Wine Quality Consultants "In 1977 Flora and Jerry Komes went looking for a retirement home in the Napa Valley. They were looking for a place where they could sit on the porch and watch grapes grow."
Oenodev are leaders in the field of practical research and they should be commended. This article tracks the relationship between perceived and actual acetaldehyde concentrations during micro-oxygenation.
A commercial yeast that conducts malolactic fermentation is soon coming to a wine supply store near you. Prof. van Vuuren and his team has genetically engineered a wine yeast that might be commercial in the next three years and which is already considered "Generally regarded as Safe "(GRAS) by the FDA.
Researchers at the University of California Berkeley are currently using this former military technology to determine soil water content. This helps to determine which soils are suited to which cultivars.
A new formulation reduced the amount of pesticide needed to control botrytis to half and up to a quarter the normal volume.
To new types of closure that is a hybrid between a cork and a screwcap is causing a sensation.
There is an amazing resemblance between the art of chocolate making and wine.
"In chocolate as in wine you can find different flavors depending on the soil in which the cocoa beans were grown, how much rain they received and the fermentation process.''
Old grape varieties that where grown form pips found in excavations in Pompeii are being revived and cleaned of viruses at UC Davis.
This futuristic winery derives all their electricity needs for the winery processes from thirty solar panels.
"Karen Ross, president of the California Association of Wine Grape Growers, said more wineries are discovering the economic benefits -- tax incentives, rebates and reimbursement for surplus energy -- of environmentally friendly vineyards and alternative energy."
A winery in Israel has found a novel way to make botrytised wine in a region where making this style of wine is challenging.
A counter current extractor is being tested in Australia that promises much bigger wine recovery from grapes, skins and pips.
"With these alternative processes, we can take in grapes, have no liquid effluent, no solid effluent, and recover the by-products," Zemanek said.
By drying drops of wine on a slide and looking at it under a microscope, Sondra Barrett says she can identify the variety and stage of a wine.
Bruce Zoecklein looks at the merits of short vatting.
Riedel has developed the perfect blind tasting glass. A jet-black, opaque glass that does not show the colour of the wine.
Who would ever have guessed that the English would have beaten the French at this invention. Apparently a guy called Christopher Merret documented the process thirty years before their neighbours across the channel.
A drug developed by the KGB to keep their agents sober is being sold as an anti-hangover cure over the internet.
Scientists have found that a late night drink might make you fall asleep sooner, but it diminishes the quality of sleep.
"Macerating red wines is like steeping tea. If you have very good tea you can steep it longer and get more intense flavors. Poor quality tea gets bitter quickly and steeping it longer just makes it worse."
This article gives great insight into the workings of a membrane press.
Catherine Peyrot des Gachons wrote a very good paper on the various aroma compounds in Sauvignon blanc. Several papers are available in PDF format on this page.
Interventionist winemaking is becoming more common and there is one hero that is leading the pack and making a stand. We take our hat off to Clarke Smith.
Dominique Delteil explains the complexities of SO2 use before fermentation.
An electronic tongue that can identify sour and salty tastes is able to distinguish red wine from white for now. The tongue uses six sensors coupled to a neural network.
A pressure group is urging the government in the UK to ban bottles on planes for fear they could be used as terrorist weapons.
"We tried to match the song with the process - for instance we played the upbeat Old Devil Moon during the crushing of the grapes, but chose the more sombre I Can't Get Started during the pressing," said winemaker Andrew Kahn.
Amuse yourself by going to this site and generating a random silly tasting note. There is an Extra-Silly option as well.
"In 1993, with the support of investors, Smerling lived up to his word and established Renwood Winery, named after his wife Irene's nickname "Reni" and symbolized on the labels with a lithographed image of a small species of bird, the wren."
The exact working of ascorbic acid in wine is not yet understood. Reasons for and against must be further explored.
If you ever wanted to start your own winery you will find this guide indispensable.
A very good overall article that demonstrates the basics of the problem and ways to control the bugger.
And another article showing the good side of Mr Hyde.
