How sparkling wine is made explains much more than the bubbles. A fresh, floral wine and a savoury, biscuit-scented one may both fizz enthusiastic
Continue ReadingWine Maturation and Finishing Explained: Oak, Lees, Blending, Stabilization, and Ageing
A wine can finish alcoholic fermentation and still be a long way from the bottle. It may need time, a different vessel, a carefully chosen blend o
Continue ReadingSweet Winemaking Explained: Noble Rot, Dried Grapes, Frozen Grapes, and Fermentation
A sweet wine can begin with a shrivelled berry, a frozen bunch or perfectly ordinary grape juice. The crucial question is what happens to the suga
Continue ReadingRed Winemaking Explained: Extraction, Fermentation, and Maceration
A red ferment contains both liquid and the grape solids that can change its character. The winemaker has to decide how much to extract, when to ex
Continue ReadingWhite and Rosé Winemaking Explained: From Harvest to Bottle
A black grape can yield pale juice, and a very ripe grape can produce dry wine. Those two facts explain why white and rosé winemaking needs more
Continue ReadingSparkling Wine Explained: Champagne, Prosecco, Cava, and Asti
A sparkling wine's bubbles tell you that gas has been kept in the wine. They don't tell you whether it should taste of fresh pear, fragrant gr
Continue ReadingHow Winemaking Changes Wine: Fermentation, Oak, and Ageing
Put the same grapes into two wineries and you needn't get the same wine. One producer might chase fresh citrus and a light texture; another mi
Continue ReadingHow Wine Is Made: Fermentation, Red, White, and Rosé Wines
The colour of a grape doesn't have to be the colour of its juice. That is the first useful surprise in understanding wine production. The second i
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