technique

Posts

• Technique

  Managing Acidity Through MLF

  Professional winemaker Chik Brenneman shares how malolactic fermentation (MLF) impacts wines, when it may be necessary, and why winemakers s

• Technique

  Turbidity

  Clarity, or turbidity, is a key aspect of wine evaluation. Let’s revisit the fundamentals of wine clarity and examine how incorporating tu

• Technique

  Racking Wine

  Racking — the action of transferring wine off the lees to another vessel — is an important technique that is required to produce clear f

• Technique

  Fine Wine in Less Time

  When you want a finished wine quicker, there are techniques and products to help speed along the process of wine from grapes without sacrifi

• Technique

  Chaptalization — How Far Can You Go?

  Adding sugar to bring up the Brix is necessary in parts of the world, especially during vintages with heavy rain. A Virginia winery did a st

• Technique

  Skin-Contact White Wines

  Orange wine is made by treating white grapes in a similar manner to red wine production, with fermentation conducted on the skins. Even if o

• Technique

  MLF: Tips from the Pros

  Two pro winemakers share their approach to conducting malolactic fermentation — one prefers to begin it a couple days after primary fermen

• Technique

  Using Gum Arabic

  Gum arabic is a natural anti-flocculant with a list of benefits that includes helping prevent tartrate crystals from forming, smoothing out

• Technique

  Chemistry of Must Correction

  Clark Smith offers ways to extract the most from your grapes by digging into the chemistry of must correction — including methods to boost

• Technique

  Pectic Enzymes

  Pectic enzymes are often used in fruit and other high-pectin wines to aid in clarity, but also serve as a useful tool post-crush to aid in j

• Technique

  Vegan Winemaking Products

  Manufacturers have recently released many plant-based or microbial-sourced products. Learn about these products, even if vegan isn’t your pr

• Technique

  It’s All Fine and Good

  There are many different types of fining agents available to home winemakers that fall into these four groupings: Mineral, polysaccharide, s

• Technique

  Making Age-Worthy Wines

  Making a wine that benefits from long-term cellaring — be it red or white — requires high-quality grapes and a meticulous focus on the d

• Technique

  Mid-Winter Check-In

  Harvest and the heavy lifting of crushing and fermenting your 2024 vintage are in the rearview mirror at this point. That doesn’t mean the

• Technique

  Fermentation on the Mind

  While the yeast technically does all the work, a winemaker has a lot of influence in the success of their fermentations. Understanding best

• Technique

  Backsweetening

  Backsweetening is most often done to add sweetness to a wine, but it can also help take the edge off a harsh vintage and is used in making t

• Technique

  Using Dry Ice

  Dry ice has numerous applications for the home winemaker who needs to chill their must or juice without watering it down. Learn more about t

• Technique

  Get the Most From Harvest Numbers

  While taste should drive many decisions, the numbers can’t be ignored. Chik Brenneman shares the ideal statistics he looks for at harvest

• Technique

  Special Purpose Wine Yeasts

  Sometimes we want a wine yeast that will strictly ferment a wine dry in the conditions available to it, but other instances require special

• Technique

  Bottling Basics

  Familiarize yourself with the critical steps and equipment required to bottle your wine.

• Technique

  Whole Cluster Fermentation

  Whole cluster fermentation — fermenting grapes without crushing and destemming them first — is a technique that has been around for ages

• Technique

  Barrel Fermentations

  Barrel aging typically begins after alcoholic fermentation is complete, however, you don’t have to wait until your wine is dry to start ge

• Technique

  Boost Your Wines With Raisins

  Raisins can be used to add body, flavor, sugar, and complexity to grape wines. They can add a wine-like character to fruit wines. And they c

• Technique

  Whole Cluster Fermentation Tips

  Two pros share why they prefer whole cluster fermentations for certain varieties, the impact it has, and considerations home winemakers shou

• Technique

  Expressing Terroir in Red Wine

  Over the last decade or so, the word “terroir” has become the buzz word not just among wine lovers, but the greater agricultural world.