An exclusive tour of genetically modified grapes will be hosted in a secret location in America. The location will not be known to the media and is sponsored by the US Department of Agriculture.
The Monarch is tightening her belt favouring sparkling wine above vintage champagne at larger palace parties.
This American magazine, which is always published late, has interesting articles such as "The Solutions to All of Life's Problems - Using Alcohol to Overcome Life's Many Obstacles". The magazine keeps faith with the wisdom that Hitler was almost teetotal.
"August Sebastiani hired a helicopter to hover over the cabernet vineyard next to the tasting room, in hopes of keeping mold from forming and removing just enough moisture from the mud to allow the picking crews to do their job. If nothing else, he got a lot of press from that chopper's presence at the winery."
That ground braking article by David Wollan et. al. is finally on the web.
Marne Coggan looks at techniques that can be used to clearly visualise wine components to form a better picture of the wine. Amazing stuff.
AWRI has an excellent page on the steps involved in identifying that obscure something or other that should not be in the wine. Even isinglass, gelatine and casein can sometimes slip through.
This is a good general article discussing the different machines and their use in the wine laboratory.
A competition sponsored by Hardys produced a self-cooling bottle with a build in TV screen.
The secret is terroir yes, but there are a few similarities between the great estates.
After serious wine thefts at major French wineries security personal were hired.
"The winter wreaks havoc on the province's vines. To protect them, growers bury the vines each fall. Then when spring comes, they dig the vines up again, a huge job when you have 55,000 to unearth."
AWRI proved in recently published data that TCA in low levels could suppress the fruit character in a wine. This is highly significant as it drives the tolerable TCA threshold lower than simple corked taste would.
Marne Coggan looks at the various methods of testing the water content in a vineyard.
Don King is living his vineyard from his laptop with constant updates from wireless sensors in the vineyard.
If you ever think of planting a vineyard this checklist by John Runting and Robyn Wood will be indispensable.
An archaeology team has uncovered the keys to the mysterious worship of the wine god Dionysus in Bulgaria.
An unauthorised analysis of Wine Spectator scores shows some interesting correlations.
The grape biofuel cell was created by Adam Heller and colleagues and could potentially power microchips and sensors in a vineyard.
"Brass plates carrying owners’ names dot barrelheads in the 242-barrel cellar. Members of Glenora’s Cooper’s Guild pay $650 for a membership that entitles them to a total of six cases of wine worth $800, discounts and the barrel after three years. "
This is a good all-round article describing many of the considerations needed when filtering a wine.
This table is great to have as a reference when you want to know how much an acid addition will affect a wine's analysis. Malic, Citric, sulphuric, tartaric acid as well as mixtures are shown.
Dr Johan Bruwer from The University of Adelaide wrote an insightful article regarding marketing to Generation X at the cellar door.
Mark Kelly and Gary Baldwin show how to handle these nasty enzymes that can ruin wine.
Randall Grahm of California's Bonny Doon winery has succeeded in marrying wine with terroir by putting rocks in wine similar to adding wood chips to wine.
Southcorp has introduced a red wine clinic where consumers can have their Penfolds red wines that are at least 15 years old assessed and, if necessary, topped up and re-corked.
A new system that will be used on some Italian wine will allow consumers to track a wine by it's ID number on a website. This will then give information on the vineyard where the grapes were harvested, the place and time it was bottled and a detailed chemical analysis.
Vines where planted and wines were made exactly as it was done 2000 years ago. Now 1715 bottles will be up for auction.
"Pavan attributes the results to a new system they've installed, a ganimede system that uses the trapped carbon dioxide generated by fermentation to keep the cap moist. There are no moving parts, no punch down, no roto-fermenter. "
It is always a problem to look after empty barrels. This article from Raptor Ridge gives good advice.
In this article the use and making of composted materials are described.
"To test your taste buds, you need some blue food colouring, a piece of paper with a 7mm-wide hole punched through it, and a magnifying glass."
Dr. Marais wrote a very interesting article in a recent issue of Wineland magazine praising the possibility of RO to increase the quality of Sauvignon blanc.
