Varietal: Misc. Wine Styles
The Charmat Process to Sparkling Wine
MEMBERS ONLYMany homebrewers of beer are unknowingly very familiar with the Charmat method to carbonate wine. If you are unfamiliar with this easy, albeit more equipment-heavy, process to produce bubbly wines, Bob Peak explains the technique.
Stabilizing A Fruit Port
MEMBERS ONLYWell, in the olden days of fortified winemaking, potassium sorbate (a potassium salt of sorbic acid) wasn’t even a thing. While sorbic acid does occur naturally in some plants (rowan berries and hippophae berries, to be exact), almost all of the world’s potassium sorbate is made in a laboratory. In addition to potassium sorbate being
Intoxicating Stuff: Crafting ice wine and ice cider
MEMBERS ONLYCommercial producers of ice wines and ice ciders are highly regulated in their production, but hobby wine and cidermakers don’t need to abide by those rules. Learn some creative ways to produce these coveted, sweet sippers.
Fruit Port From Puree
MEMBERS ONLYDessert wine paired with a sweet pie, savory cheese, or fine cigar is one of the best ways to finish off an excellent meal. Home winemakers have a variety of dessert wine styles to choose from when venturing down this path, ranging from low-alcohol sweet options such as Muscat wines, to naturally enriched icewines to
Grape Profiles
MEMBERS ONLYThe world of wine grapes is expansive and continues to grow. Here are a select few profiles of lesser-known wine grape varieties.
Dessert Wines
MEMBERS ONLYPerfect for after-dinner treats, dessert wines are some of the most complex wines in the world. Get tips for making your own icewine, Sherry-style, and Port-style wines at home.
Sparkling Wines: Tips From the Pros
FREEThis Valentine’s Day, wouldn’t it be great to break open a bottle of your own homemade bubbly? Learn from two winemakers producing highly acclaimed sparkling wines about the nuances of making them at home.
Fortify It! Adding Spirits To Your Wine
MEMBERS ONLYYour first fortified wine can be a little intimidating. What method are you going to utilize? Sweet or dry? What type of spirits are you going to use? Then again, maybe you’re not like me and already have a game plan in place for your fortification process. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore other means
Mulled Wines: That Warm Fuzzy Feeling
FREEAs autumn rolls into winter, the average person’s appetite for a chilled white wine, ice-cold beer or slushy blender drink wanes. A hearty red wine with deep fruit and nice tannins can
Making Sherry-Style Wines
MEMBERS ONLYSherry is the fortified wine from Jerez, Spain, made in soleras and conditioned with flor yeast.
Rosé Wine Kits
MEMBERS ONLYIn a recent study commissioned in the UK, researchers studied the sociological data of people who expressed a preference for either red or white wine. In addition to mundane facts (red wine drinkers have a slightly higher rate of college degrees, white wine drinkers are content stay-at-homes) a couple of very interesting things emerged: fans
15 Wine Kits to Try
MEMBERS ONLYMost home winemakers have limits on their winemaking space, equipment, cellar capacity or the ability of their liver to keep up. If you are one of those who has to pick and choose, this article could be a sort of personal bucket list, especially if like a lot of folks you’ve found a “house” wine
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 no crime in getting better and better at making one wine or one style, there is much to be learned — and much
Sparkling Techniques
MEMBERS ONLYThere is nothing as refreshing and enjoyable as a chilled bottle of mousseux (foamy), or fine bubbly. No longer are sparkling wines simply uncorked to celebrate a new year or a kid’s college graduation. Consumers are finally discovering this exquisite style of wine with global consumption that is now growing at twice the rate of
Making Sparkling Wine: Tips from the Pros
MEMBERS ONLYThese three pros offer up tips to make your own sparkling wine at home. Steve DiFrancesco is the Winemaker for Glenora Wine Cellars in Dundee, New York. If you’re going for a classic elegance in your sparkling wine you want very delicate flavors from the grapes because the effervescence is going to elevate the aromatics;
Making Fortified Wine
MEMBERS ONLYThe word “fortified” is prohibited on commercial wine labels in the United States. Yet we are surrounded by a fascinating array of fortified wines when we visit a good wine shop. Fortified wines are simply those to which distilled spirits have been added to raise the final alcohol level. Some sweet dessert wines, like late
Making Late Harvest Wines: Tips from the Pros
MEMBERS ONLYLate harvest wines are made using grapes affected by the mold Botrytis, which dehydrates the grapes. We’ve pooled advice from three pros with numerous accolades for their dessert wines to help you make an award-winning late harvest wine at home. Joe Hudon is entering his 5th harvest as the Winemaker at Claar Cellars, an estate
Rosé Techniques Roundtable
MEMBERS ONLYAsking a winemaker if they make rosé should be like asking a winemaker if they drink beer. The two beverages, pink wine and a tasty lager, belong in any cellar and in any winemaker’s glass. Why? Quite simply, rosé (and beer) is easy to make, quick to bottle, quick to market (or mouth) and delicious
Making Port-Style Wine: Tips from the Pros
MEMBERS ONLYPort is a fortified wine made in Portugal, but many North American winemakers are making their own versions. Use their advice to try your own Port-style wine! Winemaker: Matt Meyer, Meyer Family Cellars, Yorkville, California For Port wines we are big fans of Syrah and have had good results with it, but I find the
Making Rosé Wine: Tips from the Pros
MEMBERS ONLYFor too long, rosé remained cast under the shadow of overly sweet and one-dimensional White Zinfandels. But the surge of popularity in North America has removed the myth that rosé wines are similar in character to the mass-produced White Zins. Learn how to craft your own rosé, whether starting from fresh grapes or from juice,
Enjoying Dessert Wine Kits
MEMBERS ONLYDrinking Port To my palate, Port is toothsome — it somehow seems to satisfy and delight all on its own. Back when I smoked a pipe (and nothing looks dopier than someone under the age of 40 smoking a pipe, let me tell you) I thought it was the perfect accompaniment. Not that I’m recommending
I am new to homemade winemaking and I want to begin making Port-style wines.
FREEWelcome to the wonderful world of fortified winemaking! Making Port-style dessert wines is really fun. One of the side benefits of making these types of wines is that fortified wines are typically
Sparkling Wine From Kits
MEMBERS ONLYAhh, glorious Champagne: our companion at celebrations and important events, it christens our ships, welcomes our New Year, and gently helps the caviar and oysters along the path to culinary nirvana. Sparkling wine has no peer, and you can make it at home if you’ve got a little adventure in your soul and a DIY
Force-Carbonating Wine to Sparkle: Counter pressure bottle method
FREEAh! There’s nothing like a nice bottle of chilled bubbly to sip as an aperitif while preparing dinner, or for those of you who already cannot wait for summer, to sip on
Making Icewine: Tips from the Pros
FREEKarl Kaiser is co-founder of Inniskillin Wines of Niagara, Ontario. He was born in Austria and attended a monastery school where winemaking and viticulture was a tradition. He later received his B.S.