Topic: Winemaking from Grapes

Vitis vinifera grapes are often thought to be the species used to make wine in the premier wine regions, while French-American hybrid grapes are those used in regions vinifera grapes can’t be grown. However, each species brings something unique to the bottle and it may just be that blending grapes of both species will result in just what your wines need.

Not every harvest is going to be perfect. When the grapes come in at less than ideal numbers or with other “flaws,” make sure you’re well positioned and able to make the best of an inferior harvest. Plus, learn how to identify what went wrong in the vineyard so the same mistakes aren’t repeated in future vintages.

Terroir has been a bit of an esoteric topic for a long time in winemaking. But as we come to learn more about it we are figuring out ways to use it to our advantage. Learn techniques to express terroir in your white wines.

To quote one of my vineyard colleagues who always likes to give multiple sides to every answer, “It depends” (thanks, Rich). And so it is with pectic enzymes in winemaking. Pectic enzymes

Firstly 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

The 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.

As 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

With 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.

The 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.

There 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.

There 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.

There 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.

There 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.

Buying 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.

How 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 look at processing grapes after harvest.

And 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

The 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

Many 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

One 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

There 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

Today’s proposed violation takes on one of the dominant conventions of modern white winemaking: no skin contact.

“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 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 (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