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I'm about to be back into winemaking and I'm so excited! I had to give up the hobby when I moved to NYC two years ago...small apartments and wine making just don't mix. But in a few weeks I'll be moving down to Atlanta and will be back in the swing of things. So of course I sign back in here...

I'm looking for some suggestions for what to make shortly in my 3 gallon carboy. So far I've done: Mead: it was so so...not sure what might've gone wrong WE Cab Franc Ice Wine La Bodega Port (about to bottle) So I'm looking for some suggestions for what to do next. I'm not too crazy...

I just bought my Portugese floor corker and am trying to use it for the first time but the spring loaded base doesn't actually bounce back? It takes me pushing down with my foot just to move it and then it won't come back. I've tried spraying WD-40 per an instruction I saw online but that's not...

I was just browsing FVW's website when I noticed they updated the Cellar Craft area to be "Vineco / Cellar Craft". Sure enough, they also added two new kit lines - Atmosphere (16L) and Niagara Mist. Just thought I'd mention it in case people haven't seen it. Always fun to have MORE options to...

Anyone ever tried oaking a chenin blanc? Been doing a little research and there are some wineries that will lightly oak theirs. I went with the assumption of a light toast oak and bought an American light toast oak Winestix. It'll be my first time using one (only used cubes/chips before) and...

After my first attempts at fresh juice wine a couple years ago didn't produce what I wanted, I stopped and focused on kits. But this year I'm going to try them again. So...I ordered a bucket of South African chenin blanc from Harford Winery this year. I'm hoping to make a rich white wine out of...

This might be sacrilege but I'm wondering if it's ever been done. I've searched a bit and haven't found anything on it. Has anyone ever used a white wine base with a red wine grape to macerate and essentially make a rose wine? From what I've seen, rose is either macerated/free run red grape...

I just received an MM La Bodega port kit. Opened the box and there's a small amount of sticky, sugary residue inside. The f-pack bag had some liquid on it as well. When I looked closer, there's a small puncture in the foil bag and when i squeeze it some liquid comes out. Very slowly, but it...

Bigger kit size and skins are both recommended on the forum but I'm curious when you can only choose one, which would you choose? For example, WE Selection California Cabernet is 15L without skins or for about the same price there is the WE WV Australian Cabernet that is 10L with skins. Has...

Patience got the best of me. I bottled my Chilean sauvignon blanc back in November. It was 6 months old with a solid 4 months in the carboy just aging. Now I'm kicking myself because it's still throwing off some sediment in the bottle. Here's the struggle and where I hope someone with more...

Ok so I posted this over in gotmead and didn't get much response. Plus I'm not sure how much those guys use additives to really be able to answer my questions. I'm going to start my first batch of mead this coming weekend. Recipe as follows: 3 gallon batch 9 lbs orange blossom honey Water...

I'm curious what you all think about this. My Chilean Carmenere/Cab Sauv blend has been in the carboy a bit and taking a taste, the SO thinks it's a bit one-noted. Here's what I have so far: 6 gallons carmenere juice 1 lug (18 lbs) cab sauv grapes ICV-GRE yeast I crushed the grapes by...

So I know plenty of people around here advocate adding grapes to a red juice bucket and cofermenting for added tannins/dimension from the skin contact. But what would happen if you fermented the bucket separately from the grapes and blended after fermentation? From a lug of grapes you could get...

So I'm in a bit of a different situation but thought I'd ask for advice. I've decided to be done with recycling bottles. It's just more hassle than it's worth to me especially after spending months making a wine. My dilemma is in my labels though. I buy new bottles each time but the Avery labels...

So..this post is just to vent a little because you all are the only ones that can relate. Sunday, I broke my good hydrometer. Sucks..but not terrible. I have a little beer hydrometer to use in the meantime and ordered a new one with fast shipping. New one came today and wouldn't you know it I go...

Has anyone had this happen where the finished wine smells yeasty out of the bottle? I made a bucket of viognier last fall. Bottled it after about 6 months and now just cracked open a bottle to taste test vs. a commercial wine. My wine has a yeasty smell to it. The flavor is fine but the smell...

I'll be picking up a bucket of sauv blanc next weekend and was considering doing this: reserve about half a gallon of juice, freeze it, and use it to back sweeten later once the wine is finished. I estimate it'd take a 0.994 wine up to about 1.00 which sounds perfect for a white (for me anyway)...

Back in January I used Homewinery's Riesling concentrate along with some QA23 yeast. It's been a couple months now and it has an odd smell/taste. It doesn't smell off as in bad, just a weird flavor/aroma. The best way I could describe it is minerally but it's certainly not something I've ever...

Well I'm moving to a new house and am curious for some recommendations on how best to move my wine. Currently I have a 5 gallon full carboy that's ready to bottle, a 5 gallon carboy that should probably be reracked off the lees but is only a month old, and a 3/1 gallon batch that is also only a...

Well I finally got around to buying a pH meter and decided to test my ready-to-bottle Viognier because it's pretty tart tasting. The only problem - the pH is at 2.77 and should be up to at least 3.1. I tested it a couple times and it was the same. The TA is 0.68% and I'm happy with that but know...