Feb-Mar 2025
Bag in a Barrel Build
An amateur winemaker/woodworker shares a do-it-yourself project that combines both of his favorite hobbies. The build repurposes a 5-L (1.3-gallon) oak barrel that has been retired from aging wine into a wine-serving vessel. Now he’s serving homemade wine from a bag in style.
Temperature-Controlled Cooler
Realizing the large temperature swings in his garage don’t make for a great environment to conduct fermentations, a home winemaker converted chest freezers to temperature-controlled “cellars” that cool or heat to a preset temperature for both fermenting and bulk aging his wines.
Mastering Pest Management
The hardest part of growing grapes may be keeping them healthy and on the vine until harvest. From fungal diseases to insect and animal control, there are a lot of other things after your grapes! But don’t worry, there is a way to keep all of these at bay if you are prepared and know how.
2025 Label Contest Winners
We share our favorite amateur wine labels entered into WineMaker’s 2025 Label Contest — from a faceless woman and a woman’s face seemingly appearing in fermenting must, to a design for a Scottish fiddler and the wine color of the year.
Backyard Pruning: Tips from the Pros
Two amateurs who have won Best of Show medals for their estate-grown wines share advice for late-winter pruning and vineyard care.
Traminette
Traminette is a white hybrid grape grown all over the northern areas of North America that can make extremely aromatic wines. From crisp, dry examples to late-harvest and even fortified wines, the grape is a fun one for home winemakers to play with.
Racking in Moonlight, Acetobacter, Fermenting “dry,” and White Winemaking
While there are a lot of urban myths surrounding winemaking, the one about racking under a full moon isn’t totally hogwash. Plus, what to do when your wine begins turning to vinegar, the specific gravity of a “dry” wine, and tips for making wonderful white wines.
Racking by the Light of the Moon
While there is so much hooey out there about “don’t rack during a new moon” or “only bottle during a full moon,” the winemaking dictum you mention is based, at least loosely,
Acetobacter Infections
The quick and dirty answer to your question, and quite possibly not the one you want to hear, is that you’re best off dumping your vinegar bottles of wine down the drain.
Determining when wine is “dry”
I definitely think you should wait for the fermentation to complete and then rack and add sulfur dioxide. I doubt you’ll have to add any sorbate to protect against a re-start fermentation
White winemaking advice
It seems like you’ve found something that works for your red grape winemaking — making additions based on your 36-lb. (16-kg) lugs of grapes. Your estimated yield for grapes fermented on the
It’s All Fine and Good
There are many different types of fining agents available to home winemakers that fall into these four groupings: Mineral, polysaccharide, synthetic polymer, and protein agents. Learn what each is best used for and when you may be better to employ one vs. another.
Pruning and Spring Care
After harvest is over may seem like a great time for the home viticulturist to sit back and take a deep breath. Just don’t take too long of a nap, because the work never ends when you’re growing grapes! Wes Hagen outlines what every grape grower should be doing during these cold months to prepare for the next successful growing season.
Friendships Forged by Wine
The annual WineMaker Magazine Conference isn’t just about attending seminars and learning, it’s also about camaraderie. One longtime attendee shares how friendships formed at a conference have carried well beyond the yearly in-person event.
