Winemaking Helps Break the Language Barrier

On our recent trip to Croatia for the International Wine Tourism Conference we visited ten wineries. At the wineries we visited, we spoke with someone that could speak English. Most of the time it was the winemaker. On a few visits, the winemaker was a little apprehensive about their ability to speak English. I noticed […]

First Book: A Wine Journey Sent to Publisher

As we keep an eye on Atlas Peek weather and anticipate the Cabernet Sauvignon harvest, we have an important first about to happen. Yesterday we sent our first book off to our publisher. A Wine Journey accounts our experiences with wine learning, winemaking and wine travel. The four chapters about winemaking includes early attempts at […]

Companion Website Launches

We just started making wine in 2008. Since then we have made eight different wines, six at home and one at a Virginia winery and another at a Maryland teaching winery. The reason we started making wine was the realization that since we were writing about wine, we should make it. This reasoning was probably […]

How Do You Know if Your Wine Is Good?

We have been opening some of the bottles that we bottled in August after spending 20 months in French oak. How do we know if the wine is good? Taste is obvious, but are there other external factors that may indicate that you have a winner or plonk?

I took several cases to my brother […]

Wine Room Survives Rare East Coast Earthquake

I finished construction of my new wine room two weeks ago. Just a few pieces of trim are still needed to completely finish. I remember going way overboard when installing the wine racks. I shook them vigorously to see if I could move them. If I could, additional screws were used to anchor them to […]

Removing Wine Bottle Labels

I’ve noticed while interviewing hundreds of winemakers that as a whole they are rather positive about their wine and life in general. So I decided to see if I could channel some positive thoughts about the weather we have been having in Central Maryland. Last week heat indexes rose beyond 110º F. Can anything be […]

What Makes a Great Wine?

On January 20th at 5:30 pm, forty Howard County bloggers and blog readers will meet at the Second Chance Saloon in Columbia, MD. Hocoblogs.com sponsors the gathering. Hocoblogs.com has a list of many blogs originating in Howard County. The event is co-hosted by 53 Beers on Tap and Computer Blues.

Since this blog is dedicated […]

2011 Winemaking Resolutions

After looking at successes and failures of the 2010 resolutions it is now time to be more realistic about the 2011 winemaking resolutions. After some thought, here is what Kathy and I would like to accomplish during the year.

1. Learn to clarify, filter and sweeten the Muscat wine prior to bottling.

2. Bottle the […]

Do You Fertilize Vinefera Grapes?

Just as winemakers shake their heads when the affect of government on wine is discusses, so to do vineyard growers. I had the opportunity to talk to Ron Barrett, winegrower and winemaker at Kinkead Ridge Estate Winery in Ripley, Ohio. Ron mentioned that the state isn’t helpful when they make suggestions that winegrowers need to […]

Drink Local Wine Conference Session Axes Cabernet Sauvignon

This year’s Drink Local Wine Conference was held in Lansdowne, Virginia. One of the surprises came in a session that discussed the grapes that grow well in Virginia. The three winemakers on the panel all axed Cabernet Sauvignon. It wasn’t due to the fact that Cabernet Sauvignon can grow in Virginia. It was due to […]