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Ask almost any commercial winemaker and they will say that pH is one of the most important – if not the most important – winemaking parameter. Even though TA is important for

 Home winemakers use bananas, both dried and fresh, as a source of perceptible sweetness and body. Both effects are derived from the complex polysaccharides (that’s a fancy name for big, long-chain sugars)

Dear Wine Wizard, Our Zinfandel wine is now in secondary fermenters, with free-run wine separate from the pressed. Do you have advice on allowing the free and pressed wines to go their

Seems like an attack of your friend and mine, the acetic acid bacteria. These bacteria live in wineries, on winery equipment and in the air. In fact, you’re probably breathing some in

  The poets speak of glad hearts, and the red tulips and blossoming trees leave no doubt. Spring is here! So are tender, fresh vegetables like baby asparagus, bell peppers, white corn

Most winegrowers and connoisseurs consider Cabernet Sauvignon the king of the red wines. Genetically, its parents are Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc. The exact birth of Cabernet Sauvignon is lost in legend,

Since childhood, I had always been under the impression that there is no such thing as a good bottle of homemade wine. This was mostly due to the fact that every time

Ask most home winemakers where to find America’s best wines, and they will probably say California. Ask for the best region, and they will almost certainly say Napa Valley. And if you

Plan to make your own wine press

Fining is a process that clears your wine after fermentation is complete. It also stabilizes the wine by speeding up the formation and precipitation of excess tannins, unstable proteins and other microscopic

Most home winemakers are familiar with grape concentrates, whether they’ve used them in a “brew-on-premise” store or at home. What many people don’t know, however, is that concentrates are surprisingly versatile. Besides

Which of these winemakers is you? Or more appropriately, which of these two scenes, in all likelihood, got you interested in making your own wine? As the fading sunlight gilds the haze

Dear Wine Wizard, I did not rehydrate my yeast before I pitched it. How do I do this and what happens if I don’t? John Eastwood Cleveland Wine Wizard replies: Rehydrating yeast

Dear Wine Wizard, I make wine in five-gallon batches from juice that I buy in Canada. I also buy skins, stems, and small bags of toasted oak chips, then let it all

Most winemakers begin by wanting to make an affordable wine through their own efforts. Once they succeed, they focus more on perfecting the finished product. Their next question becomes, “Am I making

On the surface there doesn’t seem to be much to blending wines. Blending, in itself, is a physically simple task. You take one wine and stir it with another, and the result

Definitions: Acetobacter: A group of bacteria that oxidatively convert wine to vinegar (ethanol into acetic acid) through an aerobic (oxygen present) fermentation. Acid blend: A generic name for any commercially available blend

Derek Wilber, Anthony Road Wine Co., Penn Yan, NY on cabernet franc and quality juice. Cabernet Franc “Adapting your techniques to the climate of a region is the essence of creative winemaking,”

 How can you improve the best wine you can make? Make vinegar! Now this might seem like an absurd thing to say. It might appear to be some kind of joke. But

Merlot has become an important red grape throughout world. Merlot grapes, also known as Merlot Noir in Bordeaux, have been used to soften wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon for many years. Merlot

You’ll need about 85 to 90 pounds (39 to 41 kg) of fresh grapes (still on their stems) to make five gallons of wine. It will start off at about 2.5 lug

As Miss Manners would say, “Do not despair, gentle reader.” It is absolutely a falsehood that homemade wine “goes bad” after two years. It has just as much potential for staying power

Dear Wine Wizard, My partners and I, for the first time, bought Merlot grapes last year. We followed our normal procedure, which we have been using for the past five years for

Winemaker John Fletcher of Hillside Estate Winery in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada offers his thoughts on adding oak to your wine: Oaking Hillside Wines Many of the Hillside Estate

I have been making wine for about 27 years starting with a small winemaking kit I received as a Christmas gift. I had an interest long before that time as I had