Grande Maison Home Winery & Grande Maison Reserve 1 gallon Instructions

If you have a Grande Maison Reserve 1 gallon wine kit not from the Home Winery, you will need the equipment listed above.

Optional items (not supplied):

Heater belt or tray (for optimum temperature control)

Hydrometer and trial jar (to check when fermentation is complete)

A funnel (to add can contents and hot water to demijohn)

A second demijohn (for racking the wine)

Winemaking instructions.

It is important to clean and sterilise all your equipment before use. We recommend the use of a proprietary cleanser such as Bruclens. Equipment must be rinsed thoroughly with clean cold water after sterilisation.

1.       Empty the contents of the can into a sterilised demijohn and rinse out the can with a little cold water and add to the demijohn. The use of a funnel will assist pouring the contents into the jar.

2.       Boil 0.56 litre (1 pint) of water, allow to cool slightly then add to the demijohn. Top up the demijohn to 4.54 litres (1 gallon) with cold water. (This is usually 1.3cm or ½" above the shoulder of the demijohn)

3.       Add the Andovin Wine Yeast directly to the must (there is no advantage in re-hydrating the yeast first).  Both the Bentonite sachet (for white wines only) and the French Oak sachet (for all red and certain white wines) should be added directly to the must at this stage.

4.       Gently shake the demijohn to disperse the wine yeast. Seal the demijohn with an airlock and bung, half fill the air lock with cold water.

5.       Place the demijohn in a constantly warm place between 20ºC~25ºC (68º~77ºF). Alternatively use a heater belt or tray to maintain a constant temperature (available from winemaking product retailers). The wine will ferment down (slowly) to a temperature of 16ºC (61ºF) below this temperature the fermentation may stop. It is not recommended to ferment the wine above 25ºC (77ºF). Fermentation will start after approx. 24 hours. Leave the wine to ferment to completion (approx. 10 days at the recommended temperature). This will occur when bubbles have stopped passing through the air lock or, if using a hydrometer, a reading of below 996 on two consecutive days will confirm fermentation has finished. Please ensure fermentation has finished before proceeding. 

6.       At the end of fermentation, add the contents of the Stabiliser sachet to a clean cup. Add a little wine from the fermenter and stir to dissolve. If you have a second fermenter, syphon (rack) the wine to this (sterilised) fermenter, leaving the sediment behind, before adding the Stabiliser. If not, add the Stabiliser solution directly to the wine. Rinse out the cup with a tablespoon full of water and add to the wine. Agitate or stir the wine several times to release the carbon dioxide gas, which will reduce the clearing time. (Note do not seal a glass carboy while agitating as it may crack under pressure). If you are unable to properly de-gas the wine before finings addition, then racking is recommended because this will have the effect of gas removal.

7.      Add the Kieselsol sachet directly to the demijohn, stir vigorously for 2 minutes then leave for 1 hour before adding the contents of the Chitosan sachet, stir in gently the demijohn until the contents are well mixed.

8.       Remove the demijohn to a cool place (not in direct sunlight) and leave undisturbed until the wine is perfectly clear (about 7 days). If left on a suitable surface for syphoning, this will avoid sediment being disturbed later

9.       Syphon the clear wine, without disturbing the sediment, into the Brewmaker Wine Dispenser bag in the box.

10.    Your wine is now ready to drink.

Grande Maison Home Winery is available to winemakers from specialist retailers.

Vina is the Exclusive UK Retailer Supplier of The Grande Maison Home Winery