Inside Winemaking – the art and science of growing grapes and crafting wine

Join the conversation with viticulturist Fritz Westover and discover the alchemy of grape growing in climates that challenge even the most seasoned growers. From the humble Pennsylvania plant lover to an acclaimed viticulturist, Fritz unpacks his storied journey and the problems faced by vineyards far from Napa Valley.

Learn how Fritz helps vineyards weave through the complexities like market saturation and extreme weather while also considering how variety selection can make or break the success of a vintage. Our discourse is a blend of wisdom and practical tips — like combatting hail with side netting — that can determine a vintage’s fate. 

The Virtual Viticulture Academy stands as a testament to Fritz's dedication to supporting the viticulture community, providing a shared space for knowledge, guidance, and camaraderie among grape growers across the globe. Listen in and let your passion for the art and science of winemaking flourish with the insights and stories shared in our discussion.

Episode Sponsor:

This podcast is sponsored by Innovint: https://www.innovint.us/  

Has your winery turned into a complete Excel sheet show? 

Say hello to InnoVint – it’s winemaking software to get you off of spreadsheets and into the modern era. InnoVint was founded and built by winemakers, so they know where your pain points are. 

No matter the size of your winery, InnoVint provides you with instant access to your production records in the format you need to make quick, informed decisions. Basically, they take the tedious data management stuff off your plate. 

With a desktop and mobile platform, the insights you need are just a few clicks away (even if you’re offline!). Make the right calls at the right time. InnoVint is an approachable solution focused on exactly what winemaking teams need. 

Automate your TTB compliance. Know the true cost of each wine. Improve your cellar workflow and be more effective than ever before! 

Join the 4,500 winery professionals saving up to 30 hours per week. Schedule a call today on InnoVint.us, and don’t forget to mention the Inside Winemaking Podcast.

Innovint has a special deal for Inside Winemaking listeners, and they are offering to provide lunch when you complete a demo of their software with a team member and mention the podcast.

Resources from this Episode

• Westover Vineyard Advising - https://www.vineyardadvising.com/
• Vineyard Underground Podcast - https://www.vineyardundergroundpodcast.com/
• Virtual Viticulture Academy - https://www.virtualviticultureacademy.com/

Follow and Review:

We’d love for you to follow us if you haven’t yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We’d love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com. Let them know we sent you.

In this episode, Pavle Milic takes us through a journey of his life, passions, and entrepreneurial spirit. Starting with his roots in Colombia and transition to the hospitality scene in New York, Milic has carved out a unique niche in the culinary and wine world in Arizona. The discussion navigates through the landscapes of Colombia and the burgeoning wine industry of Arizona, underscoring the importance of location, experimentation, and tasting room design.

Delving deeper into the realms of viticulture, Pavle paints an evocative picture of Arizona as an emerging wine country. With personal anecdotes and extensive knowledge, he details the state's high-elevation vineyards and the challenges of working with a diverse set of grape varietals. Milic also shares insider details about his restaurant, FNB, and his winery, Los Milics Vineyards, highlighting their distinct approaches to food and wine that celebrate Arizona's unique terroir.

In this episode, you will hear:

• Exploration of Colombian culture and cuisine.
• The journey of opening a restaurant in Scottsdale with a focus on local wines, overcoming economic challenges, and building community support.
• The growth of the Arizona wine industry highlighting the unique climate, varietals, and the influence of the Four Corners Development Project.
• The creation of a personal wine label and the development of a winery through partnership.
• Innovative winemaking techniques and the emergence of Arizona's wine country as a destination.

Resources from this Episode

• Los Milics Vineyard and Winery - Southern Arizona  https://losmilicsvineyards.com/
• FnB Restaurant - Scottsdale, Arizona  http://www.fnbrestaurant.com/

Follow and Review:

We’d love for you to follow us if you haven’t yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We’d love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com. Let them know we sent you.

In this episode, Colin and Craig discuss their journey from Livermore Valley to establishing their own winery in Napa Valley. They explain their focus on single-vineyard wines and the importance of site-driven winemaking. Our discussion included the role of data and technology in their winemaking process, including the use of Wine X-Ray and the Pulsair system for cap management. They express their excitement about being part of the Napa Valley wine community and the potential for growth and success in the region.

• Grape Culture - Napa Valley

• Nottingham Cellars - Livermore Valley

• Winexray

This podcast is sponsored by Innovint. Has your winery turned into a complete Excel sheet show?

Say hello to InnoVint, it’s winemaking software to get you off of spreadsheets and into the modern era. InnoVint was founded and built by winemakers, so they know where your pain points are.

No matter the size of your winery, InnoVint provides you with instant access to your production records in the format you need to make quick, informed decisions. Basically, they take the tedious data management stuff off your plate.

With a desktop and mobile platform, the insights you need are just a few clicks away (even if you’re offline!). Make the right calls at the right time. InnoVint is an approachable solution focused on exactly what winemaking teams need.

Automate your TTB compliance. Know the true cost of each wine. Improve your cellar workflow, and be more effective than ever before!

Join the 4,500 winery professionals saving up to 30 hours per week. Schedule a call today on InnoVint.us and don’t forget to mention the Inside Winemaking Podcast.

Innovint has a special deal for Inside Winemaking listeners and they are offering to provide lunch when you complete a demo of their software with a team member and mention the podcast.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

Now on Spotify

And Amazon Music

This episode features Corinne Rich and Katie Rouse, who, together comprise Birdhorse Wines. Our conversation covers their winemaking backgrounds, the creation of the Birdhorse brand, the vineyards they have partnered with, oxidative white winemaking, novel winemaking techniques, and the hustle of building a brand with full-time jobs.  

• Birdhorse Wines

• Plasticbags.com

• San Francisco Chronicle featuring Birdhorse

   

This podcast is sponsored by Innovint. Has your winery turned into a complete Excel sheet show?

Say hello to InnoVint, it’s winemaking software to get you off of spreadsheets and into the modern era. InnoVint was founded and built by winemakers, so they know where your pain points are.

No matter the size of your winery, InnoVint provides you with instant access to your production records in the format you need to make quick, informed decisions. Basically, they take the tedious data management stuff off your plate.

With a desktop and mobile platform, the insights you need are just a few clicks away (even if you’re offline!). Make the right calls at the right time. InnoVint is an approachable solution focused on exactly what winemaking teams need.

Automate your TTB compliance. Know the true cost of each wine. Improve your cellar workflow, and be more effective than ever before!

Join the 4,500 winery professionals saving up to 30 hours per week. Schedule a call today on InnoVint.us and don’t forget to mention the Inside Winemaking Podcast.

Innovint has a special deal for Inside Winemaking listeners and they are offering to provide lunch when you complete a demo of their software with a team member and mention the podcast.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

Now on Spotify

And Amazon Music

This episode features Kira Ballotta, owner and winemaker for the two brands celebrating past and present trailblazing women.  If a wine brand was a historical fiction novel, Olivia Brion would be the main character in that novel. Each bottle of wine tells a different “chapter” of her story. Life being somewhat more surprising than fiction, the stories of Olivia Brion are inspired by the full lives of real trailblazing women from history.  Cantadora is the natural evolution of Olivia Brion. Where Olivia Brion focuses on stories from history, Cantadora features women from today, giving back to the shared community in exceptional ways.  Our conversation in this episode ranges from Kira’s background, the varietals she works with, the challenges of building small brands, and the women that Kira has partnered with in creating the Cantadora wines.

This episode features Amy Whiteford and Dave Phinney in a conversation about the development of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills and Santa Barbara County AVA. Both Amy and Dave have independently been on the podcast before Amy back in 2014 and 2016. Our conversation ranges from their shared work background, the reasons for developing a vineyard in Santa Rita Hills, the characteristics of the site, the diversity of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay selections, challenges of hillside plantings, avocado trees in the vineyard, straddling the AVA line, the name Our Lady of Guadalupe, the wine I get to make using fruit from this vineyard for Naked Wines, and the launch of the new wine brand Our Lady of Guadalupe Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

This episode features Mike Nuñez, who owns and operates Nuñez Vineyard Management, a farm labor contractor and vineyard development specialist based in Napa Valley. Mike and I discuss the barn we made wine together in back in 2004, Mike’s career path, the services that his company manages, and then an in-depth outline of how Mike plans every critical step in planning, designing, planting training, and managing a new vineyard. There’s no way we could have covered every vineyard-specific detail in one podcast, but this episode could be a resource for anyone serious about the most important aspects of vineyard development.

• Nuñez Vineyard Management

• Nuñez Vineyard Management’s YouTube Channel

   

This podcast is sponsored by Innovint. Has your winery turned into a complete Excel sheet show?

Say hello to InnoVint, it’s winemaking software to get you off of spreadsheets and into the modern era. InnoVint was founded and built by winemakers, so they know where your pain points are.

No matter the size of your winery, InnoVint provides you with instant access to your production records in the format you need to make quick, informed decisions. Basically, they take the tedious data management stuff off your plate.

With a desktop and mobile platform, the insights you need are just a few clicks away (even if you’re offline!). Make the right calls at the right time. InnoVint is an approachable solution focused on exactly what winemaking teams need.

Automate your TTB compliance. Know the true cost of each wine. Improve your cellar workflow, and be more effective than ever before!

Join the 4,500 winery professionals saving up to 30 hours per week. Schedule a call today on InnoVint.us and don’t forget to mention the Inside Winemaking Podcast.

Innovint has a special deal for Inside Winemaking listeners and they are offering to provide lunch when you complete a demo of their software with a team member and mention the podcast.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

Now on Spotify

And Amazon Music

This episode features the return of Ben Matthews, who was a part of Episode 83 in 2018, and went on to found Terratorium, which is the focal point of conversation for this episode. Ben has been a long-time podcast listener and he and I met when he came out to Napa for the Deep Winemaking (wine camp) in 2017. A year later Ben came back to Napa to work harvest with me at Seavey Vineyard. Upon returning to Cincinnati and founding Terratorium Ben brought me into the business to help with vineyards and winemaking. 2021 was our first year of full production and the complicated path of producing our Riesling felt like a story we could share on the podcast. Our conversation covers Ben’s telling of building Terratorium, the desire to make a Riesling, Tondre Grapefield in Santa Lucia Highlands, and the many obstacles and discussions we had in order to create our desired style of Riesling. We talk through every step of the winemaking, including all of the chemistries, during this discussion.

This episode features Greg Brewer, founder and winemaker at Brewer-Clifton, which is a winery in Santa Barbara producing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Our conversation runs the gamut from Greg’s background, his experience working with grapes from Santa Rita Hills, harvest and processing logistics, my jealousy for Santa Rita’s huge picking window, DIAM corks, Greg’s stainless bin fermentors, his philosophy in sourcing a block for vineyard designated wines before planting vines, how little analytical data plays into his winemaking, the stainless Chardonnay brand Diatom, and Syrah for Ex Post Facto.

• Brewer-Clifton - Santa Rita Hills

• Diatom Chardonnay - Santa Barbara County

• Ex Post Facto - Santa Barbara County

   

This podcast is sponsored by Flextank For nearly 20 years, winemakers in the United States and Europe have used Flextanks to make world-class wines. Flextanks have many uses in a winery including the maturation of wines. They breathe like a barrel with precise and consistent linear micro-oxygenation to your wines. The Flextank system uses its proprietary Flexstaves line of staves which are sourced from premier French and American cooperages to age both red and white wines.

Today’s technologies are playing a bigger and bigger role in wineries these days. Flextanks have a long track record of replacing traditional wood oak barrels with a revolutionary breathable polymer that is scientifically engineered to achieve Oxygen Transfer Rates similar to your choice of either a 2-year or neutral barrel. Independent scientific studies and trials have validated this technology. Unlike a barrel, however, the molecules you want to retain- like ethanol and water- do not escape the Flextank wall, which means these tanks do not lose the Angel’s share as with barrels…this means less topping is needed.

Not only do Flextanks breathe like a barrel, but they are also unbelievably simple to clean- reducing water and labor costs- and are designed in a variety of sizes and profiles to make more efficient space use in any cellar. Flextanks are built here in the United States and come with a free lifetime warranty.

To learn more about how you can modernize your winery and lower your barreling costs, simply go to Flextank.com. Discover how the Flextank system with Flexstaves is today’s new way to make award-winning wines.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

Now on Spotify

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Megan Gunderson, Vice President of Winemaking for Hall Wines. Megan oversees the production of wines for the Hall, WALT, and BACA brands. Our conversation ranges from Megan’s professional background, the stories Hall wines from Napa, the WALT wines from Oregon to Sta Rita Hills, the BACA Zinfandel wines, production logistics, partnerships with grapegrowers, fermentation tank materials, and Innovint’s winery production software.

• Hall Wines - Napa Valley

• WALT - Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

• BACA - Zinfandel

This podcast is sponsored by Innovint. Has your winery turned into a complete Excel sheet show?

Say hello to InnoVint, it’s winemaking software to get you off of spreadsheets and into the modern era. InnoVint was founded and built by winemakers, so they know where your pain points are.

No matter the size of your winery, InnoVint provides you with instant access to your production records in n the format you need to make quick, informed decisions. Basically, they take the tedious data management stuff off your plate.

With a desktop and mobile platform, the insights you need are just a few clicks away (even if you’re offline!). Make the right calls at the right time. InnoVint is an approachable solution focused on exactly what winemaking teams need.

Automate your TTB compliance. Know the true cost of each wine. Improve your cellar workflow, and be more effective than ever before!

Join the 4,500 winery professionals saving up to 30 hours per week. Schedule a call today on InnoVint.us and don’t forget to mention the Inside Winemaking Podcast.

Innovint has a special deal for Inside Winemaking listeners and they are offering to provide lunch when you complete a demo of their software with a team member and mention the podcast.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

Now on Spotify

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Scott McLeod, winemaker, and one of the founders of WineXRay. Our conversation covers Scott’s background building the Francis Ford Coppola brands, the development of WineXRay with his business partner Gianni Colantuoni, the color and tannin components that the WineXRay technology measures, its practical uses in a winery, the basic traits of anthocyanins and tannins in wine, the effects of temperature on red-grape phenolic development in the vineyard, consequences of the September 2022 heatwave, extraction dynamics during primary fermentation, the pros and cons of shade cloth in the vineyard, and the limits grapevine virus and diseases have on phenolic synthesis.

• Link to this podcast episode (too large to host on this webpage)

• WineXRay

• Vineyard Shade Cloth Study from Kaan Kurtural of UCDavis

   

This podcast is sponsored by Sentia. The Sentia hand-held wine analyzer is a portable device for rapid measurement of 6 key analytes during wine production - free sulfur dioxide, acetic acid, malic acid, titratable acidity, glucose, and fructose.

Using existing technology developed by Universal Biosensors and applied in human health for over 10 years, you save time and money with Sentia. Sentia has been developed for winery personnel who don’t want to spend hours testing using traditional techniques or waste time preparing samples, sending them off to a lab, and then waiting for results. In less time, you can test, make adjustments, then move on to the next task.

Portability and speed of results are just some of the unique attributes of Sentia. No special skill is required, calibration is automatic, there are minimal or no reagents and it’s cost-effective. PLUS, it’s compatible with major winery management software platforms. Sentia is distributed nationally, as well in Canada, Mexico, South America, and Europe.

For a demonstration, quote, and sales in your area, go to universalbiosensors.com/sentia or look for “Sentia wine analyzer” in your browser. In North America, you can also call Pelle Nilsson at 503 801-1694.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

Now on Spotify

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Clark Smith, who is a winemaker, author, wine technology innovator, and winemaking instructor. Our conversation in this episode covers Clark’s background in winemaking, the development of Vinovation, alcohol adjustment in wines, micro-oxygenation, the enology courses he used to teach at UC Davis, making wine without SO2, his book Postmodern Winemaking, what modern and postmodern winemaking entail, and his video course: Fundamentals of Winemaking Made Easy.

This episode features Matt Parish, who is one of the top winemakers within Naked Wines. Our conversation wove through Matt’s international corporate winemaking, his work with Naked Wines as an employee and later as a winemaker, the tools and tactics Matt uses to build wines in various styles, and his current international collaborations.

This episode features Dan Petroski, found, winemaker, and creative director of Massican Wines. Dan jokes that Massican is the best white wine winery in Napa Valley. Our conversation covers Dan’s background with magazines, a career in publishing, his ventures in Sicily, learning to make wine in California, Dan’s experiments focused on the elimination of additives, the pied du cuve at Larkmead Vineyards, Massican Blue in the Harvard pigment library, Dan’s number one secret to success. salinity in white wines, saliva drivers, and his endeavors with Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon blanc.

• Massican Wines

• Larkmead Vineyards

   

This podcast is sponsored by Flextank For nearly 20 years, winemakers in the United States and Europe have used Flextanks to make world-class wines. Flextanks have many uses in a winery including the maturation of wines. They breathe like a barrel with precise and consistent linear micro-oxygenation to your wines. The Flextank system uses its proprietary Flexstaves line of staves which are sourced from premier French and American cooperages to age both red and white wines.

Today’s technologies are playing a bigger and bigger role in wineries these days. Flextanks have a long track record of replacing traditional wood oak barrels with a revolutionary breathable polymer that is scientifically engineered to achieve Oxygen Transfer Rates similar to your choice of either a 2-year or neutral barrel. Independent scientific studies and trials have validated this technology. Unlike a barrel, however, the molecules you want to retain- like ethanol and water- do not escape the Flextank wall, which means these tanks do not lose the Angel’s share as with barrels…this means less topping is needed.

Not only do Flextanks breathe like a barrel, but they are also unbelievably simple to clean- reducing water and labor costs- and are designed in a variety of sizes and profiles to make more efficient space use in any cellar. Flextanks are built here in the United States and come with a free lifetime warranty.

To learn more about how you can modernize your winery and lower your barreling costs, simply go to Flextank.com. Discover how the Flextank system with Flexstaves is today’s new way to make award-winning wines.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

Now on Spotify

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Josh Widaman, Estate Winemaker from Pine Ridge Vineyards in the Napa Valley. Our conversation was focused on Cabernet Sauvignon and covered, the cellar updates at Pine Ridge, their 160 acres of vines in Napa, Wine XRay, and high-brix winemaking.

• Pine Ridge Vineyards - Napa Valley

• Malene Wines Rosé - Central Coast, California

   

This podcast is sponsored by Innovint. Has your winery turned into a complete Excel sheet show?

Say hello to InnoVint, it’s winemaking software to get you off of spreadsheets and into the modern era. InnoVint was founded and built by winemakers, so they know where your pain points are.

No matter the size of your winery, InnoVint provides you with instant access to your production records in n the format you need to make quick, informed decisions. Basically, they take the tedious data management stuff off your plate.

With a desktop and mobile platform, the insights you need are just a few clicks away (even if you’re offline!). Make the right calls at the right time. InnoVint is an approachable solution focused on exactly what winemaking teams need.

Automate your TTB compliance. Know the true cost of each wine. Improve your cellar workflow, and be more effective than ever before!

Join the 4,500 winery professionals saving up to 30 hours per week. Schedule a call today on InnoVint.us and don’t forget to mention the Inside Winemaking Podcast.

Innovint has a special deal for Inside Winemaking listeners and they are offering to provide lunch when you complete a demo of their software with a team member and mention the podcast.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

Now on Spotify

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Marcus Notaro, Head Winemaker, at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in Napa Valley. This was a chance for me to ask Marcus about grapegowing and winemaking in central Washington, where he used to make wine for Col Solare focusing on vineyards in the Red Mountain AVA. Our conversation covered Marcus’ background, viticulture in Washington, “stabulation,” a new idea to me, styles of Chardonnay, and Cabernet from Stag’s Leap.

This episode features David Bos in his third time on the podcast. In this episode, we cover David’s return to Michigan, organic farming near Lake Michigan, the new Bos Wine Garden in Elk Rapids, and the basics of advancing a newer wine region in the US.

• Bos Wine - Elk Rapids, Michigan

   

This podcast is sponsored by Innovint. Has your winery turned into a complete Excel sheet show?

Say hello to InnoVint, it’s winemaking software to get you off of spreadsheets and into the modern era. InnoVint was founded and built by winemakers, so they know where your pain points are.

No matter the size of your winery, InnoVint provides you with instant access to your production records in n the format you need to make quick, informed decisions. Basically, they take the tedious data management stuff off your plate.

