On July 17 learn late season grape growing and harvest techniques for your small-scale vineyard with “Backyard Vines” Columnist Wes Hagen. Register now to grow and harvest the best wine grapes this year!
In our June / July 2026 issue we look at two distinct styles of red wine — big, bold, blockbuster reds, as well as easy-drinking quaffable red wines — each of which require unique techniques to craft. Plus, learn to make the Italian liqueur ratafia, dry berry wines, Dornfelder, and more!
Grape selection and harvest timing are important to make more easy-drinking reds that are perfect for summer days, but techniques like second wines, water dilutions, or even blending with fruit wines can also play a big role.
Not all red wine grapes are destined to make a big, blockbuster wine. But even with the right grapes, a winemaker still needs to consider techniques for power, structure, and balance in that bold red wine. It comes down to how the grapes are treated during maceration and fermentation on through pressing and aging.
This simple yet elegant liqueur offers a tangible connection to Italy’s mountain kitchens, marrying the accessible flavors of locally sourced sour cherries with the robust body of home-fermented red wine.
An experienced wine judge shares why she continues to pull up a seat at amateur competition judging tables — including the thrill of trying lesser-known varieties as well as guiding improvement, and supporting the passion that fuels the hobby.
Spring and summer is a time of great growth for your vines. Be prepared this year, as Wes Hagen shares what you need to be doing during your vines’ vegetative growth cycle.
Brix alone shouldn’t determine when to harvest grapes, as phenolic ripeness often doesn’t align with sugar levels. We share practical vineyard techniques for a more holistic assessment of picking time — none of which require specialized equipment.
Germany is most known for their white wines, though they also produce fine red wines. Dornfelder is a Vitis vinifera variety with a full body and deep color that is a great option for blending or turning into a single-varietal wine.
In many ways, dry berry wines are built like fine, age-worthy red wines. Though more hands-on care from the winemaker is required in the forms of sugar and water additions to acidity and tannin adjustments. Learn more about making dry berry wines, with recipes to make your own dry blueberry wine, multi-berry “Rhône-style” red, and a Burgundian-like mixed berry melomel.
A New York-based winemaker shares his approach to making a grape/non-grape blend, using his Cranberry Riesling to demonstrate how complementing characteristics make a harmonious wine.
Explore the role sulfur dioxide plays in winemaking and why a batch of wine that uses SO2 will have more lees than one that does not.
After three months of settling, 10 bottles out of 30 were carbonated. Why were the other bottles flat?
Is oxygen needed at the start of fermentation? And at what point do we stop giving fermentation oxygen?