Topic: Winemaking from Grapes
Go Big at Home
MEMBERS ONLYFirstly let me define what I mean by “big batch” for this discussion. Let’s say a big batch is anything larger than a 6-gallon (23-L) carboy of wine. Many home winemakers begin
Benefit from a Cold Soak: Tips from the Pros
MEMBERS ONLYThe benefits of cold soaking are debated among winemakers, but those who subscribe to the technique of keeping (usually red) grapes cool for a few days prior to fermentation swear by it.
Purchasing Grapes
FREEAs harvest kicks into full swing it is important for winemakers to know the right questions to ask and things to look for when purchasing grapes for this year’s fermentations. Get that
Extraction Decisions: Keying into the details of maceration
MEMBERS ONLYWith harvest just around the corner, it’s time to study up on your extraction plan for this year’s grapes. Alex Russan looks at some of the key decisions that winemakers need to make after the grapes are crushed and methods to get them to their goal.
Let’s Get Macerating
FREEThe concept of maceration is a rather simple one: Take crushed grapes (or fruit) and allow the grapes — skins, seeds, and stems — a period to soak with the grape juice.
Italian Techniques for Bubbles
MEMBERS ONLYThere are many ways to make sparkling or spritzy wines. An Italian winemaker offers tips for two methods used in regions of Italy — Governo and metodo
ancestrale — and how home winemakers everywhere can use them at home.
One Grape, Many Styles
FREEThere are many reasons that 10 wines made from the same grape may taste completely different, and often it is because the winemaker planned for them to. Learn about how the location a grape is grown, as well as the decisions a winemaker must make, impact the outcome of a wine.
Red Hybrid Winemaking
MEMBERS ONLYThere are some intricacies when making red table wines from hybrid grapes that vinifera winemakers don’t experience — from growing practices, pre-fermentation techniques, and right on through to post-fermentation adjustments.
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.
Your First Lug of Grapes
FREEBuying your first lug of grapes can be intimidating, but it does not need to be. Get some pointers before committing to your first box of grapes.
A Walk Alongside Ripeness
MEMBERS ONLYHow ripe your grapes are when picked is one of the most important factors in determining what your wine will taste like. Here is a closer look at how a grape’s development affects the resulting wine.
A Year in a the Life of a Wine: Part II (Grape Processing)
MEMBERS ONLYA look at processing grapes after harvest.
Using South American Grapes for a Second Winemaking Season
MEMBERS ONLYAnd you thought there was only one time each year to make wine from fresh grapes; in the autumn season. But, surprise, there is another whole world south of the Equator. As
Making Wines with Finesse
MEMBERS ONLYThe mantra for the quest for making a big blockbuster type of wine is “more is better” — more sugar in the grapes, more alcohol in the wine, more extraction, more color
Using Winemaking Enzymes
MEMBERS ONLYMany winemakers shun the use of additives, including enzymes, to respect the wine’s “naturalness.” But juice is laden with natural enzymes, and once inoculated with yeast, fermenting wine is under the control
15 Wine Styles You Need to Make
MEMBERS ONLYOne of the things that makes wine irresistible is the endless variety: every grape, every region, every vintage, every bottle tastes a little different from the last. And so while there is
Winemaking by the Numbers
FREEThere are lots of ways to help winemakers learn or refine their craft. Most of those involve lists of equipment and supplies, along with step-by-step or time-based instructions for what to do
White Wine Skin Contact
FREEToday’s proposed violation takes on one of the dominant conventions of modern white winemaking: no skin contact.
Maceration Tips and Techniques
MEMBERS ONLY“Maceration,” says the Concise Oxford Dictionary, is to “soften by soaking.” In red winemaking it is so much more! Indeed, maceration may be viewed as the very essence of what distinguishes the
Blending Fruit and Grape Wines
MEMBERS ONLY“Blending is a natural procedure, honest, necessary, and in accordance with historical events.” With that quote, eminent wine authority Emile Peynaud gives us permission to play with our wines. While he was
Whole Cluster Pressing: Tips from the Pros
MEMBERS ONLYWhole cluster pressing (foregoing the step of crushing and destemming the grapes) is most often done to make high-end white wines. The technique creates a more delicate and less astringent wine by
Importing Juice vs. Fresh Grapes
MEMBERS ONLYWell, it seems to me that Chile to New Jersey is an awfully long haul. I often, in my blog and in this column, advocate that the distance from vineyard to crushpad
Sourcing Grapes
FREEWant to make wine from fresh grapes but not sure how to go about getting them? Here’s an introduction about sourcing grapes.
Sourcing Grapes from Vineyards for Home Winemakers
MEMBERS ONLYSourcing fresh grapes directly from a grower can be a fun and rewarding experience for home winemakers. Get some tips for making the most of buying grapes straight from the vineyard.
Creating a Balanced Must
FREEThere are three elements that are critical to have balanced in a must: pH/TA, structure and sugar. Each of these elements has a direct influence on the quality of the finished wine