With a desktop and mobile platform, the insights you need are just a few clicks away (even if you’re offline!). Make the right calls at the right time. InnoVint is an approachable solution focused on exactly what winemaking teams need.

Automate your TTB compliance. Know the true cost of each wine. Improve your cellar workflow, and be more effective than ever before!

Join the 4,500 winery professionals saving up to 30 hours per week. Schedule a call today on InnoVint.us and don’t forget to mention the Inside Winemaking Podcast.

Innovint has a special deal for Inside Winemaking listeners and they are offering to provide lunch when you complete a demo of their software with a team member and mention the podcast.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

Now on Spotify

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Natalie Winkler and viticulturist for Salvestrin Winery in the Napa Valley. Our conversation during this podcast was heavy on technical farming. Natalie shared her experience in transitioning vineyards from conventional to organic and biodynamic farming. We discussed cover crops, soil building, carbon sequestration, conservation tillage, and even a little about winemaking.

• Salvestrin Winery - Napa Valley

   

This podcast is sponsored by Innovint. Has your winery turned into a complete Excel sheet show?

Say hello to InnoVint, it’s winemaking software to get you off of spreadsheets and into the modern era. InnoVint was founded and built by winemakers, so they know where your pain points are.

No matter the size of your winery, InnoVint provides you with instant access to your production records in n the format you need to make quick, informed decisions. Basically, they take the tedious data management stuff off your plate.

With a desktop and mobile platform, the insights you need are just a few clicks away (even if you’re offline!). Make the right calls at the right time. InnoVint is an approachable solution focused on exactly what winemaking teams need.

Automate your TTB compliance. Know the true cost of each wine. Improve your cellar workflow, and be more effective than ever before!

Join the 4,500 winery professionals saving up to 30 hours per week. Schedule a call today on InnoVint.us and don’t forget to mention the Inside Winemaking Podcast.

Innovint has a special deal for Inside Winemaking listeners and they are offering to provide lunch when you complete a demo of their software with a team member and mention the podcast.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

Now on Spotify

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Michael Accurso who is the Director of Emerging Wine Brands for the En Route, Bella Union, and Post & Beam wines within the Far Niente Family of Wineries. Our conversation ran through Michael’s background, Anderson Valley winemaking, Pinot Noir - clones and extraction practices, the remodeling of the winery in Rutherford in Napa, building of the Post & Beam Napa Cabernets.

• En Route Pinot Noir - Russian River Valley

• Post and Beam - Napa Valley

• Bella Union - Napa Valley

This podcast is sponsored by Innovint. Has your winery turned into a complete Excel sheet show?

Say hello to InnoVint, it’s winemaking software to get you off of spreadsheets and into the modern era. InnoVint was founded and built by winemakers, so they know where your pain points are.

No matter the size of your winery, InnoVint provides you with instant access to your production records in n the format you need to make quick, informed decisions. Basically, they take the tedious data management stuff off your plate.

With a desktop and mobile platform, the insights you need are just a few clicks away (even if you’re offline!). Make the right calls at the right time. InnoVint is an approachable solution focused on exactly what winemaking teams need.

Automate your TTB compliance. Know the true cost of each wine. Improve your cellar workflow, and be more effective than ever before!

Join the 4,500 winery professionals saving up to 30 hours per week. Schedule a call today on InnoVint.us and don’t forget to mention the Inside Winemaking Podcast.

Innovint has a special deal for Inside Winemaking listeners and they are offering to provide lunch when you complete a demo of their software with a team member and mention the podcast.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

Now on Spotify

And Stitcher Radio Too

Interview with winemaker Andy Robinson from Seghesio Family Vineyards. January, 2023

This episode features an interview with winemaker Angelina Mondavi

This episode features KK Carothers, who is the winemaker at Bryant Estate in Napa Valley. Our conversation covers KK’s path to winemaking, the wines from Bryant Estate, estate grapegrowing, building a fumé blanc wine, and a review of harvest 2022.

• Bryant Estate - Napa, CA

This podcast is sponsored by Innovint. Has your winery turned into a complete Excel sheet show?

Say hello to InnoVint, it’s winemaking software to get you off of spreadsheets and into the modern era. InnoVint was founded and built by winemakers, so they know where your pain points are.

No matter the size of your winery, InnoVint provides you with instant access to your production records in n the format you need to make quick, informed decisions. Basically, they take the tedious data management stuff off your plate.

With a desktop and mobile platform, the insights you need are just a few clicks away (even if you’re offline!). Make the right calls at the right time. InnoVint is an approachable solution focused on exactly what winemaking teams need.

Automate your TTB compliance. Know the true cost of each wine. Improve your cellar workflow, and be more effective than ever before!

Join the 4,500 winery professionals saving up to 30 hours per week. Schedule a call today on InnoVint.us and don’t forget to mention the Inside Winemaking Podcast.

This podcast is sponsored by Total Wine. When you discover a new favorite bottle of Chardonnay, sparkling wine, or gin at Total Wine & More, you’ll discover a whole lot more. Like the friendly smile of an expert guide ready to help you find that perfect bottle. And the confidence of knowing you just found something special. So, explore the wondrous selection and totally low prices at Total Wine dot com; where you’ll find what you love, and love what you find. Drink responsibly. Be 21.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

Now on Spotify

And Stitcher Radio Too

This is a sponsored episode featuring Ashley DuBois Leonard Founder and CEO of Innovint a wine production software company.

This episode features Nick Gislason the founder and brewer of Hanabi Lager, which he brews with his wife and partners in the Napa Valley. Nick works as a winemaker, yet his curiosity for brewing, especially “grain-forward lagers”, was never shelved and has grown into Hanabi Lager Co., a brewery that he designed and built in his spare time. You might learn more about fireworks than winemaking in this conversation. Our conversation covers Nick’s background, how his fascinations with Japanese fireworks and brewing as a teenager inspired the artwork for Hanabi, technical aspects of brewing Pilsner, the search for heirloom barley, and spore-traps for monitoring Powdery Mildew in vineyards.

• Hanabi Lager

• Walter Mahafee - Oregon State University Dept. of Botany and Plant Pathology

• AL&L Crop Solutions Lab for PCR on Powdery Mildew Spores

This podcast is sponsored by Sentia. The Sentia hand-held wine analyzer is a portable device for measuring free sulfur dioxide and malic acid in your wine. Using existing technology developed by Universal Biosensors and applied in human health for over 10 years, you can now measure key analytes during your winemaking process in less than a minute.

Sentia has been developed for cellar personnel who don’t want to spend hours in a lab using traditional techniques or have to wait for results that are sent to an outside lab. In less time, you can test and make adjustments, then move on to the next task. Portability and speed of results are just some of the unique attributes of Sentia. No special skill is required, calibration is automatic, there are minimal or no reagents and it’s cost-effective. Sentia is distributed nationally so for more information or sales in your area, go to universalbiosensors.com/sentia or look for “Sentia wine analyzer” in your browser.

This podcast is sponsored by Total Wine. When you discover a new favorite bottle of Chardonnay, sparkling wine, or gin at Total Wine & More, you’ll discover a whole lot more. Like the friendly smile of an expert guide ready to help you find that perfect bottle. And the confidence of knowing you just found something special. So, explore the wondrous selection and totally low prices at Total Wine dot com; where you’ll find what you love, and love what you find. Drink responsibly. Be 21.

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

Ep. 140: Bertus van Zyl - Belong Wine Co., Tank Garage Winery, and James Cole Winery

This episode features Megan Brodie the Manager of Global Product Development & Winemaking for BevZero, a company that specializes in alcohol removal technologies for wine and other beverages.

This episode features Steve Matthiason, who has had an outsized role in the North Coast Californian wine industry both as a viticultural consultant and as a winemaker. This episode served as a chance to catch up since we worked together twelve years ago. We talked about Steve and his wife, Jill’s, building of Matthiasson including the wines, brand, and now a winery on the eastern edge of Napa. Of course, no conversation with Steve would be complete without discussions of technical vineyard work including Powdery Mildew spore trapping.

• Matthiasson - Napa Valley

• Root Applied Sciences - Powdery Mildew spore trapping

This podcast is sponsored by Innovint. Has your winery turned into a complete Excel sheet show?

Say hello to InnoVint, it’s winemaking software to get you off of spreadsheets and into the modern era. InnoVint was founded and built by winemakers, so they know where your pain points are.

No matter the size of your winery, InnoVint provides you with instant access to your production records in n the format you need to make quick, informed decisions. Basically, they take the tedious data management stuff off your plate.

With a desktop and mobile platform, the insights you need are just a few clicks away (even if you’re offline!). Make the right calls at the right time. InnoVint is an approachable solution focused on exactly what winemaking teams need.

Automate your TTB compliance. Know the true cost of each wine. Improve your cellar workflow, and be more effective than ever before!

Join the 4,500 winery professionals saving up to 30 hours per week. Schedule a call today on InnoVint.us and don’t forget to mention the Inside Winemaking Podcast.

This podcast is sponsored by Total Wine. When you discover a new favorite bottle of Chardonnay, sparkling wine, or gin at Total Wine & More, you’ll discover a whole lot more. Like the friendly smile of an expert guide ready to help you find that perfect bottle. And the confidence of knowing you just found something special. So, explore the wondrous selection and totally low prices at Total Wine dot com; where you’ll find what you love, and love what you find. Drink responsibly. Be 21.

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Maya Dalla Valle, who has taken over the helm of viticulture and winemaking at her family's estate in Napa and also developed a new joint venture between Dalle Valle and the Supertuscan estate, Ornellaia.

This episode was a double interview between Jim Duane from Inside Winemaking and Daniel Baron from The Winemaker’s Journey Podcast.

This episode of the Podcast features Natalie MacLean, author, wine educator, and host of the Unreserved Wine Talk Podcast. Natalie, who is based in Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, told us the story of her transition from tech to wine, she gave an in-depth portrayal of the Canadian winemaking regions, and we discussed the work that she does today including creating wine and food pairing classes, writing her third book, and the Unreserved Wine Talk Podcast. Natalie is currently seeking beta readers for her new book, a memoir, and leaves an invitation during our conversation.

This episode of the Podcast features Nick Devlin, CEO of Naked Wines. Our conversation covers Nick’s background in London, the stories of Naked wines evolution, insights from the relationships they’ve built with their customers (Angels), the different value propositions that Naked offers to winemakers and to consumers, growth during the pandemic, and my new J.M. Duane Rosé and Grenache wines.

• NakedWines.com

• J.M.Duane 2020 Coakley Vineyard, Paso Robles Grenache

• J.M.Duane 2020 Rosé of Pinot Noir from Monterey County

• Email me for access to $100 off your first order from Naked Wines

This podcast is brought you by Wine Compliance Alliance Thinking of starting your own wine business? Maybe you’d like to make your own wines and sell to customers who are both inside and outside of your home state? Maybe you are already working with a winery to make the wines you’d like to sell? Your business is going to need certain licensing to be able to do that.

Wine compliance alliance in Napa CA offers services to assist with the federal and state applications your business will need so you make sure to get the right fit licensing for your business type and sales model. To schedule your own consult call to discuss the specifics of your business go to winecompliancealliance.com/contact

Check out my two previous podcasts with Ann Reynolds who runs Wine Compliance Alliance:

• Ep. 45: Ann Reynolds - Wine Compliance Alliance

• Ep. 61: Ann Reynolds - Compliance for Starting a Winery

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode of the Podcast features Randy Heinzen in his return to the podcast. During a trip to Paso Robles in January 2019 Randy gave me a in-depth tour of vineyards in Paso Robles. Randy then let me know about a young planting on his family’s ranch, Coakley Vineyard, that included new, cleaned-up clones of Grenache. His excitement for the potential of this new wine was infectious and I have spent the past two years building that very wine by leveraging the opportunity to work with Naked Wines. In this episode, we talk about viticulture in Paso Robles, building the Coakley Vineyard Grenache from grapes to wine, Randy delivers with new terms such as phyllosilicates the “point of discontinuity”, and triple-trimming Grenache pre-set.

This episode of the Podcast features Joe Nielsen the winemaker from Ram’s Gate Winery in Sonoma, California. During our conversation, Joe and I discuss his path to becoming a winemaker, the Ram’s Gate wines, and the wine MBA from Sonoma State.

• Ram’s Gate Winery - Sonoma, California

• Donelan Family Wines - Sonoma, California

• O’Neill Vintners and Distillers - Larkspur, California

• Sonoma State Wine Executive MBA Program

This podcast is brought you by Total Wine, a wonderland for wine, spirits, and beer lovers!

No matter what’s on your holiday table, we have the wine—and the savings—to match. Here’s our recipe for a toast-worthy feast. Pop open some bubbly as guests gather ‘round. Pair baked ham with Cabernet for some tasty magic. Turkey and stuffing play nicely with Pinot Noir. Pour Riesling with apple pie for a dessert that really sings.

While you’re at it, check out the Top 20 Wines of the Year and discover standout gifts for everyone on your list. Plus, there are so many new festive flavors to fall for like pumpkin brews and margarita wine cocktails.

With over eight thousand wines, four thousand spirits, and twenty-five hundred beers to choose from, you can expect the unexpected, and always at ridiculously low prices with the best service in America.

What’ll it be today?

Choose curbside pickup, in store pickup, shipping or delivery. Explore more in store, online, or on our app Total Wine.com

Spirits not available in Virginia or North Carolina.

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode of the Podcast features Francois Margot from DIAM Bouchage, a company that designs, manufactures, and markets technological cork closures. Our conversation covers the unique qualities of natural cork and the DIAM’s innovations that were developed to address cork closures’ mechanical performance, sensorial neutrality, and Oxygen control. Francois describes in great technical detail the production and performance of DIAM’s range of cork closures. This is not a podcast sponsored by DIAM. I have been using DIAM corks in the wines I am producing for Terratorium Wines and Naked Wines. Because of those associations I have been motivated to study the DIAM technologies and felt it valuable to share with the podcast audience.

This episode of the Podcast features Matt Dees, winemaker for the Hilt Estate and Jonata wineries in Santa Barbara County. Matt and I talked about his background, the building of the Jonata, and the new Hilt Estate in the Santa Rita Hills AVA. I had a great time talking with Matt and came away more prepared to make my own wines from Santa Barbara for the first time this 2021 harvest. LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE The Hilt Estate - Santa Rita Hills, California Jonata Winery - Santa Ynez, California

This episode of the Podcast features Danielle Cyrot, who is the winemaker for Cade Winery and 13th Vineyard on Howell Mountain in the Napa Valley. Our conversation ranges from mountain winemaking, the trials of the 2020 vintage, Cade’s growth with the acquisition of 13th Vineyard, the Plumpjack group, and LEED Certification for wineries.

This episode of the Podcast features Miguel Garcia who is the Sustainable Agriculture Program Manager for the Napa County Resource Conservation District. Miguel has been very helpful to the Seavey Vineyard team in our efforts towards soil management and carbon sequestration. I asked him to record this podcast so people would be aware of the ways in which Miguel in his position with the RCD is available to help farmers with a variety of conservation projects. We discussed Miguel’s background, his efforts to engage a Spanish-speaking audience of farmers, biochar, cultivation’s relationship with soil biology, rainfall simulators, and soil carbon sequestration.

This episode of the Podcast is a Zoom recording with Lance Vande Hoef who represents the grape machine harvest equipment for Pellenc in the US. We recorded this podcast with video in order to make it available as a Youtube video to show some of the Pellenc equipment in action. Pellenc makes tractors, harvesting machines, destemmers, sorters, and hand equipment, but much of our conversation centers around their machine harvesting capabilities and the ability to harvest and press in the field for white and rosé winemaking. We recorded this podcast in September 2020. For harvest of 2021, Lance’s son, Blake Vande Hoef, has begun offering in-field pressing services with Pellenc equipment in his new venture, Integrity Wine Company.

This episode features Peter Yeung and Robert Vernick from the X Chateau Wine Podcast. Peter and Robert collectively offer a tremendous source of insight into the wine market, winemaking trends, sales trends, finance, and customer engagement based in a shared fascination for studying and drinking wine. In 2019 Peter co-authored the book Luxury Wine Marketing. This episode is not focused on winemaking per se but presents a wealth of ideas that winemakers can consider for their own marketing strategies. Listeners can explore the topics from this episode in much more depth on the X Chateau Podcast, which is available on all podcast platforms

This episode features WSU Food Scientist Charlie Edwards. Charlie is a teacher, researcher, and expert in wine microbes. I was finally able to have the high-level conversation about Brettanomyces that I’ve been longing for on the podcast. We also talked about wine bacteria, techniques to find points of contamination in a winery, the books he has authored, and the viticulture and enology degree programs that are available at Washington State.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Charles Edwards Faculty Page - Washington State University

Wine Microbiology: Practical Applications and Procedures 2nd Edition book by Kenneth Fugelsang and Charles Edwards published 2007

Illustrated Guide to Microbes and Sediments in Wine, Beer and Juice photobook by Charles Edwards published 2005

Washington State University - Fermentation Science

This podcast is brought you by Total Wine. There’s a sizzling lineup of cool sips at Total Wine & More. We’re talking summer’s greatest hits you’ll want to put on repeat like our top twelve wines under fifteen dollars.

And you can raise a glass to America with a star-spangled selection of pours made in the USA. Next, do yourself a FLAV·OR with ready-to freeze cocktail pops And fun, fizzy hard seltzers Pineapple? Mango anyone?

Here’s our recipe for a delicious summer evening. Take warm weather, smoked ribs, and just add Bordeaux

Let your imagination go grill crazy. From good ole fashioned hot dogs to turkey burgers with all the toppings you can’t go wrong with Chardonnay.

And when it comes to seafood, salmon and tuna swim nicely with fruity and fresh reds

So, no matter if you’re cooking out or chilling in You’re sure to find cool prices on over eight thousand wines, four thousand spirits, and twenty-five hundred beers.

Choose from curbside pickup, in-store pickup, shipping, or delivery.

Explore more in-store, or at Total Wine.com.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Tony Biagi a winemaker who has a tremendous resume of winemaking in Napa Valley. Our conversation covered Tony’s background, the role of a winemaking consultant, Tony’s demand for “a pound of flesh” during harvest, his wines from Paso Robles and other regions in California. Tony was incredibly candid about the development and operations of Patria Wines, his personal wine project.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Patria Wines - Napa Valley

Amici Cellars - Napa Valley

Lasseter Family Winery - Sonoma Valley

Hourglass Winery - Napa Valley

The Vineyardist - Napa Valley

Caliza Winery - Paso Robles

Jada Vineyard - Paso Robles

Alma Rosa Winery - Santa Barbara County

This podcast is brought you by Total Wine. There’s a sizzling lineup of cool sips at Total Wine & More. We’re talking summer’s greatest hits you’ll want to put on repeat like our top twelve wines under fifteen dollars.

And you can raise a glass to America with a star-spangled selection of pours made in the USA. Next, do yourself a FLAV·OR with ready-to freeze cocktail pops And fun, fizzy hard seltzers Pineapple? Mango anyone?

Here’s our recipe for a delicious summer evening. Take warm weather, smoked ribs, and just add Bordeaux

Let your imagination go grill crazy. From good ole fashioned hot dogs to turkey burgers with all the toppings you can’t go wrong with Chardonnay.

And when it comes to seafood, salmon and tuna swim nicely with fruity and fresh reds

So, no matter if you’re cooking out or chilling in You’re sure to find cool prices on over eight thousand wines, four thousand spirits, and twenty-five hundred beers.

Choose from curbside pickup, in-store pickup, shipping, or delivery.

Explore more in-store, or at Total Wine.com.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Frank Renaldi who is a winemaker and winemaking instructor. In a joint venture with Musto Wine Grape Company in Hartford, Connecticut Frank has created a comprehensive set of tutorial videos that are geared towards home winemakers, yet contain a high level of technical enology so as to be useful for commercial wineries as well. Our conversation covered Frank’s compulsive winemaking at home, the paths that he took to learn enology, how he geared his video courses to address the early difficulties that winemakers encounter, and the in-person courses he teaches in Hartford. His catalog of videos, some of which are free, are affordable and broken down by topic. My introduction to Frank came from Christina Musto, a previous guest on the podcast.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

WinemakingInstructions.com - video catalog

Musto Wine Grape Company - Hartford, CT - Source for grapes, equipment, supplies, and many winemaking resources

Enology supply and laboratory companies:

Scott Labs

Enartis

MyEnologist

Zenith White for tartaric acid stabilization

Ep. 58: Christina Musto - Musto Wine Grape Company

This podcast is brought you by Total Wine. There’s a sizzling lineup of cool sips at Total Wine & More. We’re talking summer’s greatest hits you’ll want to put on repeat like our top twelve wines under fifteen dollars.

