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Grenache: An international blender

In the vineyard, Grenache is extremely vigorous and needs a long growing season to mature all of its fruit.

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Riesling: German nobility

To this day, I consider that Riesling vintage one of the best wines I ever made, and I wish I could find a bottle or two in my cellar to tas

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Understanding YAN

If you want to make good homemade wine, you should learn to manage your wines’ YAN — yeast assimilable nitrogen.

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Montepulciano

To understand Montepulciano the grape, you also have to understand the difference with Montepulciano the place. Chik Brenneman takes you on

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The Essential Ins and Outs of Oak Barrels

Aging your wine in an oak barrel can do wonders for your wine. It can also ruin it. Before you dive in head first, learn all there is to kno

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Late Malolactic, Wine Kit Ingredients, and Color Questions

Your Zinfandel probably had a good reason (in the wine’s opinion, anyway) why it didn’t go through ML fermentation.

Wine-wizard

What Kind of Water to Use in My Wine Kit

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Making 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

Wine-wizard

Color Problems In My Pinot Noir

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Fun With Filtration, When To Harvest, and Transporting Wine

. . . a lot of sediment we find in wines actually forms after the wine is bottled, and is nothing that filtration can control.

Wine-wizard

Sluggish Fermentation Woes

Wine-wizard

Hangover Myths Revealed

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Brett in the Winery, Hangover Myths, and Grapes In Albuquerque

Brettanomyces is often an ambient microbe in the air we breathe, but that’s no reason to go inviting concentrated and healthy sto

Wine-wizard

Over-Sulfited Wine

Wine-wizard

Free SO₂ Levels

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Empty Airlocks, Calculating ABV, and Transplanting Vines

Most top-scoring red wines made in the U.S. are bottled after 18–24 months in barrel.

Wine-wizard

Why the Tiny Bubbles?

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Softened Water, High Alcohol Wine, and Tiny Bubbles

Water softeners add another wrinkle, namely because they tend to add a lot of sodium.

Wine-wizard

Over-Sulfited My Wine

Wine-wizard

Sulfite Question When Blending Wine

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Japanese Beetles, Freezing Grapes, and Adjusting Aged Wine

A really innovative and completely natural way to control Japanese beetles is to implement a longer-term biological control program utilizin

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Fermentation Troubles, Natural Fining, and Get Your Swirl On

Some home winemakers cool down must ferments by freezing gallon water jugs and tossing them (closed tightly) into fermenting totes, bins or

Wine-wizard

Refermentation Questions

Wine-wizard

White Film In My Wine Barrel

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Understanding “Degree Days”, White Film on Wine, and Glass vs. Wood