Topic: Troubleshooting
Oxygen Ingression
MEMBERS ONLYDon’t worry, it’s happened to the best of us! If you can, check your pH and your VA (volatile acidity) to try to get a handle on whether or not this air
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
Bench Trials and Tribulations
FREEIn late August, 2018, I picked 350 pounds (160 kg) of Sauvignon Blanc grapes from my favorite vineyard in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California. I had made very good
Classes, Clubs, and Consultants: Getting expert help at home
MEMBERS ONLYFeedback is one of the quintessential parts of growing and learning in this hobby. There are many avenues a hobby grape grower and winemaker can take for evaluation and advice, so make sure that you’re looking in the right spots.
The Tale of the Stuck Fermentations
MEMBERS ONLYA fermentation is “stuck” when it fails to reach the desired conversion level of sugar, usually coming to a halt somewhere below 10 °Brix. It does not refer to a failure to start,
Less-Common Winemaking Pitfalls
FREEIn the June-July 2019 issue we explored some of the most common wine faults you are likely to encounter, whether during your personal winemaking journey or while tasting the wines of others,
Troubleshooting Off-Odor in a Viognier
FREEViognier can be a bit of an odd duck. Like Riesling, it can get some of those weird petrol/gas like aromas, and that’s just natural, from the grapes. Like Sauvignon Blanc, it
Benefit From Judge Feedback
FREEWhy do we subject our wines to competitions? Is it for the professional feedback? Is it for the tasting notes? Is it for the bragging rights? Regardless of your reason to enter
Knocking Down Rot On Grapes
MEMBERS ONLYThat’s a great question as we approach the harvest season. Though I don’t expect 2019 harvest to be like 2011 or 1998, many of us all over the country, from Oregon to
Pressure in the Home Vineyard: How to measure and mitigate fungal disease
MEMBERS ONLYAll photos courtesy of Shutterstock.com It is not lost on the well-informed winegrower/winemaker that fungi — ancient, single-cell organisms that have been on this planet hundreds of millions of years longer than
Softening The Wine
MEMBERS ONLYBefore I launch into my information about gum arabic and related products, do take a minute to think that gum arabic may not give you the result you’re looking for. Gum arabic
When Wines Go Bad
FREEWhether you make wine at home, commercially, or simply enjoy drinking it, it’s likely you have encountered faulted wine; maybe it was the subtle aroma of geranium leaves, an aromatically muted glass
Properly Adding Acid to a Barrel
FREEI agree with you in that acid adjustments, especially big ones, can best be made in two steps. That way you can see if you like the result as you go along.
Reconfiguring the Palate & Properly Adding Acid to a Barrel
MEMBERS ONLYThe Wizard explores the many sensations that tasters experience as a wine goes from grapes, through fermentation, and into the early stages of aging; in order to be a better judge of a wine’s character when finished. Also, a reader has a question about properly adding acid to a barrel.
Reconfiguring Your Tasting Palate
MEMBERS ONLYI apologize in advance for the lengthy response but this is a fantastic question and I really wanted to flesh out my answer for you and readers that are following along. You
Copper Sulfate Solutions: Wine Wizard
MEMBERS ONLYQ How do I get copper sulfate in accurate diluted food grade form? I would like to treat 5 gallons (19 L) of stinky fruit wine to get rid of the rotten
Prevent Volatile Acidity
MEMBERS ONLYVolatile acidity (VA) is a flaw that can ruin the aroma of a wine. Explore what exactly VA is, why it is such a problem, and techniques to avoid VA in the future.
Monitoring Your Wine: What to test for and when
MEMBERS ONLYThere are some winemakers who practice the age-old philosophy that the wine will take care of itself . . . but for those who want to produce the best wines possible, monitoring is key. Bob Peak takes readers through the what, why, and when for testing your wines.
Acetobacter Problems
MEMBERS ONLYWell, it seems like you have been paid a visit by a colony of Acetobacter, aka acetic acid bacteria. They love air, eat alcohol, and turn it into carbon dioxide and vinegar.
Cork Variability
MEMBERS ONLYYou’re absolutely right, raised corks can either be a problem (if they’re too high, or too high of a percentage from bottle-to-bottle) or it could be nothing at all. The devil is
The Sulfite Blues, Curing A Stuck Fermentation and Freezing Grapes
MEMBERS ONLYQ I have a Merlot to which I added SO2 thirteen days ago and it smelled ok. but last night I pulled a sample and it had a bruised apple smell and
Sluggish Fermentation Woes
MEMBERS ONLYHmmm, it sounds like you’ve got a little bit of sugar left there. I would start, however, with a quick check of your numbers to be sure. A °Brix of -1.0 (0.995
Over-Sulfited Wine
FREEOh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Sounds like you have a lot of sulfur dioxide in that wine! Assuming standard FSO2 for bottled wine being around 25 ppm, am I correct in
Stuck Fermentations
MEMBERS ONLYBefore you start going crazy with a fermentation restart protocol, are you sure that it is really stuck? The first thing that I would advise you to do is to taste and
White Film In My Wine Barrel
MEMBERS ONLYIt sounds like you are doing the right thing. This is probably an aerophilic “flor” type yeast that is eating alcohol, and in the presence of air (if it was slightly untopped)