Valpolicella Wine Kit

A couple of months ago, I bought a wine kit that was on sale:  Wine Kitz Traditional Vintage Valpolicella.  It is meant to be a nice table wine.  This last weekend, I finally got around to starting it.  The kit consisted of 10 L of concentrated valpolicella grape juice and packets of yeast, potassium metabisulfite, potassium sorbate, kieselsohl, and chitosan - all the consumable materials you need.

Naturally, you start by sterilizing all of your equipment.  Then, you simply mix the grape juice with enough water to give you 23 L and sprinkle the yeast packet on the surface.  The fermentation starts up quickly -  more or less as soon as any dissolved oxygen is used up by the yeast.

10 L bag of valpolicella grape juice

The fermentation is now in progress inside a large plastic bucket.  The bucket has a loosely fitting lid which allows the carbon dioxide gas to bleed out.  Because of this small amount of gas escaping, the room has a background of fruity/bakery sorts of aromas.  The home office always smells nice when something is fermenting.

A little peek under the lid to see the primary fermentation (day 3).