Getting Started

If you're just getting started, you'll need to purchase some things. Set aside about $200 to buy your equipment and the things you need to make your first batch. This may seem like a lot, but look at it this way: even if you don't enjoy this, and you only make one batch, this is still less than $7 per bottle which you won't really be able to match at the LC! Pop into your local home brewing shop and pick up the things on this list:

30L primary fermentor with lid
23L carboy (get more than one if it will fit your budget)
a corker (these can be hand-held or floor standing, if you are serious about making your own wine, get a floor standing model, if you are just experimenting the hand-held model may suffice)
a long plastic spoon
s-shaped airlock and a drilled bung (these are cheap so buy extras)
racking cane and a section of plastic tube
a nylon straining bag
thermometer
hydrometer
chlorinated sanitizer
potassium metabisulphite or campden tablets
yeast nutrient
acid blend
pectic enzyme
bentonite
grape tanin
yeast (Lalvin EC-1118 is a good yeast that works very well in many homemade wines)

Once you have all of these things, you'll be able to make an amount of wine equal to 30 bottles at a time. Note that it's also worth checking the classifieds for used primaries, carboys and corkers since these are the only items of significant cost. Ask your friends and neighbours to save their empty wine bottles for you, as there is little sense in paying for these. Also, don't buy your corks until it is close to bottling time. The longer you wish to keep or think you are able to keep your wine, the more money you should spend on corks.

If possible, you should buy the book First Steps in Winemaking by C.J.J. Berry. I got my used copy from Amazon for a couple of dollars. Not only does it explain how to make wine very well, it also includes over 60 recipes which are conveniently organized by the time of year that they should be started.

Once you've done this, you are well on your way to practising a wonderful hobby that is limited only by your own creativity. Unlike many hobbies, this one is not expensive or very time consuming.

More to follow on what to do next.

Cheers!