Yeast, the converters, create the wine we all enjoy. These single-celled fungi feast upon sugars, and release CO2 and alcohol in exchange. Without yeast, we would drink super-sweet grape juice from our beloved Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines. However, thanks to yeast, we instead relish the complex, intoxicating aromas and flavors of wine.

How do you store your wine? On your kitchen counter? Hanging from a rack in your dining room window? This detail matters more than most realize. Let’s ensure your wine tastes its best when you pull every cork.

Why have and do humans consume wine with such reverie and adoration? Why should we continue?

For millennia, wine has captivated the minds and palates of many who have drunk from its cup. Historically, most wine drinkers enjoyed wine despite flaws, such as over-oxidation (wine transitioning to vinegar). Today, we can be thankful that when we put our noses in a glass we will delight in the aromas, as well as the taste.

Harvest 2015 is coming to a close, and over a week remains in September. Coming on the heels of the memorable 2014 vintage, this is historic, once again.

Vintners make incremental and crucial decisions in the cellar. These choices determine the style and quality of the finished wine, ultimately leaving the winemaker’s thumbprint on the wine. Determing the desired degree of extraction from the skins and seeds (and sometimes stems) is one of these significant stylistic decisions. What is extraction? It is the removal of color, phenolics, anthocyanins, and tannins from the skins and seeds.