How-to of making wine from grape concentrate

IT’S not exactly turning water into wine but armed with some patience and a homemade wine kit, making a top drop at home can be easier than you think.
Essencia Brisbane and Winexpert representative Mark Maguire brought the concept to Tamworth last week and talked about the process at an information night at True Brew on Peel St.

Using a kit to make ready-to-drink wine coolers as a demonstration, Mr Maguire also discussed how bottles of wine that could sell for between $30 and $50 in a bottle shop could be made at home for as little as $6.

As for the taste, he said Winexpert homebrewed wines were, to many people, virtually indistinguishable from professionally-made tipples.

“You’ve got a wide range of varietals of wine you can make,” Mr Maguire said.

“You’re making really good wines. You’re making varietals that you can’t get in Australia or are difficult to get.

“We’re finding people are really enjoying making really good wine.”

He said homemade wine was big business in Canada and the US especially and was growing in popularity in Australia and New Zealand.

“The main thing we’re finding is (people are) avoiding the cheaper, more generic wine kits and going for the better ones that are varietals from named areas,” he said.

The wines are made from grape concentrate, which is reconstituted and mixed with wine yeast and other additives being being fermented.

“It’s not like something you’d go and buy at a bottle-o. It’s something you’d take to a dinner party and put it on the table and people drink it,” he said.

“Wine from grape juice concentrate is becoming very good.

“The fact that you’re using concentrate means you’re not having to muck around sourcing grapes and going through crushing. There’s nothing wrong with that, a lot of people make very good wines that way – a lot of people make very poor wines that way.”

He said the kits took the pain out of the process of making homemade wine.

“They’re guaranteed to work,” he said.