Reservatol that is commonly found in grapes has been shown to be a very good pesticide.
This article also chronicles wine descriptors from gender orientated and class conscious to fruit/vegetables, urban and industrial.
A new biofuel cell that utilises enzymes and is recharged with alcohol could replace batteries in future.
Danii Monogue will feature in advertising for a new alcoholic drink that is said to have aphrodisiac qualities. People will be able to get their Roxxoff soon.
"In 1959, from these "Lower Vineyard" vines the new owners made 10 gallons of "estate" Cabernet. "
New techniques in the vineyard and winery are helping produce wines with softer tannins.
In some wineries the accuracy pH measurement is often taken for granted.
Dominique Delteil describes thirteen key points during fermentation.
It was shown that the major influence of pectolytic enzyme on Shiraz grapes where the increase in yield and to a lesser extent the colour.
A red variety by the name of Abundance was recently launched.
A sorting machine that might revolutionise the sorting of especially machine-harvested fruit is being developed in Bordeaux.
A new voluntary certification will be introduced in Napa valley, which will certify that all the wine in the bottle was grown and bottled in the Napa Valley.
"In 1985, after thirty years of ownership success in the aerospace and plumbing industries, Bob decided to focus his energies on producing top quality wines."
This article by Vineyard and Winery Management explains myths and misconceptions about ozone use in the winery.
There are quite a few things that can be done to make your wood needs less expensive.
MO will never stop its intrigue. Kumeu river winemaker, Nigil Tibbits, shares his experience.
"The wine itself is the sexy bit, sure. But make no mistake: the label is the foreplay."
Ontario is holding back a million litres of wine it considers tainted by the aftertaste of the bug.
The One Tonne Fine & Rare Auction will be held in Auckland where producers will be able to sell future lots extending to 75 cases or 900 bottles.
Automatic cameras where set up in several vineyards to determine the damage caused by wildlife. Only seven percent of the turkeys caught on camera where eating grapes. It was found that ground squirrels and raccoons where the biggest culprits.
"We punch down the cap rather than pump the wine over it to extract color and flavor during fermentation. We do it every two to four hours, around the clock, for the entire fermentation period. That's a lot of work, but we're convinced it's the best way to get the color and flavor balance we want."
In this article it is shown what can be accomplished with automation in the winery.
A great article showing all the stages of flavour and colour development in the grape during ripening.
Professor Monika Christmann clears up some of the untested ideas about gentle handling.
Grapeseek takes a look at the fundamentals of organic grape growing. There is also a surprising amount of information that can be utilised by the conventional grape grower.
Consumers place a large deal of emphases on magazine scores, but how do they come up with the numbers?
A Nabraska winery was recently built over a creek.
A six-litre bottle of 1998 Penfolds Grange fetched the highest price ever paid for an Australian wine at a recent auction.
Arunothai Sriaran was recently crowned "Miss drunk" in a competition promoting Thai wines.
"Dry Creek now contains 272 acres, a small amount of the 9000 total acres in the Valley, but a huge increase from the two acres in 1977. “Dry Creek Valley wineries aren’t market driven, but experimenters,” notes Wann. “Syrah started small but it has gained passionate advocates.”"
A South African company has now started taking infrared photographs of vineyards to determine stress levels and differences in vineyards. This technique has been used in other countries with great success.
Dominique Delteil shines as always with this wonderfully practical approach to tasting fruit to determine optimum ripeness.
The effect of mulches containing grape marc on soil has been studied in New Zealand. The big question was the effect of the potassium on wine quality.
Vineyard & Winery magazine takes a look at the trend towards heavier bottles.
The famous musician has turned his hand to something just as artful as his music.
More wineries are springing up in suburbs. The idea is that the source of grapes is more important than where it is made.
Cult wines are an unstoppable phenomenon, which challenge the normal rules on every corner.
Dr. Myles Bader, author of the 21st Century Reference Guide, says you can get rid of cockroaches by luring them with wine.
