Wine quality → mercenary payment

How to Make Gold Wine in Graveyard Keeper 2

Upgrade Wine (Silver) with Umami at the Kitchen Table to make Wine (Gold). The listed requirements are Alchemy, Advanced and Farming mastery 6. Starting with bronze Wine? First combine it with Spices under Transmutation I at Farming mastery 4. The community Wine record lists 3 Wine (Gold) per mercenary hire after Inflation.

Scope: crafting and trader entries checked October 17 in Wikily, not official documentation or independently game-tested recipes. This guide distinguishes Wine quality, Grape Juice and Supply: Wine; it does not claim specific patch or all-platform compatibility. Match the recipe preview in your save before committing ingredients.

Choose a route before expanding your vineyard

• You already have silver Wine and Umami: use the Kitchen Table upgrade. You do not need to produce gold Grapes first for this recipe.
• You only have bronze Wine: check Transmutation I and Spices for the first upgrade, then Alchemy, Advanced and Umami for the second.
• You have gold Grape Juice and high Farming mastery: the Wine Barrel has a gold Wine recipe at mastery 14.
• You only need a near-term payment: check the Brewery's gold Wine stock at trader level 3 before building a whole production chain.

These alternatives come from the Wine item and crafting record. Choose according to the unlocks you actually have; the quality-upgrade route and the direct barrel route have different mastery requirements.

Route A: upgrade existing Wine at the Kitchen Table

1. Repair the table if needed. The Kitchen Table record lists 2 Wooden Plank at the Broken Kitchen Table, with Building mastery 3. See home cooking unlocks.
2. Make silver Wine from bronze. Drink enhancement I combines Wine (Bronze) + Spices → Wine (Silver). It needs Transmutation I, Farming mastery 4, 6 ticks and 2 energy per tick.
3. Make gold Wine from silver. Drink enhancement II combines Wine (Silver) + Umami → Wine (Gold). It needs Alchemy, Advanced, Farming mastery 6, 8 ticks and 2 energy per tick.
4. Keep the finished gold Wine for the hire. Check the item's quality icon before drinking it, selling it or sending Wine into a factory supply line.

Both upgrades are listed for Kitchen Table and Kitchen Table II in the Wine recipes. The equations above identify ingredient types and resulting grade; they are not a bulk-yield calculation. Check the station preview for batch quantities. Umami is a distinct input here, not a synonym for fertilizer or any growth elixir; use the alchemy guide when your blocker is producing an alchemical ingredient.

Route B: press juice, then use the Wine Barrel

1. Prepare the pressing station. The Vine Press record places it in the Vineyard Basement, unlocked by Cold Pressing. The Grape Juice recipes themselves require Winemaking.
2. Press the intended grape grade. Its bronze, silver and gold rows each use 6 matching-grade Grapes + an Empty Bottle for matching-grade Grape Juice. They list Farming mastery 10, 12 and 14 respectively, with 6 ticks at 2 energy per tick.
3. Ferment at the Wine Barrel. The Wine Barrel station catalogue lists 4 matching-grade Grape Juice producing 4 Wine, or 5 with Wine Master, in 8 ticks. The bronze, silver and gold Wine rows require Farming mastery 10, 12 and 14 respectively and Winemaking. Select the row and juice quality matching your intended result.
4. Start the barrel and allow it to finish. Unlike the press, which is listed as a workbench, the barrel's Wine recipes run on their own once started.

For a zombie-operated line, check each assigned worker against the specific recipe mastery. A worker able to make bronze juice is not automatically able to make the gold-grade row. Use factory layout planning for logistics, but do not confuse the Vineyard Basement production stations with factory packaging.

Route C: buy the payment item

The Wine trader entries list the Brewery selling gold Wine from trader level 3, with stock 10 and a usual-stock price of 1 silver 5 bronze. Silver Wine is also listed from level 3; bronze starts at level 2. These are database stock and baseline-price entries, not a promise that your trader currently has inventory at that price.

Do not mix up these three outputs

If you cannot finish the upgrade

• No upgrade row: check Transmutation I for bronze → silver, or Alchemy, Advanced for silver → gold. Winemaking alone does not unlock these enhancement recipes.
• Wrong input: gold enhancement consumes silver Wine, not bronze Wine or silver Grape Juice.
• Worker cannot start: compare Farming mastery 4/6 for table enhancement against 10/12/14 for barrel production. They are different routes, not contradictory thresholds.
• Hire still requests Wine: compare the requested grade, quantity and quest state. The 3-gold-Wine condition is specifically listed after Inflation; it is not a claim about every earlier hire.

Gold Wine FAQ

Next: plan battle day, or check orders and supply boxes if your objective is delivery rather than hiring.