Articles

Grape growing is both simple and confounding. While it is simple to keep a vine alive (most climes in the US will keep a vine alive and sprawling with little effort), it

What’s the best way to cure black rot? Jake in Eastern Kentucky     I wish I could tell you that there’s a cure for black rot, but the best we can do

When Ray Charles and Betty Carter sang the definitive version of Frank Loesser’s song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” it’s a pretty sure bet that home winemaking was the last thing on their

It’s a sunny Wednesday morning in Montecito. And in a home nestled off a quiet tree-lined street, a bunch of wacky guys are making wine. They call themselves Los Cinco Locos. The

A song to the oak, the brave old oak, Who hath ruled in the greenwood long; Here’s health and renown to his broad green crown, And his fifty arms so strong. There’s

Last year, WineMaker held its annual label-making contest for home winemakers.  Some of the submissions were comical, some were incredibly artistic, and some left the judges’ glasses half-empty.  In the end, few

I recently had the opportunity to visit Portugal, magical land of Mateus, Port and home of 80% of the world’s cork supply. While it was a pleasure trip, I had time to

I have a confession: my father was a life-long university chemistry professor who was never proud of his eldest son’s chemistry grades. Sure, I could play “Chem-O” with the best of them!

A healthy backyard vineyard is a treasure. It can produce delicious wine, serve as a wonderful setting from which to appreciate the miracles of nature and offer a leafy refuge from the

Edelweiss is best known as the European mountain flower with a pleasing floral scent. The 1959 Rogers and Hammerstein musical, “The Sound of Music,” immortalized the Edelweiss flower as Captain Georg Ritter

10 items that will make your home winemaking more enjoyable. From old mechanical stand-bys to new computerized state-of-the-art doo-dads, here’s a list that every gadget junkie will want to ponder.

Most books about home winemaking feature sections on “Making Red Wine” and “Making White Wine.” But when real, live vintners, amateur or professional, clean out their fermenters and get down to business,

In the beginning, there was wine . . . just wine. There wasn’t “wine” (made from grapes) and “country wine” (made from fruits other than grapes). A pomegranate wine is mentioned in

My husband Dene and I fall into the category of gourmet food aficionados. We started raising cattle after moving to our place 40 miles northeast of Denver, Colorado and got our first

David Koball, Vineyard Manager at Bonterra Vineyards in Hopland, California. David has been growing winegrapes in Mendocino County in California for 14 years, all of it in certified Organic and Demeter certified

In 1955, at age five, my grandparents taught me to make French/German/Native American mead wine. After finishing two days of hot grueling work canning fruit, Grandpa asked me if, “I could keep

“Quantity has a quality all of its own.” -R K Ratch Someone once said, “good things come in small packages.” I’m pretty sure this was a shopkeeper who sold very small consumer

Pro winemakers share their best advice for amateurs looking to make the leap.

Your hydrometer shows that your must has a specific gravity of 1.100 – but how do you know that’s accurate? Learn how to calibrate your hydrometer and all your winemaking tools, so you can be sure.

It may be plonk, but – our grand prize winner shows – that doesn’t mean the label can’t be cool. See all the winners of WineMaker’s annual label contest.

Call it a midlife crisis before mid-life, but at the age of 29 I was four years out of graduate school and faced with the prospect of working 30 years at a

You know from art class that red and white make pink, but is the same true for wine? Often rosès and blush wines are made from red grapes that are briefly exposed

The first thing you notice when someone hands you a glass of wine is its color and clarity. We all expect wine to look clear and appealing and there are many ways

Overlooking the San Pasqual Valley is our winery, established solely for the enjoyment of friends and family. Designed to make the best of our 200-gallon allowance, the 303 Syrah vines entertain drivers-by

Are press cuts scientific or subjective? What about combining the free run with the press runs? Do different cuts get different treatments? If you’ve ever wondered about concerns like these, take some