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!
Oct/Nov 2013
Make better wine by mastering bench trials, small-batch research, and home vineyard tests. Plus, winemaking tips from Virginia.
In this issue
-
wine-wizard -
wine-wizard
What Kind of Water to Use in My Wine Kit
-
articleMaking Muscat, Battling VA, Finding Ideal SO2 Levels
No matter which strain you use, be sure that you read up on all the specifications from the manufacturer around ideal performance conditions.
-
article
Joining a grape growing community
Spending time with fellow amateur grape growers can improve your own vineyard.
-
techniqueHome Vineyard Experiments
How to set up, record and understand small-scale vineyard experiments, and suggest a few that will measurably increase wine quality.
-
techniquePerforming Bench Trials
It is always recommended to do a bench trial prior to making any big adjustment or blend. Learn how to dial in an exact adjustment/addition rate and then scale it up to the full batch.
-
techniqueSmall Batch Wine Experiments
How to perform small batch experiments, and some specific experiments that may be worth digging into.
-
techniqueWinemaking Tips from Virginia Winemakers
-
articleWine in Cómpeta
A New World home winemaker retires to Spain and gets in touch with the Old World ways of winemaking.
-
techniqueBâtonnage Winemaking Techniques
-
articleChambourcin: A vigorous, dark hybrid
. . . (Chambourcin) does get a little more respect than other hybrids because of its ability to improve color in other wines without taking away from the other grapes’ varietal character . . .
-
wine-wizard
Making Dry Muscat
-
-
articleDetermining Ripeness
How do you know when it’s time to pull the trigger on harvest? Here’s an introductory look for your first harvest.
-
wine-wizard
Battling VA
-
techniqueUsing Inert Gases in Winemaking
Blanket, flush, sparge, transfer, dispense. To exclude air while doing any of these things to your wine, your best bet is the use of an inert gas. Learn some your options and tricks.
-
article
Viognier
Because Viognier offers so much in the way of fruit, body and aromatics, Viognier becomes a balancing act.