Tasting and Racking Wines at Home

I’ve been putting off the racking of my wines at home. However since today was another cold day in Maryland, I thought I might as well taste the wines and rack them. The first was a gallon of Zinfandel from the Russian River Valley. Five weeks ago I placed a two-inch oak [...]

In the Carboy at Home

While the Cabs are aging in barrels I am experimenting with a carboy of Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon at home. For an oak alternative, I decided to experiment with oak infusion spirals. I bought French heavy toasted and French light toasted spirals. One heavy toasted oak spiral was added to the carboy. [...]

This doesn’t look good

It is now a fact that I’ve learned more of “what not to do,” than what to do after making my first two batches of wine from kits. When checking the bottles in my wine cellar I came across one of my dessert Riesling bottles that had mold growing on it. It [...]