Mark

See below.

Don't avoid this step, it's needed. It protects the wine from
premature oxidation among other things. Whoever said homemade wine
can't last for several years did not know what they were talking
about. Well made wine is well made wine. I can't say a kit wine will
be better in 5 years, I have no experience with them. Most reds
benefit from a year or so in the bottle though.

If you or someone who will drink your wines hase a problem with the
use of sulfites it can be eliminated, but it makes things more
complex, the wine is unprotected in a sense. The amount of sulfite
needed to protect wine is very low, it's measured in parts per
million.

> Metabisulphite: I'm guessing that this is supposed to clear the wine
> of any foreign elements (i.e. other yeast strains). If I plan to keep
> the wine bottled for a long period of time (i.e. 5 years) would this
> be recommended? I remember reading that home made wine usually can't
> sit for many years because it lacks a process that wineries are able
> to do (I can't recall what that process is...).


Wine will naturally clear on it's own usually. You can fine (ad the
chitosan) at any time. You should rack off the gross lees at minimum,
or stir them if you like a 'creamy' taste in your wine, that's called
a 'sur lee' style. Most grape wines are pretty clean within 3 months.

> Chitosan: So this is suppsed to clear the wine but one of you
> mentioned that you let it clear on it's own. Is there a trick to
> letting wine clear on it's own or do I just let it sit for an extra
> period of time? If so, how many months approx. and how will I know
> that it's clear enough?

Good grapes are grown in Texas, you may be closer to a winery than you
think... Never add water unless there is a good reason, like way too
much acid or sugar in the juice.

Joe
>
> Jack said: "I am talking grapes or fruit...." - I live in Austin TX
> and don't have a place to grow grapes. The local homebrew store only
> sells the kits... do you have any advice on how to get wine grapes?
> Let's say that I find good wine grapes and plan to extract the juice
> myself; my understanding is that the kits I am using are 80% juice &
> 20% water... Would I use 100% grape juice if possible or a dilution?
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Mark