Date: Oct-Nov 2016
Adjust Your Must
MEMBERS ONLYThere are many points throughout the winemaking process where a winemaker must make adjustments
in order to influence the final outcome. When the grapes come into the winery, the very first choices you will make as a winemaker will be done in the unfermented must.
Red Wine Sediment and What To Consider When Selecting A Yeast
MEMBERS ONLYWhat you’re experiencing is the precipitation over time of all sorts of complex tannins and colored compounds.
Restart Stuck Fermentations
MEMBERS ONLYAll home winemakers wish — and strive — for fermentations that go smoothly and completely to the desired finish, usually dry wine. When things go wrong, a frequent problem is a stuck or sluggish fermentation. In his classic Knowing and Making Wine, Emile Peynaud refers to these conditions as “fermentation stoppage” and calls that a
Irrigating the Home Vineyard
MEMBERS ONLYExplore the three most common methods of irrigating a home vineyard, some of the more common myths surrounding watering grapevines, and if you need to even irrigate in the first place.
Lessons from Somms Who Make Wines
MEMBERS ONLYThese three world-class sommeliers have taken the leap from designing restaurant wine programs and recommending bottles to growing grapes and making award-winning vintages of their own.
A Year in the Life of a Wine: Part I Starting in the vineyard
MEMBERS ONLYIn the first installment of our new year-long series of how a homemade wine is made from homegrown grapes, we check in with the grapes at a most critical time — harvest.
Red Wine Sediment
MEMBERS ONLYI applaud you for your patience in aging your bottled wines that long! Would you be surprised to know that in the US most bottles of wine are consumed within 72 hours of purchase? Well, perhaps they just don’t have the love and appreciation for a finely-aged wine that you do. I would also add
Making Port-Style Wine: Tips from the Pros
MEMBERS ONLYPort is a fortified wine made in Portugal, but many North American winemakers are making their own versions. Use their advice to try your own Port-style wine! Winemaker: Matt Meyer, Meyer Family Cellars, Yorkville, California For Port wines we are big fans of Syrah and have had good results with it, but I find the
Choosing Your First Wine Kit
FREELooking to buy your first wine kit? Here’s what you need to know before you start shopping.
Wine, Women, & Support
MEMBERS ONLYThere are some new faces emerging on the Connecticut winemaking scene. These are the faces of young, enthusiastic, and innovative females who are part of the next generation of Connecticut winemaking culture. The Women Winemakers of Connecticut was created by Christina Musto (Musto Wine Grape Company, LLC.) and Amanda Brackett (Southern Connecticut Wine Company) over
Aligoté
MEMBERS ONLYI am writing this on an airplane on my way to Burgundy, the crossroads of France known for its great Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines. But did you know that Burgundy has a lighter side? This is a little known variety that folklore says was proclaimed into obscurity by a King because he just happened
What To Consider When Selecting A Yeast
FREEAh that is a wonderful and complex question. When a winemaker chooses to inoculate for fermentation (which I generally recommend) there are many factors to take into account when making that choice.