Wine Ingredients

Wine is made from 3 main ingredients - fruit sugar, wine yeast, and water. Sometimes other ingredients are also necessary, like yeast energizers and nutrients to help your wine ferment, flavourings like oak chips to give you wine character, and also wine acid adjustments to influence fermentation and taste. Finally, when your wine is finished, you may want stabilizing and clearing agents to help condition it and improve the finished product. 

Making Wine from Fruit Sugar

If you haven’t decided on a fruit sugar, like a type of grape juice to make your wine from, check out our selection of concentrated grape and fruit wine kits, fresh grape juice kits, fresh grape selection, or fruit wine recipes. (Link)

Wine Yeast

If you’ve decided on a recipe and are looking for a specific type of yeast, shop our yeast selections. All wine yeast converts sugar into alcohol, but the one you pick can really influence the flavour of the wine you are making. Some are better than others at making sweet wine, high alcohol wine, etc. To learn more about wine yeast, how to use it, and to browse our dry wine yeast comparison chart, check out our blog! 

Yeast Nutrient and Energizers

If your recipe calls for yeast energizers or nutrients - or you have a stuck or sluggish fermentation, your yeast may need some help. This is what yeast energizers and nutrients are for - they help feed your yeast so it can keep on fermenting those sugars into alcohol. 

Oak and Flavour Enhancers

Flavours and additives can really change the character of your wine. For example, elderflowers create a floral bouquet, elderberries add spicy notes and colour, and oak chips can give a toastiness and extra body to wine that simulates oak aging. To learn more about flavours and additives check out our blog. 

Wine Acid Adjustments

Depending on the character of the wine you are going for, your choice of water, and desired level of alcohol in your wine, you may also need wine acid adjustments. Acid is a key component of wine and a necessary ingredient for your yeast. 

Wine Stabilizers and Clarifiers

Finally, stabilizers and clarifiers like potassium metabisulphite help to preserve your wine so that it can condition and be bottled safely as well as help clear it for improved presentation and flavour. Learn more about stabilizers and clarifying agents here. 

For more information on wine ingredients, different options for making wine, and so on, be sure to check out our blog all about how to make wine.