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 […]
YAN
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 […]
Fermentation Nutrition Explained
One of the easiest ways to reduce incidence of hydrogen sulfide development is by making specific nitrogen adjustments during primary fermentation. As mentioned in the last blog post, poor nutrient management can also lead to stuck fermentations. Years of research has shown winemakers that a must’s starting nitrogen concentration varies from year to year. Thus […]
YAN… to the Rescue!
It’s impossible to talk about the pending harvest without talking about YAN. Every year, I run into winemakers asking me what nutrient additions to make when they do not know their starting YAN, or yeast assimilable nitrogen (aka yeast available nitrogen). Not knowing the must’s YAN concentration when treating fermentation with nutrient supplements is equivalent […]
