Import Source: Quark
Higher Alcohol Off-Odors in Wine
Did you ever create a wine that seemed more viscous than your typical wine, or which may have exhibited heavier fruity odors, or perhaps a solvent-like smell? The culprits may well be
Fining Your Way to Clear Wine
Fining of wine is the addition of one substance to remove another. It is a diverse subject with several classes of materials involved in its use and lots of different intended outcomes.
Build a Carboy Cleaner
I learned quickly during my early days of cleaning up after myself in the winery that a carboy brush is designed to spackle the walls, surrounding cabinets and the user with undesirable
Design your Home Winery
We have had many customers at Blichmann Engineering ask about using our fermenters for winemaking, which is why I decided that I needed to learn more about making wine. My first batch
Grapevine Pruning Fundamentals
Pruning is the removal of portions of the vine. Training is the arrangement of the vine parts both immediately after pruning and as the vine grows. The trellis is the physical structure
Sangiovese: The king of Tuscany
Grapes in Tuscany are a way of life, and Sangiovese, the red workhorse of Tuscany through the millennia, is as noble as they get — well, depending who you talk to.
Kombucha In My Winery?
Just like I would not let a buddy of mine do any Brettanomyces beer-brewing experiments in my winery, so should you not do Kombucha and wine together in your kitchen (or garage)
Making Sangiovese: Tips from the Pros
Sangiovese is primarily associated with wines from Italy, especially from the Tuscany region. However, there are also a number of vineyards in the New World growing Sangiovese. The 2012 California Grape Crush
Cleaning and Sanitation for Beginners
An introduction to cleaning and sanitation for beginners.
Crazy Cat Winery
William Ruting of North Carolina has two hobbies: winemaking and house cats . . . 25 house cats, that is.
Sustainability Made Easy: Critters chasing critters
Adding certain animals to your vineyard can encourage biodiversity and improve yields.
Managing Minerals in Winemaking
Mineral deficiencies or excesses can become sources of frustration for amateur winemakers because minerals, metals, and other ionic substances cannot be easily measured and their role in biochemical and chemical reactions can be quite complex. So where do these substances come from and how can they be best managed in a home winery?
Pairing Yeast with Grape
Start with the grapes. Whether you make wine at home from fresh grapes, juice, or frozen must, there are many influences over the quality and character of your wine. Grape variety itself
Making the Transition from Home Winemaker to Pro Winemaker
In the life of the amateur winemaker, there may come a time when the idea of starting a commercial winery pops up. Making wine can be a gratifying and engaging career, so
Yeast Impact on Wine Aroma and Flavor
If you are of the opinion that yeast selection does not matter and that the only role of yeast is to convert sugar into ethyl alcohol (ethanol), you may have been missing
Perfecting Pinot Grigio
Pinot Grigio is everywhere, flooding every supermarket wine aisle and all over the wine lists at restaurants that don’t give much thought to their wine lists. It’s the single biggest (by volume)
Cool Climate Winemaking Tips from Ontario
There is no better way to get to know a wine region than paying a visit and chatting up the winery management and their staff. It is then that you can learn
Pinot Blanc: A grape with an identity crisis
Pinot Blanc — one of the offspring of Pinot Noir — is waiting for its 15 minutes of fame to come around.
Stuck Fermentations
Unfortunately, there are hundreds of possible causes of stuck and sluggish fermentations, and sometimes, even after careful investigation, we still can never understand what the cause may have been. With Mother Nature
Wine Evaluation: Tips from the Pros
To make good wine one must understand what good wine is and, alternatively, understand and be able to detect wine faults. Anyone can learn to evaluate wine, and as a winemaker it
Pumpkin Wine
A recipe for pumpkin wine.
Metamorphosis
John Bowen incorporated pieces of Atlanta wine history in his wine cellar.
Detecting Vineyard Problems
Know what to look for to help identify problems in your home vineyard before they turn catastrophic.
Blending Fruit and Grape Wines
“Blending is a natural procedure, honest, necessary, and in accordance with historical events.” With that quote, eminent wine authority Emile Peynaud gives us permission to play with our wines. While he was
Maximize Wine Aromatics
The aromatic calculus for whites differs from that for reds, and aromatics in young wines are a world apart from the aromatics of well-aged wines. There are lots of places where you can do things in your home winery to amplify aroma, which are also the same places you can let them slip away.