Article

Sangiovese

Sangiovese is the ultimate wine to pair with food due to the variety’s ability to hold its acidity as it ripens and generous amounts of ri

Technique

Turbidity

Clarity, or turbidity, is a key aspect of wine evaluation. Let’s revisit the fundamentals of wine clarity and examine how incorporating tu

Technique

Racking Wine

Racking — the action of transferring wine off the lees to another vessel — is an important technique that is required to produce clear f

Wine-wizard

Unwanted secondary fermentation

There’s nothing quite like popping open a bottle you meant to be still and finding it has turned into a sparkling version of itself.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Technique

Fine Wine in Less Time

When you want a finished wine quicker, there are techniques and products to help speed along the process of wine from grapes without sacrifi

Article

Lees: The Good, The Bad, & The Smelly

The benefits of aging white wine on the lees includes a softer mouthfeel, added weight and texture, added complexity, and a smoothing of the

Article

Federweißer

Popular in parts of central Europe where it’s often sold from carts on the side of the road during a short period each fall, federweißer

Article

Over-Oaked Chardonnay, Choosing Yeast, Hard Water, & Stuck Ferments

Always start small with additions — it’s much easier to add more than to take something out later. That said, the Wine Wizard shares adv

Article

Jupiter: A table grape with BIG winemaking potential

Jupiter — a grape that gets its name from the girth of its berries — is often grown for eating, but the purple-skinned grape can also be

Wine-wizard

Dealing With Hard Water

Technique

Using Gum Arabic

Gum arabic is a natural anti-flocculant with a list of benefits that includes helping prevent tartrate crystals from forming, smoothing out

Article

Performing Winery Lab Tests

Take the guesswork out of winemaking by performing tests on your juice, must, and wine. We run through the most critical tests, as well as h

Article

Setting Up a Home Wine Lab

Learn about the lab equipment you should consider investing in for each stage of the winemaking process.

Article

Petite Sirah: The little grape with big color

With small berries and a high grape skin-to-juice ratio, Petite Sirah makes a wine that is incredibly pigmented, rich in black fruit charact

Technique

Chemistry of Must Correction

Clark Smith offers ways to extract the most from your grapes by digging into the chemistry of must correction — including methods to boost

Article

White Wines From Hybrid Grapes

Hybrid grapes are bred to combat growing conditions vinifera grapes have trouble with, including cold temperatures, diseases, and more. Hybr

Article

Explore the World of Perry

Perry, or pear cider as some refer to it, is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages in the world. Facing extinction for periods through histo

Article

St. Croix

St. Croix is a red hybrid grape designed by a private grape breeder to withstand the bitter cold Wisconsin winters. Learn more about this th

Article

A Ghost of Cabernet Past, Swing-Top Bottles & Bottle Shock

A 40-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon that’s now as white as a ghost? Oh no! The Wine Wizard gets to the bottom of this spooky phenomenon and a

Technique

Pectic Enzymes

Pectic enzymes are often used in fruit and other high-pectin wines to aid in clarity, but also serve as a useful tool post-crush to aid in j

Wine-wizard

Red Wine Lost Its Color

I have an Australian Cabernet that is now clear (see photos)! All the color deposited on the bottom of the bottle.

Wine-wizard

Dealing With Bottle Shock

Article

Vineyard Canopy Management

Summer in the vineyard means it is time to manage your vines’ canopy. Spraying, suckering, leaf removal, adjusting lateral shoots, and eve

Article

Restarting a Stuck Life

Stuck in a rut and at the cusp of retirement, a couple buys a home with a backyard vineyard in Calaveras County, California. Determined to n