June 2015 – Winemaker's Academy

June 26, 2015June 27, 2018

A Tale of 3 Pinot Noirs – WMA034

[ Podcast not currently available. Podcast content has been lost. We are attempting to recover them. If you have any of this content saved please contact the site administrator using the Contact Us form on this site. ]

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between the variously priced wine kits? Each kit manufacturer has different lines of kits that each have a different price tags on them according to the quality of the juice in the kit. However, what’s the real difference in taste?

Three Pinot Noirs from a kit. — Dennis & Cathy’s 3 Pinot Noirs

Introductory kits can sell for as little as $70 while the more expensive kits go for $200 or more. Are the expensive kits really three times better than the introductory kits? In this episode of the Winemaker’s Academy podcast my guests and I set out to answer this question. Continue reading “A Tale of 3 Pinot Noirs – WMA034”

June 18, 2015June 27, 2018

Thirty-Eight Wine Kits and Counting – WMA033

About two and a half years ago Winemaker’s Academy members Dennis and Cathy decided to give winemaking a try. They started with one kit but their new hobby soon blossomed into thirty-eight wine kits!

Dennis and I decided to get the three of us on the phone and talk about how they got into winemaking and what lessons they’ve learned along the way. So grab a glass of wine and listen in as Dennis and Cathy share their experience diving into making wine head first.

If you’d like to connect with Dennis you can find him in our Facebook Group

June 10, 2015June 25, 2018

Racking Wine For Clarity

Clearing a wine in preparation for bottling can be tricky. There are many different clarifiers on the market and each have their own strengths and weaknesses. An alternative to using clarifiers is to rack your wine strategically over time to help clear the wine. But how are you supposed to know when to rack your wine?

racking-for-clarity Recently I discovered a recommended racking schedule while reading From Vines to Wines by Jeff Cox and expanded upon it to give you a complete schedule from start to finish. This schedule assumes that you are not using a fining agent to clarify your wine. Continue reading “Racking Wine For Clarity”

June 4, 2015June 27, 2018

Bulk Aging, Corks, and Specific Gravity – WMA032

In this Question and Answer podcast episode Matt addresses the following questions:

Is it okay to leave red muscadine wine in the carboy for several months under the protection of airlock?
Do you do anything with your corks before bottling?
My kit wine specific gravity is supposed to be between 1.090 and 1.110, but my hydrometer reads 1.070. What’s the reason for this?