Winemaking During the Enlightenment

As discussed in the April 1, 2018 post, during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the Catholic Church was largely responsible for both the widespread planting of vineyards and the passing on of knowledge regarding winemaking. While the Church greatly advanced the number and variety of grapes available for winemaking, its adherence to traditions of …

How wine is made: the basics

Many of you are probably pondering a fundamental question related to this blog: how is wine made?  In these posts, you will realize that my winemaking is not—and never will be—mistake free. My personal opinion is that winemakers of all levels of expertise have their “knyuck-knyuck” Three-Stooges winemaking moments. I am no exception. Winemaking, as …

Bottling my 2016 Zinfandel

In the summer of 2016 I hosted a luncheon in our backyard gazebo with Carl Cocita of Collinwood Grape Company in Cleveland, along with some of my fellow members of the Wisconsin Vintners Association. The result was that we decided to order from Carl two tons of Zinfandel grapes from the Amador region in California …

Winemaking During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

As previously discussed in the September 22, 2014 post on ancient wines, our ancestors who lived more than 2,000 years ago believed that the gods actually lived in the grapes they harvested and the wines they drank. Drinking wine allowed them to transcend their normal lives and commune with these gods. Yet, as the influence of …

“Wine/Gin” Making in the Sudan

In Sudan, there is an illegal alcohol business afoot and plenty of expats are fully aware, if  not even fully gracious for it (this guy knows what I'm be talking about, it seems). Araqi (also called Sharboot) is a date-gin, date-brandy or date-wine (depending on who you ask) that is produced in Sudan, primarily by …

Bottling My 2015 Oregon Pinot Noir

After 18 months in an oak barrel it is time to bottle this Pinot Noir made from grapes from the Yamhill-Carlton AVA west of Dundee, Oregon, which is a subregion of the Willamette Valley. These are Pinot Noir clones, Pommard and 115, that fellow WVA member Adam Rabe trucked back to Wisconsin after working in …

The Hidden Wine Wonder of Switzerland

On April 15, 2017 at 4:34 AM, my cell phone buzzed, signaling a text message. Ever since Lillian began working overseas I have made a habit out of placing my phone on my nightstand, just in case there is an emergency call late at night. Lillian now works in Switzerland, which is undoubtedly as safe …

Some Needed Repairs of my Grapevine Pergola and Cupola

After 25 years there are needed repairs of our Franzoi Vineyard Pergola. This area was once our two daughters' swing set; as they grew older I transformed it into a grapevine pergola. However, my daughters still wanted their swings to be part of the pergola and I also added in a "Viewing Deck" that they …

What is Hyperdecanting?

For those wine lovers who aerate their wine before drinking it, have you heard about hyperdecanting? Former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer and master chef Nathan Myhrvold suggests a method he calls hyperdecanting. Sounds fancy, high-tech, and probably requires the purchase of some device that costs a couple grand, right? Well, if you’ve got an electric …

Hey! There’s Wine in My Beer!

If you think that many of your fellow home winemakers are ingenious in making wine from pretty much anything they can get their hands on, well, perhaps you need to become acquainted with some home brewers who are making beer from wine (sort of). There are most likely many forms of the story I am …