For many of us, harvest is at the edge of beginning. As I am a firm believer in preparing for a successful harvest, I want to review a few tools available through dgwinemaking.com as à la carte purchases. Details for purchasing these lessons is at the bottom of this post. Creative Wine Styles for Hybrid […]
Darn Good Winemakers
The Darn Good Winemakers Membership gets an Upgrade
The Darn Good Winemakers is an educational membership program for winemakers that was designed to build winemaker confidence in their cellar decisions. This is addressed through regular education in an applied and easy-to-understand format, and by having Denise as an available resource for winemaking questions. The Darn Good Winemakers membership offers two primary benefits: Where […]
Time to Get ‘Darn Good’ at Making Wine!
“Can I cold stabilize my wines outside?” “I apply a nitrogen blanket to my wines. How long can I leave this inert gas blanket on the wine before I need to apply nitrogen again?” “Which bentonite is best for protein stability?” “I cold stabilized my wines, but after blending and bottling, tartrates formed in the […]
Do you know if your Malolactic Fermentation is Complete?
Malolactic fermentation, or MLF, a deacidification process in which malic acid is biologically converted to lactic acid and carbon dioxide (Krieger 2005). The process is “biological” because it is carried out by living lactic acid bacteria (LAB): Lactobacillus, Oenococcus, and Pediococcus (Krieger 2005, Iland et al. 2007) that are native to the grapes or through […]
Do Your Hybrid Wines Need an Upgrade?
If you’re producing wine outside of the three big western states (California, Oregon, and Washington), then it’s likely you’re making some wines based on hybrid wine grape varieties. Hybrid-based wines are quite unique compared to Vitis vinifera-based wines. They offer a varied aroma and taste profile, different wine chemistry, and some varieties may be less […]
To Inoculate? That is the Question
On August 16, 2019 (4:00 PM, EST), the Darn Good Winemakers session will meet to discuss strategies surrounding a successful native primary fermentation. In the presentation titled: Successful Native Fermentation Strategies, we’re going to learn more about Potential risks associated with native fermentations. Best strategies for maintaining a healthy native fermentation. Developing a rescue strategy […]
