WineMaker Magazine

10/03/2025

Adding sugar to bring up the Brix is necessary in parts of the world, especially during vintages with heavy rain. A Virginia winery did a study on the impact of adding different amounts and types of sugar, which home winemakers can take a page from when they have low-Brix grapes.

A Virginia winery did a study on the impact of adding different amounts and types of sugar to aid winemaking from low-Brix grapes.

09/29/2025

We helped harvest Marquette, La Crescent, Brianna, and Prairie Star grapes at High Rows Vineyards in Vermont this weekend. The fruit looked great! How’s harvest coming in your part of the world?

09/19/2025

There’s sometimes confusion for people getting into wine about Montepulciano the place and Montepulciano the grape. They are very different. Montepulciano the place is home to the classic Vino Nobile di Montepulciano made with 100% Sangiovese. The WineMaker Italy Wine Tour walked the steep roads of Montepulciano exploring some of the labyrinth of wine caves carved into the limestone beneath its streets and of course tasting the wines named after the town that must be grown and made in the immediate vicinity. As for the Montepulciano grape, that’s grown in central and southern Italy nowhere near the Tuscan town sharing the name. And nobody seems to really know why a grape grown so far away from Tuscany uses the famous town’s name.

09/18/2025

There’s a very unique wine in Tuscany that also gets its start during harvest: Vin Santo. The WineMaker Magazine Italy Tour had the chance to see grapes laid out on straw mats just after being picked where they will dry for several months. The resulting raisins are then pressed, with the juice sealed by wax in small barrels along with a special mother yeast for ten years to create this special dessert wine. The white Vin Santo is most often made from Trebbiano or Malvasia grapes while Sangiovese grapes are used to produce “Occhio di Pernice” translating to the eye of the partridge for its color. It was fun to see the process and taste the end results at Avignonesi Winery.

09/17/2025

The Tuscan hilltop village of Montalcino is all about one of the most famous expressions of the Sangiovese grape: Brunello di Montalcino. The vineyards surrounding Montalcino produce one of the most sought-after, and priciest, wines in the world. The Italy tour had the chance to do several barrel samples and drink through some older vintages of this 100% Sangiovese wine during a harvest winery tour at Cinelli Colombini.

09/16/2025

Always trust an Italian winery tasting room that includes a commercial-grade meat slicer! A fun harvest visit at Tenuta Sononer near Montalcino in Tuscany’s stunning Val d’Orcia with great views, great wines, great staff, (and great cheese & meats!)

09/16/2025

Will work for pasta. The group of 21 WineMaker Magazine readers on our Italian wine trip donned aprons for a cooking class at the Umbrian winery Cantina Scacciadiavoli. We created a delicious three-course lunch of panzanella salad, fresh pasta in a zucchini and mint marscapone sauce, and a tiramisu using the winery’s special passito dessert wine made with local Sagrantino grapes. Everyone did a great job and we enjoyed the end result paired with wines from our host winery Scacciadiavoli. Buon appetito!

09/15/2025

As part of the WineMaker Italy Trip, our group of 21 home winemakers went out with professional truffle hunters on their private truffle lands in Umbria. We all had fun watching the dogs find late season black truffles and learn more about how these tasty delicacies grow and are harvested with the help of these special Lagotto Romagnolo dogs.

09/14/2025

Harvest time in Tuscany during the second day of the WineMaker Magazine Italy Tour. At Fattoria di Gratena located near Arezzo, Sangiovese grapes were getting crushed and destemmed during our visit. This small winery is also the only place in the world where the rare Gratena Nero grape is grown and made into wine. It reminded us of a spicier Cabernet Sauvignon during the tasting. Winemaker Fabio Mecca was a wonderful host showing us around his family’s winery during the hustle and bustle of harvest.

09/12/2025

21 WineMaker Magazine readers kicked off day one of their Italian wine adventure diving into the heart of the Chianti wine region with in-depth tours and tastings at Castello di Volpaia and Castello di Albola. Salute!

09/05/2025

Gum arabic is a natural anti-flocculant with a list of benefits that includes helping prevent tartrate crystals from forming, smoothing out young red wines, and adding mouthfeel to thin wines. Get to know this important additive every winemaker should have on hand.

Gum arabic is a natural anti-flocculant with a list of benefits when added to wine from smoothing out young red wines to adding mouthfeel.

06/06/2025

Blending is often associated with red wines, but blending white wines can also be advantageous to create a balanced wine in certain situations or to complement grapes that need amplification in areas.

Blending white wines can create a balanced wine in certain situations or complement grapes that need amplification in areas.