Career, Happiness, How To, Italian American, New Jersey, Wine —

Rite of Spring: Bottling Homemade Wine

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(photo: don’t be fooled by the Carlo Rossi gallon jugs, the contents are 100 percent homemade wine)

As many Italian Americans can attest to making homemade wine is one of the culturally defining moments of our group.  Making and bottling homemade wine is practiced by thousands of immigrants and 1st/2nd/3rd generation Italian Americans in the United States.  The process begins in the Fall with the crushing of varied grape varietals and ends in the Spring with the bottling process.  The entire Scordo homemade wine process is documented here. 

Our family uses whole grapes from California (as many as 6 varietals) and ages the grape juice in Oak.  We do not use sulfites, boost the fermentation process, or go through the trouble of racking.  The end result is a rustic and potent homemade wine that is appreciated and reveled or quickly spit out as unrefined junk by the faint of heart.  I hold the former opinion and value the wine for both it’s taste and philosophical importance.

 

(photo: cleaning the oak barrel: wine sediment after months of aging)

(photo: ready to store for the year)

(photo: filling a few “specialty” bottles)
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Author: Lead Italophile (and/or lover of all things Italian).
  • http://www.scordo.com/2008/11/how-to-make-home-made-wine.html Italian Food and Recipes – Scordo.com

    How to Make Home-Made Wine

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