Technique

Prepping Wine For Competition

If you’ve got a wine aging in your cellar you would like unbiased, expert opinions on, then entering it in a competition for judging is on

Article

Bonarda Argentine Or Douce Noir or Charbono . . .

Grape varietal names can be a confusing world, typically because one grape varietal may have over a dozen names based on location. But in th

Article

Preserved in Amber

Orange wines, created by fermenting white grapes on the skins, are likely as old as winemaking itself. However, these complex and age-worthy

Article

Blaufränkisch or Lemberger: International grape of mystery

As with many Old World grapes that are grown widely, Blaufränkisch goes by many names. And thanks to its versatility in the winery and cool

Article

Maturation Intervention

No matter how much attention we give a wine, sometimes it will disappoint when tasted for the first time during aging. It may not be faulted

Technique

Backsweetening Fruit Wines

Backsweetening is a popular method to balance and bring out the fruit character in fruit wines. We enlist two experts to share their tips to

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Bold Brianna: A strong and healthy grower

Elmer Swenson’s grape breeding program has had a profound effect on the North American wine scene. One such grape to come from his program

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Melon De Bourgogne: Or Muscadet or just plain Melon

More commonly associated by the wine it produces, Melon de Bourgogne is the grape varietal behind Muscadet wines and the sur lie aging techn

Technique

White Wine Aromatics: Factors to guide your white wines

It’s hard not to find appeal in the aromatics of a tropical fruit or floral Sauvignon Blanc or hints of vanilla, citrus, and caramel in a

Article

More Butter, Please; Caveats with Pectic Enzymes; and Wonky Grape Numbers

Not everyone loves a buttery Chardonnay but for those that seek out this characteristic the Wine Wizard has some sage fermentation advice to

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Go Big at Home

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Colorful Carménère

Similar to a varietal like Malbec, Carménère has come to be identified with the wine growing regions of South America, but this grape actu

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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

Product

Stabilize Wine Like The Pros: Daniel Pambianchi ’10 Download

Wines are living things and as a winemaker you need to do what you can to make sure to protect it against both physical and microbiological

Article

Additives to Impact Phenolics and Tannins

Explore the additives and fining agents common in commercial wine production and available to home winemakers. These tannin additives and fi

Article

Grenache Blanc: Some lessons from the Old World

Grenache Blanc is a grape from the northwestern region of Spain and, as the name implies, has evolved from Grenache Noir. Chik Brenneman pro

Article

Cinsault: The grape that could . . .

One of the mainstay grapes found in the heat-prone regions in the Rhône Valley of France is Cinsault. It often is utilized in blends to add

Article

Tempranillo Tips from the A-Team

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Bulk Aging

Explore the various equipment available to home winemakers for bulk aging wine prior to bottling — from plastic and glass, to stainless s

Article

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

Article

LaCrosse or La Crosse? True diversity in a grape

Elmer Swenson helped revolutionize the greater wine world with his cold-hardy grape breeding program. One such grape varietal that emerged f

Article

Phenolics & Tannins in White, Sparkling & Rosé Styles

Polyphenolics are usually associated with red wines, but there are definitely processing choices and stylistic options where polyphenolics p

Article

Fruit Cider

Cidermaking requires you to develop, refine, and master many different skills. When you add the additional layer of fruit to your cider, it

Article

Fine wine

Article

Rosy Roussanne: A grape that doesn’t mind a little heat

In its homeland in the south of France, Roussanne grapes love some heat . . . probably one reason that it’s found a new home in the Texas