What Can You Ferment Wine In?

Fermentation is a magical time of transformation. A time when grapes shift from innocent juicy berries to wines with depth of soul. Wineries use fermentation vessels to ferment juice into wine. Common wine fermentation vessels include oak barrels, stainless steel, clay jars (a.k.a., talhas, tinajas, amphora, qvevri), concrete, stone (lagares), glass, and even plastic. The […]

How Does Wine Fermentation Work?

Yeast metabolize sugar in grape juice and convert it to ethanol (alcohol), heat, and carbon dioxide. When the yeast have consumed all of the sugar, you have wine! Here’s how wine fermentation works.

How to Select Wine Yeast

I’m starting to get questions about my harvest plans. This time of year is a lot like late winter for home gardeners – much anticipated glossy seed catalogs arrive in the mail and winter-weary growers start to dog-ear pages, making notes and planning plots.  Winemaking is the process of converting grape juice into alcohol using […]