And you can raise a glass to America with a star-spangled selection of pours made in the USA. Next, do yourself a FLAV·OR with ready-to freeze cocktail pops And fun, fizzy hard seltzers Pineapple? Mango anyone?

Here’s our recipe for a delicious summer evening. Take warm weather, smoked ribs, and just add Bordeaux

Let your imagination go grill crazy. From good ole fashioned hot dogs to turkey burgers with all the toppings you can’t go wrong with Chardonnay.

And when it comes to seafood, salmon and tuna swim nicely with fruity and fresh reds

So, no matter if you’re cooking out or chilling in You’re sure to find cool prices on over eight thousand wines, four thousand spirits, and twenty-five hundred beers.

Choose from curbside pickup, in-store pickup, shipping, or delivery.

Explore more in-store, or at Total Wine.com.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features winemaker Michael Terrien. Michael is on a roadshow to promote the new Adventures excursion opportunities from Obsidian Wine Co. Michael has his hands in many projects from California Pinot noir to Maine wild blueberry sparkling wine and the portfolio of estate wines from Obsidian Ridge in Lake County, CA. I had a great conversation with Michael ranging from the details of making blueberry wine, the partnership that is Obsidian, dynamic pricing for his brand, Becheur, and his uncanny faith in a wine’s capacity to take care of itself.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Obsidian Wine Co

• Rosé for the Bay

• Terrien Wines

• Kadar Cooperage

• Bluet - Maine wild blueberry sparkling wine

• Becheur - Wines with Dynamic Pricing

• US Grant - Santa Cruz Pinot noir

• Hanzell Vineyards

This podcast is brought you by Wine Compliance Alliance. Winery compliance. Bring it up to winery owners or their staff and you get either a completely blank look or a grimace of some sort. In other words winery compliance is a topic that is either very unfamiliar or very disliked. Or both! But yet, every winery is required to do it and can suffer serious consequences if they don't.

Wine Compliance Alliance focuses on providing wineries with solutions to both of these areas of issue. If a winery has little familiarity with their compliance requirements our office can provide training assistance to get them up to speed to be able to manage it themselves. If a winery would prefer instead to have their files managed for them we’ve got you covered there too.

Wine Compliance Alliance, Full throttle from grape to bottle. Find out more at WineComplianceAlliance.com

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Ehlers Estate Winemaker, Laura Diaz Munoz. Laura and I talk about her winemaking roots in Spain, her work around the globe, the singular focus of estate winemaking, organic farming, and growing the Bordelais varietals up-valley in Napa.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Ehlers Estate - Napa, CA

• Terrratorium Wines

• Send me an email if you want to join the Zoom meeting about building Terratorium on 4/16/2021 [email protected]

This podcast is brought to you by Bucher Vaslin North America. At Bucher Vaslin North America, we offer the highest quality equipment and winemaking supplies to assist you throughout your entire process.  Bucher Vaslin North America is the exclusive supplier of Bucher Vaslin and Sutter Presses, Delta Reception Equipment, Cazaux Pumps, Costral Bottling Lines, Lamothe-Abiet Winemaking Products and ALIEN Robotic Optical Sorter. 

Our service team and technicians are professionally trained and certified to provide you parts, maintenance, and field service support throughout the year. Your success is our priority! For more information and to contact us please visit  www.bvnorthamerica.com/contact.

 Interested in reducing SO2 usage?

Excellence B-nature is a great solution and alternative to SO2 to protect your grapes and juices from microbial contamination. B-Nature is a non-Saccharomyces, non-fermenting, pure Metschnikovia pulcherrima yeast species that helps to control microbial development. It protects grapes from spoilage microbes and prevents VA, ethyl acetate, the production of volatile phenols, it also prevents the depletion of nutrients thus improving Saccharomyces dominance, health, and fermentation capacity.

To use B-Nature

• Sprinkle directly on grapes at 30 g/ton as soon as possible after picking

• In the harvest truck, before transportation

• During tank filling, before maceration, or cold settling

• During juice lees maceration

• Works for Sparkling, whites, roses, and reds

B-Nature is produced by Lamothe-Abiet and distributed by Bucher Vaslin North America. For more info, www.bvnorthamerica.com/lamothe

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Jeff Murrell and the smoke-taint removal technology that he has developed. Jeff is a chemist, who works at StaVin and also runs a wine analytical lab, VinSci. It is within VinSci that Jeff is offering the rental of his equipment, SRx, to process smoke-tainted wines. As of March 2021, this is a very new tool for winemakers. Jeff and I talk about his technical background, the way he thinks about the compounds causing the negative aftertastes of tainted wines, the development of the SRx column, and his thoughts on the abilities and limits of the current technology. At this point in time, Jeff is having interested winemakers bring their wines in for an on-the-spot trial and tasting.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• VinSci Analytical Laboratory

• StaVin

 Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Philip Corallo-Titus who is the Winemaker at Chappellet a position he has held since 1990. He also serves as Director of Winemaking at his family’s winery Titus Vineyards, which he now runs with his brother. We talked about old school Chappellet, Chenin blanc, managing mountain tannins, winery design, and the new Titus Winery.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Chappellet - Napa, CA

• Titus Vineyards - Napa, CA

This podcast is brought you by Total Wine. Fling into spring at Total Wine & More, where fresh flavors are in full bloom. We’re talking Rieslings and rainboots, bubbly and brunch, or Pinot on the porch, anyone? No matter what’s on your table, we have the wine—and the savings—to go with your menu.

Sauvignon Blanc plays nicely with smoked salmon. Bacon practically begs for Chardonnay. And which Rosé are you feeling today? We surely have a shade to match.

Brighten up your glass with fresh cocktails. Rosé Prosecco makes for a beautiful twist on a Mojito, or mix up your Sangria with a spritz of berry seltzer. With over eight thousand wines, four thousand spirits, and twenty-five hundred beers to choose from, you can expect the unexpected.

Always at the best prices in town. With the best service in America.

What’ll it be today?

Choose curbside pickup, in-store pickup, shipping, or delivery.

Explore more in-store, or at Total Wine.com.

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features winemaker Erica Stancliff, who has many roles in Sonoma including making wine for Trombetta, her family’s winery, consulting for a handful of client wineries, and advocacy work with the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance. This is a great conversation that ranged from highly technical enology from Erica’s stint working for Enartis Vinquiry to her current winemaking roles hands-on with small wineries.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Trombetta Family Wines, Sonoma California

• Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance

   

This podcast is brought you by Black Dog Consulting.

Wine has been made since Antiquity; Kings, Queens, and common folk alike have all Revered and Coveted it. Over the centuries, Vintners have carefully documented the eccentricities. This activity persists today.

Joining forces with the Cadre of Consultants and Vendor Partners in the Black Dog Consulting Network gives the Vintner unparalleled access to Tribal knowledge, the best Support, and Products on the Market; often at lower cost. This comes with adjacent support from their Cadre of Consultant Agents; mostly at no cost to the end-user.

Most of the firms in the US are sole proprietors, whereas Black Dog Consulting operates as a "hive mind." This means if a situation arises where it is beyond the scope of expertise of your local agent, the rest of the cadre will address it and find a solution. They are a team of accomplished agents with a diverse background who are attempting to take a crowdsourced approach to your beverage science solutions.

This is a novel approach to wine consulting in the continental United States. You can reach them via email [email protected]

• @Blackdogconsultingwine

• @BetweenTwoBudsPodcast

• @TheDeliberateWinemaker

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode is a sponsored podcast from Airocide, which is an air purification system that has uses in production, administration, storage, and tasting room areas within a winery. Paul Frommelt, who has a long history working with wineries representing oak barrels, glass, and even cave construction, is my guest as he is now the supplier for Airocide systems for wine environments. We discuss the technical actions of Airocide’s technology, the different models available, and the problems it’s air purification can solve, but not before I squeeze all the knowledge of oak barrels, tanks, ovals, and square wood tanks from Paul’s years of experience helping equip wineries.

This episode features Nicole Hitchcock the winemaker for J Vineyards and Winery in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley. Our conversation was an opportunity to pull all the stops on my technical questions about sparkling wine and Nicole was delightfully up to the task. “Bubble velocity” is my new favorite term to casually drop into conversations. Nicole also led me through her Chardonnay and Pinot noir winemaking and the reasons the Russian River Valley is a special place to make wine.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• J Vineyards and Winery- Healdsburg, CA

• Russian River Winegrowers

This podcast is brought you by Black Dog Consulting.

Wine has been made since Antiquity; Kings, Queens, and common folk alike have all Revered and Coveted it. Over the centuries, Vintners have carefully documented the eccentricities. This activity persists today.

Joining forces with the Cadre of Consultants and Vendor Partners in the Black Dog Consulting Network gives the Vintner unparalleled access to Tribal knowledge, the best Support, and Products on the Market; often at lower cost. This comes with adjacent support from their Cadre of Consultant Agents; mostly at no cost to the end-user.

Most of the firms in the US are sole proprietors, whereas Black Dog Consulting operates as a "hive mind." This means if a situation arises where it is beyond the scope of expertise of your local agent, the rest of the cadre will address it and find a solution. They are a team of accomplished agents with a diverse background who are attempting to take a crowdsourced approach to your beverage science solutions.

This is a novel approach to wine consulting in the continental United States. You can reach them via email [email protected]

• @Blackdogconsultingwine

• @BetweenTwoBudsPodcast

• @TheDeliberateWinemaker

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features the features Garrett Buckland in a conversation about strategies to adjust farming winegrapes during a changing climate. Garrett, who has been on the podcast before, is a consulting viticulturist based in Napa, and one of the first people I call with difficult vineyard questions.

This podcast was recorded in July, 2020, a month before California suffered catastrophic fires across the state and affected nearly every winegrowing region on the Pacific Coast. Hindsight allows a perspective that reveals a glaring blind spot in our discussion of climate change. We never once mentioned fires nor smoke and yet that would become the defining element of the 2020 vintage. It was a part of climate change that we had under-appreciated in magnitude.

I do believe there is a great deal of valuable discussion of technical viticulture in this episode with Garrett. He came through on my request to outline strategies to adjust vineyard practices to maximize vine health, farm high quality grapes, and think about how to farm grapes in changing climate.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Vine Info

This podcast is brought you by Total Wine. Total Wine is a holiday Wonderland with over 8,000 wines, 3,000 spirits and 2,500 beers all in one place.  Awe-inspiring. But not intimidating. they over deliver on choice, expert help and low prices

There’s no better way to get into the holiday spirit than to walk into Total Wine’s Wonderland. With prices this low, you can afford to explore, be fearless in your curiosity.

Friendly guides will help find gifts for everyone on your list. Including yourself. 

Yes, you’ll find the first growths, the top shelfs and easy wines for tonight’s dinner. But they also give a voice and shelf space to small growers and distillers.

Need a gift idea? Put a bow on a bottle of Bordeaux and you’re done. Total Wine’s experts can help you discover highly rated Bordeaux and more. On a budget? In There are over 1,500 wines under $10—just the thing for gift exchanges.

Total Wine offers lots of easy ways to shop including online, in store or curbside pickup, same-day delivery and shipping. Go to totalwine.com to check out options available in your area.

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features a guru of American Pinot Noir. Founding winemaker at Kosta Browne, and now proprietor and winemaker at Cirq and CHEV, Michael Browne is continuing his craft of building hand-made Pinot Noir, and has written a newly published book documenting his life and wines. We sat down in the middle of a cold and windy vineyard to record our conversation the day before the book released. I enjoyed Michael’s book and the opportunity to sit down and dig further into his stories.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Pinot Rocks: A Winding Journey through Intense Elegance book by Michael Browne

• Cirq - Russian River Valley, CA

• CHEV - Russian River Valley, CA

• Kosta Browne - Sonoma CA

This podcast is brought you by Total Wine. Total Wine is a holiday Wonderland with over 8,000 wines, 3,000 spirits and 2,500 beers all in one place.  Awe-inspiring. But not intimidating. they over deliver on choice, expert help and low prices

There’s no better way to get into the holiday spirit than to walk into Total Wine’s Wonderland. With prices this low, you can afford to explore, be fearless in your curiosity.

Friendly guides will help find gifts for everyone on your list. Including yourself. 

Yes, you’ll find the first growths, the top shelfs and easy wines for tonight’s dinner. But they also give a voice and shelf space to small growers and distillers.

From Lobster Mac & Cheese to Pineapple glazed ham, Total Wine & more’s experts have spot-on pairing recommendations 

Total Wine offers lots of easy ways to shop including online, in store or curbside pickup, same-day delivery and shipping. Go to totalwine.com to check out options available in your area.

If you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features the Steven Mirassou, who continues his family’s long legacy of making wine in California’s Livermore Valley. Our conversation traverses back and forth between Steven’s winemaking experience and an exploration of viticulture and wines from Livermore Valley. Livermore is part of California’s Central Coast, but at only 2K acres under vine it is a unique AVA nestled in the San Francisco Bay Area. Steven guides me through the vineyards of Livermore and describes how the different sites are suited to his three brands: Steven Kent, Mia Nipote, and Lineage.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• The Lineage Collection

• Steven Kent Winery, Livermore Valley

• Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association

   

This podcast is brought you by Wine Compliance Alliance. Ann Reynolds, who runs Wine Compliance Alliance has been on the podcast twice before. In Ep. 45 we discuss common compliance issues that wineries deal with and in Ep. 61 she has a solo episode where she covers the compliance items for starting a new winery.

Winery compliance. Bring it up to winery owners or their staff and you get either a completely blank look or a grimace of some sort. In other words winery compliance is a topic that is either very unfamiliar or very disliked. But yet, every winery is required to do it and can suffer serious consequences if they don't. Wine Compliance Alliance focuses on providing wineries with solutions to both of these areas of issue. If a winery has little familiarity with their compliance requirements our office can provide training assistance to get them up to speed to be able to manage it themselves. If a winery would prefer instead to have their files managed for them we’ve got you covered there too. Wine Compliance Alliance, Full throttle from grape to bottle.

Find out more at winecompliancealliance.com

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features the Steven Mirassou, who continues his family’s long legacy of making wine in California’s Livermore Valley. Our conversation traverses back and forth between Steven’s winemaking experience and an exploration of viticulture and wines from Livermore Valley. Livermore is part of California’s Central Coast, but at only 2K acres under vine it is a unique AVA nestled in the San Francisco Bay Area. Steven guides me through the vineyards of Livermore and describes how the different sites are suited to his three brands: Steven Kent, Mia Nipote, and Lineage.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• The Lineage Collection

• Steven Kent Winery, Livermore Valley

• Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association

   

This podcast is brought you by Wine Compliance Alliance. Ann Reynolds, who runs Wine Compliance Alliance has been on the podcast twice before. In Ep. 45 we discuss common compliance issues that wineries deal with and in Ep. 61 she has a solo episode where she covers the compliance items for starting a new winery.

Winery compliance. Bring it up to winery owners or their staff and you get either a completely blank look or a grimace of some sort. In other words winery compliance is a topic that is either very unfamiliar or very disliked. But yet, every winery is required to do it and can suffer serious consequences if they don't. Wine Compliance Alliance focuses on providing wineries with solutions to both of these areas of issue. If a winery has little familiarity with their compliance requirements our office can provide training assistance to get them up to speed to be able to manage it themselves. If a winery would prefer instead to have their files managed for them we’ve got you covered there too. Wine Compliance Alliance, Full throttle from grape to bottle.

Find out more at winecompliancealliance.com

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode of the Podcast is a Zoom recording with Quinn Roberts who is the Master Cooper at Tonnellerie O in Benicia, California. The Zoom platform allowed for sharing of photos to support the discussion of oak forests and coopering oak barrels for winemaking so we made the podcast into a Youtube video as well. The conversation traverses from the management of oak trees and forests, the differences in oak between France and the Midwest region of the US, timing and methods for tree selection, the processing of stave wood, seasoning, coopering, toasting and finishing barrels that are then ready to be filled in a winery. Quinn is a tremendous source of knowledge when it comes to crafting barrels to fit a full range of wine styles, especially given his deep understanding of European wines.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Tonnellerie O - Benicia, California

• CreativeOak.com - Oak alternative division of Tonnellerie O

• This episode one Youtube

This podcast is brought you by  the hope that you are keeping safe and healthy. if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show using the Paypal link. Thank you for the support!!

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features the father and son team crafting Cabernet franc and Chenin blanc wines led by long-time Napa Valley baller, John Skupny, who first crushed grapes for their brand, Lang and Reed, in 1993. Reed Skupny joined his father after working for several wineries in France and Napa Valley, and was the driving force to bring Chenin blanc into their small portfolio. I used to work with Reed when he was at Antica Napa Valley and I was working for Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, but had recently had the chance to get to know John. We recorded this podcast with social-distancing in mind and it leaves the audio quality a bit rough at moments, but John and Reeds’ stories are more than worth it.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Lang and Reed Napa Valley

• Youtube’s Lang and Reed Channel

• John Skupny on The Taste with Doug Shafer podcast

• Pahlmeyer Napa Valley

• Antica Napa Valley

• Bevan Cellars Napa Valley

This podcast is brought you by Fruition Sciences. At the start of 2020 we know what is on your mind. As winemakers and winegrowers we are thinking about keeping our vines healthy while producing consistent quality yields year in and year out. However, we know that you are also considering the effects of climate change on our vineyards and wines and the improved management of our natural resources like water.

We have great news. Now, we, winegrowers and winemakers, can use a compelling method that allows us to keep our vines healthy and improve yield and grape quality while also saving water and reducing costs. We are happy to inform you that this is possible. The method is called 360viti-Water Pilot and is base on sap flow sensors technology.

This impressive technology developed by Fruition Sciences is based on more than ten years of experience show stunning results in California, Australia, and France. The method measures and monitors the transpiration rate of your vines so you can make sure that they receive the right amount of water at the optimal time. You will precisely know when your vines need water so that you can respond appropriately, keeping them healthy and performing at their optimal levels. Because this measurement is plant based, you will be able to target and address the needs of the specific vines or areas of your vineyards, improving the quality of your grapes when it comes time to harvest.

Given the latest heatwave episodes this will be a necessary measure to keep your vines safe. Please contact the Fruition Sciences team today. Together we will change the way we use our precious resources while taking care of our beloved vines.

To learn more visit fruitionsciences.com or you can also send an email to [email protected] or find us on Linkedin. We are also available by phone at 888-295-5187.

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Ron Alvarado, who is one of the founders of Ficks Hard Seltzer. Our conversation covers Fick’s start up based in San Francisco, the early days of low-sugar mixers, the path to learning fermentation with orange juice, flavor stability in cans, the warfare of store shelf placements, and the quest to find and produce real fruit flavors in their seltzers.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Ficks Real Fruit Hard Seltzer

• Drizly Online Beer, Wine, and Liquor delivery

   

If you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show using the Paypal link. Thank you for the support!!

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

This episode’s guest is Dusty Nabor, who is based out of Ventura County in Southern California. Using fruit from Paso Robles, Santa Ynez, and the Santa Rita Hills Dusty has built a set of brands and is often a resource I call when I have questions about making Grenache. In our conversation we cover Dusty’s efforts to learn winemaking, how he has used both grapes and bulk wines to build his brands, and his approach to judging ripeness on the vine.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Dusty Nabor Wines - Paso Robles, Santa Ynez and the Santa Rita Hills

• Bolt To Wines from Karin Langer

• NSO Wines - No Special Occasion

• Coastal Vineyard Care

This podcast is brought you by Wine Compliance Alliance. Ann Reynolds, who runs Wine Compliance Alliance has been on the podcast twice before. In Ep. 45 we discuss common compliance issues that wineries deal with and in Ep. 61 she has a solo episode where she covers the compliance items for starting a new winery.

Winery compliance. Bring it up to winery owners or their staff and you get either a completely blank look or a grimace of some sort. In other words winery compliance is a topic that is either very unfamiliar or very disliked. But yet, every winery is required to do it and can suffer serious consequences if they don't. Wine Compliance Alliance focuses on providing wineries with solutions to both of these areas of issue. If a winery has little familiarity with their compliance requirements our office can provide training assistance to get them up to speed to be able to manage it themselves. If a winery would prefer instead to have their files managed for them we’ve got you covered there too. Wine Compliance Alliance, Full throttle from grape to bottle.

