Date: Dec 17-Jan 18
Proper Equipment Storage
MEMBERS ONLYWhen done using your winemaking equipment, make sure it is properly cleaned and stored so it will be ready to use next harvest season.
Chocolate Infused Wine
MEMBERS ONLYWine and chocolate are a match made in heaven. But it doesn’t have to be two separate delicacies. Home winemakers can actually combine the two by infusing wine with chocolate.
Fermentation Dynamics
MEMBERS ONLYThere are temperature ranges advisable for fermenting all wine styles, but how does each end of that range affect the aroma, taste, and body of your wine?
Top 100 Wine Kits for 2017
MEMBERS ONLYHere are the top 100 wine kits from the 2017 WineMaker Magazine International Amateur Wine Competition.
Microoxidation in White Wines: Tips from the Pros
MEMBERS ONLYNot all white wines should be treated equally when it comes to processing juice. Here are some helpful tips and insights winemakers should consider when they approach their next batch of white wine — when to go for a more oxidative approach to the juice and when to go for less.
The Basics of Sulfite
FREELearn the basics of what sulfur dioxide is, as well as when and how to use sulfite in your winemaking.
What’s This? and Calculating Proper Yeast Pitching
MEMBERS ONLYTo quote one of my favorite UC-Davis professors, the newly-retired Dr. Linda Bisson, “No human pathogen can survive in wine.”
Yeast Pitching Rates
MEMBERS ONLYGood for you for branching out. Apple cider has astronomically increased in popularity in the United States in the past few years and I see an increasing number of wineries trying their hand at the fermented-apple beverage. But back to the questions at hand. As to your wine kit coming with two packets of different
Impact of Oxygen on Winemaking
MEMBERS ONLYOxygen’s presence or absence at the various stages of winemaking can have extraordinarily important and lasting effects on what our wines taste like. Too much and you risk oxidation damage, too little and you risk reduction stink. The effects of oxygen on wine, much more so with red wines, may be the most complex and
Confessions: Revealing a secret to my success
MEMBERS ONLYA California winemaker confesses his secret to making a good wine blend great through the use of his secret weapon.
What’s This?
MEMBERS ONLYThanks so much for sending over the pictures, they are very helpful. Even though it’s impossible for me to diagnose down to the organism just based on images, I’d wager you’ve got a very thick colony of spoilage yeast growing on top of your gallon jugs. Sometimes called “film yeast” and similar to the classic
Let’s Bottle!
MEMBERS ONLYFrom cleaners to corkers, there are many options on the market for the home winemaker for the home winemaker when it comes time to get your wine into the bottle.