9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Preventing Oxidation – General Winemaking
Oxidation is one of the most common faults found in homemade wine. Oxygen can negatively impact your wine’s color, aroma, and flavor. WineMaker Magazine’s Technical Editor and “Techniques” Columnist Bob Peak will help you understand the harmful impact of oxidation on your wine and what you can do as a winemaker to prevent or at least minimize the possibility of your wine becoming oxidized.
Bob Peak
Technical Editor and “Techniques” Columnist, WineMaker Magazine
Advanced Malolactic Tips – Advanced Winemaking
Malolactic fermentation plays an important role in many wines. Carrying out a malolactic fermentation is not difficult, but there are techniques and tips to better manage the process and take full control of the end results. Gain a deeper understanding of MLF and how to control using it as a valuable winemaking tool to influence the final taste profile and stability of your wine. Learn these advanced techniques from professional winemaker and enology educator Pat Henderson.
Pat Henderson
President, About Wine Consulting
Winemaking Instructor, UC-Davis Extension and Santa Rosa Junior College
Canopy Management – Grape Growing
Figuring out how much to shade or expose your backyard grapes to direct sunshine will determine the ultimate quality of the fruit you will end up harvesting. Learn about the keys to properly manage your vineyard’s leafy canopy with former professional vineyard manager and WineMaker Magazine’s longtime “Backyard Vines” Columnist Wes Hagen.
Wes Hagen
Wine Sales, Native9 Wines, Ranchos de Ontiveros Wines, and Alta Maria Vineyards
“Backyard Vines” Columnist, WineMaker Magazine
10:30 – 11:00 AM
WINEMAKER EXHIBITS – Check out the latest in winemaking equipment, gear, ingredients, and supplies from dozens of the hobby’s top vendors.
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Keys to Better Fermentation -General Winemaking
Learn the most important keys to keeping your yeast happy and healthy throughout fermentation resulting in a clean wine with no unexpected yeast off-odors or flavors. From yeast nutrients to temperature control, there are many ways to make sure your fermentation runs smoothly and most importantly delivers the end result in the glass you are anticipating. Find out the keys to a better fermentation from pro winemaker and Winemaker Magazine’s “Varietal Focus” Columnist Maureen Macdonald.
Maureen Macdonald
Winemaker, Hawk Ridge Winery
“Varietal Focus” Columnist, WineMaker Magazine
Advanced SO2 Management – Advanced Winemaking
Managing sulfite levels in your wine is one of the most important skills you need as a winemaker. Too much and your wine has an obvious defect and not enough means a high potential for spoilage. Learn about the latest research on sulfite management and new ways to test and adjust your sulfite levels with pro winemaker and longtime WineMaker Magazine Columnist Chik Brenneman.
Chik Brenneman
Winemaker and Partner, Baker Family Wines
“Advanced Winemaking” Columnist, WineMaker Magazine
Award-Winning Red Kit Wine Panel – Kit Winemaking
Red wines account for the vast majority of wines entered in the annual WineMaker International Amateur Wine Competition. A panel of recent medal-winning winemakers using red wine kits will share their advice and tips for success when making great red wines from kits. Find out from your fellow kit winemakers about their techniques to help you create your own award-winning red wines from kits.
Moderator: Dawson Raspuzzi
Editor, WineMaker Magazine
12:00 – 1:30 PM
Lunch & Keynote: Past, Present & Future of Home Winemaking with WineMaker’s Wine Wizard Alison Crowe – Group Interactive Workshop
Alison Crowe has worked on every single issue of WineMaker Magazine in the last 25+ years. In fact her magazine work even predates WineMaker. As a graduate student in the winemaking program at UC-Davis, she wrote the home winemaking column in our sister publication for homebrewers called Brew Your Own that was eventually spun off into WineMaker Magazine in 1998. As she pursued her professional winemaking career she always had her eye and ear tuned to the home winemaking hobby while writing her popular “Wine Wizard” column in every issue. Now making wine professionally in Napa, she’ll join you to share her unique decades-long perspective on home winemaking with you.
Alison Crowe
Vice President Winemaking and Partner, Plata Wine Partners
“Wine Wizard” Columnist, WineMaker Magazine
1:30 – 2 PM
WINEMAKER EXHIBITS – Check out the latest in winemaking equipment, gear, ingredients, and supplies from the hobby’s top vendors.
2 – 3 PM
Wine Wizard’s Troubleshooting Tips
Our own Wine Wizard Alison Crowe has answered hundreds of home winemaker troubleshooting questions during her 25+ years fielding hobbyist problems. She will now walk you through the most common wine faults she has covered over the decades and learn to identify, fix, or ideally avoid the biggest issues that regularly pop up making wine at home. Leave this seminar with some of the Wiz’s troubleshooting wisdom so you can make better wine moving forward.
Alison Crowe
Vice President Winemaking and Partner, Plata Wine Partners
“Wine Wizard” Columnist, WineMaker Magazine
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Pruning Theory & Practice – Grape Growing
Grape vines require careful pruning to promote balanced growth and better fruit quality. Understanding the basic pruning styles, including cane pruning and spur pruning, and how to properly space shoots to gain the right amount of exposure to sun and air circulation in your home vineyard. Also learn practical pruning tips from a fellow small-scale home grape grower who is also a past winner of “Best Estate Grown Wine” in the WineMaker International Amateur Wine Competition.
Ken Stafford
Best of Show Estate Grown Wine Winner, WineMaker Competition
Blending Kit Wines – Kit Winemaking
There are many great kits on the market with a blend of different varieties of grape or fruits and other ingredients. But you can also learn how to make your own signature blends using the kits you’ve made. Find out the best tips and techniques for blending different finished kit wines yourself or using your kit wine as a blending base with other fruit juices and flavors. It’s a great way to get more inventive crafting your own very personal blends to enjoy your winemaking in a new way.
Marc Nordemann-Keller
Co-Owner, Corks Winery Brampton, Inc.
Matthew Nordemann-Keller
Co-Owner, Corks Winery Brampton, Inc.
3 – 3:30 PM
WINEMAKER EXHIBITS – Check out the latest in winemaking equipment, gear, ingredients, and supplies from dozens of the hobby’s top vendors.
3:30 – 4:30 PM
WineMaker Workshop: Side-by-Side White Wine Techniques Tasting – Group Interactive Workshop
Learn the impact different winemaking techniques can have on the same exact white wine must. You’ll have the opportunity to sample side-by-side wines made with the same starting must but with different techniques including MLF, lees contact, aging vessels, and more by local pro winemaker and longtime Winemaker Magazine Columnist Chik Brenneman. You’ll gain a better understanding how your winemaking technique choices can impact the final wine in your glass.
Chik Brenneman
Winemaker and Partner, Baker Family Wines
“Advanced Winemaking” Columnist, WineMaker Magazine
6:30 – 9:30 PM
WineMaker Tasting & Wine Sharing Party
Pack up some of your favorite homemade wines for the conference because here’s a great chance to share wines and ideas with fellow hobbyists from across North America. Bring a bottle of your own wine to pour with fellow attendees and try someone else’s wine at our wine sharing area. Plus, local Northern California commercial wineries will be pouring samples of their wines. Add a buffet highlighting local foods and it is the perfect opportunity to get to know the region’s wine scene and spend time talking wine with speakers, local winemakers, and fellow home winemakers.