Find out more at winecompliancealliance.com

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Dr. Anita Oberholster, Associate Specialist Cooperative Extension in Enology from UCDavis. Anita did her PhD at the Australian Wine Research Institute and earned her degree from Adelaide University. As extension enologist at UCDavis, Anita brings research and developments from the Dept. of Viticulture and Enology to the wine industry and continually interacts with its stakeholders. Our conversation covers Red Blotch Associated Virus, winery sanitation, and smoke taint. In order to reach the industry while we are sheltering in place the Dept of V&E has created and new program with former podcast guest, Dr Dave Block, called “Office Hours with Dave and Anita” and will be held over Zoom on Tuesdays from 2-3 PM PST.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Anita’s webpage at UCDavis

• Office Hours with Dave and Anita

This podcast is brought you by Scott Laboratories -- For over 85 years, Scott Labs has been the leader in providing the North American wine and beverage industry with innovative solutions and products, including fermentation goods, filtration and filter media, equipment, packaging and cork products, and laboratory services. They recently published their annual Winemaking Handbook which is now available for download. Hard copies are also available to be shipped upon request.

• 2020 Winemaking Handbook

• Place your harvest order at www.scottlab.com or by calling (707) 765-6666

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal link at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what are the most essential operations in a winery during this COVID19 pandemic, which has limited all of our ability to staff the cellar. Given that I work alone in the cellar at Seavey, I asked Tyler Thomas, from Dierberg and Star Lane Vineyards, to synthesize his thinking on this topic from the viewpoint of a medium-sized winemaking operation.  In the end I put in my two cents regarding the need to think about how we need to think and plan for similar reductions in capabilities during the harvest season.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Dierberg and Star Lane Vineyards - Santa Rita Hills, Santa Maria, and

• Winemakers that have quarantine wine for you

This podcast is brought you by the hope that you are keeping safe and healthy. if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show using the Paypal link. Thank you for the support!!

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

This episode is my opportunity to answer questions that have been submitted by listeners. As is my style the answers are a practical approach addressing how I would think about these situations in my own cellar. Thank you to all the people who have emailed their questions and also sent them in from my Instagram page.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Winemakers that have quarantine wine for you

• Principles and Practices of Winemaking book Amazon Associates link

• “The Bay Area is drinking 42% more alcohol than usual while sheltering in place” article by Esther Mobley in the SF Chronicle

   

This podcast is brought you by the hope that you are keeping safe and healthy. if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show using the Paypal link. Thank you for the support!!

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

This episode features Julien Fayard, who is a consulting winemaker based in Napa. Julien was raised in Provence, trained in Bordeaux, and since moving to California in 2003 has built his own brand, Azur Wines, and is now consulting for an impressive list of clients. We recorded this podcast at Covert Estate, a beautiful winery built under a hillside that Julien constructed with his business partners. Our conversation ranges from Julien’s background, native fermentations, rosé winemaking, and the key aspects of working with clients to support their projects.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Fayard Winemaking - Napa Valley

• Azur Wines

• Covert Estate - Napa Valley

• Nicholson Jones - Napa Valley

• Atelier Melka - Napa Valley

• ETS Laboratories

• Hendry Ranch Wines - Napa Valley

   

This podcast is brought you by the love of the good lord and my wife reading the intro. if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show using the Paypal link. Thank you for the support!!

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

This episode features Patrick Rue, founder of Erosion Wine Co, who I first met when he was part of the Deep Winemaking course in August, 2019. Prior to Patrick’s winemaking venture he was the founder and brewer at The Bruery in Orange County. Our conversation covers Patrick’s founding and growth of The Bruery, their numerous products, blurring the lines between beer and wine, flavor additive management, his winemaking vision for flavor targets, aluminum crowlers, key kegs, and the two taprooms that Erosion is now opening in Napa.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Erosion Wine co - Napa Valley

• The Bruery - Orange County, CA

• Offshoot Beer Co

• Berkeley Fermentation Science

• Pulse Air Wine Cap Management

• Key Keg - PET wine dispensing keg

   

This podcast is brought you by the love of the good lord and my wife reading the intro. Please consider donating to the podcast using the Paypal link at the bottom of the Homepage.

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Jasper Riddle, proprietor and winemaker for Noisy Water Winery in Ruidoso, New Mexico. I was able to meet Jasper when he was in town for the Unified Symposium trade show in February 2020. After being founded in 2009 Noisy Water is a winery that Jasper took from his parents’ early venture and built into a medium-sized winery that now has five tasting rooms in New Mexico. During our conversation, Jasper mentions some of the challenges in growing grapes in New Mexico but spends most of his energy describing the opportunities that he sees in his area and around the state.

This episode features Tim Colla, Winemaker for Saintsbury, in Carneros, Napa. Tim and I had the chance to talk about Chardonnay and Pinot Noir production as told through the history of Saintsbury’s presence and experimentation in the Carneros in south Napa Valley.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Saintsbury, Napa Valley

• Chappellet, Napa Valley

• Seavey Vineyard, Napa Valley

This podcast is brought you by Fruition Sciences. At the start of 2020 we know what is on your mind. As winemakers and winegrowers we are thinking about keeping our vines healthy while producing consistent quality yields year in and year out. However, we know that you are also considering the effects of climate change on our vineyards and wines and the improved management of our natural resources like water.

We have great news. Now, we, winegrowers and winemakers, can use a compelling method that allows us to keep our vines healthy and improve yield and grape quality while also saving water and reducing costs. We are happy to inform you that this is possible. The method is called 360viti-Water Pilot and is base on sap flow sensors technology.

This impressive technology developed by Fruition Sciences is based on more than ten years of experience show stunning results in California, Australia, and France. The method measures and monitors the transpiration rate of your vines so you can make sure that they receive the right amount of water at the optimal time. You will precisely know when your vines need water so that you can respond appropriately, keeping them healthy and performing at their optimal levels. Because this measurement is plant based, you will be able to target and address the needs of the specific vines or areas of your vineyards, improving the quality of your grapes when it comes time to harvest.

Given the latest heatwave episodes this will be a necessary measure to keep your vines safe. Please contact the Fruition Sciences team today. Together we will change the way we use our precious resources while taking care of our beloved vines.

To learn more visit fruitionsciences.com or you can also send an email to [email protected] or find us on Linkedin. We are also available by phone at 888-295-5187.

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode’s guest is Adam Casto from Gandona Winery in Napa. We had a great conversation ranging on topics from winemaking philosophy, the Antipodes (I had to google it too), and the new ways Adam would like to gather and organize both vineyard and winemaking observational data with analytical tracking.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Gandona Winery, Napa Valley

• Dana Estates, Napa Valley

• Laing Limit, work by Australian psychologist David Laing reporting that people can only pick out by smell four or less distinct smells from a complex mixture. The book The Nose Knows by Avery Gilbert covers this is more depth.

This podcast is brought you by Wine Compliance Alliance. Ann Reynolds, who runs Wine Compliance Alliance has been on the podcast twice before. In Ep. 45 we discuss common compliance issues that wineries deal with and in Ep. 61 she has a solo episode where she covers the compliance items for starting a new winery.

Winery compliance. Bring it up to winery owners or their staff and you get either a completely blank look or a grimace of some sort. In other words winery compliance is a topic that is either very unfamiliar or very disliked. But yet, every winery is required to do it and can suffer serious consequences if they don't. Wine Compliance Alliance focuses on providing wineries with solutions to both of these areas of issue. If a winery has little familiarity with their compliance requirements our office can provide training assistance to get them up to speed to be able to manage it themselves. If a winery would prefer instead to have their files managed for them we’ve got you covered there too. Wine Compliance Alliance, Full throttle from grape to bottle.

Find out more at winecompliancealliance.com

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Frederick Ammons, Winegrower for Rudd Estate in the Napa Valley. Our conversation covers Frederick’s education in Bordeaux, his early jobs in California, his stint at Seavey Vineyard, the building of The Napa Valley Reserve where he made wine for nine years, and his current position at Rudd Wines. We spend the majority of our time discussing philosophical and practical viticulture touching upon organic and biodynamic practices. The central role of robust ecology and biological diversity both in vineyard soils and wine fermentation is a core theme that weaves throughout all of Frederick’s work in the vineyard and in the winery.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Rudd Estate, Napa Valley

• Dry Creek Vineyard, Sonoma Valley

• Seavey Vineyard, Napa Valley

• The Napa Valley Reserve

• Plumpjack Winery, Napa Valley

• Kelli White’s, Guild Somm article on biodynamic farming. Photo of the weed crimping roller used at Hanzell Vineyard

• Wine yeast DNA Fingerprinting analysis from ETS Labs

• Article - Soil Fertility and Biodiversity in Organic Farming - Mader, et. al.

• Book’s mentioned

  • Le sol, la terre, et les champs, pour retrouver une agriculture saine by Claude and Lydia Bourguignone

  • Vinification et Fermentation : Les Méthodes biologiques appliquées à la vinification et à l'oenologie by Max Leglise

  • La vigne et le vin entre Ciel et Terre by Max Leglise

This podcast is brought you by Scott Laboratories -- For over eighty years, Scott Laboratories has been the leader in providing the North American specialty beverage industry with innovative solutions and products including fermentation goods, filtration media, equipment, packaging products and laboratory services. Scott Labs is introducing their new website, which features online ordering, order history, and a technical library. They can be reached at 707 765-6666.

• Scott Laboratories new website

• Managing Diacetyl from their technical library 

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Chris Tynan, who is the winemaker at Cliff Lede Vineyards in Napa. Chris also has his own small brand, Christopher Tynan Wines. Our conversation covers Chris’ background, high-end Cabernet production, and a couple of varietals that haven’t had much attention to date on the podcast, Sauvignon vert, and Semillon

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Cliff Lede Vineyards - Napa Valley

• Christopher Tynan Wines - Napa Valley

• Colgin Cellars - Napa Valley

• Blankiet Estate - Napa Valley

• Cain Vineyard and Winery - Napa Valley

• Youtube Video interview with Henri Jayer

This podcast is brought you by 360viti, powered by Fruition Sciences -- You may already know them as the pioneer in sap flow sensors and vineyard monitoring. In Episode 72 of podcast Thibaut Scholasch from Fruition Sciences talked in-depth about sap flow monitoring and the viticultural services that he and his team have developed.

Now, based on 10 years of vineyard measurements and data science expertise, Fruition Sciences launched 360viti. 360viti is a unique web platform to help winegrowers quickly and easily analyze vineyard data, while storing it all in one central location!

The platform centralizes data and presents clear dashboards, maps and graphs, information such as weather data, fruit analysis numbers, and aerial imagery maps. Its features enables you to save time and be more precise by compiling and analyzing multiple variables year after year.

360viti supports your experience and observations to secure your decisions, work better as a team and improve your vineyard performances. To learn more call 888-295-5187

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode’s guest is Chris Carpenter, who is making wines in Napa for Jackson Family Wines and is overseeing Cabernet and Bordelais varietals grown on several of Napa’s mountain AVA’s such that he has become known as a mountain winemaker. Our conversation covers the mountain wines being produced from Mount Veeder, Spring Mountain, Howell Mountain, and Diamond Mountain AVA’s, but also Cardinale, the flagship Cabernet that is a blend from throughout Napa including the valley floor. Chris describes his roots in Chicago, the path to becoming a winemaker, his site-specific approaches for tannin management and his involvement in a winemaking project in McLaren Vale, Australia.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Brands that Chris makes for Jackson Family wines

  • Cardinale Napa Valley

  • Lokoya Napa Valley

  • La Jota Vineyard Co - Howell Mountain

  • Mt Brave - Mt Veeder

  • Hickinbotham Vineyard - McLaren Vale, South Austrailia

This podcast is brought you by Wine Compliance Alliance. Ann Reynolds, who runs Wine Compliance Alliance has been on the podcast twice before. In Ep. 45 we discuss common compliance issues that wineries deal with and in Ep. 61 she has a solo episode where she covers the compliance items for starting a new winery.

Winery compliance. Bring it up to winery owners or their staff and you get either a completely blank look or a grimace of some sort. In other words winery compliance is a topic that is either very unfamiliar or very disliked. But yet, every winery is required to do it and can suffer serious consequences if they don't. Wine Compliance Alliance focuses on providing wineries with solutions to both of these areas of issue. If a winery has little familiarity with their compliance requirements our office can provide training assistance to get them up to speed to be able to manage it themselves. If a winery would prefer instead to have their files managed for them we’ve got you covered there too. Wine Compliance Alliance, Full throttle from grape to bottle.

Find out more at winecompliancealliance.com

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

If it were possible to have a riveting conversation about filtering wine, there are very few people I’d consider. Scott labs has such an enigmatic guru. Maria Peterson is a filtration specialist, one who has the uncommon ability to translate technical expertise into practical winery practice. This is a sponsored episode—something I arranged with Scott Labs in order to support the podcast and extend that as a technical resource for filtration, one of the most difficult aspects of commercial winemaking. My conversation with Maria covers the wine filtration technology available today with a focus on small winery production. We get out into the technical weeds discussing enzyme usage, temperature influences, filter regeneration, NTU vs. filterability, surface area calculations and basic equipment evaluations. Make sure and check out the resources; videos and articles that Scott Labs has available on their website.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Filtration Articles and Protocols from Scott Labs

• Lenticular Filter Setup and Usage Video from Scott Labs

• Cartridge Filter Setup and Usage Video from Scott Labs

• Sheet Filter Setup and usage Video from Scott Labs

• NTU vs. Wine Filterability Index article by Paul Bowyer

• Scott Labs contact: [email protected] or 707 (765)-6666

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

Straying from the usual focus on grapes, this episode dips into cider and the opportunities to be explored from fermenting apples. Andrew Byers is the Head Cidermaker at Finnriver Farm in Chimacum, Washington (on the Olympic Penninsula, west of Seattle). I met Andrew while moderating the Creativity in Fermentation panel during the Scott Lab’s Ferment event. Even for those who might not have a specific interest in cider making, the parallels with winemaking, especially marketing, present a new perspective for winemakers and wineries seeking to tell the stories of their brands and production methods. This conversation between and myself covers all of the basics of cider production and gets deep into technical territory including phenology, chemical analysis, production logistics, physical stability, microbiological stability, and a thorough description of the process for crafting a keeved cider.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Finnriver Farm and Cidery - Chimacum, Washington

• Eve’s Cidery - Van Etten, New York

• Malus - A quarterly print zine exploring the philosophical and cultural underpinnings of American cider

This podcast is brought you by  Fruition Sciences, 360viti and a brand new technology called the Bacchimeter developed by the company Force A. The Bacchimeter provides a qualitative vision of the vineyard through quantitative measurements of anthocyanins, it brings a new mindset to vineyard management.

Do you want perfect color and a beautiful aromatic profile for your wines? Do you want insights to be more precise for tasting within your block? Do you need to schedule vineyard blocks for selective harvesting and find the optimal harvest date? Do you want to measure and enhance the impact of your wine growing practices on fruit color to make better vineyard management and harvesting decisions? Bacchimeter is the perfect, non-destructive sampling and mapping tool for you. It brings simple, real-time information related to phenolic maturity directly from the vineyard block.

To learn more visit their website at 360viti.com, or call 888-295-5187

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features the first Oregon winemaker on the podcast. Anthony King is currently making wine for a number of small brands under as part of King Wine Consulting, he is the general manager at Carlton Winemakers Studio in Carlton, Oregon where he also produces his own brand, Ratio Wines. Anthony and I spent most of our time talking about Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, as he has spent his winemaking career with those varietals starting at Acacia Vineyard in Napa and Lemelson Vineyards in the Williamette Valley. Our conversation gets into the weeds on topics such as Oregon’s grapegrowing, wine acidity, and managing reduction in barrel.

This episode features Amanda McCrossin who is a sommelier, wine director, and the creator of @sommvivant. As the Wine Director for Press Restaurant in St Helena, Amanda oversees a tremendous list of Napa Valley wines and serves as an ambassador for the wines on offer and the stories of their producers. On top of Amanda’s work at Press she has leveraged her access to the valley’s wineries in order to create one of contemporary wine’s most prominent Youtube channels covering wine basics, in-depth video profiles of wineries, and her professional experiences as a sommelier. My interview with Amanda set out to understand what issues wine consumers are concerned with and the best practices for winemakers to build relationships with sommeliers and wine buyers. Make sure and check out Amanda’s library of work on both her Youtube and Instagram channels.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Press Restaurant, St Helena, Napa Valley

• @sommvivant Youtube channel

• @sommvivant Instagram

• Food & Wine’s Liquid Diet article featuring Amanda

• Wine Writers Mentioned

  • Kelli White

  • Karen MacNeil

  • Esther Mobley

  • Jancis Robinson

• Winemakers Mentioned

  • Tony Arcudi

  • Josh Phelps

  • Dan Petrowski

This podcast is brought you by Fruition Sciences, 360viti and a brand new technology called the Bacchimeter developed by the company Force A. The Bacchimeter provides a qualitative vision of the vineyard through quantitative measurements of anthocyanins, it brings a new mindset to vineyard management.

Do you want perfect color and a beautiful aromatic profile for your wines? Do you want insights to be more precise for tasting within your block? Do you need to schedule vineyard blocks for selective harvesting and find the optimal harvest date? Do you want to measure and enhance the impact of your wine growing practices on fruit color to make better vineyard management and harvesting decisions? Bacchimeter is the perfect, non-destructive sampling and mapping tool for you. It brings simple, real-time information related to phenolic maturity directly from the vineyard block.

To learn more visit their website at 360viti.com, or call 888-295-5187

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Leigh Meyering the proprietor of MyEnologist, a small commercial enological laboratory that she runs as a family business in Napa. Our conversation covers Leigh’s winemaking background, the harvest experience in France that seeded the idea for a small, independent enology lab, and the development of the business, which also provides consulting services and a winery supply shop. I was attracted to MyEnologists service packages because all samples receive a full panel of analysis at low costs. I’ve outsourced nearly all of my own winemaking labs to MyEnologist and believe it might be a great resource for the portion of the podcast audience that is looking for reliable analyses.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• MyEnologist

• Spring Mountain Vineyard, Napa Valley

• Charles Krug Winery, Napa Valley

• WineScan from Foss Analytics

• vinoBRETT by Invisible Sentinel

• Laffort Enological supplier

• Ideology Cellars, Napa Valley

• Golden State Overnight, Claifornia shipping

   

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Dr. David R Montgomery, professor from the University of Washington and author of three books that shine a light on the often-overlooked role of biology underground and the connections and influence these microbia have with plants. David is a professor of geomorphology at the UW and together with his wife, Anne Bicklé, has ventured beyond the inorganic confines of soil science in authoring books and speaking to a wide range of agricultural industries regarding the value of conservation agriculture. i heard David speak at a Napa Valley Grapegrowers seminar earlier this year and wanted to share his research and experience with the Inside Winemaking listeners.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Dig2Grow.com David Montgomery and Anne Bicklé’s website

• Microbial Terrior for Winegrapes journal article from Gilbert et. al.

• From Tree to Shining Tree podcast from RadioLab

This podcast is brought you by 360viti, powered by Fruition Sciences -- You may already know them as the pioneer in sap flow sensors and vineyard monitoring. In Episode 72 of podcast Thibaut Scholasch from Fruition Sciences talked in-depth about sap flow monitoring and the viticultural services that he and his team have developed.

Now, based on 10 years of vineyard measurements and data science expertise, Fruition Sciences launched 360viti. 360viti is a unique web platform to help winegrowers quickly and easily analyze vineyard data, while storing it all in one central location!

The platform centralizes data and presents clear dashboards, maps and graphs, information such as weather data, fruit analysis numbers, and aerial imagery maps. Its features enables you to save time and be more precise by compiling and analyzing multiple variables year after year.

