Articles

 There are three elements that are critical to have balanced in a must: pH/TA, structure and sugar. Each of these elements has a direct influence on the quality of the finished wine

I enjoy making many kinds of country wines, but one of my favorites is made from fresh juice pressed from the sugar cane as it is processed into sugar. It is used

(Another) Year in the Vineyard With Wes Hagen, Clos Pepe Vineyard Week #28:  September 17-23, 2010 The Heat Arrives, Harvest Begins with Old Friends, New Friends Well it was bound to happen. 

(Another) Year in the Vineyard Blog With Wes Hagen, VM/WM Clos Pepe Week #27: September 10-16 Loving the Weather, Testing the Grapes, Time for a Cocktail! To be honest, I can’t remember

(Another) Year in the Vineyard, Week #26:  September 3-9, 2010 The Winery is Ready, The Grapes are Not! Welcome, once again to another episode of ‘Year in the Vineyard’.  Well, we’re counting

(Another) Year in the Vineyard with Wes Hagen, Clos Pepe Week #25: August 27th – September 2nd, 2010 “September Morn: We Picked Until the Night Became a Brand New Day” Damn!  September

(Another) Year in the Vineyard Week #24: August 20-26, 2010 With Wes Hagen, Clos Pepe Summer Arrives Before It’s Over:  Sparkling Harvest Soon! A Week in the Winery:  the Crew Comes Together!

Year in the Vineyard With Wes Hagen, Clos Pepe Vineyards and Estate Wines Welcome once again to the Year in the Vineyard Blog.  We continue with our new High Def video blogs,

(Another) Year in the Vineyard, Week #22 August 6-12, 2010 With Wes Hagen, VM/WM Clos Pepe Welcome back to a Year in the Vineyard, Week #22.  Even though the weather has continued

(Another) Year in the Vineyard Week #21, July 30-August 5, 2010 With Wes Hagen, Clos Pepe Welcome to the new generation Year in the Vineyard Blog!  Last week I bought a High

More than 450 hobby winemakers from across North America descended on the Pacific Northwest in May for the sold-out WineMaker Magazine Conference.  This third annual event featured an all-star cast of winemaking

Another Year in the Vineyard, Week #20 July 23-29, 2010 With Wes Hagen, VM/WM Clos Pepe The Vintage Tiptoes Forward: At dinner the other night I ran into my first interns, Ariel

The first sparkling wine I ever made was a black cherry. It was supposed to be a semi-sweet still wine, so when I opened the first bottle at a social event, I

When the harvest season rolls around each year, and winemakers gear up for the busy season, a winemaker’s plans to improve on the previous vintage should have already started in spring and

Chardonnay is a grape varietal that has an identity crisis. She is both a rock star and a charlatan, a soft spoken ballerina and a brazen harlot, generic as a white label

During the day, I am a drywaller and I own my own business, but in my own time I have been making homemade wines for 20 years. I started out making Concord

July 16-22, 2010 Wes Hagen, VM/WM Clos Pepe Vineyard and Estate Wines This morning the vineyard’s technology level has been thrown back to 1990, and we’re feeling the sting. Carrying my cup

Another Year in the Vineyard, Week #18 July 8-15, 2009 By Wes Hagen, VM/WM Clos Pepe Vintage:  The 2010 vintage rolls along and gets a bump of heat.  Temps warmed from the

Winemaker Magazine (Another) Year in the Vineyard Wine Blog Week #17:  July 2nd-July 8th, 2010 The Theme is Diversity:  Genetics, Critters, Fog, Flavor, and Darwin  (amazingly described in the context of growing

(Another) Year in the Vineyard:  The Two Week Edition:  Week 15 and 16:  June 18 – July 1, 2010 San Fran, Big Sur, and Back to the Ranch!   The vintage is

Year in the Vineyard with Wes Hagen, VM Clos Pepe Week #14: June 10-17, 2010 The Birth of an American Viticultural Area Let’s take a slightly different view of the wine world

WineMaker Magazine (Another) Year in the Vineyard with Wes Hagen, Clos Pepe Week #13, June 4-June 10, 2010 On the Shoulders of Giants, Another AVA, All Things Green, Clustering and Clucking Welcome

Year in the Vineyard, by Wes Hagen VM/WM Clos Pepe Week #12: May 28- June 3, 2010 Budi-Licious Cuisine, The White Horse, the Green Tractor, Fruit and Frogs   My day has

Tips and recipes to make wine from stone fruits.

Joy Neighbors and her husband Brian “Stop the press!”       It’s a phrase any journalist over the age of 40 still longs to hear. You can just picture the dusty newsroom,