Articles

An amateur winemaker/woodworker shares a do-it-yourself project that combines both of his favorite hobbies. The build repurposes a 5-L (1.3-gallon) oak barrel that has been retired from aging wine into a wine-serving vessel. Now he’s serving homemade wine from a bag in style.

Realizing the large temperature swings in his garage don’t make for a great environment to conduct fermentations, a home winemaker converted chest freezers to temperature-controlled “cellars” that cool or heat to a preset temperature for both fermenting and bulk aging his wines.

The hardest part of growing grapes may be keeping them healthy and on the vine until harvest. From fungal diseases to insect and animal control, there are a lot of other things after your grapes! But don’t worry, there is a way to keep all of these at bay if you are prepared and know how.

We share our favorite amateur wine labels entered into WineMaker’s 2025 Label Contest — from a faceless woman and a woman’s face seemingly appearing in fermenting must, to a design for a Scottish fiddler and the wine color of the year.

Two amateurs who have won Best of Show medals for their estate-grown wines share advice for late-winter pruning and vineyard care.

Traminette is a white hybrid grape grown all over the northern areas of North America that can make extremely aromatic wines. From crisp, dry examples to late-harvest and even fortified wines, the grape is a fun one for home winemakers to play with.

While there are a lot of urban myths surrounding winemaking, the one about racking under a full moon isn’t totally hogwash. Plus, what to do when your wine begins turning to vinegar, the specific gravity of a “dry” wine, and tips for making wonderful white wines.

After harvest is over may seem like a great time for the home viticulturist to sit back and take a deep breath. Just don’t take too long of a nap, because the work never ends when you’re growing grapes! Wes Hagen outlines what every grape grower should be doing during these cold months to prepare for the next successful growing season.

The annual WineMaker Magazine Conference isn’t just about attending seminars and learning, it’s also about camaraderie. One longtime attendee shares how friendships formed at a conference have carried well beyond the yearly in-person event.

We reveal the 100 highest scoring kit wines judged in the 2024 WineMaker International Amateur Wine Competition.

The idea that making a great tasting wine from a kit is simple if you follow the directions isn’t wrong, though there is often a bit more to it in order to make a wine worthy of winning a gold medal. Three acclaimed amateur winemakers share their advice for making a red wine from a kit that will stand out in competition and at the dinner table.

A number of innovative products well-suited for the home and small-scale winemaker have come to market in recent years. Explore these options that can help in your winemaking hobby — from ingredients, wood products, and yeasts, to analytical tools and other winemaking equipment.

If you want to make a red wine that can be consumed without years of aging, Teroldego is a great option. This Italian variety features flavors of bold acidic fruits and rich notes of baking spices. It doesn’t require heavy oaking and its silkier tannins negate the need to wait for the sometimes harsh flavors of young red wines to mellow.

If you sometimes prefer your red wines served a little on the cool side or are not afraid of buying high-end wines with screw cap closures, you aren’t alone! The Wine Wizard shares her “consumer myths” that need to be debunked. Plus, the role your yeast choice plays on malolactic fermentation, and advice on adjusting a high-pH juice.

Making stone fruit mead is a fun alternative to wine. Relying on honey and fruit — from cherries, peaches, and plums, to more exotic pitted fruits — for the fermentable sugars, the flavor combinations are endless.

Wine competitions aren’t just for bragging rights. Receiving medals is great, but the notes from the judges are often the most important thing to come from a competition, says one decorated winemaker who has continued to hone his craft through the feedback of experienced wine judges.

WineMaker readers recently joined Publisher Brad Ring exploring Spain’s Rioja wine region and either side of the Spain-France border in Basque Country. We share images and an overview from a trip of a lifetime.

Enter your unique label in WineMaker’s 25th Annual Label Contest! Send us your best home wine labels and you could win some great winemaking prizes from WineMaker advertisers. Entry deadline is November

There is a reason so many of the pros use oak barrels. Learn about the benefits of a barrel, as well as how to choose the right barrel for you, prepare it for wine, and get the most return on your investment.

Homemade liqueurs are both delicious and incredibly easy to make. Why spend top dollar for liqueurs from the store when you can make ones to your taste at home for a fraction of the cost? We share the techniques as well as six homemade liqueur recipes.

Winemaking clubs offer members opportunities to learn from others and share their passion for making wine with new friends. From feedback on your wines to shared equipment and access to grapes through bulk purchases otherwise out of reach, there is a lot of value in joining a winemaking club.

Armed with a Super Soaker, WineMaker’s publisher learned quickly not to bring a wine-filled water gun to a Spanish wine fight (where the locals show up with full buckets). That didn’t spoil the experience at this year’s La Batalla del Vino.

Fall is the most critical time in the vineyard. Preparing for and executing harvest are paramount. So is the cleanup and vineyard care afterwards. Wes Hagen lays out his advice for fall and winter care in a mature vineyard.

Sauvignon Blanc is one of the most popular white wines worldwide. Where it’s grown has a big influence on the resulting wine, but the winemaker also has a say in the final outcome based on the techniques used in the winery.

The Wizard offers advice on when and how to lower pH. She also suggests a remedy for thin country wines, explains why degree days are only part of the story when selecting grape varieties to grow, and whether chitosan is safe to use if one has a shellfish allergy.