Hi Matt, are you seeing the tearing during baking, or is the dough tearing when you go to shape it? If the tearing is happening during baking, this, along with the less open crumb structure, may be due to the drier conditions that generally accompany winter baking. It may be helpful to up the hydration of your dough a bit, since your flour isn't absorbing as much moisture from the air as it will when it's warmer and more humid. Alternatively, if your dough is tearing during shaping, this can be a sign of over-fermentation, which could be a result of too warm of a rising environment. Lately I've been a little cautious about recommending that bakers use their oven with the light on as a proof box, since sometimes this method can generate more heat than is ideal. If your oven is staying in the 75-80F range, that's perfect, but if it creeps up to 90-110F, then this could be causing issues with over-fermentation and subsequent dough deterioration. I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes. 

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