wine 101: other winemaking options

I have presented here pretty much the simplest way you can make wine other than leaving some apple cider too long in the fridge. There are a few things I'd like to mention, though, that are options to sophisticate your process.

Carboys, siphons, and airlocks
If you're thinking of making lots of wine at once, investing in a carboy (a 5 gallon jug) might be worth it. And if you've got a carboy, the next thing to get would be an auto siphon, so you can easily get the finished wine out of your fancy container without sucking on a tube. Lastly, you might want to consider an airlock. This is a nice cap to put on your carboy that keeps bugs out while releasing the air. As it releases, it makes a little ticking sound. When first fermentation is complete, you won't hear anything anymore!

Sulfites, nutrients, and clarifiers
Nothing goes into my wine but water, fruit, yeast, and sugar. But there are several chemical options for making your wine a little "better." Sulfites slow/kill yeast, effectively ending second fermentation and allowing you to seal your wine before a year has passed. Yeast nutrients add nutrients for your yeast and make them work better (?) Clarifiers reduce sediment, clear up your wine, and "smooth" the taste. I also see a lot of campden tablets and acid blends mentioned...

Wine recipes
If you look up, for example, "pumpkin wine recipes" in Google, you'll come up with quite a few options and most of them are more complicated than any of mine. To tell you the truth, I've always just looked at these and considered how I might alter them for my use. They take more babysitting than my wines and involve chemicals I don't use. But even so, they could be good starting points for your own versions, or could be a jumping off point for making more elaborate wines.

TOMORROW IS QUESTION DAY! SEND SOME COMMENTS/QUESTIONS AND I WILL ADDRESS THEM!