Articles

Robert Archibald was asked to make the wines for his daughter’s wedding. But there was a catch — the wines had to pair with the pirate theme of the happy couple’s big day. Ahoy matey, that sounds like a challenge!

There are lots of reasons to try blending white wines, such as adding complexity, correcting a deficiency, or simply making something fun and new. Find out more about which white grapes work well together, and how to plan the perfect blend.

In the fifth installment of our year-long series about how homemade wine is made using home-grown grapes in Upstate New York, the wines are put through malolactic fermentation and cold stabilized.

Sourcing fresh grapes directly from a grower can be a fun and rewarding experience for home winemakers. Get some tips for making the most of buying grapes straight from the vineyard.

Learn the basics of how and when to use a hydrometer in your winemaking process.

Spring is here, and that means a new winemaking season is upon us! A couple of experienced winemakers share the joys that come with making wine from South America and South Africa, as they recall their recent experience making Pinotage wine from South Africa last spring.

Wine is frequently transferred or “racked” into another vessel to leave the byproducts of the process (known as lees) behind. If you make larger batches of wine at home, using a pump can make this process easier.

Balance in a vineyard is defined as a vine that has enough leaves to ripen a small to moderate crop load. To achieve that goal, a good vineyard manager needs to pay close attention to what’s happening among the vines this time of year.

There are many components in wine that all need to work together to create balance. Find out how to juggle acidity, alcohol, residual sugar, tannins, color, flavor components, and more.

In the fourth installment of our year-long series about how homemade wine is made using home-grown grapes in Upstate New York, it’s time to check on finished fermentations and prune the grapevines.

Learn the basics of how and where to age your homemade wines.

As a veteran winemaker, some of the initial joys of winemaking begin to fade, however as the winemaker understands more about the process and becomes more in tune with the wine, the potential for new astonishments arise.

You can never be too prepared in your winery when the grapes come in from harvest. Follow our guidelines for crush and press success.

When I started graduate school at UC-Davis in 1995, one of my first classes was a seminar series. Being the first session of the academic year, a round of introductions started the

In the final installment of our year-long series, the wines are bulk aged, oaked, and bottled.

A reader shares plans for his homemade wine press.

A Texas winemaker wanted to indulge a friend who has always wanted to make his own wine by buying a wine kit as a birthday gift. But little did she know all the choices she would need to make before settling on the right one!

You may have noticed the “orange wines” that have been popping up on trendy wine lists lately. These are white wines that are purposely exposed to skin contact and oxidized to produce wines that are quite orange in appearance.

Winemakers have to decide how long to macerate their grapes to make the best wine. But how? Too little skin contact and the wines can lack color or body; too much contact and you wind up with wines that are too bitter or astringent. Learn more about skin contact to make an informed decision.

Pat Henderson, Chief Winemaker at Sonoma County, California’s famed Kenwood Vineyards, shares some universal winemaking advice that he has learned over the course of his more than 35 commercial vintages, and from his early years as a hobby winemaker.

It is so wonderful to have such friends and colleagues at WineMaker magazine who keep inviting me back to speak at the annual conference (and I am looking forward to San Diego,

One of the most important measurements a winemaker must stay on top of from the time grapes begin to mature in the vineyard through the end of fermentation is degrees Brix. Brix,

A reader shares his journey down the road he traveled to produce a sacramental wine for his church. The lessons he learned during the production is of interest for all winemakers.

Most winemakers can trace their roots of making wine to either wine appreciation or their family. When the Milam family purchased a house with an established vineyard, the two themes combined, pushing the family from enophiles to dedicated vineyard managers and winemakers.

For one week in October, portions of California’s wine country were up in flames in what has been deemed the state’s most destructive and costly fire. Beyond the toll it took on countless families whose homes were destroyed and lives uprooted, questions also arose regarding the fire’s impact on the 2017 vintage.