Apple Wine is Hard Apple Cider with a higher ABV (added sugar during fermentation).
You said you tried making the "commercial" stuff. Do you mean something like this:
http://brewandwinesupply.com/index.php?route=product/product&filter_name=apple&product_id=1931
I'm thinking of trying to make hard apple cider this year. I should read up on it, but my thoughts are:
1) Fresh apple juice
2) Cider yeast (Nottingham?)
3) Bump up the SG (1.06)
4) Cold crash and racking to stop fermentation before going dry (1.004)
5) Some type of forced carbonation
My wife likes Crispin, so I will have to figure out how to reproduce that.
I figure if you k-meta and sorbate after Step 4 above, it should be stable like beer ("last for any amount of time")