Date: Jun-Jul 2020
Live Chat with Alison Crowe
MEMBERS ONLYLive Chat with Alison Crowe, which took place on July 16, 2020.
Live Chat with Maureen Macdonald
MEMBERS ONLYLive Chat with Maureen Macdonald, which took place on June 17, 2020.
Phenolics & Tannins in White, Sparkling & Rosé Styles
FREEPolyphenolics are usually associated with red wines, but there are definitely processing choices and stylistic options where polyphenolics play a role in whites, rosé, and sparkling wines also.
Making Berry Good Wines
MEMBERS ONLYRelative to grape wine, “berry wine” is a diverse category, encompassing anything from strawberries to blueberries to uncommon local berries few have heard of. The general idea is the same as making red wine: Crush and ferment berries, press or strain, rack and age, bottle, voila! But where grapes, if variety is well matched to
Fruit Cider
MEMBERS ONLYCidermaking is a journey. Don’t be fooled by anyone who tells you it’s easy, as developing a delicious hard cider requires a lot more artistry than simply adding yeast to apple juice. Cidermaking requires you to develop, refine, and master many different skills. When you add the additional layer of fruit to your cider, it
Fine wine
MEMBERS ONLYThe goal for experienced and new winemakers alike is a product that is both pleasant in taste and appearance. Unfortunately for many new winemakers the result is stubborn cloudiness with sediment, or worse, a product that develops haze once bottled. A wine that is cloudy is considered a seriously flawed wine and thought to be
Ferment It All! Attack of the Juicy Juice boxes
FREEWhat would you do if your kids brought home Juicy Juice boxes every day, but never drank them? One man decided to ferment it all!
Dirt Don’t Lie: The impact of soil on vineyards and wine
FREEDetermining your soil type can tell anyone growing grapes a lot about the conditions under which your vine’s root system will develop and grow. It can tell you how much you should irrigate or about your potential fertilization schedule. Learn how to determine where your vineyard’s soil type lands on the USDA’s soil-type triangle.
Testing for pH: What the big pHuss is about
MEMBERS ONLYNear the top of the list of factors that winemakers should be measuring in their juice and wine is pH. Bob Peak breaks down the what, when, why, and how of measuring for this critical factor in winemaking.
Rosy Roussanne: A grape that doesn’t mind a little heat
MEMBERS ONLYIn its homeland in the south of France, Roussanne grapes love some heat . . . probably one reason that it’s found a new home in the Texas Hill Country. Learn about this white grape that can stand up to being a varietal wine when conditions are right or blended with others.
The New Need For Sanitation
FREEWhat’s the difference between cleaning and sanitizing? Cleaning refers to the manual removal of dirt, soil, and grime on an item or a surface. Sanitizing is the next step, which, when done
Overcompensating With Copper
MEMBERS ONLYAh yes, Monday morning quarterbacking is always tough when it comes to wine. Adding a complex yeast nutrient (a mix of nitrogen, amino acids, and other micronutrients) is something I do with every fermentation. I have the luxury of being able to send my musts and juices to a wine lab to measure their amino
Defining “Percent New Oak” in Wine
MEMBERS ONLYThanks for bringing up this topic. There are some parts of the answer that’ll be really obvious but like so much in winemaking, it’s often up for interpretation and the subtleties may vary from winemaker to winemaker, even in the professional world. “% new oak” seems like a simple calculation. But when you dig in,
Getting Closure: Corkers and Cork Sizing
FREELearn about the various factors that affect a home winemaker’s decision when choosing cork size and corkers.
Percent New Oak, Overcompensating, And The New Need For Sanitation
MEMBERS ONLYWhile the concept that is listed on some wine bottles or talked about in literature — % new oak — seems simple, there is a lot of nuance to this term. Learn about the concept as well as problems caused from overcompensating to fix a hydrogen sulfide stink with copper. Plus, the Wizard talks about the new need for sanitation in our world.
Winemaking Supply Shop Status During COVID-19
MEMBERS ONLYGreetings from WineMaker,With the quickly evolving situation worldwide due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we thought a helpful way to serve both hobby winemakers and winemaking retail suppliers was to provide a list of current business status. We will continue to update the information on this page as the situation evolves. Please support your local winemaking