Online Resources

WOW! The internet is a great resource with so much information about making wine, buying wine supplies even reviewing research articles about the most current research topics!

Here are some of my favorite resources:

Classes:

UC Davis Extension Courses

Washington State University

Wine Spectator School

Making Wine:

Winemaker Magazine

www.home-winemaking.com

www.homewine.com

The Home Winemaking Page

Winemaking Home Page by Jack Keller

Homewinemaking Clubs:

Garage Enologists of North County (GENCO Winemakers of Sonoma County)

Sacramento Home Winemakers

El Dorado Home Wine Makers

Lodi Amateur Vintners Association

Los Angeles

Orange County Wine Society

VOMDES - Valley of the Moor Dilettante Enological Society

BLOGS:

Vinography - Winner of the 2008 American Wine Blog "Best Wine Blog Writing"

Chateau Petrogasm - Winner of the 2008 American Wine Blog "Best Wine Blog Graphics"

Grape Radio - Winner of the 2008 American Wine Blog "Best Podcast"

VineSugar - Ryan O'Donnell, an amateur winemaker, lover of all things vino, creates a place where people from all backgrounds can learn about wine in a manner that is easy to understand.

Dr. Vino - A spirited wine blog with independent picks for value vino, wine maps and commentary. Best Wine Blog 2007; James Beard Award nominee 2007.

Tom Wark's Fermentation Blog - Huge list of more wine blogs along lower left hand side of this page - it was his organization that came up with the awards above!

 

Magazines

So much information - so little time to review it! Use the web to keep track of current research, reviews, practical articles and so much more.

Here are some of my favorite magazines and their websites:

Practical Winery (year after year great practical articles for the grape grower and wine maker)

Wine Business Monthly (another great resource and great website with current ads for grapes, wines, job, etc.)

Vineyard and Winery Management (good columnists including Wilfred Wong and Elizabeth Slater (the longtime organizer of the Dry Creek Passport event!)

Wines and Vines (venerable producer of the Wines and Vines Directory and Buyers Guide)

Wine Spectator

Wine Enthusiast

Decanter

Wine Supplies:

VINQUIRY

Santa Rosa - Beverage People

Napa - Fermentation Supplies

Berkeley - Oak Barrel Winecraft

Woodland Hills - The Home Wine, Beer, and Cheesemaking Shop

Dublin - Hop Tech Homebrewing Supplies

Concord - More Wine!

Valley Vintner - internet only at this time

COMPETITIONS

Sonoma County Harvest Fair - deadline Aug 22nd

Sonoma-Marin Fair - May 30th

Marin County Fair - June 20th

Winemaker International Amateur Wine Making Competition

California State Fair Home Wine Competition - July 15th

San Joaquin County Fair Amateur Wine Competition - June 5th

Orange County Fair - June 13th

A selection of some of the most helpful books I have found - please click on the picture of the book to purchase on Amazon.com!

I love this book!! It covers everything from a West Coast perspective that integrates most of the newest industry techniques that ARE available to Home Winemakers too.
A great resource with lots of answers to important questions! Written by Alison Crowe. previously the anonymous "Wine Wizard" in Winemaking magazine
This 3rd edition of The Oxford Companion of Wine by Jancis Robinson weighs in at a hefty 6.2 lbs and is 840 pages long. Widely regarded as the best wine reference tome on all things wine. FIVE STARS AT AMAZON.COM!
The University Wine Course by Marian Baldy, PhD, used this text in her extremely popular wine classes. Covers the scientific reasons behind the taste of wine and pairing wine with foods in an easy to understand way.
From Vines to Wines: The Complete Guide to Growing Grapes and Making Your Own Wine by Jeff Cox is a well regarded book directed to the home winemaker that was published in 1999. Has received good reviews on Amazon.com!
Great Wine Made Simple: Straight Talk from a Master Sommelier (Hardcover) by Andrea Robinson presents this topic simply and honestly - removing the mystique associated with wins. FIVE STARS AT AMAZON.COM!
A fun place to start when beginning the home brew process - lots of easy to understand information and some fun recipes. Homebrewing is a natural addition to your homewinemaking skills AND is available all year round!
What a fun book if you are into doing any of your own growing of hops, grains and herbs for your homebrewing project. Very informative, great details, a must have!
Book Review from Tom Schmidt, our homebrewer, coming soon! FIVE STARS AT AMAZON.COM!
Book Review from Tom Schmidt, our homebrewer, coming soon!
A very well regarded tome on all aspects of meadmaking: the history, the modern revival, the process, the ingredients and recipes! Very well written covering the basics and enough for the intermediate meadmaker!