Opening the Qvevri – not what I Expected

On Sunday we opened the qvevri. I sealed the top of the qvevri last October 31st. The wine had been in the qvevri for 5 ½ months. I expected to see the clear wine at the top while the lees, seeds and skins in layers at the bottom. This is not what happened.

Cloudy […]

Post Modern Winemaking Forum

On the second day of the Craft Beverages Unlimited trade show and conference, Kathy and I attended the afternoon forum on Post Modern Winemaking. The format of this session was different than sessions we attended in previous Wineries Unlimited shows. The room was arranged in a semi-circle of tables, with eight glasses at each setting. […]

Mentoring Beginning Winemakers

My wife, Kathy, gave me a wine kit as a Christmas present in 2007. We have been writing about wineries for a year and made the decision that if we were going to write about wine, we should make wine. The kit remained in the box for six months until I gained the courage to […]

2015 Winemaking Resolutions

I neglected making yearly resolutions last year, so I wanted to make them before I forget to do so this year. My first resolution is to learn to make grappa. It’s not that I like grappa that much, although I had some good grappa in Italy and some good chacha in Georgia. It is the […]

Reflections of Winemaking During 2014

I usually end the year reflecting on my New Year’s resolutions. However, we were so busy finishing our third book last New Year’s that I forgot to make winemaking resolutions for 2014. That didn’t stop us though. Kathy and I completed our seventh year of making wine. We started in 2008 when we determined that […]

Qvevri Wine now Having a Long Winter’s Nap

The Muscat grapes and juice have fermented. My last specific gravity reading was 0.996. There are some grape skins still huddled around the top of the qvevri. Since our weather was turning sharply cooler, I decided to seal and cover the qvevri for the winter. Using a solution of potassium metabisulphite sprayed onto a paper […]

Update on Qvevri Wine

Regardless of air temperatures falling to 37ºF (3ºC) the must and juice in the qvevri are happily fermenting. My original specific gravity reading on Saturday was 1.110. As of yesterday, the SG was 1.046. Put in terms of potential alcohol, when I started the fermentation there was a 15% alcohol potential. Now that is down […]

2014 Bordeaux Blend at Tin Lizzie Wineworks

We filled the press with the must.

Our enthusiasm over making our first qvevri wine in the United States obscures the other wines that we are making with this years fruit. For the third time we are making wine at Tin Lizzie Wineworks in Clarksville, Maryland. We bottled the 2012 Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon […]

Winemaking in a Buried Qvevri

Sometimes plans do not work out. I had planned to purchase Viognier and make a Viognier wine in my qvevri. However, travel from mid-August through mid-October ruled that out. We were not home for stretched long enough to acquire grapes and ferment them in the qvevri. It is always a good idea to have a […]

The Burial of our Qvevri, the Birth of a Marani

I have been digging a hole for awhile. I had to place the qvevri in it several times to judge how much deeper to dig. Finally it was time to bury the qvevri. I placed the qvevri in the hole and tried to make it level. I slowly added soil, mostly clay-based around the bottom. […]