Aug-Sep 2019
Live Chat with José Pizarro
Live Chat with José Pizarro, which took place on September 18, 2019.
Fresh Grape Supplier Directory
Looking for fresh grapes this harvest season? Here is a list of select fresh grape vendors you can purchase grapes from.
Live Chat with Christina Musto
Live Chat with Christina Musto, which took place on August 14, 2019.
2019 WineMaker Conference Recap
Hundreds of hobby winemakers came to Traverse City, Michigan from May 16 to 19 for our 12th annual WineMaker Magazine Conference. The conference featured local professional Northern Michigan winemakers, WineMaker writers, industry
Design a Wine Cellar
The best wine cellars offer home winemakers, wine collectors, or anyone else stockpiling wine a stable, secure, chilly space that exists in complete darkness 99.9% of the time. Get some construction options that a homeowner might consider when designing a wine cellar.
At Home in the Wine Lab
Whether it is just the basics (Brix, pH, etc.) or more advanced (free SO2, yeast assimilable nitrogen, etc.) all home winemakers should perform some tests to monitor their wines.
2019 WineMaker Magazine International Amateur Wine Competition Recap
From April 12 to 14, 2019, a total of 2,305 different wines were judged at the Grand Summit Lodge and Conference Center at Mount Snow Resort in West Dover, Vermont. This year’s
Benefit From Judge Feedback
Having your homemade wines judged by experts is a great way to get feedback and improve your winemaking. In order to do so, however, you need to understand what the judges are trying to tell you and apply it to your next wine.
Chateau Latif Vineyard: An oasis on Manhattan’s Upper East Side
A vineyard located in the middle of Manhattan? We had to investigate. Learn about Latif Jiji and the unique vineyard that he planted and has managed now for 42 years in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Extraction Decisions: Keying into the details of maceration
With harvest just around the corner, it’s time to study up on your extraction plan for this year’s grapes. Alex Russan looks at some of the key decisions that winemakers need to make after the grapes are crushed and methods to get them to their goal.
Visualize Sensory Evaluation: Utilizing spider charts to compare wines
Winemakers new and experienced will often compare different wines and make mental notes about the experience. For those that want to improve upon their wines, spider charts offer an easy-to-visualize evaluation of several sensory variables.
Getting Hardcore with Apples
Get some basic pointers for making hard cider or apple wine.
Get groovy with Grüner Veltliner
Towards the end of the fall 2018 harvest I was looking for a little respite in my calendar, and I came across an appointment scheduled for a Friday night in late November
Knocking Down Rot On Grapes
That’s a great question as we approach the harvest season. Though I don’t expect 2019 harvest to be like 2011 or 1998, many of us all over the country, from Oregon to
Decanting Advice
Those are a great couple of questions. Decanting, or the pouring of a wine out of its bottle into another, larger container (usually made of clear glass or crystal), is something that
Affects of Acid
In general, I think of how TA (titratable, or total acidity) and pH impact flavor and mouthfeel in this simple (and yes, perhaps simplistic) way: TA determines how tart or sour a
Determining A Wine’s Ageability
I’ll answer your last questions first and then give you my thoughts on the age-worthiness of your wine. RS (residual sugar) “Dry” (no sugar remaining) is usually considered 0.2% or less (2
Determining Ageability, Wine Chemistry, Decanting Advice, and Knocking Down Rot
QI’ve got a red Bordeaux-style blend with the following stats: Aged 28 months in French and American oak, with these numbers: Alcohol — 13.8%; Free SO2 — 37 mg/L; Total SO2 —
Best of Show Tips
While none of the three panelists for this “Tips from the Pros” column are actually pros, their knowledge is second to none. We’ve accumulated three “Best of Show” winners from the 2019
