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Ozone Sanitation and Filtering Facts

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Making it Legal, Antique Grape Juice: Wine Wizard

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Oxygen Ingression, Volatile Acidity Interventions, Sorbate Question, and Malolactic Timing

Sometimes we get several questions that revolve around a similar theme. The Wine Wizard had several questions this go-round on volatile acid

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Egg White Fining and Overoaking

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Free SO₂, Bottle Drop, First SO₂ Addition, and Oak Sanitation

A winemaker asks for some pointers on when to test for sulfite on their wines using their new sulfite testing kit. Also, learn about curing

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Fermenting Anything & Pectic Enzymes: Wine Wizard

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Vineyard Planning, Varnish on Mini Barrels, Macerating Skin Packs, and Degassing Wine

A proud new owner of a sulfite test kit wants to know how often to test. The Wizard also answers questions on backyard vineyard planning, ur

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Adding Acid to Sanitize, Sparkling Situation: Wine Wizard

The second and perhaps the most important reason is that if you’re doing your final rinsing with an acid blend that contains malic acid, y

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Yeast-free wine and quality control: Wine Wizard

The good news is that most wines that you can buy off the supermarket shelf don’t contain a lot of yeast cells; if they did, the wines wou

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Chlorine Conundrum & Country Wines: Wine Wizard

I never use any chlorine-containing cleaning compounds in my winemaking and don’t recommend it to anyone. There are plenty of alternatives

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Pressing Issues, Making Bread with Wine Yeast and Light Strike

Dumping your pomace and finding the grapes still juice-laden after pressing is frustrating. The Wizard has some pointers for getting the mos

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Acidity & Aging

My situation is that the total acidity (TA) rises during the aging process.What could be causing this?

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Percent New Oak, Overcompensating, And The New Need For Sanitation

While the concept that is listed on some wine bottles or talked about in literature — % new oak — seems simple, there is a lot of nuance

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Barrel Cleaning, Kit Wine Tannins and Proper Sulfite Levels

It seems to me like your Carmenère is a candidate for one of the “Wine Wizard’s” cheapest, easiest and most favorite ways to improve

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Reconditioning Corks & Bottle Film

I’m glad you sent this question, though, because it brings up an important rule of the world of corks: corks must have a certain amount of

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Suspicious Syrah & Fermentation Aids

The first step I would take is to look at the package and/or the packing slip that came with the grapes . . . I hope they say Syrah. If you

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Dumb Merlot & Filmy Finishes

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Bracing Barrels & Coffee Wine

The level of caffeine, of course, will depend on how much coffee you used in the recipe — just as your average cup of joe will be stronger

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Fine Filtering Chardonnay and a Sour Mead

Pad filters are stacks of cellulose sheets that get mounted in a stainless steel or metal frame. Wine or juice is forced by a pump or by air

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Off Odors, Port-Style Wines, and Brass Fittings

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Crazy pH Shift, Acidity in Wine Kits, Adjusting SO₂, and Untoasted Oak Barrels

A winemaker experiences a large and unexpected pH shift from a feral fermentation. Learn about the potential reasons as well as what to do w

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Colossal Corking: Wine Wizard

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The Oak Necessities, Wine “Numbers,” and Stalled MLF

Just like many aspects of winemaking, decisions need to be made about how much you’re willing to invest and oak barrels are one of the big

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Carbs in Wine & Bottle Styles: Wine Wizard

The Wine Wizard answers questions from readers.

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Leaking Corks & Special Enzymes: Wine Wizard

The Wine Wizard answers questions from readers.