Date: Dec 21-Jan 22

Live chat with Bob Peak, which took place January 26, 2022.

Live chat with Phil Plummer, which took place December 22, 2021.

Wineries can, and often do, create four distinct wines from a single vineyard in the Italian Valpolicella region. Amarone is the most famous, requiring the grapes to partially dry prior to pressing, but all four unique wines highlight techniques that the home winemaker can learn from.

Orange wines, created by fermenting white grapes on the skins, are likely as old as winemaking itself. However, these complex and age-worthy wines are becoming more popular thanks to a renaissance led by winemakers along the border of Italy and Slovenia. Adapt their techniques to your own winemaking.

There were 499 kit wines judged in the 2021 WineMaker International Amateur Wine Competition. Many of these kit wines received medals and top honors. Here are the 100 wine kits that performed best.

Wine kits come with all of the necessary ingredients to make a great tasting batch of wine. So how come all of these wines don’t come out tasting the same? The short answer is that the creativity often associated with fresh grape winemakers must also be applied to kit winemaking, and then solid technique and practices are key. We asked four highly decorated kit winemakers to share their best advice in this kit winemaking roundtable.

One reader who is also a medical doctor discusses the potential health benefits of wine tasters who swish and spit their wines. It may be one of the healthiest things you can do . . . but that doesn’t mean he abides by the spitting aspect.

Using all your senses when tasting wine is always encouraged by wine evaluation experts, but make sure that you are taking in the whole experience and not simply breaking it down and compartmentalizing the elements.

There is so much more you can do with wine than simply drinking it. Bob Peak walks readers through several side projects winemakers can perform starting with their homemade wines to create other items of interest.

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-climate tolerance, its popularity is surging. Learn more about this mysterious grape.

I’m glad that you are attuned to your yeast and realize that some strains are “killer factor positive” and one is “sensitive.” I really wish that the yeast industry had come up

Hey, it happens to me too. But fear not, we’re going to impart some information that’ll give you the confidence to pick even if you don’t know the Brix number. Many winemakers

Many thanks to you for being a WineMaker magazine reader! We love being a source of helpfulness in the sometimes difficult-to-navigate world that is international small-scale winemaking. Uneven vineyard ripening is indeed

It’s hard to get universal ripening of your grapes in a small vineyard with lots of variability. The Wizard provides some pointers as well as clues to determining grape ripeness when the refractometer is left home. Plus, the threat of contamination from “killer” yeast.

There are several techniques a home winemaker can create bubbles for their wine. Learn about the methods for crafting a sparkling wine of your own.