Wine Wizard
Troubleshooting A Blueberry Wine
MEMBERS ONLYAh, blueberry wine! Blueberries, huckleberries, and black currants are all favorites when it comes to home winemaking, partly because they can make dark, mouth-filling wines that can resemble the finest red wines in the world. Just like any fruit, however, they do have their own persnickety problems that need to be addressed and you’ll have
Aging Wine Temperatures
MEMBERS ONLYI read the article you reference and I agree with the advice, to a point. That it’s OK to keep wines in the bulk-aging stage (before bottling) warmer (the referenced article says 70–75 °F/21–24 °C) than wines that have been bottled (55–60 °F/13–16 °C). While I’m OK with non-barrel wines being aged 55–65 °F (13–16
Using Screw-top Bottles At Home
FREEIt’s a little tough to tell from your letter which kind of screw-top bottles you’ve got so I’m not sure if you’re talking about what I would call screw top “sample bottles”
Reducing Water Consumption In Your Winery
FREEIt generally takes about 6 gal. (23 L) of water to make one gallon (3.8 L) of wine though estimates vary from as little as 2 gallons (7.6 L) all the way
Producing Balanced, Low-Alcohol Wines
MEMBERS ONLYFunny you mention this topic because I’m currently working on a lower-alcohol project at work (at Plata Wine Partners, I often develop custom projects for clients, and this is one). The brief for me is to come up with a delicious, balanced Pinot Noir and rosé that clock in around 9% alcohol. There is some
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
Tips For Rehydrating Dry Yeast
MEMBERS ONLYPhoto by Jason Phelps Rehydrating dried yeast is a simple and straightforward process, and one that I find to be essential when using dried yeast for winemaking purposes. The simple answer to your question is no, do not use distilled water for yeast rehydration. Distilled water is not osmotically balanced, which means that it can
Sacrificial Tannins Explained
MEMBERS ONLYOak galls are one source of tannins that winemakers may consider adding at various stages, including active fermentation as sacrificial tannin. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com Tannins, or the compounds in grapes (and oak barrels) that contribute to a pleasing sensation of astringency in red (and some white) wines, are found in grape skins and seeds.
Tips For Blending Wine
MEMBERS ONLYI think that’s a pretty cool idea! How many of us are lucky enough to hang out with such an obviously collaboratively minded group of folks? And, though it may seem daunting, there’s nothing like jumping in and getting started. At the very least you’ll learn something going through the process yourself and I’m sure
Making Wine With Smoke-Effected Grapes
MEMBERS ONLYIndeed, the last few years (2017 and 2020 especially) grape growing areas in Northern California and other parts of the state including the Central Coast have experienced historically large wildfires. If grapes are exposed to smoke, winemakers should be alert to the possibility of smoke taint damage to grapes and to finished wines during and
Strategies for a Chaptalization Mistake
FREEIt sounds like you’re doing a lot of things right, especially being that your grape wine has taken off, but your plum wine is just plum tuckered out. Seems like you’ve got
Oak Barrel Aging Advice
MEMBERS ONLYHi Larry, congrats on your new piece of equipment! I’m sure you’ll find it adds to the kinds of wine you can make. Since you just filled your barrel and it’s brand new, you might want to open the bung and check the wine level now, since it’s been three weeks. Sometimes new barrels are
Learning To Taste Wine At Different Stages
FREEI apologize in advance for the lengthy response, but this is a fantastic question and I really wanted to flesh out my answer for you. You’re absolutely right to realize that tasting
Bottling Blues Leads to Kegging Thoughts
MEMBERS ONLYHey, I’ve been there . . . a couple of years ago I also entered into unknown territory. After years of bottling one of my commercial Pinot Noirs in Stelvin screwcaps, I embarked on an adventure into the land of wine kegs, or “wine-on-tap.” I kept hearing from sommeliers and restaurant staff how by-the-glass programs
The Wine Wizard’s “Pearls of Wiz-dom”
FREEThanks for your kind words! I always really enjoy the WineMaker Conferences and connecting with the readership — it helps me put names and faces to the invisible readership out there and
Campden Tablets Best Practices
MEMBERS ONLYThe great thing about Campden tablets (a convenient form of dosing in sulfur dioxide for home winemakers) is that they will inhibit the yeast and bacteria you do not want (which are sensitive to sulfur dioxide) while allowing the yeast you do want to continue to power through the fermentation. Longtime readers of my column
Getting Grape Updates During Growing Season
MEMBERS ONLYSometimes local AVA (American Viticultural Area) groups will have data available on their websites or emails available to members (the latter is the case with, for example, Napa Valley Vintners). For the most part, however, home winemakers won’t be members of these kinds of groups (they can cost thousands of dollars to join) so they
Coping With Grapes Affected By Smoke Taint
MEMBERS ONLYSome characteristics found in smoke-tainted wines are the same that can be found in toasted oak barrels. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com I’ve heard rumor that a couple of smaller wineries that have experienced smoke taint in their grapes are indeed evolving that wine into new styles. Depending on the grape type and level of impact,
Bottling Tips and Checklist
MEMBERS ONLYBottling day gets easier with equipment upgrades and practice. But whether your first or fiftieth bottle run, certain fundamentals need to always be followed. Photo by Brett Cook I totally get it! There are some great articles about bottling in the WineMaker article archives at www.winemakermag.com. Though it’s a topic my fellow authors have covered
Learn Some Wine Judge Etiquette
FREECongrats on getting invited to your first ever wine judging! I’ve been judging wine competitions, both for home and commercial winemakers, for over 15 years now and they’re always a great way
Post-Fermentation Wine Acid Adjustment
MEMBERS ONLYGreat topic and great questions. If you’ve read my columns over the years, you’re familiar with my mantra of acid being the “backbone” of wine, as well as the importance of having the correct pH for long-term aging. The higher the pH (lower acidity), the more spoilage organisms like Lactobacillus and Acetobacter can get a
Troubleshooting Malolactic Fermentation
MEMBERS ONLYWell, it’s tough to say what would make one cloudy and the other clear, except for the fact that they may not have been identical coming from your fermenters. If you did blend/homogenize after pressing, then it’s possible you’re seeing the cloudy wine (pH 3.77) going through the MLF (malolactic fermentation) a little more quickly
Finding A Vinegar Storage Space
FREEYou got a chuckle out of me. Indeed, how dare you introduce vinegar to your wines! I’m actually very happy that you’re writing so you can learn how not to introduce vinegar
Tips For Making Cantaloupe Wine
MEMBERS ONLYBecause cantaloupes have high pH, my guess is that the red speckles you’re seeing in a layer on top of your wine are bacteria colonies and no, they are not to be expected. According to a fruit pH chart I found online from Clemson University, the pH of cantaloupes usually falls in the range of
Judging Fermentation Completion
MEMBERS ONLYWhile the density of water at room temperature is 1.000 standard gravity, finished dry wine should be less dense than that. Photo courtesy of Tim Vandergrift It certainly sounds like you are getting into the dryness zone. Specific gravity is the ratio of the density of a liquid in relation to the density of water,