Winemaking

Winemaking explains how grapes become wine — from harvest decisions through bottling — written by a CIVC-certified winemaker who’s worked the process. Learn what choices producers make at each stage and how each one shapes the bottle you eventually open. Crush methods, native versus inoculated fermentation, malolactic conversion, oak aging (French versus American, new versus neutral), lees stirring, fining, filtration, and the tirage and dosage steps unique to méthode champenoise. Understand why one Pinot Noir tastes like cherry pie and another like forest floor — the answer is almost always in the cellar, not the vineyard. Practical breakdowns of natural wine, biodynamic farming, sulfite use, and the marketing terms (“hand-crafted,” “small batch”) that mean less than buyers think. For drinkers who want to know what’s actually happening in the bottle.