variety of fruits, grape wine remains the most popular and widely enjoyed. The notion that moderate wine consumption can be beneficial for our health is not new. However, it’s essential to strike a balance, as excessive consumption can have adverse effects. On the other hand, moderate wine drinking has been linked to several health benefits, including improved heart health, lower cholesterol levels, and enhanced digestion. Wine is also often enjoyed as a digestif.
Growing up, our family would often enjoy homemade wines, expertly crafted by my lovely mom, Grace Mathew Mankavil. Winemaking was a cherished tradition in our household, with my mom experimenting with various flavors and recipes. Some were trial batches, while others were tried-and-tested favorites. When I decided to make this Homemade Grape Wine, memories of my mom’s winemaking days flooded my mind. I miss her signature wines, especially her banana, pineapple, beetroot, and grape varieties. It’s been a while since she’s made wine, and I wish I had captured the process through photos. Perhaps one day she’ll inspire me again!
To monitor the wine’s progress, simply take it out and give it a stir once a day at the same time. You might find yourself tempted to taste it daily, but it’s best to wait until the fermentation process is complete. After seven days, you’ll be rewarded with a wine that rivals store-bought varieties – perhaps even surpassing them! That’s what we’ve found from our own experience.
My mom would always use new ceramic jars (bharanis) to make wine, and I’m craving those flavors now! During my last visit, I spotted the old bharanis in the kitchen store room, now repurposed for other uses. It’s lovely that she’s given them a new life.
I’d been searching for a large ceramic jar to make wine, scouring Kinshasa supermarkets for what felt like an eternity. After coming up empty-handed, someone at an American supermarket told me to check back in a month. I waited patiently, but unfortunately, the jar was still nowhere to be found. Just when I’d lost hope, I stumbled upon a new supermarket in November and spotted this large glass jar. I was with my driver, and we were both thrilled. The supermarket staff, mostly Congolese, were helpful, with one employee taking me to various sections to find the perfect vessel. Although we didn’t find a ceramic jar, I finally found this suitable glass jar in a quiet corner of the crockery section. Hooray! I got it!
The wine preparation takes around 21 days. After straining the mixture, let it settle for a few more days, then strain it again and bottle it. The entire process typically takes 25-30 days. Once bottled, the wine can be stored for months or even years, allowing the flavors to mature and improve with age – the older, the better!
During fermentation, you’ll notice air bubbles forming on the surface. This is a sign that the process is underway. Once the bubbles stop forming, it’s a clear indication that fermentation is complete. That’s your cue to strain the wine, marking the end of one stage and the beginning of the next – enjoying your homemade wine!
By the third day, my wine was already showing some kick! It completed the fermentation process on November 9th, and I’m thrilled to finally share the results with you all. Better late than never, I suppose!
The wait is worth it! Here’s a recap:
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Ready in: 21 days
Calories: 5-ounce / 120 to 150 (The calorie count of homemade grape wine can vary depending on factors like grape variety, sugar content, and fermentation process).
Author: Seena.
Ingredients for Homemade Grape Wine:
Black Grapes (seedless) – 750 grams
Sugar – 650 grams
Yeast – 1 tsp.
Water – 1 litre + ½ cup for dissolving yeast)
Cinnamon – 1 small piece
Cloves – 3
Wheat Kernels – 1 ½ tbsp.
How to Make Homemade Grape Wine:
Rinse, wash and clean grapes after removing from its stalks. Pat dry it well with a kitchen tissue. Crush it with your clean hands. Make sure the grapes you picked up don’t have particles of debris. Boil 1 litre water in a clean vessel. Switch off the stove and keep it aside to cool down. Once it is cooled down, filter it. Take ½ cup of luke warm water in a small bowl. Add in the yeast and ¼ tsp. of sugar. stir it well and keep it aside for 5 minutes for fermenting it. Crush the grapes with a masher or with your clean hand to extract and release most of its juices.
Now take a big glass jar or ceramic / porcelain jar with a tight lid (preferable ceramic and it should fit double the quantity of the grape mix). First make the first layer with the crushed grapes followed by wheat kernels. Then add in the whole spices like, cinnamon and cloves. Add the yeast mixture, sugar. Give it a mix. Now add the boiled and cooled water. Stir it well with a wooden spoon. Cover the jar tightly with its lid. Keep it in a dark corner of your kitchen.
Let this bottle remain there unshaken for a week. After that period, take a wooden spoon and start stirring it daily for 21 days. After 21 days, strain the mixture through a sieve. Clean the same jar and pat dry it. Pour the strained liquid again in to the same jar. Remove the sediments at the bottom after a couple of days until you get the clear wine.
How to Caramelise Sugar:
Take a heavy bottom pan and add ½ cup of sugar. I have taken brown sugar for this. Keep it on stove on medium heat. Stir it continuously till the sugar melts. Keep on stirring it and scraping down sugar particles from the sides of the pan, till you get a dark brown colour. Switch off the stove and keep it aside to cool down completely. Now pour in 2 to 3 table spoons of hot water and mix well. Cool this sugar syrup and add this to the wine in the jar.
Your Homemade Grape Wine is now ready to be bottled.
My Recipe Notes on Homemade Grape Wine:
1. Grapes – You can either use seeded grapes or seedless grapes. But always it is better to use seedless grapes as the seeds bring bitterness to the wine. Black Grapes is the best one for making Homemade Grape Wine. If you are not getting it, red grapes also would be fine.
2. There should not be any moisture left on grapes after washing and cleaning it.
3. Water – boiled, cooled and filtered.
4. Yeast – I used Active Dry Yeast.
5. Sugar – I have used white sugar here, but if you want, you can substitute it with sugar cane sugar which is brown in colour. If you use brown sugar, of course the colour of this wine would be pretty better one. Also the quantity of sugar used in grape wine has to be adjusted as per the sweetness of the grapes used.
Sugar Caramelizing is completely optional. Those who want a perfect brown colour for your wine only go for this process. Otherwise your wine would be in golden brown colour. Remember, caramelization has to be done and poured to the wine, only after you get the clear liquid after removing all the sediments by sieving it a couple of times.
6. You can add a small piece of crushed dried ginger too while incorporating everything in the jar.
7. From the third day I started getting the kick of the real wine!!
8. You can add one egg white on the top layer; this will avoid forming fungus on top.
9. A germ-free environment is highly required. Hence maintaining hygiene throughout the process of making grape wine is very much necessary.
10. The wine will get its true colour with age, so don’t expect the original colour once you filter it and remove the chunks.. A little browning ensures better colour. If you want the colour of grape wine to be light in colour, don’t go for the sugar caramelizing process.
11. Don’t keep any sour fruits near to the wine mixture or else the wine mixture will turn sour.
12. If you feel any sort of dizziness after having this wine, switch immediately to having water. Or else, drink lots of water before drinking wine.
13. Keep stirring the mixture for 21 days with clean wooden ladle. If you miss to stir in between, nothing to worry. But make it a point to stir it daily.
14. I got about 1 ¼ liters of Rice Wine from this. Keep this in dark bottles for not losing its appearance.
15. This wine is very strong. It will become stronger as it matures resulting in much improved taste.
One of the stage wise pictures:
Happy Fermenting and Happy Christmas guys,
Cheers and Bon Appétit
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ഗ്രേപ്പ് വൈൻ റെസിപ്പി.
Grape Wine.
Description
Simple and easy way to make quality grape wine at your home for Christmas and Easter.