Date: June-July 2023
Pectic Enzymes: Tips from the Pros
FREEThree pro winemakers share how they use pectic enzymes to their advantage to maximize yields, increase color and flavor extraction, and make filtration easier.
¡Vamos Vendimia!
FREEWineMaker readers and Publisher Brad Ring recently spent a week exploring beautiful wine regions in Chile and Argentina during harvest. We recap and share
pictures from the adventure.
Making Dessert Fruit Wines
MEMBERS ONLYWine, by definition, is made from grapes. So wine made from other fruits isn’t technically wine (it is fruit wine). Like most winemakers over the past thousand-plus years, I used to believe that to make the best quality wines you needed to use grapes. That changed when I moved to Finland and began working with
Enological Oxygen Principles and Practices
MEMBERS ONLYWhile it sometimes gets a bad rap because too much oxygen can destroy a wine, oxygen is also very important to the winemaking process. Learn the six ways to use oxygen to your wine’s benefit.
Award-Winning Fruit Wines
MEMBERS ONLYWe share recipes and advice for four gold medal-winning fruit wines made by top amateur winemakers. Instead of just waiting for the grape harvest to roll around this fall, try your hand at one of these unique fruit wine recipes.
Sweet Finnish
FREEWhen a home winemaker moves to Finland and finds that the grape winemaking he has come to know and love isn’t feasible there, he turns to the next best thing . . . berry winemaking. Now he is making waves on a global scale.
Water Works: Assessing irrigation needs
MEMBERS ONLYNot every location needs to irrigate their vines every year, but for those that do, advanced planning is key. Here is a walk through the factors that need to be considered when establishing a vineyard and irrigation needs.
The Charmat Process to Sparkling Wine
MEMBERS ONLYMany homebrewers of beer are unknowingly very familiar with the Charmat method to carbonate wine. If you are unfamiliar with this easy, albeit more equipment-heavy, process to produce bubbly wines, Bob Peak explains the technique.
Vermentino
MEMBERS ONLYWith its home along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, this white grape is starting to find its way to the U.S. for good reason. Learn about the history, viticultural tips, and winemaking styles of Vermentino grapes.
Stabilizing A Fruit Port
MEMBERS ONLYWell, in the olden days of fortified winemaking, potassium sorbate (a potassium salt of sorbic acid) wasn’t even a thing. While sorbic acid does occur naturally in some plants (rowan berries and hippophae berries, to be exact), almost all of the world’s potassium sorbate is made in a laboratory. In addition to potassium sorbate being
Tips For Rehydrating Dry Yeast
MEMBERS ONLYPhoto by Jason Phelps Rehydrating dried yeast is a simple and straightforward process, and one that I find to be essential when using dried yeast for winemaking purposes. The simple answer to your question is no, do not use distilled water for yeast rehydration. Distilled water is not osmotically balanced, which means that it can
Sacrificial Tannins Explained
MEMBERS ONLYOak galls are one source of tannins that winemakers may consider adding at various stages, including active fermentation as sacrificial tannin. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com Tannins, or the compounds in grapes (and oak barrels) that contribute to a pleasing sensation of astringency in red (and some white) wines, are found in grape skins and seeds.
Sacrificial Tannins Explained, Yeast Rehydration, and Stabilizing A Fruit Port
MEMBERS ONLYThe term “sacrificial tannins” is something that gets casually tossed into the winemaking lexicon by those who have been in the trade for a while . . . but what does it really mean? Get an explanation along with tips for rehydrating dry yeast and techniques to properly stabilize a fortified wine.
Making Berry Wines
FREEAs the temperatures climb during the summer months, trees, bushes, and other perennials teeming with berries are aplenty. Get some tips on making berry wines.
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