Articles

A Brief Glossary of Some Key Terms Brix: A scale of measuring sugar concentration in grapes, juice, must and wine. Instruments such as refractometers and hydrometers are used to measure degrees Brix

Kit Wine by Jeff ChorniakA typical wine kit contains only a few ingredients: A bag of preserved grape concentrate, yeast and the additives you need to make wine. Not all kits include

Welcome winemakers! Although you’ve entered a part of the website labeled our “Beginner’s Guide,” we purposely designed it to incorporate the essential skills and knowledge that successful winemakers of all levels must

Here’s the top 100 wine kits from the 2016 WineMaker Magazine International Amateur Wine Competition

A look at processing grapes after harvest.

Find out how to replicate the method of making Amarone — the famed red “straw wine” from the Valpolicella zone of Italy’s Veneto province made from grapes partially dried on straw mats to concentrate their juice.

Barbera is a favorite among winemakers because its high acidity makes it a useful grape for blending and also a unique varietal wine. Get tips to make your own Barbera wines at home.

Hard cider doesn’t have to be made from apples. Try making a pear cider (perry) this summer!

Nothing feels as satisfying and authentic as making your first batch of wine from fresh grapes. And there’s no better time to try it than in early autumn, when grapes all over

A few months ago, I decided to open a bottle from my collection of homemade wines. I selected an Austrian red and pulled the cork. The wine was healthy, almost vibrant. It

A reader starts a vineyard in New England. “It is great to wake up in the morning, make a cup of coffee and walk out to the vineyard to check on the vines, training off shoots as I go along.”

This past year brought challenges and rewards for home vineyardists — and also a lot of questions for our vineyard expert Wes Hagen.

Pinotage is the most recognized — though not the most widely grown — South African red wine grape.

In this article, Michael Larner discusses the wines of the Rhône region of France, and one of the most important winemaking parts of Rhône winemaking is blending. Learn about the basics of

When we are together bottling, corking and labeling the wine, we are all eager and happy to complete the project at hand, so we can enjoy the finished product.

Want to make a big smashmouth red wine with grapes from your home vineyard? Then you’ll need to grow big or go home.

Looking for a cold-hardy white to grow in a colder northern clime? Meet the University of Minnesota’s La Crescent.

For those that would like to start getting a better handle on the fermentation temperature of their wines, you’ve found the right spot.

“Grapevine Canopy: The above ground portion of the grapevine formed by the shoot system. It includes shoots (leaves, petioles, shoot stems, shoot tips, lateral shoots and tendrils) and the fruit, trunk and

Australia recognizes Syrah as Shiraz. It is presumed that the name stuck as the cuttings that were brought to the country in the 1830s by James Busby were identified with the names Ciras and Scryas, making it difficult to research the origins of the name, given the Iranian connection . . .

Tips for beginners looking to make small batches of wine.

An overview of the Rhone varieties you may be able to grow in your own backyard.

Viticulturists in the Loire Valley tend to describe its flavor as an expression of the terroir of the land.

Tips for beginners on how to prepare their first barrel.

Wes Hagen answers your home vineyard questions.