360viti supports your experience and observations to secure your decisions, work better as a team and improve your vineyard performances. To learn more call 888-295-5187

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Brett Weis, who is the Associate Winemaker for ElevenEleven Wines in Napa. Beyond making the full portfolio of wine for ElevenEleven Brett is managing the custom crush clients that have their wines produced at ElevenEleven. Our conversation covers his background, the ElevenEleven vineyards and wines, the ar throughout the winery, tips for working in as a custom crush client, and the aromatherapy room at ElevenEleven.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Eleven Eleven Wines, Napa Valley

• Antica Napa Valley

• Groth Vineyards and Winery, Napa Valley

• Mountain Tides Wine

• Innovint cloud based winemaking software

   

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

The guest for this episode is one of the most industrious and deep-thinking winemakers for whom I’ve had the opportunity to sit down and explore their winemaking brain. Tim Milos is a winemaking consultant and through his various projects is all over California, Oregon, and has experience with more varietals than anyone on the podcast to date. Our conversation gets into the weeds on technical aspects of extended maceration, ideal varietals for natural winemaking, the merits of racking, Tim’s organizational strategy, and problem-fermentation management.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Tank Garage Winery, Calistoga, CA

• Immortal Estate, Sonoma, CA

• Bounty Hunter Rare Wine and Spirits

• T-Vine Winery, Napa, CA

• Esther Mobley’s mentioned article from The San Francisco Chronicle

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

The guest for this episode is Jenny Heinzen, who runs a real estate business in Paso Robles, California, focused on vineyard and winery sales. Jenny’s real estate services span both residential and commercial properties. I wanted to talk with Jenny about issues buyers and sellers should be prepared for when buying or selling vineyards and/or wineries. Jenny works with her husband, Randy Heinzen from Ep. 86, to help clients maneuver through the technical aspects of vineyard due diligence. Randy makes a cameo in this episode when we wade into those technical land and viticultural issues.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Jenny Heinzen Real Estate

• One of Jenny’s listings - 320 acres with 74 acres of planted grapes in Paso

• Vineyard Professional Services, Paso Robles, California

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Matt Iaconis of the husband and wife team that is Brick and Mortar Wines. Our conversation covers the development of Brick and Mortar, the winemaking decisions that accompany its stylistics goals, and then focuses on the process and equipment involved in packaging wine into aluminum cans. Matt is also a winemaker with Naked Wines. His description of working with Naked Wines is a great accompaniment to my earlier podcast with the folks from Naked (Ep. 65). Matt and his wife, Alexis, are currently developing Delta Wines, which is a brand dedicated to supporting the environmental organizations they care about. Each purchased bottle of Delta Wines will have $1 donated to those environmental organizations.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Brick and Mortar Wines

• Matt’s Instagram video of canning Brick and Mortar Wines

• Antica Napa Valley

• Joullian Vineyards and Winery - Carmel, California

• The Restaurant at Meadowood - Napa, CA

• Cape Mentelle, Margaret River, Australia

• Ball Corporation Food Technical Services - For canning

• Delta Wines - website forthcoming

• Naked Wines - Link includes $100 off upon sign up

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This podcast is the third installment where I answer winemaking and vineyard questions that have been submitted by email. If you would like to submit a question, please send them to [email protected].

Sign-ups for Deep Winemaking are now open. If you are interested in coming to Napa to learn technical winemaking for three days in August, please check out further details here. These events are a lot of fun for beginners and competent winemakers alike.

This podcast is brought you by TheOakLab.com, a new division of Scott Laboratories dedicated to oak infusion products. The Oak Lab™ was founded with the vision of changing the perspective of the oak infusion market by developing and embracing new technologies, and re-imagining the process of product trials, selection, and application. Their line of premium quality oak infusion products is paired with a revolutionary process for bench trials and the ability to create unique, customized blends based on your wines. 

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Randy Heinzen, who is the owner and president of Vineyard Professional Services (VPS), which is a vineyard farming and consulting company based in Paso Robles, California. VPS currently manages over 2,400 acres in Monterey, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties and has designed and developed over fifty properties in the last twenty years. I met Randy years ago when we working working with a shared vineyard in Napa. Our conversation covers Randy’s full professional background, including his time managing To Kalon, Dr Crane and the other northern Napa properties for Beckstoffer Vineyards. We also spent time discussing compost tea brewing and use in grapegrowing and Randy’s experience in sourcing the healthiest possible grapevines from commercial nurseries.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Vineyard Professional Services, Paso Robles

• Beckstoffer Vineyards

• Saintsbury, Napa Valley

Every day I drive by Shafer Vineyards (twice) and never fail to slow down in order peer into that special sloping set of vineyards within the Stags Leap District where the hillsides graduate from difficult-to-grow-grapes to upright cliffs. In 2018 Doug and his team at Shafer began producing “The Taste with Doug Shafer” podcast and that presented the opportunity for me to connect with him and explore this small part of Napa Valley. In preparing for this podcast I found and read Doug’s book, A Vineyard in Napa, which was published in 2012 and captures the first forty years of Shafer Vineyards’ History. Our conversation weaves through Doug’s experiences in making wine, running Shafer Vineyards, writing his book, hosting his podcast, and includes very helpful advice for winemakers on marketing trips.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Shafer Vineyards, Napa Valley

• The Taste with Doug Shafer Podcast … iTunes linked here

• A Vineyard in Napa book by Doug Shafer with Andy Demsky published 2012

• From the Ground Up; Shafer Vineyards’ First 25 Years book by John Shafer published 2004

This podcast is brought you by HomeBrewIt.com -- Providing winemaking supplies for the hobbyist and small to mid size wineries

• Everything from small amounts of wine chemicals and shrink caps, to stainless steel tanks, presses, and commercial bottle fillers

• Largest selection of Winexpert Wine Kits on the web

• Real pricing, meaning we don't hide our shipping costs in the price of an item!

• Family owned and operated for over 20 years

• Customer service driven

• Use the code INSIDEWINEMAKING2018 at HomeBrewIt.com/inside-winemaking and get 10% off purchases of winemaking equipment

Molly is a good friend and has a tremendous wealth of viticultural knowledge from her years in commercial grape-growing both in California and Oregon. Now as the Vineyard Coordinator and Instructor, Molly is teaching the viticulture courses at Napa Valley College. This podcast covers the two topics I most wanted to discuss the with Molly. First: how to farm grapes in cooler, wetter climate that is Willamette Valley, and second: the V&E courses and degree programs that are available from Napa Valley College. Consider this the second episode in the viticulture and enology education series, following Ep. 82 with Dr David Block from UCDavis.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Viticulture and Winery Technology, Napa Valley College

• Chehalem Winery, Williamette Valley, OR

• Flora Springs Winery, Napa Valley

 This podcast is brought you by Scott Laboratories -- For over eighty years, Scott Laboratories has been the leader in providing the North American specialty beverage industry with innovative solutions and products including fermentation goods, filtration media, equipment, packaging products and laboratory services. Scott Labs is introducing their new website, which features online ordering, order history, and a technical library. They can be reached at 707 765-6666.

• Scott Laboratories new website

• Managing Diacetyl from their technical library

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

Near the end of the 2018 harvest I recorded this episode with Ben and Cameron after they had a chance to work with me at Seavey. I have known both of these guys since they came on the Deep Winemaking trip in 2017. Making the leap from a comfortable career to starting from the beginning as a winery intern requires significant sacrifice. Working a harvest is what I recommend to anyone who finds themselves pondering the first steps in winemaking. Ben and Cameron share their individual paths into wine and we have a frank conversation about the specifics of working in a winery for the first time.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• FEL Wines

• Savoy Vineyard, Anderson Valley

• VENJobs The UCDavis Bulletin Board for Winery Jobs

• Deep Winemaking

This podcast is brought you by HomeBrewIt.com -- Providing winemaking supplies for the hobbyist and small to mid size wineries

• Everything from small amounts of wine chemicals and shrink caps, to stainless steel tanks, presses, and commercial bottle fillers

• Largest selection of Winexpert Wine Kits on the web

• Real pricing, meaning we don't hide our shipping costs in the price of an item!

• Family owned and operated for over 20 years

• Customer service driven

• Use the code INSIDEWINEMAKING2018 at HomeBrewIt.com/inside-winemaking and get 10% off purchases of winemaking equipment

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Dr. Dave Block from UCDavis. Dave is the Chair of the Dept. of Enology and Viticulture, teaches both enology and chemical engineering courses, and directs a research lab. I did my graduate research in Dave’s lab and got to know him during our conversations about tinkering with Cabernet fermentor shapes and sizes. I went back to Davis in July, 2018 to record this podcast and find out what Dave is currently working on, what the Dept of V&E has going on, and to discuss the opportunities for online winemaking certificate program, which many podcast listeners consistently ask about.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Dr Dave Block’s UCDavis webpage

• Dept. of Viticulture and Enology, UCDavis

• UCDavis Online Winemaking Certificate Program

This podcast is brought you by Scott Laboratories -- For over eighty years, Scott Laboratories has been the leader in providing the North American specialty beverage industry with innovative solutions and products including fermentation goods, filtration media, equipment, packaging products and laboratory services. Scott Labs is introducing their new website, which features online ordering, order history, and a technical library. They can be reached at 707 765-6666.

• Scott Laboratories new website

• Managing Diacetyl from their technical library

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

The folks who put on the City of Riesling invited me to their events this past June in Traverse City, Michigan.  I was able to record this podcast featuring Hunter Smith from Frankland Estate, situated in the Frankland River Region of Western Australia, and is known for their Rielsings.  Hunter does a great job of describing this remote site, 70 km from the coast, where they are farming and certified organic.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Frankland Estate, Western Australia

• City of Riesling, Traverse City, Michigan

• South African Garden Weevil

This podcast is brought you by HomeBrewIt.com -- Providing winemaking supplies for the hobbyist and small to mid size wineries

• Everything from small amounts of wine chemicals and shrink caps, to stainless steel tanks, presses, and commercial bottle fillers

• Largest selection of Winexpert Wine Kits on the web

• Real pricing, meaning we don't hide our shipping costs in the price of an item!

• Family owned and operated for over 20 years

• Customer service driven

• Use the code INSIDEWINEMAKING2018 at HomeBrewIt.com/inside-winemaking and get 10% off purchases of winemaking equipment

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

The folks who put on the City of Riesling invited me to their events this past June in Traverse City, Michigan.  I was able to record this podcast featuring Fred Merwarth, who is the owner and winemaker at Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyards in the Finger Lakes region of New York.  Our conversation covers Fred's introduction to winemaking, the challenges of growing grapes in the Finger Lakes, the grapevine nursery, which is part of their business, and of course, their many bottlings of Riesling.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Herman J. Wiemer Vineyard, Dundee NY
• City of Riesling, Traverse City, Michigan
• Video of Fred from Skurnik Wines

This podcast is brought you by HomeBrewIt.com -- Providing winemaking supplies for the hobbyist and small to mid size wineries

• Everything from small amounts of wine chemicals and shrink caps, to stainless steel tanks, presses, and commercial bottle fillers
• Largest selection of Winexpert Wine Kits on the web
• Real pricing, meaning we don't hide our shipping costs in the price of an item!
• Family owned and operated for over 20 years
• Customer service driven
• Use the code INSIDEWINEMAKING2018 at HomeBrewIt.com/inside-winemaking and get 10% off purchases of winemaking equipment

The folks who put on the City of Riesling invited me to their events this past June in Traverse City, Michigan.  I was able to record this podcast featuring August Deimel, the winemaker for Keuka Spring Vineyards in the Finger Lakes.  August has a talent for storytelling and I was incredibly fortunate to connect with him on a whim.  Having attended Cornell's enology program, August provided a peek into east coast wine education and winemaking that was a novel perspective for this podcast.  His enthusiasm for the grape varietal Vignoles has me eager to try this potential long-lived wine.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Keuka Spring Vineyards - Finger Lakes, NY
• Vignoles
• City of Riesling, Traverse City, Michigan
• Adams County Winery, PA
• Handbook of Enology by Ribereau-Gayon
• Flextank

This podcast is brought you by HomeBrewIt.com -- Providing winemaking supplies for the hobbyist and small to mid size wineries

• Everything from small amounts of wine chemicals and shrink caps, to stainless steel tanks, presses, and commercial bottle fillers
• Largest selection of Winexpert Wine Kits on the web
• Real pricing, meaning we don't hide our shipping costs in the price of an item!
• Family owned and operated for over 20 years
• Customer service driven
• Use the code INSIDEWINEMAKING2018 at HomeBrewIt.com/inside-winemaking and get 10% off purchases of winemaking equipment

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

The folks who put on the City of Riesling invited me to their events this past June in Traverse City, Michigan.  I was able to record this podcast featuring the team behind Washington state's Eroica Riesling, produced by Ste Michelle Wine Estates.  Bob Bertheau is the head winemaker for Chateau Ste Michelle and Ernst Loosen is the proprietor of the Dr Loosen wines in Germany's Mosel Valley.  Since 1999 they have had a partnership focused on an iconic Riesling from Washington called Eroica.  More than just a discussion of the Eroica partnership, Bob and Ernst take me through the challenges and technical evolution that encompasses both Washington and Germany.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Eroica Riesling, Washington State
• Dr Loosen, Mosel Valley, Germany
• Chateau Ste Michelle - Washington State
• J Christopher Wines, Willamette Valley, Oregon
• Telmo Rodriguez, Rioja, Spain
• City of Riesling, Traverse City, Michigan

This podcast is brought you by HomeBrewIt.com -- Providing winemaking supplies for the hobbyist and small to mid size wineries

• Everything from small amounts of wine chemicals and shrink caps, to stainless steel tanks, presses, and commercial bottle fillers
• Largest selection of Winexpert Wine Kits on the web
• Real pricing, meaning we don't hide our shipping costs in the price of an item!
• Family owned and operated for over 20 years
• Customer service driven
• Use the code INSIDEWINEMAKING2018 at HomeBrewIt.com/inside-winemaking and get 10% off purchases of winemaking equipment

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

The folks who put on the City of Riesling invited me to their events this past June in Traverse City, Michigan.  I had a great time, was introduced to the many of the people who are at the helm of Michigan's viticulture, got to taste a lot more than just Riesling, and recorded six podcasts with winemakers from around the world.  This episode features Sean O'Keefe, Bryan Ulbrich, and Jay Briggs, three winemakers based in Traverse City.  These guys have been prominent in the skillful handling of Vinifera and modern winemaking that is demonstrating that wines from this special place within Michigan are world-class.  Halfway through the episode, Bob Bertheau from Chateau Ste Michelle in Washington state, slips in and widens the prospective of high-latitude winemaking.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Mari Vineyards - Traverse City, Michigan
• Left Foot Charley - Traverse City, Michigan
• 45 North Vineyard and Winery - Traverse City, Michigan
• Chateau Ste Michelle - Washington State
• City of Riesling, Traverse City, Michigan

This podcast is brought you by Tin Sheets Consulting -- a full service wine industry consulting firm that specializes in:

• Small winery business strategies
• Winery Start Up
• Winemaking
• Direct-to-Consumer business optimization
• Marketing and Branding
• Website and social media marketing

Tin Sheets is offering a free 30 min consultation for all new customers

"We recognize the varied nature of our clients needs and are happy to work with you to craft an affordable plan that fits your goals and needs."

• Learn more at www.tinsheets.com
• Contact us via e-mail - [email protected] or call 719-239-7071

"Tin Sheets Consulting was created as a result of our desire to help small businesses find the tools and solutions to reach their full potential. In 2009, we took over a struggling family business and through the implementation of new systems and fresh ideas, grew it to be profitable, and ultimately, successfully sold in 2016. Throughout our journey as small business owners, we discovered that what we enjoyed most about our work was designing the plans and developing the processes and systems to facilitate change and growth. Once we’d achieved this in our business, we realized that we wanted to help others find the same success.

As former small business owners, we understand the difficulties, obstacles, and sleepless nights that are part and parcel of owning your business. Drawing from our experiences and others that we’ve worked with, our mission is to provide you with the resources to reduce your stress and focus on what matters most, the growth and success of your business."

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This episode features Josh Jacobsen, who I met when he signed up for the forthcoming Deep Winemaking immersion trip in Napa this coming August.  Formerly of Facebook, Josh agreed to help walk me through all the important aspects of creating ads in a manner that would be specific for wineries.  Josh provides an incredible insight into creating, tracking, and evaluating the messages and costs that a winery could use on Facebook and Instagram ads.  

This ended up being a very technical podcast, not in the usually enological way, but as a guide for winemakers venturing into targeted marketing.  Josh patiently talks me through all the steps involved in creating a focused ad campaign, and the show notes include links to all the relevant tools within Facebook's Ad Manager platform.  For the portion of the Inside Winemaking audience that has any interest in social media marketing, this will be played on repeat. 

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Facebook links - Organization
  • Business Manager (hub to house FB/IG assets - pages/ad accounts & respective employee permissions, etc.
• Facebook links - Campaign Management
  • Ads Manager (where you create advertising campaigns/ad sets/ads)
  • Ads Reporting (where you monitor performance, this is a sub-section within Ads Manager)
  • Facebook Events Manager (to create a Pixel for website tracking, this is also a sub-section within Ads Manager)
  • Facebook Pixel Helper (to confirm your Pixel is working)
• Facebook links - Advertising Examples
  • Facebook Success Stories (Case Studies)
• Facebook links - Advertising Resource
  • Facebook Creative Hub (hub where you can create advertising mockups)
• Facebook Training
  • Facebook Blueprint (free online courses, 'certification' costs $)
• Facebook Campaign Management Resources
  • Facebook Marketing Partner Directory (agencies that specialize in social platforms)
• Brehm Vineyards - Josh's grape supplier
• Josh's contact [email protected]

I

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

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This episode features Michael Evans, who is the co-founder of the Vines of Mendoza in Argentina's Uco Valley.  After falling in love during a trip to Mendoza in 2004 Michael found a local partner and created a place for individual owners to build a wine starting right from vineyard plantings.  Under the guidance of full vineyard staff and consulting winemaker, Santiago Achaval, owners can choose the varietals and winemaking style in order to build their own personal wine.  Vines of Mendoza has grown to 1,500 acres and now features The Vines Resort and Spa, which includes the restaurant Siete Fuegos directed by acclaimed chef, Francis Mallmann.  Michael has an infectious passion for winemaking and the beauty of Mendoza, which made for a great podcast.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Vines of Mendoza, Argentina
• The Vines Resort and Spa, Mendoza Argentina
• Achaval Ferrer, Mendoza Argentina
• Contact Michael Evans by email [email protected]

I will be at City of Riesling in Traverse City, Michigan on June 10 and 11th.  If you love Riesling, please come check out the trade and consumer events that this event has to offer.  David Bos is billing City of Riesling as "The best white wine on earth in one of the prettiest places on earth."  

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

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This episode features Frederic Panaiotis, Chef de Cave for the Champagne house, Ruinart, which was founded in 1729 and lays claim to being the oldest maison in Champagne.  Frederic was on a press tour in the US and I had a chance to record this podcast with him in San Francisco.  Chef de Cave translates to Chief Winemaker, which is the post that Frederic serves at Ruinart.   As both a holder of tradition, and innovator Frederic is leading the technical team at Ruinart.  What i learned from our conversation is that this historic Champagne house is anything stagnant.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Ruinart, Champagne
• Veuve Cliquot, Champagne

I will be at City of Rielsing in Traverse City, Michigan on June 10 and 11th.  If you love Riesling, please come check out the trade and consumer events that this event has to offer.  David Bos is billing City of Riesling as "The best white wine on earth in one of the prettiest places on earth."  

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

This episode features Gabrielle Shaffer, who is the viticulturist and winery relations manager for Stagecoach Vineyard.  AT 600 planted acres across 175 distinct parcels, Stagecoach is one of the largest and most important vineyards in the Napa Valley.  Gabrielle works with 90 different winemakers, who are purchasing grapes from Stagecoach.  Gabrielle also has her own brand, Gamling and McDuck, which she founded with her partner, Adam McClary.  Gamling and McDuck, which features Chenin blanc and Cabernet Franc, is opening a tasting room in downtown Napa.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Stagecoach Vineyard
• Gamling and McDuck

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

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This episode features Thibaut Scholasch, founder and VP of Research and Development for Fruition Sciences.  Our conversation gets deep into the weeds of technical viticulture.  Fruition Sciences provides four technical vineyard services that track novel parameters within grapevines.  Thibaut discusses those services chronologically as they are pertinent during the growing season and describes how viticulturists and winemakers can utilize the data to optimize inputs such as irrigation and Nitrogen fertilization.  Thibaut has also created the Vintage Report seminar that is an annual gathering "connecting terroir and innovation."

