Topic: Equipment-and-Gear

What could vacuums have to do with wine kits? While there have been times when a wet/dry vacuum would have been very helpful in my wine cellar, there is a specific benefit

A Word From the Publisher And the Wine Wizard is……. “When will my fermentation stop?” “Why did my fermentation stop?” One thing I can count on as publisher of WineMaker magazine is

Ah, the timeless pairing of American oak and Zinfandel. It’s a taste combination that’s got more than 100 years of history in U.S. winemaking and if the number of Zin labels that

Dear Wine Wizard, I am a novice home winemaker and have been contemplating making the move from carboy and bottle-aging to barrel-aging some of my reds. It is my understanding that a

Congrats on embarking on the ever-fascinating and (just as often) maddening adventure of using oak in home winemaking! You’ve discovered what many of your predecessors already have — that it is sometimes

Dear Wine Wizard, Could I make wine in an aquarium or would the glue cause a problem? Dean Mehrkens Thief River Falls, Minnesota Wine Wizard replies: “This is the dawning of the

I firmly believe that — much like Sauternes and foie gras, Port and blue cheese — oak chips and cheese cloth were always destined for each other. Many winemakers, from purveyors of

In the old days of winemaking, equipment came in many shapes and sizes. An old pickle crock here, a discarded water jug there and maybe some whiskey barrels that fell off the

If you are like most home winemakers, you’ve been making great wines from concentrate and juice, and you also may have experimented with small batches of grapes. Now you want to increase

Do 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

Variable-volume fermenters have a floating-lid that transforms these tanks into variable-capacity containers for fermentation as well as short- and long-term wine storage. Learn how to get the most of one in your home winery.

Dear Wine Wizard, I made homebrewed beer for a long time, but during the last couple of years I have gravitated more towards making wine and mead. I know that it’s safe

Winemaking is not a science but rather an art. There are many opinions on the pros and cons of the various processes that winemakers use. The subject of filtration is one such area of great debate that has polarized enologists, wine sellers and wine enthusiasts alike. Some advocate the practice of filtration, others believe that fining is sufficient, while many traditionalists simply let nature take its course.

One of the most enduring — and evocative — images in the winemaking world is that of the barrel room. Virtually every commercial vintner has one, and it’s among the “must sees”

I have three remonstrative but kindly meant words for you: don’t go there. Though I’m known among my friends and associates as an antiquities enthusiast, when it comes to winemaking, I have

Charred, toasted, fired … it’s all pretty much the same. In the wine industry, as well as the distilled beverage industry, heat-treated wooden barrels and kegs are used as storage vessels in

Winemaker John Fletcher of Hillside Estate Winery in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada offers his thoughts on adding oak to your wine: Oaking Hillside Wines Many of the Hillside Estate