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2025 WineMaker Magazine Conference Recap

More than 100 home winemakers came to Sacramento, California, in May for WineMaker’s 16th and final in-person conference to take part in e

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Maximizing Color Extraction, Wine Aging Temps, a Need for Decating, & Taming Tannins

The Wiz offers advice on maximizing color extraction and shares the impact temperature plays in it. Plus: How cold is too cold to age wine,

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Petite Sirah: The little grape with big color

With small berries and a high grape skin-to-juice ratio, Petite Sirah makes a wine that is incredibly pigmented, rich in black fruit charact

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From Kitchen to Cellar

Seeing so many brambly hedges of fresh blackberries along a dirt road, a woman with a stubborn curiosity and desire to create something her

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Live Video Chat with Christina Musto (2025)

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Live Video Chat with Maureen Macdonald (2025)

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2025 WineMaker Amateur Wine Competition Results

Find out who took home Winemaker of the Year for 2025.

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Blending White Wines

Blending is often associated with red wines, but blending white wines can also be advantageous to create a balanced wine in certain situatio

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White Wines From Hybrid Grapes

Hybrid grapes are bred to combat growing conditions vinifera grapes have trouble with, including cold temperatures, diseases, and more. Hybr

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Wine Filtration

Filtering isn’t glamorous, but it is often a necessary step toward brilliantly clear and microbially stable wine in the bottle. Learn the

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Fermenting Pears

A perrymaker in Oregon shares advice for making perry, which he does most commonly from dessert pears.

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Explore the World of Perry

Perry, or pear cider as some refer to it, is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages in the world. Facing extinction for periods through histo

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St. Croix

St. Croix is a red hybrid grape designed by a private grape breeder to withstand the bitter cold Wisconsin winters. Learn more about this th

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A Ghost of Cabernet Past, Swing-Top Bottles & Bottle Shock

A 40-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon that’s now as white as a ghost? Oh no! The Wine Wizard gets to the bottom of this spooky phenomenon and a

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Wine Adventure Down Under

We share images and recap a trip Publisher Brad Ring recently led WineMaker readers on across South Australia’s different wine regions.

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Vineyard Canopy Management

Summer in the vineyard means it is time to manage your vines’ canopy. Spraying, suckering, leaf removal, adjusting lateral shoots, and eve

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Restarting a Stuck Life

Stuck in a rut and at the cusp of retirement, a couple buys a home with a backyard vineyard in Calaveras County, California. Determined to n

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2025 Wine Education

Looking to advance your winemaking knowledge? Check out these wine education programs to start your journey down the path to a higher educat

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Live Chat with Ken & Leah Stafford (2025)

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Live Video Chat with Chik Brenneman (2025)

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Kings of Zin

Lodi, California, is known for its production of Zinfandel wines that run the spectrum of wine styles. Three Lodi winemakers share their app

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Understanding and Measuring Residual Sugars

Looking at Brix (or specific gravity) alone isn’t a great indicator whether a wine is microbially stable, and therefore determining if the

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Experimenting With Ways to Craft Rosé

A pair of home winemakers share the results from trials they conducted this past harvest in techniques for making rosé. The results offer i

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Fermenting Whey? Yes, Whey!

If you’ve made cheese, then you’ll be left with a considerable amount of whey as a byproduct. Why not use it to start a new fermentation

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Make Your Own Cheese!

Wine and cheese go hand-in-hand in the WineMaker office. While making cheese may seem complicated, making wine probably did before you start