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Dear Wine Wizard, Here’s one problem you may have been asked about before. My finished wine has an aroma and taste of rubber and burnt toast, a bit like burnt rubber. Since

Back in my grad-school days, I loved hanging around the lab to watch Dr. Olmo taste wine. I spent so much time there that his technician said he should charge me an

Easy Electric Bottle Filler If you’ve ever used the Buon Vino automatic bottle filler, you know how easy it is to bottle a batch of wine. Buon Vino has made the job

Plate filtration systems are popular among home winemakers. These systems use disposable filter plates with a filter selectivity that usually ranges from 0.5–6.0 microns. The filter plates must be changed every so

Do you yearn to create oak-style wines that rival Bordeaux first growths, Super Tuscans, or the so-called California cult wines, but have been hesitant to invest time and effort to care and

There are a lot of wine kits out there today, and their variety and quality is improving. Kits wines are designed to be easy to make, but they’re not foolproof. Even kit

Where are a lot of wine kits out there today, and their variety and quality is improving. Kits wines are designed to be easy to make, but they’re not foolproof. Even kit

A phrase we’ve often heard in recent years is, “A. B. C. — anything but Chardonnay.”  As many consumers set down the Chard and start searching for alternative white wines — and

Learn what goes into breeding a new grape variety.

Detailed steps every home viticulturist should take before planting their first vineyard.

Somewhere, buried deep within the psyche of almost everyone who makes his own wine, there is a grape grower trying to get out. As someone who once successfully ripened Seyval Blanc grapes

“Mark? Don’t you want to take a look inside the house?” Hmmm. Check out that land. “Mark? The house?” Yeah … sure. The house. I take one last, inclusive look at the

Your question is a valid one — one that many winemakers before you have wondered about. As you have discovered, where you take a sample from in a tank can give you

Wine Wizard replies: First of all, you need to make sure that the fermentation is finished. You do this by checking your sugars with a hyrdrometer. Fermentation for a “dry” wine is

Some truly remarkable changes occur when a wine is allowed to age. The more simple initial aromas eventually give way to a panoply of rounded, complex bouquets. Cabernet can take on the

Gold Medal Winners Joan Huff Louisville, Kentucky Joan won honorable mention in last year’s contest with a similarly colorful label. She and her husband ordered some Muscat grapes from California and things

Dear Wine Wizard, I raised the TA of the must from 0.5 to 0.6 at the beginning of fermentation for my red wine. Should I still add malolatic bacteria to start MLF

You’ve hit the nail on he head — a hydrometer reading does depend on the amount of suspended solids in the juice that you’re measuring. As sugar is more dense than water,

Harvest is swiftly approaching and we need to get ready. Learning some of the lingo and common practices of commercial vineyards will help you choose the perfect day for bringing the fruit

Do you know why two identical grape varieties from geographically similar viticultural areas will turn out different wines? Or, could you correlate a wine’s quality and aging potential to its acidity, pH

It’s easy to forget that it takes two full years to make good wine from your own grapes. The first year is spent in the vineyard tending the vines, spraying sulfur, removing

Dear Wine Wizard, I’m bottling some mead, and wanted to add that extra special touch to the finished product. I’ve seen some bottles with a wax coating on the top, the kind

Variable-volume fermenters have a floating-lid that transforms these tanks into variable-capacity containers for fermentation as well as short- and long-term wine storage. Learn how to get the most of one in your home winery.

The Seyval Blanc (Seyve-Villard 5276), a cold-climate white grape variety, is the leading choice for many winemakers who live in the chilly eastern and northern regions of North America. This hardy varietal

Did you ever think, “I’m sick of dealing with grapes! Finding them, transporting them, crushing them! It’s a hassle! I want something easier!” If you have, you’re in luck, because this issue’s