Articles

Click here to watch the replay of our Live Q&A with Dwayne Bershaw from August 2025.

Click here to watch the replay of our July 2025 Live Video Chat with WineMaker author/pro winemaker Phil Plummer.

Take the guesswork out of winemaking by performing tests on your juice, must, and wine. We run through the most critical tests, as well as how and when they should be done.

Learn about the lab equipment you should consider investing in for each stage of the winemaking process.

When changes to aroma or structure are desired to achieve a more balanced, pleasing wine, you should always start with benchtop trials to dial in optimal addition rates. Learn how to get the most from your trials before adjusting your entire batch.

More than 100 home winemakers came to Sacramento, California, in May for WineMaker’s 16th and final in-person conference to take part in educational seminars, hands-on workshops, tastings, and to share in their passion for wine.

The Wiz offers advice on maximizing color extraction and shares the impact temperature plays in it. Plus: How cold is too cold to age wine, why a wine may require long decanting times to open up, and techniques for taming tannins.

With small berries and a high grape skin-to-juice ratio, Petite Sirah makes a wine that is incredibly pigmented, rich in black fruit character, and with elegant and lasting tannins that make a great impression upon the drinker’s palate.

Seeing so many brambly hedges of fresh blackberries along a dirt road, a woman with a stubborn curiosity and desire to create something herself decided to try her hand at her first batch of wine. She shares the excitement that ran through her during the process, issues that arose, and how deeply rewarding the experience was.

Click here to view the playback of our Live Video Chat with Christina Musto from June 2025.

Click here to view the playback of the WineMaker+ Live Video Chat with “Varietal Focus” columnist Maureen Macdonald from May 2025.

From April 11-13, 2025, a total of 1,382 different wines were judged at the Mount Snow Grand Summit Lodge in West Dover, Vermont. This year marks the 22st year of the event.

Blending is often associated with red wines, but blending white wines can also be advantageous to create a balanced wine in certain situations or to complement grapes that need amplification in areas.

Hybrid grapes are bred to combat growing conditions vinifera grapes have trouble with, including cold temperatures, diseases, and more. Hybrids also have their own nuances when it comes to turning them into wine. Learn how to get the most from white hybrid grapes.

Filtering isn’t glamorous, but it is often a necessary step toward brilliantly clear and microbially stable wine in the bottle. Learn the options home winemakers have when it comes to filtration, from plate to cartridge filters and various size pads, each has its own purpose.

A perrymaker in Oregon shares advice for making perry, which he does most commonly from dessert pears.

Perry, or pear cider as some refer to it, is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages in the world. Facing extinction for periods through history, perry is on the upswing and it’s a great time to learn to make your own at home. Whether it’s bubbly or still, sweet or dry, there is likely a perry for everybody’s taste.

St. Croix is a red hybrid grape designed by a private grape breeder to withstand the bitter cold Wisconsin winters. Learn more about this thin-skinned red variety that thrives where others can’t survive.

A 40-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon that’s now as white as a ghost? Oh no! The Wine Wizard gets to the bottom of this spooky phenomenon and also discusses the pros and cons of bottling wine in swing-top bottles and how to combat bottle shock.

We share images and recap a trip Publisher Brad Ring recently led WineMaker readers on across South Australia’s different wine regions.

Summer in the vineyard means it is time to manage your vines’ canopy. Spraying, suckering, leaf removal, adjusting lateral shoots, and eventually fruit sampling and netting your vines all need to be done long before you start picking grapes. Keep up with your vineyard work throughout summer to make harvest easy.

Stuck in a rut and at the cusp of retirement, a couple buys a home with a backyard vineyard in Calaveras County, California. Determined to not let the grapes go to waste, the vineyard sprouts more than just grapes for them — a new hobby and joy to life.

Looking to advance your winemaking knowledge? Check out these wine education programs to start your journey down the path to a higher education in winemaking and the business of wine. Finger Lakes

Click here to watch the video playback of our Live Chat with home winemakers and authors Ken and Leah Stafford from

Click here to watch a replay of our Live Video Chat with WineMaker author Chik Brenneman from March 2025.