Some changes require big investment. But many wine quality improvements come with little adjustments to daily cellar practices. These are three places in the cellar that I consider fundamental to developing quality wine. Without these fundamentals, getting stuck in winemaking routines becomes the norm. Old habits die hard, as they say, and without persistence to […]
Harvest
Yeast Strain Selection vs. Yeast Nutrition
As a consulting winemaker, I have made the general observation that winemakers tend to take a lot of time in selecting yeast strains to ferment grapes. Many spend significant time deciding if the marketing terms related to wine descriptors they expect to arise by the end of primary fermentation are what they desire in their […]
Four Virtual Winemaking Lessons You’ll Want Before Harvest!
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 […]
COVID-19 Mitigation: Harvest Preparation
As COVID-19 continues to affect many regions across the U.S., winery operations may want to tackle planning for extra precautions to minimize the infection and spread of the virus within the production space. As we discussed previously, planning before infection becomes imminent is advantageous to employers. Harvest operations have the primary advantage of typically taking […]
COVID-19 Mitigation: Start Harvest Preparation Early
For most of my clients, I encourage them to get into a harvest mindset in July. Clients in southern parts of the U.S. often must start thinking about harvest in April and May. But with the advent of COVID-19 causing disruptions to our daily lives and business operations, I would encourage wineries to start planning, […]
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 […]
