Homemade Berry Wine
Good wine makes you see things in the best light! With homemade wine you can be sure it’s made only from natural ingredients and fermented naturally. And it often tastes better than store-bought.
Updated : 04 March, 2026
Easy
More than 1 hour.
Ingredients
3 kilograms
Berries
2 kilograms
Sugar
5 liter
Water
Table
Table of volume measurements:
- teaspoon - 5 ml
- dessert spoon - 10 ml
- tablespoon - 20 ml
- glass - 200 ml
Preparation
Step 1
How to make berry wine? You can use any berries in any proportions - homegrown or store-bought. Do not wash the berries, unless they’re clearly dirty (for example, sandy after rain). All berries should be fully ripe and free of rot. Lightly mash the berries so they release juice and put them into a large carboy/demijohn.
Step 2
The berries should take up about 1/3 of the total volume. Add sugar and pour in boiled, cooled water. Do not fill the carboy to the top, because during fermentation the berries will rise. Stir everything. I measure sugar by eye: add most of it at the start. Instead of an airlock, you can use a rubber glove - put it on the neck of the bottle. Leave it like this for 1 month.
Step 3
That doesn’t mean you can forget about the wine for a month. Shake the carboy periodically. In the first days, do this every day. When fermentation is at its peak, you can stir less often. The inflated glove will show you how active fermentation is.
Step 4
After a month, strain the wine through several layers of cheesecloth. Taste it. At this stage, you can add a bit more sugar.
Step 5
Pour the strained wine back into the carboy and put the glove on again. Sometimes it hasn’t fully finished fermenting. Let it stand like this for 1-3 weeks. If the glove rises, fermentation is still going. Keep an eye on the process.
Step 6
Overall, the wine is ready. But I pasteurize it: heat the wine to 55-60°C (131-140°F). This kills microorganisms, speeds up maturation, improves flavor, and helps the wine become clearer.
Step 7
Pour the finished, cooled wine into bottles and store in a cool place. The taste is sweet and very pleasant - a light drink. Enjoy!
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