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Fruition Sciences 
  • Physiocap
  • Dualex Nitrogen tracking
  • Sap flow
  • Multiplex Color/Anthocyanin tracking
• Vintage Report

This podcast is brought you by Hanna Instruments.  Makers of edge and Halo Wine pH meters, these tools are purpose built for winery environments.  The edge Wine pH meter is rich in features including using digital electrodes that can be swapped out anytime to switch to a different parameter, built in rechargeable battery, two USB ports, datalogging, automatic calibration, and Hanna’s exclusive calibration check feature that will alert the user to potential problems during calibration including when to clean the electrode and when the buffer might be contaminated. The edge Wine pH meter is a versatile pH meter for winemaking that be used as a benchtop, portable and even a wall mount to conserve space.

• Edge pH meter from Hanna Instruments
• HALO Wireless pH meter from Hanna Instruments

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

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This episode features Rudy Zuidema, who is the winemaker at Shadybrook Estate in Napa, where we met to record this episode.  Rudy also makes wine for other clients and is known for his experience with organic and biodynamic farming.  Under his own brand, Zuidema Wine Co., Rudy produces a single vineyard Grenache from the McGah Vineyard in Rutherford.  The second half of this podcast is focused on the winemaking technology known as flash detente process.  Rudy founded and operates Flash Wine Technologies, which provides flash detente services to wineries with grape lots as small as ten tons.  His flash detente operation is based out of Kunde Family Winery in Sonoma.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Shadybrook Estate, Napa
• Zuidema Wine Co., Napa
• Flash Wine Technologies, Sonoma
• Ehlers Estate, Napa
• Crimson clover for under-vine weed suppression
• Stella Natura, Biodynamic calendar
• Allora Vineyards, Napa
• Red Cap Vineyards, Howell Mountain
• Kent Price Wines, Napa
• Encanto Vineyards, Napa
• Kunde Family Winery, Sonoma

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

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This episode features Becky George, who is the winemaker for Kelly Fleming Wines in Napa.  Becky also produces her own wine under the Mojave Wines brand, which is a tribute to her childhood growing up in the Mojave Dessert.  Becky and I studied winemaking at UCDavis together 15 years ago, and used this podcast to catch up on all of Becky's work throughout the globe leading up to her current projects in Napa and Anderson Valley.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Kelly Fleming Wines, Napa
• Mojave Wines
• Artesa Vineyards and Winery, Napa
• Oenology and Viticulture and University of Adelaide, Australia
• Hanging Rock Winery, Australia
• Schramsberg Vineyards, Napa
• Domaine Meo-Camuzet, Burgundy
• Yarra Burn, Australia
• Williams Selyem, Sonoma
• Marcassin Vineyards, Sonoma
• Vine Hill Ranch, Napa
• Tule Irrigation Advisor

This podcast is brought you by Hanna Instruments.  Makers of edge and Halo Wine pH meters, these tools are purpose built for winery environments.  The edge Wine pH meter is rich in features including using digital electrodes that can be swapped out anytime to switch to a different parameter, built in rechargeable battery, two USB ports, datalogging, automatic calibration, and Hanna’s exclusive calibration check feature that will alert the user to potential problems during calibration including when to clean the electrode and when the buffer might be contaminated. The edge Wine pH meter is a versatile pH meter for winemaking that be used as a benchtop, portable and even a wall mount to conserve space.

• Edge pH meter from Hanna Instruments
• HALO Wireless pH meter from Hanna Instruments

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

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Pam Starr has been making the wines and building the Crocker and Starr brands since she first met with Charlie Crocker of the Crocker Estate in 1997.  This podcast covers the long story of how Pam built Crocker and Starr beginning from the handwritten business plan.  Associate Winemaker, Evyn Cameron discusses Crocker and Starr's portfolio, they ways how her and Pam evaluate Cabernet Franc fermentations, and some of the winery's cool new equipment.  Our conversation gets out into the weeds of Cabernet Franc, which is one of the varieties that Pam is most known for.  It was a ton of fun to have this Franc geek-fest and discuss a grape that doesn't often get the limelight.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Crocker and Starr, Napa 
• Spottswoode Estate Vineyard and Winery, Napa
• Carrick Winery, Central Otago, New Zealand
• Cliff Lede Vineyards, Napa
• Seavey Vineyard, Napa
• Gemstone Vineyard, Napa
• The Inside Winemaking Podcast

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

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Dave is a long time friend and agreed to help create the recent Winemaking Chemistry Series - pH and TA episode.  I asked Dave to be a part of that project because of his background in organic chemistry and his ability to describe where in winemaking those principles are most critical.  We ended up going deep on several aspects beyond wine acidity and I made the decision to make this a stand-alone episode.  Dave is currently the winemaker at Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery in Sonoma.  HIs experience making wine at a larger scale than most previous podcasts guests presented the opportunity to discuss the highest-leverage winemaking tools and the advances that oak suppliers have made available to wineries.  The final portion of Dave's episode is our discussion of pH and TA that was featured in the previous Chemistry Series podcast.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery, Sonoma
• Louis Latour, Burgundy
• Tahbilk, Victoria, Australia
• V. Sattui, Napa
• Acacia Vineyards
• Rosenblum Cellars

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

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This episode is the second in the chemistry series and focuses on the acidity elements of pH and TA (Ep. 56 was on sugar and alcohol).  Dave Nakaji, winemaker for Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery, came on the podcast to discuss how he integrates pH and TA as parameters to guide his decision-making all the way through from grapes to finished wine.  Beyond his experience with wine, Dave has a PhD in organic chemistry, and the rare ability to simplify the complex understanding of acid chemistry as it is applied to winemaking.  The next episode (Ep. 68) will feature Dave's full interview.  After Dave and my discussion of pH and TA, Casey Banach from Hanna Instruments joins the podcast to review the care and maintenance of pH meters.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Edge pH meter from Hanna Instruments
• HALO Wireless pH meter from Hanna Instruments
• Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery, Sonoma

This podcast is brought you by Hanna Instruments.  Makers of edge and Halo Wine pH meters, these tools are purpose built for winery environments.  The edge Wine pH meter is rich in features including using digital electrodes that can be swapped out anytime to switch to a different parameter, built in rechargeable battery, two USB ports, datalogging, automatic calibration, and Hanna’s exclusive calibration check feature that will alert the user to potential problems during calibration including when to clean the electrode and when the buffer might be contaminated. The edge Wine pH meter is a versatile pH meter for winemaking that be used as a benchtop, portable and even a wall mount to conserve space.

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This is the first episode of Inside Winemaking to leave the West Coast and learn about winemaking in Virginia.  Tyler Henley is the winemaker for Boxwood Estate and has been making wine in Virginia for four years, after an extensive background working at wineries in California and Chile.  Tyler and I worked together at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars ten years ago.  Thankfully we've kept in touch and were able to connect over Skype to record this episode.  Beyond Tyler's background we cover what makes viticulture unique and the challenges of growing grapes in Virginia.  Winemakers working in marginal climates have to get creative, are master problem-solvers, and their experiences can be of great value when shared.  

The audio in this episode is a bit rough, and I appreciate your patience during this discussion that was recorded over Skype.  

For those of you that are new to Inside Winemaking, having learned of it from Eric Asimov's mention in his NYTimes article, welcome.  Most podcasts are recorded in person, but I will record remote episodes from time to time when the opportunity presents.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Boxwood Estate Winery, Middleburg, VA
• Chappellet, Napa Valley
• Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Napa Valley
• Brassfield Estate, Lake County, CA
• Matetich Vineyards, Chile
• Blue Valley Vineyard and Winery, Delaplane, VA
• UCDavis wine jobs bulletin board  Site for winery jobs and internships
• Norton grape variety
• Power Harrow Youtube Video
• Casanel Vineyards and Winery, Leesburg, VA

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See the link below for the $100 gift card to sign up and shop

Shortly after the fires in northern California during the harvest of 2017, Naked Wines put together one of the coolest fire recovery fundraisers that I came across.  They have raised $832K as of January, 2018, and drawn support from their members worldwide.  That was the final impetus I needed to contact Naked and ask for an interview.  This episode features Alex Farber, who is a Wine Production Manager and also has her own wines brand within Naked, and Cari Roberts, who is Head of Acquisition and the woman I ran into at a hamburger stand before a tractor parade and convinced to green-light this podcast.  Alex's black lab, Maui, who is being raised to be a service dog for children with Type I diabetes, was also part of our podcast team.  

Alex, Cari, and I spend this entire episode discussing the questions I had about Naked Wines, both as a winemaker, and as a member "Angel."  It's my hope that someone listening to this podcast will then go on to pitch a winemaking project and become a winemaker within Naked.  Lastly, Cari hooked me up with a special URL so listeners of this podcast can get $100 to sign up and shop on the Naked Wines site.  I used this deal to get a case of mixed reds for $69 and then added a few bottles to get the tab up to $100 to qualify for shipping to be included (wineries can't legally use the words "free" and "shipping" for some odd reason).  I've already gone back to order more of a Spanish Tempranillo from Jorge Caus Pertegaz at $10.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Naked Wines
• $100 Gift Card to sign up and shop with Naked Wines
• How to become a winemaker with Naked Wines
• Naked's Fire Recovery Fund
• Pine Ridge Vineyards
• Diam Corks TCA-free corks

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This episode covers my recent journey through the creation of a new wine.  A pink wine.  From grapes to finished wine that is almost bottle-ready three months later, this foray into rose has been an exciting new winemaking challenge.  As an experiment I recorded this solo episode while driving home from work.  Because I'm a captive in the car during the recording, it's part harvest chronology and a bit stream of consciousness.  I hope that the winemaking decisions that I grappled with presents thought for others producing rose wines.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Philippe Melka and Megan Zobeck Native Fermentation Management podcast episode
• Zeke Neely on SO2 Managment podcast episode
• CELSTAB for tartrate stabilization from Laffort

As VP of Operations for White Labs in San Diego Neva Parker has extensive experience with the full spectrum of yeast that are cultured and available for the brewing industry.  While most known for their brewing yeast, White Labs also provides yeast and bacterial strains for producers of wine, sake, kombucha, and craft spirits.  Our conversation covers Neva's entry into yeast production, the array of available strains, pitching rates, and the various ways yeast influences flavor, fermentation kinetics, and alcoholic strength.  While Neva's expertise is focused on beer and brewing, there is much that winemakers can learn from this parallel industry that, because of its reliance on yeast, has sought a deep technical understanding of how producers can manage the cultures they provide. 

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• White Labs, based in San Diego
• Neva's Northern Brewer TV Youtube presentation on brewing yeast
• The Birth of Sake documentary - Available on Netflix

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As a wine lover and fan of podcasts I took the opportunity to record an episode with Chappy Cottrell, who is the man in charge of Cru Podcast.  Chappy recently moved to Healdsburg to work the 2017 harvest and is beginning a new position as a sommelier and wine buyer at the esteemed restaurant and resort that is Cavallo Point (at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge).  Our conversation ranges from Chappy's background, his goals in building a wine podcast, and what he has learned from the wine professionals that have shared their experience during his interviews.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Cru Podcast
• Recommended Cru Podcast Episodes
  • David Ramey - Ramey Wine Cellars
  • Marissa Ross
  • Andre Hueston Mack - Mouton Noir Wines
  • Brian McClintic - Master Sommelier
• Mila Family Vineyards - Sonoma
• Cavallo Point - Lodge at the Golden Gate
• Chef's Table - available on Netflix  

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This episode features the return of Ann Reynolds, who runs Wine Compliance Alliance, and was on the podcast previously in Episode 45.  As I was busy with grapes and harvest during the month of October, I asked Ann to record a solo episode and discuss an outline navigating the federal and California state winery permitting processes. Ann has vast experience in helping clients obtain both Alternating Permit and Custom Crush / Wholesale licensing, processes that are daunting to folks approaching either for the first time.  If you are in looking to start a wine brand, or know someone who is looking into it, this episode is a great beginning resource.  

This episode features the return of Ann Reynolds, who runs Wine Compliance Alliance, and was on the podcast previously in Episode 45.  As I was busy with grapes and harvest during the month of October, I asked Ann to record a solo episode and discuss an outline navigating the federal and California state winery permitting processes. Ann has vast experience in helping clients obtain both Alternating Permit and Custom Crush / Wholesale licensing, processes that are daunting to folks approaching either for the first time.  If you are in looking to start a wine brand, or know someone who is looking into it, this episode is a great beginning resource.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Wine Compliance Alliance, based in Napa, CA
• Wine Compliance Alliance Youtube page - great set of video resources
• TTB Permits Online
• Ann's original episode on Inside Winemaking Ep. 45
• Ann's Book The Inside Story of a Wine Label

QUESTIONS?  COMMENTS?  LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK: [email protected]

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This episode features John Caldwell, the maverick, the grape-grower, the vine-smuggler, the clonal researcher, the winemaker, and the story-teller.  John didn't plan to start his own winery, and neither did he plan to plant grapevines on his property in Coombsville when he first bought it.  Today Caldwell Vineyard is a thriving winery and also continues to sell grapes to other wineries.  This episode starts a little slow--John didn't even realize that I was recording an audio podcast--and then delves into chaos.  It's not for the faint of heart, or the easily offended.  I'm sorry?  You're welcome?  Strap in for this one!  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Caldwell Vineyard, Napa Valley
• Dunn Vineyards, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley
• Pahlmeyer, Napa Valley
• A Guide for Grapevine Clones for Professionals, John's book (written with Philippe Melka)
• Thyme Guard virucide made from essential thyme oil extract

This podcast is brought you by Musto Wine Grape Company.  Musto is the largest and oldest wine grape and juice distributor in New England, with their own vineyards in Suisun Valley, CA and long-standing contracts with growers in Lodi, Central Valley, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Washington State. Musto services all aspects of the industry for wineries and home winemakers. Whether you need grapes, juice, equipment, chemicals, or winemaking help, Musto is there for you.  Contact [email protected] for the full inventory of grapes and supplies.  

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• Having grown up on the Cinnabar Winery estate in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Caleb Mosely has worked with grapevines for nearly all his life. In this episode we talk about his upbringing at Cinnabar, school at CalPoly, work at Ridge Vineyards and then his vineyard positions in Napa before he moved to his current role as viticulturist with Mike Wolfe Vineyard Services.  We cover a ton of technical geekdom about rootstocks, weed management, and organic practices.  

  LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

  • Cinnabar Winery, Santa Cruz Mountains
  • Ridge Vineyards, Santa Cruz Mountains
  • Araujo / Eisele Vineyard, Napa Valley
  • Quintessa, Napa Valley
  • Sunseeker App on iTunes
  • Suppress organic herbicide
  • Napa Grape Growers Viticultural Best Practices Video Series

This podcast is brought you by Musto Wine Grape Company.  Musto is the largest and oldest wine grape and juice distributor in New England, with their own vineyards in Suisun Valley, CA and long standing contracts with growers in Lodi, Central Valley, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Washington State. Musto services all aspects of the industry for wineries and home winemakers. Whether you need grapes, juice, equipment, chemicals, or winemaking help, Musto is there for you.  Contact [email protected] for the full inventory of grapes and supplies.  

QUESTIONS?  COMMENTS?  LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK: [email protected]

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As the fourth generation in the Musto family business, Christina Musto is on this episode of the podcast to talk about what Musto Wine Grape Company has available for home and commercial winemakers in New England and to discuss her role as a founding member of Women Winemakers of Connecticut.  Musto is the largest and oldest wine grape and juice distributor in New England, with their own vineyards in Suisun Valley, CA and long-standing contracts with growers in Lodi, Central Valley, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Washington State. They also supply fresh grapes, frozen must and juice from Chile, Argentina, Italy, and South Africa.  

Christina, who has her Wine Business MBA from Sonoma State University, runs marketing and sales at Musto Wine Grape Company and has deep understanding in the details of helping customers make wines from Musto's inventory of grapes and equipment.  

OUR CONVERSATION COVERED:

• The history of Musto Wine Grape Company
• The protocols for shipping fresh grapes to Hartford
• A sampling of grape varieties available from the US, Chile, and South Africa
• The winemaking classes, free and otherwise, offered at Musto
• Written resources available at JuiceGrape.com
• Women Winemakers of Connecticut
• The winery scene in Connecticut

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Musto Wine Grape Company, Hartford CT
  • Musto's Youtube Page
  • Musto's Instagram Page
  • Musto Facebook Page
• Musto's Winemaker's Boot Camp
• Women Winemakers of Connecticut Facebook page
• 7 Most Common Winemaking Mistakes from the Musto Blog page
• The Drunken Alpaca Bakery, Shelton CT
• Connecticut Wine Trail and Festival
• Email Christina [email protected]

This podcast is brought you by Musto Wine Grape Company.  Musto is the largest and oldest wine grape and juice distributor in New England, with their own vineyards in Suisun Valley, CA and long standing contracts with growers in Lodi, Central Valley, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Washington State. Musto services all aspects of the industry for wineries and home winemakers. Whether you need grapes, juice, equipment, chemicals, or winemaking help, Musto is there for you.  Contact [email protected] for the full inventory of grapes and supplies.  

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Hailing from the Pisoni family that helped put Santa Lucia Highlands on the winemaking map in California, Jeff Pisoni shares the story of his family's relationship with farming and the development of Gary's, Pisoni, and Soberanes, which supply grapes to numerous top end wineries across the state.  Recounting clandestine attempts his father, Gary Pisoni, undertook to find water on the family ranch, Jeff shares how he and his brother, Mark Pisoni, grew up on the farm and now split the work with Mark managing vineyards and Jeff in charge of winemaking.  Jeff describes some of the challenges of growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah in the Santa Lucia Highlands, and the ways he approaches the uniqueness that the grapes bring to his winemaking.  The Pisoni Estate brand is focused exclusively on Pinot Noir.  Jeff explains the creation of his family's other wines including Lucia Vineyards that encompass Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah, and Luli Wines, which also includes a rose and Sauvignon blanc.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Pisoni Vineyards, Santa Lucia Highlands
• Lucia Vineyards, Santa Lucia Highlands
• Luli Wines, Santa Lucia Highlands
• Gary's Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands
• Soberanes Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands
• Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
• Yeast and Bacteria analysis Panel from ETS Labs

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This episode is the first in a series of solo podcasts where I present my assessment of the most critical chemical analyses a winemaker needs to understand.  It's a peek inside the chaotic jungle that is my harvest-season brain and the attempts to organize sugar's conversion to alcohol during harvest, when winemaking decisions are most critical.  If there was a straight-forward and precise working ratio of sugars to ethanol, this would be a simple, 60-second podcast.  Approach this as my quest to identify the variables that affect primary fermentation's numerical outcome, the tools available to a contemporary winemaker, the value and costs of each tool, and the limits of their ability to yield accurate measurements.  Not every winemaker would agree with my thoughts presented here, so use this as one of many resources to gain proficiency in wine chemistry. 

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Predicting Potential Alcohol - ETS Labs
• Understanding Sugar Analyses - ETS Labs
• MyEnologist Wine Lab
• The Durand Corkscrew is now available to purchase in the Inside Winemaking Store

In the basement of the world's cutest micro-winery, I met with Mark Porembsky to talk about his work there making not only the wine for Anomaly Vineyards, but also for his own brand, Zeitgeist Cellars.  

Our conversation covers:

• Mark's favorite winemaking tool
• The mentors that Mark  had when learning to make wine
• How Mark and his wife, also a winemaker, harness "creative conflict" in their blending process
• How subtlety and complexity have evolved to be hallmarks of the Zeitgeist wines
• The origins of Anomaly Vineyards
• How Mark uses analytical tools such as tannin assays to inform his winemaking

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Zeitgeist Cellars, California
• Anomaly Vineyards, Napa Valley
• Wine and Flavors Courses from Alexandre Scmitt
• Behrens Family Winery, Napa Valley
• Drinkward Peschon, Napa Valley
• Far Niente Winery, Napa Valley
• Tannin Assay - Rapid Phenolic Panel from ETS Labs
• Zeitgeist Cellars on Facebook

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Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

Three years after my first podcast with Mike Dunn, he helped me rope Randy Dunn into a podcast so that we could learn more about old-school Napa winemaking and the stories from a place that had far less glitz than exists today.  Not one to seek the spotlight, Randy has consistently turned out iconic mountain Cabernets, which have brought the spotlight up to their otherwise quiet ranch on Howell Mountain since the 70's.  Mike and Randy count their harvests together in decades, not years.  

