Techniques

Gum arabic is a natural anti-flocculant with a list of benefits that includes helping prevent tartrate crystals from forming, smoothing out young red wines, and adding mouthfeel to thin wines. Get to know this important additive every winemaker should have on hand.

Dry ice has numerous applications for the home winemaker who needs to chill their must or juice without watering it down. Learn more about the many uses and safety precautions when dealing with carbon dioxide in its frozen form.

When alcoholic fermentation is all wrapped up, most people assume that the wine is then mostly left alone to age. But winemakers know well that there are a lot of adjustments that can be made throughout the cellaring process.

Three pro winemakers share how they use pectic enzymes to their advantage to maximize yields, increase color and flavor extraction, and make filtration easier.

If you’re a beginner planning on making a batch of red wine, here are some keys components to hone in on before you dive in.

When you want to make wines from grapes but it isn’t harvest season, one option home winemakers have is purchasing buckets of frozen must or juice. Three industry experts share their coolest tips.

As your winemaking production scales up, so does the space required to store the wine as well as the miscellaneous items that come along with it. Bob Peak guides readers through some of the various bottlenecks that winemakers experience during the aging and bottling processes as their operation grows.

It’s hard not to find appeal in the aromatics of a tropical fruit or floral Sauvignon Blanc or hints of vanilla, citrus, and caramel in a Chardonnay. But the road to get to those aromas takes vastly different paths. Alex Russan helps readers navigate the maze winemakers can take to maximize their white wine aromatics.

For those that are regular winemakers, the accoutrements start to add up through the years. Here is a guide for folks to consider what things to keep in their “winemaker’s pantry,” their uses, and their shelf life.

Many wine aficionados view volatile acidity (VA) as a very fine line between a good thing and a bad thing. Find out ways to control VA so that you can walk that line between a wine boost and a wine defect.

While racking may seem like a tedious task at times, its impact on a wine can be profound. Learn some of the techniques that you can use and the decision-making process winemakers should consider before each racking cycle.

While none of the three panelists for this “Tips from the Pros” column are actually pros, their knowledge is second to none. We’ve accumulated three “Best of Show” winners from the 2019

Country wines made with multiple fruit varieties can be blended prior to fermentation or after. Learn how two professional winemakers decide when to blend, as well as the other considerations they account for when making these lovely summer sippers.

The time period leading up to bottling day is the time winemakers need to take advantage of last minute adjustments and additions. Bob Peak takes readers on a spin through some techniques that winemakers can use before bottling white and rosé wines.

This Valentine’s Day, wouldn’t it be great to break open a bottle of your own homemade bubbly? Learn from two winemakers producing highly acclaimed sparkling wines about the nuances of making them at home.

Tannins can provide a wine with a lot more than just astringency. They can also be useful in white and rosé wines as well if used properly. Bob Peak gives a tour of the benefits of various tannin products available to hobby winemakers.

Get tips on performing bench trials at home from three pros who utilize bench trials at their day jobs.

Not all white wines should be treated equally when it comes to processing juice. Here are some helpful tips and insights winemakers should consider when they approach their next batch of white wine — when to go for a more oxidative approach to the juice and when to go for less.

Looking to try something new? How about making mead, also known as honey wine. Meads come in many different forms, from dry to sweet, with added fruit (melomel), malt (braggot), spices (metheglin)

. . .lurking inside the heads of many home winemakers is the urge to make an absolute blockbuster, a jaw-dropping, mind-bending, 800-pound gorilla of a wine.

Thanks to the University of Minnesota, wine grapes can thrive in some of the coldest climates in North America (and beyond). In this issue, two winemakers discuss making wine with the Minnesota-bred,

Country wines come in all different styles and varieties, but berry wines are perennial favorites. Summertime brings with it a bevy of fresh, ripe berry options to craft some fine berry wines. Two berry wine experts share some winemaking advice.

Not every winemaker makes wine with commercially-cultivated yeast strains. In fact, lots of commercial winemakers let their wines ferment with wild yeast from the grapes and in the winery. Here we have

A lot of home winemakers make small batches of wine that aren’t enough for a whole barrel. Thankfully there are lots of options for those of us making only a few gallons

As we look back at the many wines we made, we cherish the memories of those winners that amazed our friends and family. But there have been failures too and perhaps some