One of the wine faults I’ve been finding more frequently in commercial wines is the presence of oxidation. Truthfully, I find this most commonly in bottled white wines. However, a few times a year I’ve been tasked with the challenge to fix oxidized red wines that are still in tank or barrel. Thus, I thought […]
Wine Fault Series: Volatile Acidity (VA)
Volatile acidity (commonly abbreviated as “VA”) is the concentration of accumulated volatile acids, or those acids that can be separated through distillation. In wine, acetic acid is the primary volatile acid. Acetic acid is also the primary acid associated with vinegar. This is why high VA is associated with the detection and potential perception of […]
Fining Agent Refinement
In the world of winemaking, fining agents are what are known as “processing aids.” Unlike ingredients or additives, which stay in the wine after their addition, processing aids do not remain in the wine. Or, if they do, it is at such negligible concentrations that they may be unmeasurable. Nonetheless, the use of certain fining […]
Does it take 12 weeks to bottle a wine?
If you ordered “Everything You Wanted to Know about Wine Bottling,” a 3-part webinar series presented by winemaking and wine QA/QC expert, Zoran Ljepović, you may have noted that he indicates it takes at least 8 to 12 weeks to bottle a wine. How can that be?! What is “Pre-Bottling?” Pre-bottling, the set of operations […]
4 Large Reminders about Wine Bottling Operations
Wines can be ruined in just one moment: during bottling. After all of the attention in the vineyard, all of the details that go into making the wine… …we can completely ruin the quality with poor bottling practices. While this operation seems somewhat straightforward, and may often become boring, there is an incredible amount of […]
Determine Your Winemaking Goals for 2023
The end of the calendar year tends to feel quite chaotic for many winery operations. That’s why Denise Gardner Winemaking offers two end-of-year planning tools to keep your winemaking focused and in a positive direction. Both of these tools are now open to all individuals that read this blog. Don’t forget to review the harvest […]