There are two reasons this turned out to be a great podcast.  First, Randy painted a picture of his background and some of the adventures from his early days at Caymus Vineyards, including misleading immigration raids.  Second, Mike and Randy were candid about their methods of working together together at Dunn Vineyards.  

For a primer to this episode, check out Mike's first podcast on Inside Winemaking in Ep. 3 from August of 2014, where we discuss his path back to Dunn Vineyards and the creation of his own wines with the Retro Cellars brand.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Dunn Vineyards, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley
• Retro Cellars, Napa Valley
• Caymus Vineyards, Napa Valley
• Pahlmeyer, Napa Valley
• La Jota Vineyard Co, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley
• Long Shadows Vintners "Feather" Walla Walla, Washington
• Livingston Moffett Winery, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley

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Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

I had a great time talking with Rebekah Wineburg, who has made worked at some of the top wineries in the world and is currently the winemaker at Quintessa in Napa Valley.  Rebekah told me her background and then the full history on Quintessa including the key elements she uses to describe the wine, "Elegance, harmony, and layers."  

Our conversation covers a whole range and vineyard and winery topics such as:

• How to pick vineyards for a specific wine style
• Rebekah's thoughts on extended maceration
• The size and diversity of vineyard blocks at Quintessa in the Rutherford AVA
• Biodynamics "as we believe it to be" and the preparations applied in the vineyard
• Protocol 2010 and the contractor that Quintessa uses to have confidence that new vines are clean when planted
• Ideas to help consumers feel confident with her wines, and the differences in tasting with other winemakers vs. consumers
• Plans for the winery re-design at Quintessa
• What it's like to work with the Huneeus family

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Quintessa, Napa Valley
• Jekel Vineyards, Monterey, California
• Ornellaia, Bolgheri, Italy 
• Rudd Estate, Napa Valley
• Staglin Family Vineyard, Napa Valley
• Buccella, Napa Valley
• Illumination, Napa Valley Sauvignon blanc
• Faust Wines, Napa Valley
• Flowers Vineyards and Winery, Sonoma Coast
• James Stamp Professional Viticultural Services
• Colby Eierman Biodynamics consultant

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Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

As Vice President and General Manager at Cliff Lede Family Wines Remi Cohen oversees the grapegrowing and winemaking for the Cliff Lede wines in Napa and the FEL wines from Anderson Valley.  In this episode Remi tells of her job in entomology that led to enrollment to study viticulture at UCDavis.  From there she quickly rose through the vineyard ranks at Napa wineries and farming companies, such as Saintsbury and Bouchaine.  With her technical background and MBA from Berkeley she was well suited to take on the operations of two wineries in two distinct parts of northern California.  

Our conversation covers lots of cool vineyard topics such as: 

• The differences between organic and sustainable farming practices
• The ways that sustainable operations look at the bigger picture, including workshops available through the Napa Valley Grapegrowers Association and The Wine Institute
• The various challenges of farming vineyards on hillsides v. the valley floor.  
• How important private tasting groups can be in developing winemaking knowledge
• The addition of Chardonnay and Pinot noir with FEL Wines (formerly Breggo) to Cliff Family Wines and the subsequent purchase of the famed Savoy Vineyard in Anderson Valley

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Cliff Lede Vineyards, Napa Valley
• FEL Wines, Anderson Valley, California
• Saintsbury, Napa Valley
• Bouchaine,Vineyards, Napa Valley
• Walsh Vineyard Management, Napa Valley
• Merryvale, Napa Valley
• Starmont Winery, Napa Valley
• Dirty Jobs and Mike Rowe visit Starmont Winery
• Napa Valley Grapegrowers
• The Wine Institute's Sustainable Winegrowing
• Savoy Vineyard, Anderson Valley
• Cliff Lede Vineyard's Platinum Playlist

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Viticulturist and vineyard guru, Garrett Buckland, returns to the Inside Winemaking Podcast to discuss organic farming as it applies to winegrapes.  Garrett has a wealth of vineyard experience, having spent his entire life farming grapes in Napa.  He is one of the rare farming gems who also understands winemaking and is immersed in the creation of some of Napa Valley's leading wines.  We spend the majority of the podcast discussing my questions about the actual vineyard practices that are employed for organic, conventional, and sustainable winegrowing.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Garrett's first appearance on Inside Winemaking in Ep. 008 and 008 Part II
• Premiere Viticultural Services and Vine Info
• Tendu Wines from Steve Matthiasson
• CCOF Calfornia Certified Organic Farmers
• SUPPRESS an organic herbicide

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Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

"California terrior through the lens of Zinfandel."  As a winemaker sourcing Zinfandel vineyards, from 12 counties throughout California Tegan Passalacqua has an unrivaled view of this grape's potential in his role at Turley Wine Cellars.  Tegan and his wife also have their own small brand, Sandlands Wines, which is often known for its Chenin blanc, but is also producing lesser-known varieties such as Trousseau noir.  In this episode of The Inside Winemaking Podcast Tegan and I discuss:

• Why Zinfandel is particularly well-suited to California throughout its winemaking history before refrigeration
• The unique resilience that Zinfandel vines have in tolerating virus and disease
• How eustress is healthy, but the recent drought years brought too much stress
• Why Tegan views the tracking of acidity to be particularly important in producing Zin
• Tegan's fascination with 
• Why the 2012 vintage was like a rebound relationship
• How to guide a notoriously difficult Zinfandel fermentation into finishing
• Why Tegan only likes Brettanomyces "in other people's wines"
• How natural winemaking is like being on the other side of a magic trick
• The idea of putting a tax on Round-Up
• The story behind him persuading a grower on the "true Sonoma coast" to plant Trousseau noir
• What it's like to grow grapes and make wine on a volcano

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Turley Wine Cellars, California
• Sandlands Wines, California
• Artist, Wayne Thiebaud, Man Reading
• Frank Cornelissen, Etna, Italy 
• Follow Tegan on Instagram @OwnRooted and Twitter @OwnRooted

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Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

Spanning wine regions in Israel, California, Walla Walla, and Chile winemaker, Maayan Koschitzky, has accumulated more winemaking experience in ten years than many enologists would in an entire career.  Our conversation in this episode explores the practices of Kosher winemaking, especially from Maayan's early career in Israel.  After moving the the US to take winery jobs at Screaming Eagle and Dalla Valle Vineyards, Maayan moved into his current position as Director of Winemaking at Atelier Melka, working with Philippe Melka.  This episode is full of great technical discussion of winemaking both in the vineyard and winery.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Carmel Winery, Israel
• Ella Valley Winery, Israel
• Margalit Winery, Israel
• Winery Technology and Operations - Yair Margalit
• Screaming Eagle, Napa
• Dalla Valle Vineyards, Napa
• Dana Estates, Napa
• Arbor Crest Wine Cellars, Washington
• Hagafen Cellars, Napa's Kosher winery
• Covenant Wines, Kosher winery out of Berkeley
• Sphera Winery, Israel 
• Marselan a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache
• Atelier Melka team, Napa
• Corliss Estates, Walla Walla Washington
• Massetto, Ornellaia's Merlot wine, Italy
• Maayan works with Philippe Melka, who was in podcast episode 44

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In this episode I take questions submitted from listeners and give my best advice.  Winemaking is like cooking in that there is rarely a discreet best answer, so each response is to be taken with a grain of salt.  There's more than one way to ferment a grape.  When appropriate I explain how you might scale up or down given the size of winery involved.   Questions in this episode about how to make wine cover: the use of SO2, winemaking in Texas, nutritional strategies for native fermentation management, red-wine color extraction, the myths and realities of decanting wines, how dry yeast can ferment a must, can vs. spur pruning, how to run a safe extended maceration on a small scale, predicting wine flavors from grape flavor, and the difference between cold settling and cold stabilization after an addition of Potassium Carbonate.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Native Fermentation Management with Philippe Melka and Megan Zobeck
• Jeremy Weintraub of Adelaida Vineyards and  Winery and Site Wine Co
• To Make a Riesling with Scott Sisemore
• Dick Peterson, Winemaker and Author of The Winemaker

If you are interested in the Napa winemaking immersion experience I am putting together for 3 days in August, 2017, send me an email......   [email protected]

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Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

Tyler Thomas, who is the director of winemaking at Dierberg and Star Lane Vineyards, was the guest on the very popular Episode: 35 of The Inside Winemaking Podcast.  In this episode Tyler returns in a solo format to give color to his thoughts on what it means to be a winemaker and then results from some of the vineyard and winery trials that he has taken on.  There are numerous academic studies of how yield affects wine quality, but Tyler's trials with Pinot Noir might surprise you.  How about the importance of pumpovers?  Perhaps there is a task with a higher value return.  Can you make a decent wine without using SO2?  Is it worth the microbiological risk?  Maybe, but the grape better have the inherent characteristics to protect from oxidation.  Tyler is very forthcoming with his experience in the vineyards, cellar, and his attempts to question the basic principles of winemaking.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Dierberg Vineyard, Santa Barbara County
• Star Lane Vineyard, Santa Barbara County
• Donelan Family Wines, Sonoma 
• Vivier Wines, from Stephan Vivier, Tyler's lazy mentor at HdV Wines

I'm hoping to put together an episode where I answer listener questions about grapegrowing and winemaking.  Please email what's on your mind   [email protected]

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I had the privilege to sit down and talk with one of my professional heroes, one of the most requested winemakers for this podcast, Tom Rinaldi.  After a long career including building the Duckhorn brand from the ground starting in 1978, Tom then went on to launch and direct the Provenance and Hewitt brands with the Chalone group.  Tom is now retired from full-time work, but continues to consult on small winemaking projects in Napa and Washington state.  Our conversation ranges from what Napa looked like four decades ago, to advice Tom gives for young winemakers.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Pellet Estate, Napa
• Ambassador Winery, Washington
• Duckhorn Vineyards, Napa
• Provenance Vineyards, Napa
• Hewitt Vineyard, Napa
• Freemark Abbey, Napa

I'm hoping to put together an episode where I answer listener questions about grapegrowing and winemaking.  Please email what's on your mind   [email protected]

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Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

ANN REYNOLDS, THE INSIDE STORY OF A WINE LABEL

This episode features author, Ann Reynolds, and her book The Inside Story of a Wine Label.  Ann's business, Wine Compliance Alliance, is focused resource on navigating the sea of the TTB's federal regulations for everything from grapes to bottling.  Ann's book details all of the regulated items on a wine label from brand name, alcohol content, to the specific nuances of appellation and the items that are not required on a wine label.  After years involved with wineries large and small, I learned that even I was not fully aware of all the details regulated on a wine label.  Winemakers rarely have a comprehensive education in the minutia of TTB regulations, but the feds are serious about the laws when it comes to an audit, and The Inside Story of a Wine Label is a way for winemakers to pull the guide off of the shelf in order to stay on top of each facet of a wine label.  Make sure and check out the Wine Compliance Alliance Youtube channel, which has lots of free videos that cover everything from getting a winery bond to the differences between custom crush vs. an Alternating Proprietor (AP).  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Wine Compliance Alliance, Ann's business website
• The Inside Story of a Wine Label - Ann's book
• Wine Compliance Alliance Youtube page
• Wine America website
• Wine Institute website

I'm hoping to put together an episode where I answer listener questions about grapegrowing and winemaking.  Please email what's on your mind   [email protected]

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Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

This episode features Philippe Melka, one of the most renowned winemakers in California.  Joining us is Meghan Zoebeck, who is one of the winemakers that make up the small Atelier Melka workshop, which is responsible for the consultation to some of Napa's leading wineries.  I have received many requests for a discussion of managing native fermentations and I felt Philippe's experience would be ideal for this topic.  After Philippe shares the mishap of feeding red pomace to the winery cows at Seavey Vineyard back in 1995 we get right into the thick of fermentation management including both philosophical and technical aspects.  This episode gets deep into the weeds of red wine fermentations and we also cover the practice of extended macerations.  We wrap up with a discussion of Philippe and Meghan's recent forays into Pinot Noir winemaking.  I had a great time recording this episode and I'm excited to share it with all the Inside Winemaking listeners.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Atelier Melka
• Melka Wines, Napa Valley
• Seavey Vineyard, Napa Valley
• Philippe on Wine Library TV back in 2006
• SO2 podcast from Inside Winemaking featuring Zeke Neeley
• Dominus Estate, Napa Valley
• Lail Vineyards, Napa Valley
• Vineyard 29, Napa Valley
• Dana Estates, Napa Valley
• Constant Diamond Mountain, Napa Valley

I'm hoping to put together an episode where I answer listener questions about grapegrowing and winemaking.  Please email what's on your mind   [email protected]

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Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

Austin Peterson decided that he wanted to become a winemaker his father, also a winemaker, tried talking him out of it.  Winemaking may not be the most lucrative career, but it is rife with people choosing passion over payment.  Austin, now winemaker at Ovid Vineyards in Napa’s Pritchard Hill, brings a relentless passion to the vineyard and winemaking processes at Ovid Vineyards.  

Austin and the rest of the Ovid team might have one of the most spectacular daily commutes.   Resting above the main valley of Napa Ovid is situated on Pritchard Hill perched on its western slope.  It’s this slope that allows cool air to flow out from the vineyard and leave the vines out of frost’s harm. 

In this episode of the Inside Winemaking Podcast we discuss:  

• Organic practices for weed control
• Winery design and gravity flow at Ovid
• The difference between sugar measurements Brix and sugar-per-berry
• The method Austin uses to measure sugar-per-berry and the results they have observed in their vineyards
• The advantages of barrel fermentation for red wines
• How sugar accumulation is not correlated with anthocyanin synthesis in grapes during the growing season
• Results from their experiments with vineyard shade cloth.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Ovid Napa Valley
• Le Bon Pasteur, Bordeaux
• Flagstone Winery, South Africa

I'm hoping to put together an episode where I answer listener questions about grapegrowing and winemaking.  Please email what's on your mind   [email protected]

From experiments with co-fermentation, harvest timing, and shade v. sun-side canopies Robert Hunt has a contagious curiosity for the endless pursuit of refining his technical approaches to winemaking.  In 2016 Anderson's Conn Valley lost its founder, Gus Anderson, and thus I asked Robert to describe the founding of stories of the vineyard and subsequent winery.  Our conversation in this episode covers topics from estate winemaking and its gritty details, what a good winery lab job looks like, to the lessons of selective harvesting Robert learned from winemaking mentors.  Make sure to catch the final question where Robert discusses the fantasy wines he would love to make in Italy, as his travels and interest in Italian wines is impressive.  

I'm hoping to put together an episode where I answer listener questions about grapegrowing and winemaking.  Please email what's on your mind   [email protected]

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards
• Colgin Cellars
• Clos Pegase Winery
• Pine Ridge Vineyards

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This episode features Jeremy Weintraub, who is making some of the most exciting wines in California's Central Coast.  Having worked at wineries in New York, New Zealand, Italy, Napa, and throughout the Central Coast, Jeremy is well suited to understand vineyard potential and the methods to craft wines that demonstrate what he finds exciting in each site.  Our conversation covers his path to winemaking, lessons from Antinori in Chianti, how to co-ferment Viognier and Syrah, meshing lessons from academia with practical farming, how grape clones might not be so important, the commercial reality of making and selling Nebbiolo, the illusions of ripe, brown seeds, his impressions after working with an optical sorter, and the importance of the winery crew being exposed to great wines from around the world.

Fueled by tequila, and recorded naked in an ofuro, or Japanese soaking tub, this episode gave me the chance to exhaust my thoughts on flavor through grapes and winemaking.  Part science, part clinical experience, and part bad science veiled as expertise the thoughts presented range from highly technical to pure speculation.  I think the hot water and cold night air allowed me to relax and ultimately gives a peek inside my thought processes during grape ripening and the harvest season.  

A friendship that spans the divide between California and The Cape in South Africa has manifest in the partnership that is the talented viticultural and winemaking prowess behind Wilson Foreigner.  After working the 2004 harvest together in South Africa, Dave Wilson and Chris Alheit, remained friends as they both gained experience working at some of the most prestigious vineyard and winery estates throughout the world.  In 2015 they produced a Valdigue from Rancho Chimiles, Dave's family's home vineyard in Napa, and also an Albarino from the Rorick Vineyard in the Sierra Foothills.  The Wilson Foreigner wines have a clearly delineated style, which Chris describes as a "nervous energy," and the hue of the Valdigue is "electric magenta."    This podcast captures the passion that this young partnership has for finding off-the-radar sites and showcasing their excitement for those vineyards with minmalistic winemaking.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Wilson Foreigner 
• Alheit Vineyards in South Africa
• Broadbent Selections
• Chateau Angelus, Bordeaux
• Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Napa
• Merryvale Vineyards / Starmont Winery and Vineyards, Napa
• Pahlmeyer, Napa
• Cruse Wine Co., Petaluma
• Flagstone Wines South Africa

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After working among some of the top wineries in Napa, Aaron Miller took over the helm as winemaker for Plumpjack Winery in 2012.  Plumpjack sits on some of the most valuable real estate in the Napa Valley, with the estate vineyard planted in the iron-red soils of Oakville's eastern edge.  In this episode Aaron tells the story of Plumpjack and its relation to its sister wineries Cade Winery and Odette Estate, also operated by the Plumpjack Group.  Each of the three wineries has been created to express the unique qualities of its estate vineyard, each in a different district of Napa.  Our conversation in this episode covers Aaron's background, his observations of growing Chardonnay in the warm northern half of Napa, the characteristics of fermenting in steel, oak, and concrete tanks, the efforts to manage those different tanks, and Plumpjack's 20 years of experience in bottling the top Cabernet under cork and screwcap closures.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Plumpjack Winery
• Cade Winery
• Odette Estate

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: [email protected]

In a quiet nook off of Silverado Trail in St Helena District of Napa Valley, Boeschen Vineyards is hidden where the grapevines meet the oak hillside.  Cypress trees interplanted with the Sauvignon blanc vines was the compromise the Boeschens struck with their master gardener mother, Susan.  After a career as a strategy consultant for technology companies Doug Boeschen was compelled to take a viticulture job and learn about growing grapes and making wine.  That compulsion is what catalyzed the purchase of vineyards that would become Boeschen Vineyards and then the building of a winery within a cave to solidify the new estate brand.  I met Doug during our studies at UC Davis, but used the opportunity of this podcast to catch up and learn the stories of both his education in winemaking and the creation of the Boeschen wines.  

Our conversation ranges from the land stewardship certifications that the Boeschen earned, to the influence of the Porsche Carrera in his winemaking, and then to technical aspects of farming such as Pierce's Disease and shade cloth to protect grapes from the afternoon sun.  One of my favorite aspects of this episode is what Doug learned from working in a tough internship in Bordeaux.  Thanks for listening.  

This episode is the return of David Bos, a guru of organic, biodynamic farming, and one of Inside Winemaking's most popular guests.  For those that have yet to listen to David's initial interview ( #011 "Beyond the Cowhorn" from Februrary, 2015) I would suggest listening to that first.  During his round two we get explore compost, its creation, and how to source high quality material.  David gives a background on his early experiments with biochar, something that has a potential to aid compost in the soil and also describes rock dust, AKA Azomite.  

In the second part of our discussion we talk about the critical elements of running on organic spray program for grapes, specifically to control powdery mildew.  There is a lot of hippie information about "natural wines" out there and David gets frank regarding what he considers natural and how organic farming fits into the battle with powdery mildew.  Our conversation weaves in and out of technical farming and then even touches into some of the biodynamic preparations and how, and when, they are used in the vineyard.  Always one to put his words into action, you can check out David's own wines at BosWine.com and the new Wine and Swine Club.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Bos Wine Main Website
• Earthbound Compost
• More on Biochar
• More on Azomite
• Some of the organic mildewcides discussed in this podcast:
  • Stylet Oil
  • Serenade
  • Sonata 
  • Biolink Sticker/Spreader
  • Univ. Cal. Integrated Pest Management for Powdery Mildew

This episode of the Inside Winemaking Podcast is an exciting one for two reasons.  First, my guest, Tyler Thomas weaves us through the epic vineyard and winery estate that is Dierberg and Star Lane Vineyards.  Second, this episode was recorded over Skype, and is the initial foray outside a previously limited geographic range of the northern California.  

From own-rooted vines, to the differential rates of flavor and tannin extraction, all the way to the 250-year plan that Star Lane Vineyards is built upon, this conversation with Tyler is a treasure trove of ideas for winemaking geeks.  

