The Vine Mealybug
By: Gerald Dlubala Winemakers face multiple challenges daily. One of the biggest and most important challenges is managing and keeping pest damage within their vineyards to a minimum. Battling pest infestations can be daunting because just as pests can be in the soil, they also can feed on every part ...
Meet Three Innovators Leading the Wine Closure Revolution
By: Alyssa L. Ochs Wine closures are an often overlooked but crucial aspect of winemaking because they preserve wine's taste, quality, and aging. The type of cork, screw cap, or capsule you choose for your bottles can impact oxidation, freshness, and contamination risks. Meanwhile, wine closures can also appeal to ...
Filtration options & overview
By: Thomas J. Payette, Winemaking Consultant Filtration can be a critical aspect of fine wine making. Many winemakers work hard getting their wines opulently clear, but do they understand what is happening and what the choices of filtration are? The Webster definition of “filter” is “A device containing a porous ...
Freezing Grapes as a Pre-Fermentative Technique
By: Aude Watrelot, PhD – Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition, Iowa State University Temperature plays a critical role in winemaking, influencing everything from fruit cleanliness to fermentation smoothness and wine stability. Proper temperature management helps reduce microbial spoilage risks, extract phenolic compounds, and preserve aroma and color, all ...
The Growth of Chardonnay in Willamette Valley
By: Becky Garrison The Oregon Chardonnay Celebration, held this year on February 22, 2025, was founded as an industry event designed to share best practices and insights on how to best elevate Oregon chardonnay and change the narrative that Oregon can't grow chardonnay. Today, the event is a consumer-focused wine ...
The Roots of Texas Wine: Soil Quality for Healthier Grapes
By: Lorenzo Rossi and Michael G. Cook - Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service It is an exciting time for Texas wine, as the bustling industry is producing reds full of character, crisp and clean whites, and uniquely complex blends that are gaining international recognition. With its diverse 1,300 soil series, ...
The Overlooked Audience
Crafting Content for the Trade Buyer, Not Just the Tasting Room Visitor By: Jake Ahles | Morel Creative When most wineries think about marketing, they picture the tasting room. The sunlight hitting a glass of Chardonnay just right, the quiet hum of conversation over charcuterie boards, and the swirl of ...
Vineyard Insurance: When Should I Open a Claim?
By: Trevor Troyer - Agricultural Risk Management When to open up a claim on your grape crop insurance is important. A lot of growers say that don’t know if they have a payable loss early in the season. With grape crop insurance you are covering an average of your production ...
Argentine Grape Growing Regions
Summary of Recent Visit to San Juan Province By: Judit Monis, Ph.D. This year I was invited to evaluate vineyard disease issues in different grape growing regions in the province of San Juan under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture. The program included the inspection of many producing vineyards ...
Exploring the PNW Wineries’ Ongoing Commitment to Sustainability Practices
By: Becky Garrison, Staff Writer The Pacific Northwest wine community's ethos to care for the land and community can be traced back to the pioneering settlers who traveled to the Oregon Territory and began planting grapes in the 1840s. In recent years, a growing number of these wineries have obtained ...
