Homemade Grape Wine from Bottled Grape Juice

I am soooo easily influenced... As soon as I saw the cool one gallon jugs of homemade wine bloggy buddy Michaele was making I had to Google how to do it. It appears proper wine making requires fruit at the peak of perfection and lots of patience... So I looked into the, um, "quick" method of wine making:@) This Homemade Grape Wine from Bottled Grape Juice only requires a 64 ounce bottle of 100% grape juice, a cup of sugar and a pack of baker's yeast. It was an interesting $4 experiment and one that made the boys laugh. The juice only takes 10-14 days to ferment, then you run it through a coffee filter and at that point you have wine!

Now, is this a gourmet velvety smooth wine to serve your in-laws at a fancy dinner party? Ah... no. But it is a fun wine to make and a good simple starting point if you've ever been curious about wine making. It's pretty tasty too.

I found a two part U-Tube Video that was in depth and informative, and since the guy has been making wine this way forever, it must be ok to drink:@) Part 1 is HERE and Part 2 is HERE. He makes an apple pie wine that sounds interesting too.

Homemade Grape Wine from Bottled Grape Juice
64oz bottle of 100% pure grape juice, no additives-get a name brand folks
1 C sugar-you can use anywhere from 3/4 to 1 1/4 C
1 envelope yeast or 2 1/4 tsp from a jar

1. Remove 1 1/4 C juice from the bottle. Hand it to a kid and make him happy:@)
2. Add the sugar (a funnel helps), replace the cap and shake well. Let it sit for a bit and shake it again. Do this until you don't see sugar on the bottom of the bottle any more.
3. Add the yeast (a funnel helps), replace the cap and shake well. Do this a few times.
4. Remove the cap, replace the cap snugly, give it a little itty turn so that when you lightly touch it it wiggles just a bit. The video illustrates this well. Place tape over the top of the bottle to keep the cap in tact. 
5. Set in a cool dark place for 10-14 days. It's ready when it no longer makes bubbles. You can see the bubbles by holding a flashlight up to the side of the bottle. It will take a few hours for the bubbles to start-remain calm... Lynn.
6. When it's done put a coffee filter inside a sterilized strainer and gently pour all but the 1" or so (you'll see the sediment on the bottom) into a sterilized jar or pitcher. I just used a mason jar and left it in there for storage.
7. Clean out your original bottle really well (with extra hot tap water or water heated on the stove), pour the wine back into it, screw on the cap and you're good to go. You can let it age a couple months if you'd like. He suggests serving it really cold, even over ice.

Let's raise a glass to trying something new and have a happy day:@)