Q: My basement is cold. Is this a good place to make my wine?

A: Kit instructions tell you to ferment your wine within a specific temperature range. We recommend 18 to 24°C (65°F to 75°F). Yeast thrives between these temperatures. This is one of the situations where Winexpert's instructions are different than commercial winemaking techniques. In commercial wineries, some white wines are fermented cooler than this, sometimes below 55°F. Commercial wineries have the luxury of taking a year (or two, or three) before they bottle their wines, so they don't have a problem. For the home winemaker though, if the fermentation area is too cool the wine will ferment very slowly. This will lead to an excess of CO2 gas (fizz) in the wine, and it may not be ready to stabilize and fine on the appropriate day. Even worse, the kind of fining agents included with Winexpert kits don't work well at temperatures outside of the 18 to 24°C (65°F to 75°F) range. Below 17°C (64°F) your wine kit may not clear at all!