Date: Feb-Mar 2002
Stench of Sulfur & Excess CO2: Wine Wizard
MEMBERS ONLYQHere’s one problem you may have been asked about before. My finished wine has an aroma and taste of rubber and burnt toast, a bit like burnt rubber. Since I will be making more wine this year, I sure would like to know what I’m doing wrong. Would you let me know? Richard LarocqueL’Orignal, Ontario
What can I do to prevent my recurring problem of excess CO2 in my wines?
MEMBERS ONLYUnless you artificially carbonate your still wines by kegging them, there is only one possible source of carbon dioxide in wines — microbes, specifically little bacteria and yeastie beasties that love to inhabit wine even after all of the fermentable sugar has been used up. If you’ve measured your wine for dryness by using a
My finished wine has the aroma and taste of burnt rubber. What did I do wrong?
MEMBERS ONLYDear Wine Wizard, Here’s one problem you may have been asked about before. My finished wine has an aroma and taste of rubber and burnt toast, a bit like burnt rubber. Since I will be making more wine this year, I sure would like to know what I’m doing wrong. Would you let me know?
Tasting Wine with Dr. Olmo: Dry Finish
FREEBack in my grad-school days, I loved hanging around the lab to watch Dr. Olmo taste wine. I spent so much time there that his technician said he should charge me an
Must Haves
MEMBERS ONLYEasy Electric Bottle Filler If you’ve ever used the Buon Vino automatic bottle filler, you know how easy it is to bottle a batch of wine. Buon Vino has made the job even easier with its new FILLjet bottler, an electric version of the automatic bottle filler. The greatest advantage of the FILLjet is that
Build a Filter Clamp: Projects
MEMBERS ONLYPlate filtration systems are popular among home winemakers. These systems use disposable filter plates with a filter selectivity that usually ranges from 0.5–6.0 microns. The filter plates must be changed every so often, a tedious chore that involves removing several wing bolts, six in the case of the popular Ferrari-style filter, to replace the filters.
Barrel Care Techniques
FREEDo you yearn to create oak-style wines that rival Bordeaux first growths, Super Tuscans, or the so-called California cult wines, but have been hesitant to invest time and effort to care and
Avoiding Wine Kit Pitfalls
FREEThere are a lot of wine kits out there today, and their variety and quality is improving. Kits wines are designed to be easy to make, but they’re not foolproof. Even kit
Avoiding Kit Pitfalls
MEMBERS ONLYWhere are a lot of wine kits out there today, and their variety and quality is improving. Kits wines are designed to be easy to make, but they’re not foolproof. Even kit wines can go awry if you overlook the basics. Here are ten ways to make sure you produce the best wine possible from
Riesling: Varietal Focus
MEMBERS ONLYA phrase we’ve often heard in recent years is, “A. B. C. — anything but Chardonnay.” As many consumers set down the Chard and start searching for alternative white wines — and as commercial grape growers try to stay up-to-date with the fickle consumer’s wants — the other premier white varieties are gaining status in
Grape Breeding 101
FREELearn what goes into breeding a new grape variety.
Plan Your First Vineyard
FREEDetailed steps every home viticulturist should take before planting their first vineyard.
Pick Your Grapes
FREESomewhere, buried deep within the psyche of almost everyone who makes his own wine, there is a grape grower trying to get out. As someone who once successfully ripened Seyval Blanc grapes
My Backyard Vineyard
MEMBERS ONLY“Mark? Don’t you want to take a look inside the house?” Hmmm. Check out that land. “Mark? The house?” Yeah … sure. The house. I take one last, inclusive look at the “backyard” of the home in Chicago Park, California. I see one-and-a-half acres of fertile land that faces south and slopes gently away from