Writer: Daniel Pambianchi

Did you ever create a wine that seemed more viscous than your typical wine, or which may have exhibited heavier fruity odors, or perhaps a solvent-like smell? The culprits may well be

Mineral deficiencies or excesses can become sources of frustration for amateur winemakers because minerals, metals, and other ionic substances cannot be easily measured and their role in biochemical and chemical reactions can be quite complex. So where do these substances come from and how can they be best managed in a home winery?

If you are of the opinion that yeast selection does not matter and that the only role of yeast is to convert sugar into ethyl alcohol (ethanol), you may have been missing

As in many practices with a longstanding tradition before the scientific knowledge caught up, the field of wine and winemaking has its share of myths, misconceptions, and sheer quackery.

Oak barrels have long been used primarily for aging red wines but also to shape the style of certain white varietals, such as Chardonnay, into fuller-bodied wines. Oak wood imparts what is

Gum arabic can do so many great things for your wines, from improving mouthfeel, making a thin wine taste fuller bodied, rounding out rough edges of grape tannins, increasing persistence of bubbles in sparkling wine, prolonging the action of metatartaric acid, to treating iron-induced oxidation problems.

Ask 5 winemakers and you may get 6 opinions about co-inocculation. But what does the science say?

The early signs of oxidation are orange to brown colors developing in your wine. In white wine, the same exact wine (pictured above) can go from white (left) to brown (right) if

Bordeaux. The mere mention of the name conjures up images of centuries-old chateaus, pristine vineyards and superlative wines that have set the highest standards the world over. Bordeaux wine styles are the

If you’ve ever tasted a wine that had a funky “barnyard” quality to it, you already know what Brettanomyces can do. Find out how to prevent it in your home winery.

If you have ever encountered volatile sulfur compounds in wine, of which hydrogen sulfide is the most common, you know how repulsive the smell can be. Learn the causes and solutions.

In addition to alcoholic fermentation, the yeast used to ferment wine also metabolize other substances into byproducts. Learn more about how wine yeast works.

pH greatly affects the taste of wine as well as microbial stability. It can make the difference between drinking the wine or pouring it down the drain. Make sure you know when it should be analyzed and make the necessary adjustments.

Sometimes the acidity of your grapes, juice, or wine will need to be adjusted. Learn some of the finer details surrounding how, and when, to make those acid adjustments to your wine.

It starts with great fruit, but to make age-worthy red wine the winemaker must also consider acidity, tannins, sulfur dioxide, oxygen, cellaring conditions, and how all of these factors (and others) relate to each other.

Want to preserve the delicate aromas in your white wines? Learn these hot tips for running a cool fermentation.

Without yeast, there can be no wine. But the role of wine yeast goes well beyond alcoholic fermentation — the biochemical process of converting sugar into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. Yeast

Yeast selection is one of the most important winemaking decisions as the chosen yeast strain is, to a large extent, what shapes the wine, influences organoleptic (sensory) qualities, and reduces the risk

Soft, silky, velvety, youthful, puckery, aggressive, harsh, bitter, astringent: These are all adjectives used in winespeak to describe the many taste sensations from tannins in red wines. Learn about the science behind them

The benefits of fermenting or aging wine in toasted oak barrels are indisputable and unmatched by any other type of wood. Not only do oak compounds impart aromas and flavors as well

Q. What is the difference between good and superlative wines? A. The WOW! factor. A good wine offers everything that the varietal or style is meant to provide. While it can provide

Ah! 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

Learn about the different ways to make sparkling wine at home.

Positive effects of oxidation? How can that be? Winemakers know that oxygen negatively affects wine and they process wine with the utmost care to prevent oxidation. Two common winemaking practices that have

As an enophile, I enjoy almost every type and style of wine. However, my true love is — and always has been — big, bold, oak-aged reds, the type built for the