r/winemaking

Hi all,

I'm just about to start my first batch of fruit wine, for the first ferment I have a 30L plastic bucket and a long plastic spoon for pushing down the fruit cap.

I'm pretty much ready to go but I'm wondering how I am going to sterilise the spoon every day, I usually use Milton tablets for sterilising equipment and bottles but that requires submersion for 15 mins.

Does anyone have any tips or hacks for sterilising the spoon? I don't have any vessel big enough I can submerge it in, some some of spray or wipe maybe?

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for honest advice from people who know the wine industry.

My background is in wine and spirits: National Diploma in Oenology from Bordeaux, chemistry, Wine & Spirits Management at KEDGE Business School and BSA, plus experience in highly reputed wineries.

Due to a recent medical change, I need to adapt my career path and move away from cellar work, production, long hours standing, heavy travel, and very operational field roles. This is not because I lack motivation — quite the opposite. I am highly motivated and want to continue building a serious career in wine and spirits, but in a role that is more compatible with my physical limits.

I would like to use my technical wine knowledge, business mindset, and passion for the sector in a more adapted role.

For people working in the industry: which roles would you realistically target with this background? Any companies, platforms, or skills I should focus on?

I’m based in Europe and open to international, remote, or hybrid roles.

I do not like EC-1118 and all the recipes I've looked at so far use it. What other yeast could I use? I'm only using Dragonfruit, no other fruit.

I have the following in my fridge (though I can buy something else):

Lalvin 71-B

Lalvin QA-23

Lalvin Bourgovin RC-212

Lalvin K1-V1116

Red Star Premier Blanc

Red Star Premier Rouge

Mangrove Jack M05

Thanks

Just wondering who uses InnoVint software out there... any rants or raves? I work for a ~3000 case winery and over the years have just tracked all my winemaking data (volumes, losses, production, additions) through various excel spreadsheets I've made. I feel it is probably good enough for our size and seeing as I'm the only one that enters the data. I'm rather adverse to subscriptions but also curious as to how effective such software is.

Hey guys! I have two meads here that have been in secondary for a few months now. I have an upcoming trip on Thursday and have suddenly been asked to bring a couple of bottles to try. Both taste delicious, but are still pretty darn cloudy (more or less no visibility through the mead). It's my first go at making mead so I'd love some help!

Would it be a bad idea to either add bentonite or sparkolloid now given that I only have 24-ish hours to rack and bottle? Is there any downside to having a cloudy mead other than aesthetics? I'm not looking to win any awards but also not looking to give anyone stomach problems lol. I have racked off the mead from lemon peels/flavorings after this pic was taken. I also stuck it in the fridge in hopes I can get a bit to settle off. Any tips are appreciated! I'm just trying to make this as good as I can considering the time crunch.

https://preview.redd.it/3zykxwuuujah1.jpg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=88787d96bd6cb2081d3ad4e78b71f37f1df4361a

Last week I wrote about how Climate Change is impacting the global wine industry. This week I wanted to drill in a bit more on a specific style: champagne/sparkling and the impact the heat is causing now. This is part one of three.

What Heat Does to Acidity

Hello! I've got a couple batches of red wine from the 2025 harvest that have been fermented, racked, stabilized with potassium sorbate (no sulfites) and bottled. Problem is, I had never heard of malolactic fermentation until recently, since most of my experience is in mead making.

Is it too late to add ML bacteria? Would it be a waste of time to unbottle everything, throw it back in the carboys and inoculate with ML bacteria?

Thanks for the help!

Figured you guys might enjoy this article I wrote on what whole bunch and stem inclusion contributes to a wine.

First, I mostly do all grain beer, and have CO2 available. For wine I use wine kits. Mostly from Costco. Folk tell me I make good wine, but TBH I don't drink it much.

I, being ill prepared, got everything ready to bottle, or so I thought. Cleaned and sanitized the bucket, bottles and equipment, transferred cleared wine from the carboy to my favorite bottling bucket...

I then realized I cannot for the life of me find my bottling wand.

My question, if i purge the headspace in the bucket with CO2 then seal the lid and airlock it, will it hold over for a couple of days till a new bottling wand arrives from Amazon? Being a kit wine it does have a stabilizer in it, but I'd appreciate a second opinion.

If the style matters, it's a Pinot Grigio.