Winemaking Classes

We schedule educational classes at our Isle House facility throughout the year to help our friends and customers to make the best wines possible. From classes for the beginner, to those focusing on advanced techniques, you will find something to guide you through the process of making wine.

Our programs generally start in the late fall or early winter, once we are past our harvest season.

 

Current Winemaking Class Schedule

---

Past Winemaking Class Offerings

Classes we have offered in the past include:

Winemaking 101- Beginners: Designed for beginning winemakers or those wondering about starting to make wine. Covers the winemaking process, equipment, sanitation, basic chemicals, critical tests and terminology.

Winemaking 201- Intermediate: Designed to follow Winemaking 101 – Basics Class. Covers acid testing, sugar testing, pH testing, sulfite administration and testing and stabilizing. We will demonstrate pH testing, sulfite testing and Accuvin Quick tests. Labs will be hands on- acid testing and sugar testing for primary fermentation and residual sugar before bottling using a Syringe type acid testing kit (yours to keep), hydrometer and sugar testing tablets. We will also cover sugar and acid adjustments and highlight sulfur addition.

Winemaking 301- Advanced: Designed to follow Winemaking 201 – Intermediate Class. We will expand on the pH testing vs. acid testing relationship, and the effect on sulfite additions to protect your wine. We will also discuss ‘Why choose the right yeast’, ‘The Time and Place for Malo-Lactic fermentation’ (Second fermentation), ‘What are Tannins’ and ‘Fini ng and Filtering Your Wines’. We will demonstrate the effect of acid levels, sugar addition, sulfite levels, and tannins for balance of your wine. The Lab will be hands on testing for free sulfites using Titrets.

Balancing and Blending Native Wine Varieties: learn about the art of balancing and blending native variety wines to result in a new "flavor."

Chilean Workshop: Discover the professional tips and techniques that will help you turn your Chilean Juice Pails into a superior wine. 

 

Classes will be posted here as they are scheduled, but please sign up for our e-newsletter for immediate notification of future classes, or contact us to let us know you are interested in a class.

Until more classes are scheduled, we invite you to visit Winemaking 101 to learn more about winemaking from the resources we currently have available.