Bob Peak

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Live Chat with Bob Peak

Live Chat with Bob Peak, which took place on January 22, 2020.

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Upping Your Kit Game: Making the most of your wine kit

Right out of the gate, winemakers are instructed to “follow the directions” when it comes to kit wines. But once you get comfortable wit

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Classes, Clubs, and Consultants: Getting expert help at home

Feedback is one of the quintessential parts of growing and learning in this hobby. There are many avenues a hobby grape grower and winemaker

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Ciao Vino! Home winemaking in Italy

Home winemaking in Italy traces its roots back to the pre-Roman Empire. While North American home winemaking roughly parallels how the Itali

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Visualize Sensory Evaluation: Utilizing spider charts to compare wines

Winemakers new and experienced will often compare different wines and make mental notes about the experience. For those that want to improve

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Off The Beaten Path: Spice, herb, and vegetable winemaking

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Finishing For Whites and Rosés

The time period leading up to bottling day is the time winemakers need to take advantage of last minute adjustments and additions. Bob Peak

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Chat With Bob Peak

Live Chat with Bob Peak, which took place on January 16, 2019.

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Monitoring Your Wine: What to test for and when

There are some winemakers who practice the age-old philosophy that the wine will take care of itself . . . but for those who want to produce

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Aperitifs

When you make your own aperitif wines at home — such as sweet and dry vermouth — you can then make your own cocktails with them. Learn t

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Thinking Outside the Bottle: Presenting Your Homemade Wine

With the holiday season approaching, presenting your homemade wine to friends and family should be a point of pride. Bob Peak offers readers

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Using Tannins: Purposes, sources, and use in winemaking

Tannins can provide a wine with a lot more than just astringency. They can also be useful in white and rosé wines as well if used properly.

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Determining Ripeness

Determining when grapes are ready to harvest is one of the most important decisions of the entire vintage. Here’s what to look for.

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Making Wine From Juice

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Unconventional Additives

There are lots of possibilities for adding extracts, flavorings, herbs, and spice when you are making wine at home. We explore a variety of

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Controlling Fermentation Temperature

Many hobby winemakers believe that fermentation temperature control is beyond their reach — but this isn’t so! Discover how to keep temp

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Adjust Your Must

There are many points throughout the winemaking process where a winemaker must make adjustments in order to influence the final outcome. W

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Crushing Grapes

Supposedly there are many ways to skin a cat, but we’re not familiar with any of them. Luckily for winemakers, Bob Peak knows many ways to

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Proper Equipment Storage

When done using your winemaking equipment, make sure it is properly cleaned and stored so it will be ready to use next harvest season.

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Fermentation and Aging Containers

Fermentation and aging vessels winemakers have to decide between include oak, glass, plastic, and stainless steel. Each has its own pros and

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Fermenter Options for any Size Home Winery

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Tannin Chemistry in Wine

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Red Wine Color Stability

Keep the color in your reds by learning about color stability and how to achieve it.

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15 Facts About Wine Yeast

Yeast is an amazing organism. Here are 15 facts on WineMaker’s 15th anniversary that you may not know about yeast.

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Winemaking by the Numbers

Here each stage of wine production will be addressed from four aspects: inputs, numbers, problems, and solutions.