Winemaking Science

Article

Performing Winery Lab Tests

Take the guesswork out of winemaking by performing tests on your juice, must, and wine. We run through the most critical tests, as well as h

Article

Performing Benchtop Trials

When changes to aroma or structure are desired to achieve a more balanced, pleasing wine, you should always start with benchtop trials to di

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

Article

Understanding and Measuring Residual Sugars

Looking at Brix (or specific gravity) alone isn’t a great indicator whether a wine is microbially stable, and therefore determining if the

Article

Chitosan: For more than just fining

Chitosan is a product every home winemaker should be familiar with, and likely has around their cellar. It is used to help clarify wine, but

Article

Taming Tartness, Adding Body, & Non-Alcoholic Wine

The Wine Wiz offers her wizdom to bring a tart wine into balance, as well as ways to add body to a wine and why non-alcoholic wine productio

Wine-wizard

Can I make non-alcoholic wine?

Wine-wizard

Taming Tartness

Article

Game-Changing Innovations

A number of innovative products well-suited for the home and small-scale winemaker have come to market in recent years. Explore these option

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

Wine-wizard

Lowering pH

Article

Dubunking Consumer Myths, Yeast Impact on MLF & pH Adjustments

If you sometimes prefer your red wines served a little on the cool side or are not afraid of buying high-end wines with screw cap closures,

Wine-wizard

Lowering pH

Article

Lowering pH, add body to to country wines, degree days, & chitosan

The Wizard offers advice on when and how to lower pH. She also suggests a remedy for thin country wines, explains why degree days are only p

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

Article

Understanding and Controlling Brettanomyces

It is both a spoilage yeast and the heart of many great wines of Bordeaux. We share what you need to understand about Brettanomyces, the com

Wine-wizard

Reducing acid in wine

Article

Balancing Wine Acidity

Acid is a critical building block in a wine’s structure. Learn how to balance acidity by testing, adjusting, and most importantly, tasting

Wine-wizard

Over-Sulfiting Your Grape Must

Technique

Experimenting With Deficit Irrigation

With ongoing drought concerns in many wine-growing regions, the practice of deficit irrigation is gaining traction, not only for using less

Article

Practical Sulfite Management

The use of sulfites in wine — how much, or even if used at all — remains a contentious subject. WineMaker’s Technical Editor shares hi

Article

Sulfur Dioxide: Fact and Myth

Winemakers have a lot of misconceptions about sulfur dioxide and its use in winemaking. Though somewhat controversial, longtime wine educato

Technique

Just the pHacts

If you are a winemaker looking to boost your wine’s quality, then tracking pH is a must. Bob Peak introduces the chemistry behind the numb

Wine-wizard

Strategies for a Chaptalization Mistake

Technique

Chaptalization

Chaptalization is the act of adding sugar to juice or must in order to increase alcohol content post-fermentation. Learn the basics of this