As I prepare to bottle my 2014 red wines I've put together a working document of all the important aspects that have to come together to successfully wrap up wines' tenure in the cellar.  This episode of The Inside Winemaking Podcast is a peek inside my brain, and my planning for the end of the 20-month affair I've had with these grapes and wines.  With so much to prepare and a heightened level of consequence, winemaking becomes very technical on the route to the bottling line.  

After an education that spanned the Canary Islands, Barcelona, and Bordeaux, Anthony Weytjens has set roots in Napa as the Winemaker and Estate Manager at Edge Hill Estate.  It wasn't until Anthony left Tenerife, the main island of the Canaries, and went to law school in Spain that he found an interest in vineyards and winemaking.  In the podcast Anthony weaves through the trials that were a part of his viticulture and enology education at the University of Bordeaux, including his having to learn French from scratch.  After interning at some of the top Chateaux within the Christian Moueix group in Bordeaux, Anthony took the opportunity to work in Dominus Estate in Napa and thus began his career in California.  Now at Edge Hill Estate in the St Helena district of Napa Valley, Anthony oversees the grapes and rebuilding of one of the valley's most history wineries.  We recorded our podcast in the old distillery that was initially built in 1869 and was painstakingly re-constructed o that every stone was set in its original orientation.  We discuss the efforts Anthony is heading at Edge Hill to convert the vineyard to dry farming and  biodynamics.  

And the podcast would not be complete without some insight into the vineyards  and wines of the Canary Islands.  Although he has yet to make any wine on the Canaries, Anthony describes some of the cool aspects of growing grapes in volcanoes, cliffs, and wind-swept slopes.  There are spots with vines that are 200 years old, others that drape off of cliffs such that people have to wear harnesses to pick the grapes and use donkeys to pack them out.  Fortunately, some of these wines are being exported, so don't miss Anthony's recommendations.

This episode is all about the use of whole berry fermentation in red winemaking.  I used this opportunity to make a solo podcast and go over what whole berry fermentation is, the reasons a winemaker would want to employ this technique in a winery, and also the multitude of challenges that it presents.  For each of the challenges, I address the methods I have adopted in order to overcome potential issues.  

After an extensive string of internships spanning New Zealand, Napa, and Australia, Laura Barrett made a list of her top ten women winemakers that she hoped to work with and landed herself a job with a superstar, Mia Klein.  After working with Mia at Fisher Vineyards, Laura was the winemaker at Casey Flat Ranch before taking on her current winemaking post at Clif Family Winery.  Based in Napa, Clif Family gained notoriety for their line of snack bars popular with endurance athletics before branching out into the wine business.  Under Laura's stewardship, Clif Family is producing a stellar line-up of wines, including Bordeaux varieties from their organically-farmed estate on Howell Mountain.  

Laura showed up prepared for this episode of the podcast, notes and all.  Don't miss her trials with Grenache-based rose, and the unpopular belief she employs in the winery.  

After a three week garage sale in Dallas, Texas, Jason sold everything thing he owned in order to move to Napa and tread his own path that involved learning how to make wine and creating Modus Operandi, the project that arose from this quest.  Jason recalls the efforts that were involved and the way he chose the mentorships over technical studies.  If you like stories of hustle, networking, and the passion to pursuit new ideas, this podcast with Jason will be a hit.  Make sure and catch the tale of how his wine, Antithesis, was conceived and then manifest in the winery.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Modus Operandi main website
• You can find Jason on Facebook
• Youtube video of Jason telling his story with cool vineyard clips
• La Toque is the restaurant where Jason worked in Napa while learning to make wine and creating Modus

I sat down with Dave, explained what a podcast was, he took off his worn John Deere hat, I hit record, and 70 minutes later I left grinning with the anticipation of sharing this episode with the Inside Winemaking listeners.  

Dave recounts the experiences that brought him into winemaking and the early days of the Orin Swift wines, while working at Robert Mondavi and Whitehall Lane, including the lessons learned from the difficult 1998 vintage.  Our conversation leads from assessing vineyards to blending and the "perception of sweetness."  In 2010 Dave sold two of his brands; The Prisoner and Saldo, but continued to build the Orin Swift brand and went on to create Locations Wine after the idea struck while stuck at Charles de Gaulle airport.  Locations Wine is now producing individual wines from France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, California, Oregon, Washington, Corsica (great story of the label here), and soon to add Portugal.  

Not content just to oversee the winemaking, Dave is the creator of all of his wines' labels, a collection that has been inspired by world travel, simple observation, and a desire to give his fans something they can't find anywhere else.  The labels are too cool for me to do them justice - check out them out atInsideWinemaking.com.  Dave tells the stories behind the Machete, Abstract, and Mercury Head wines.  We finish out our conversation with his story of how the Orin Swift tasting room floor in St Helena came to be furnished with pages from "pamphlets of Maoist propaganda."  Don't miss Dave's answer to the question. "What do you believe that nobody else does?"  

Listeneners may recall that Amy Warnock, who was the guest in Episode 7 is the director of viticulture for, and Zeke Neeley from Episode 14 is now working with Dave Phinney at Orin Swift.  

Overlooking Howell Mountain and some of the greatest vineyards in Napa, Kent and DJ Nielsen operate a unique culinary experience for those interested in not just a great meal, but being a part of its creation.  Cooks, Books, and Corks is a dining experience that they operate out of their home, a home complete with a near-commercial kitchen.  In this episode of The Inside Winemaking Podcast Kent and DJ describe the fates that brought them to food, to cooking, to wine, and to their version of a cooking school and destination in wine country, all while their four German Shepherds circle us on their patio.  Though not winemakers, these two know wines very deeply and give some great suggestions for pairing a variety of wine styles with dinner options.  

This episode is not about technical winemaking, but it provided the opportunity to share the story of Cook, Books, and Corks, and to allow DJ to share the incredible story of her surprise run-in with the yellow smoke on the water and the British Navy.  

This episode is focused completely on Riesling.  Scott Sisemore, who is the man behind Waxwing Wine Cellars, began making only Pinot noir and Syrah, then when the time came to add a white wine to his portfolio made a very deliberate decision to make Riesling.  Unlike many other white wines, Riesling requires a vintner to strategize a intentional style of final wine, and then a plan for its vinification.  After tasting through the full range of styles of Riesling, particularly focusing on the level of final sweetness and its balance with acidity, Scott set out to create his Waxwing Riesling.  During our conversation Scott recounts the methods and challenges that he has encountered during the initial vintages of his experience struggling with Riesling.  A good winemaker can create a sound winemaking plan.  A great winemaker can assess the realities of a difficult situation and adjust at every step of winemaking.  This episode is full of Scott's experiences grappling with the fickle varietal that is Riesling.

Make sure and listen to the end where Scott offers Inside Winemaking listeners an exclusive deal on the Waxwing Wines.  

You'll never mindlessly pop a cork out of a bottle of wine after hearing this podcast.  Greg Hirson, who is the Technical Services Manager for Cork Supply USA, takes me in depth through the meticulous processing from tree bark to wine stopper.  Its Greg's job to educate wineries on best practices for selecting appropriate closures and implementing sound bottling practices.  He describes how it is not until the third harvest of tree, after almost 60 years of growth, that the bark is of a quality suitable for wine bottles.  Subsequent bark harvests come every 9-11 years and a tree can give 10-15 harvests over the span of its production life.  

Our conversation begins with a background and history of how wines have been ruined by TCA (tri-chloroanisole) - "corked" wines.  The entire cork industry has taken great efforts to identify the sources of TCA and then to develop processing procedures to reduce its incidence.  These efforts have spurned great leaps forward in delivering better quality corks to wineries worldwide in the past 20 years.  Greg mentions the Cork Quality Council, which is an industry non-profit group that was created to promote education regarding cork stoppers.  The final part of our conversation covers some of the best techniques and procedures for bottling wines with both corks or capsules.  

As winemaker for Silver Oak, Nate Weis is the steward for one of the most prominent and recognized brands of Cabernet in the US.  In this episode of the Inside Winemaking Podcast Nate shares how what may be considered an old-guard brand of California winemaking, Silver Oak, is actually on the cutting edge of innovation and is now the first wine producer to have taken an oak barrel cooperage in-house.  After rebuilding the Napa winery due to a fire in 2006, Silver Oak has drawn from its experience in winery  design and is now building its Alexander Valley facility with the goal of being LEED Platinum certified by its debut in 2017.  Part of Nate's role is to oversee winemaking for the Twomey brand, which was created to produce Merlot, but now has a full range of wines including Pinot noir from Willamette Valley in Oregon.  

Those interested in working a harvest vintage in New Zealand are encouraged to apply to the Doug Wisor Memorial Scholarship, which provides funding and a job placement at Craggy Range Winery.  After working for Doug when he was in New Zealand, Nate now helps aspiring winemakers discover this opportunity to honor a man who was one of his own mentors.  

Four winemaker friends came together and created The Living Wines Collective.  This conversation begins with Shaunt Oungoulian, in whose parents' basement is the winery where all wines are produced, and then Sam Baron joins us midway to hear help explain the Reverse Rose.  Shaunt, Sam, and their other partners met at UCDavis while studying viticulture and enology, went off to work at some impressive estates across the globe, and then returned to California and launched the Populis, Les Lunes, and Ama Cellars that now encompass the natural winemaking efforts that bind their efforts and aspirations.  

"What can I not do?"  Asking this question throughout all of the winemaking, Shaunt describes their definition and practical applications of natural winemaking.  We take time to wade through the methods employed to hold true to those intentions and the thoughtful ways they use SO2.   This young team is making wines from organically farmed, select vineyards, treating the wines as naturally as possible in the cellar, and releasing them to the the world at affordable prices, an uncommon formula which pits them with the perception of something less serious.   It is precisely the combination of these tenets that sets their wines apart and that hustle is very serious.  

In this podcast Legendary winemaker, Dick Peterson, describes his recently released book as, "A history book of California winemaking as told by me."  "The Winemaker" is a must read for any wine geek or fan of California winemaking.  Dick began making wines with Ernesto and Julio Gallo in the 50's, took over at Beaulieu Vineyard after being chosen by Andre Tchelistcheff in the 60's, developed The Monterey Vineyard and the original Taylor California Cellars in the 70's, then dynamited and drilled caves to develop Atlas Peak Vineyards in the 80's.  In his eighties he is still consulting for wineries and makes his own wines from Wrotham Pinot, which he cultivated after finding a single old Roman vine in England.  More on Dick's background and accolades can be found on his website listed in the Inside Winemaking.com show notes.  

Our conversation covers not only Dick's career of winemaking in California, but also has stories that didn't make it into the book, including how a spelling mistake helped get some of Piero Antinori's greatest Sangiovese budwood into the Napa Valley.  I had a wonderful time with Dick and was quite impressed with his both his honesty and detailed accounts of a long and storied winemaking career.

Soil science is a difficult subject to get your head around.  Years of making "housecalls" to visit with farmers throughout California has honed Kyle Truesdell's ability to translate complex topics of soil science and vine interactions in a manner that anyone can understand.  As an agronomist with Certified Crop Advisor and Pest Control Advisor licenses, Kyle runs the Wilbur-Ellis offices in Napa and Sonoma.  He still makes time to get out and visit vineyards, and that is how I met him this past October at Seavey Vineyard.  After peppering him with nearly every soil question I had ever thought of, I realized that our conversation could be helpful to many, and that lead to the recording of this episode.

A summary of my winemaking through the 2015 harvest season in Napa.  Heat, fire, and rain drove a fast and furious harvest in the vineyards and winery.  This episode of the Inside Winemaking Podcast includes a special interview with Rob Taylor, who tells of his experience living through the Valley Fire that erupted on Sept 12th and wreaked havoc through Lake County, north of Napa in California.  

After reading an article summarizing the 2015 vintage (up to September) that Matt Reid wrote for the Napa Register, I scrapped my own attempt and invited him to deliver that on a solo podcast episode on the Inside Winemaking Podcast.  Matt is the proprietor of PWR Wines, winemaker at Benessere Vineyards, and consulting winemaker at Burgess Cellars.  In case you missed it, Matt Reid was the first interview for Inside Winemaking back in August 2014.  

With his father's suburban loaded up with Petit Sirah and layered with dry ice, David Grega, nearly asphyxiated on the highway before he got his grapes to the crusher on his very first day of winemaking.  As someone who has no interest in saying "no" to opportunity, David has taken a novel approach to his career with wines.  An Army combat veteran of Iraq, cigar enthusiast, self-made Tea sensory instructor, and now Cab winemaker by day and Rhone wine guy by night, it became clear during our podcast conversation that the unifying characteristics of David's success in a range of fields stems from his focus and hyper-disciplined self education.  We spent a good portion of our recorded conversation talking about David's path into all things wine and ended with his specific vision of what he hopes his impact to be on the winemakers that come after him.

Carlotta Wines is the brand that David and his partner created to focus of wines using mainly Rhone varietals.  David also works with winemaker, Jeff Ames, who is the creator of the Rudius Wines, and together they manage Jeff's clientele of high-end Napa Wineries including Tor Kenward, Boich Cellars, and Anthem Winery.

Up in the Tahoe forest I had a chance to  catch up with the woman behind the gas mask.  A winemaker who omits the easy details in an effort to draw you in.

Enter, Sabrine Rodems, winemaker for Wrath Wines, Scratch Wines, and the woman behind the curtains of Wines of Danger.  With two feet in the winery and the phone on speaker, Sabrine is not interested in conventional winemaking.  The word "experimentation" came up constantly during our conversation about her endeavors to dial-in the vineyards that she is working with.

In perhaps the most entertaining interview I've ever had in a vineyard, Jake Terrell from St Francis Winery and Vineyard, takes me through his experiences throughout California's prime vineyards.  This interview has it all: earthquakes, historic vineyards, old-vine Zinfandel, Cabernet from Russian River Valley in Sonoma, strategies for reducing vineyard irrigation, and an epic Cannibas plantation.

I was particularly interested in having Jake share his expertise in caring for old vines, something he defines as planted before 1950.  He did not disappoint and in our conversation he gives multiple tips on how to work with old vines with the goal of delivering the highest quality grapes, something for which Jake is focused at all points of the growing season.  Beyond old vines we discuss how timing is critical for all high-end grapegrowing and he names the two most critically time-sensitive vineyard practices.

As a farmer who drinks a wide variety of wines, and has a keen fascination with the Old World, Jake paints a vivid picture in detailing the style for which the St Francis wines are known.  The conversation finishes with an invitation to visit St Francis, which is in the Kenwood area of Sonoma.  Need more reasons to visit?  The winery's restaurant was rated number 1 restaurant in 2014 by Open Table, they are certified sustainable, and the North Bay Business Journal listed St Francis as one of the best places to work in the North Bay of San Francisco.

Having never set foot in a vineyard before packing her Subaru with orchids and all other possessions Ashley Anderson set out across US for Napa and didn't look back.

Now, 16 years later Ashley is the vineyard manager at Cain Vineyard and Winery  up 1,700 feet on Spring Mountain in the Napa Valley.  She knows intimately the 87 acres that she farms for the Cain wines, especially Cain Five.

During this episode of the podcast Ashley tells how she is adjusting her farming for the current drought conditions, explains how "tolerance" is a major aspect of organic farming (Cain is about to finish their organic certification),  she talks about the results after five years of trials with biodynamics, and most profoundly, Ashley describes why her and her colleagues at Cain are invested for the long term.  All 16 of Ashley's harvests have been with Cain.

Master of bubbles, Tom Tiburzi, spares no effort to explain the intracacies of making spectacular sparkling wines in California.  The 2015 vintage will be Tom's 26th with Domaine Chandon, yet the excitement he brings to this episode of Inside Winemaking leaves no doubt that he is more passionate than ever.  

Our conversation explores what normal red-wine traits are "evil for sparkling wines," how to keep Pinot noir fermenting slowly, the characteristics of a great sparkling base, why the visitor's center staff may be caught scratching the inside of flutes, how CO2 amplifies all flaws, and how wine style leaves an imprint similar to the fashion of a specific decade. 

At my request Zeke Neeley, who you may remember from Episode 2: Champagne, Cucumbers, and Estate Winemaking..., to come back and record a solo post about something he is well-versed, the use of Sulfur in winemaking.

In 15 minutes Zeke lays out the historical use of sulfur, specifically sulfur-dioxide (SO2), some of the common misconceptions it has had publicly, it's role with bacteria and yeast, the paradox of not using it, and his own personal opinions on the best use of SO2 for commercial winemaking.

Like cooks in a kitchen, all winemakers have different approaches to the use of SO2, and it's key to remember that Zeke's practices are a summation of his studies and practical experience.  Nothing can rile up a room of winemakers like the discussion of SO2.

I think anyone interested in serious winemaking will come away with new insights from Zeke's post.  I'm very appreciative that he was willing to sit down and record his thoughts on this hot-button issue.

Let me know if you find short guest post episodes such as this valuable.  [email protected]

The first three years of Douglas Rennie's apprenticeship involved learning to make oak barrels using only hand tools.  These hand tools were treated with great respect, never placed on the ground, as they had been passed down from the men in his family.  Douglas is the fourth generation to become a master cooper in his family.

After making barrels for Black and White Whiskey in Scotland Douglas made his way to California and began a new career making wine barrels for the French cooperage, Seguin Moreau.

I traveled to Seguin to interview Douglas for the Inside Winemaking Podcast and had a chance to ask him all the questions I've been saving for a true expert of oak.  In this Podcast Douglas tells the story of his apprenticeship, what it means to be a master cooper, he describes the many differences between French and American oak, takes us through the process of assembling a barrel, and describes the importance of toasting the staves.

This short podcast is a teaser episode for the interview with Douglas Rennie, Master Cooper from Seguin Moreau in Napa, California.  Listen as Douglas tells two short stories from his early days of apprenticeship in Scotland and then another about some "dodgy fishcakes" in Beverley Hills.  The entire interview podcast should be live by Monday March 9th.  

"God and the devil are in the details."  In this episode Cameron Parry, who is taking over the winemaking reigns at Groth Vineyards and Winery explains which details he views are most critical to ensure that each vintage of Groth wines are exceptional.

A highlight from our conversation include Cameron's description of the flavor and texture qualities that result from Sauvignon blanc's fermentation in neutral oak barrels vs. stainless steel tanks.

Cameron does a great job in dispelling the myth that winemakers have some sort of gifted sensory ability. Training is the key to develop one's abilities when it comes to smell and flavor recognition.  I like how Cameron works that training into everyday experience, especially with his kids and their time spent cooking and "developing their sensory capacities."

Groth is perhaps most well known for their Cabernets - all of which are from grapes sourced from the Oakville district of Napa.  Cameron tells the story of how the Groth Reserve Cabernet came about and the describes the most notable wines from the recent 30-year retrospective tasting that Groth put on as a press event.

In this episode vineyardist, David Bos, brings a lot of enthusiasm for organic and biodynamic farming.  David learned farming on the ground while working for Grgich Hills Estate in the Napa Valley, which is known for their commitment to natural winegrowing and sustainability.

These days David runs his own small farming Company, Harvest Bos, and is known as a specialist vineyard consultant for those who have an interest in employing organic and biodynamic farming.  That said, David doesn't smell like patchouli, doesn't speak in flowery prose, and doesn't believe we should get sidetracked by the less practical aspects of biodynamics.

In great detail he explains "that biodynamics can give you better health, quality, vitality" and the four tenets that he deems critical towards that end are compost, observation, biodiversity, and the biodynamic preparations.  The bulk of our conversation is spent exploring those topics and how David incorporates them into the care of his vineyards.

Art Seavey is a man who slips comfortably between his water-based business Monterey Abalone Company and his family's devotion to farming grapes on steep hillsides for Seavey Vineyard.

Much more than just my boss, Art is the general manager at Seavey Vineyard, a small estate vineyard and winery in the eastern hills of Napa's Conn Valley.  In this episode Art discusses the path that led him to found the Monterey Abalone Company, which sustainably farms abalone on the commercial wharf in Monterey on California's coastline

Everyday on my commute to work I pass Miner Family Wines in the Oakville District of Napa.  I was quite fortunate to stop on my way home recently and have a conversation with my friend, and Miner winemaker, Stacy Vogel.  

Before we got talking about her post at Miner, Stacy detailed her experiences traveling and working France and Australia.  Given how much time I spend cleaning and sanitizing the winery where I spend my days, I was a bit envious when Stacy described the benign neglect that was part of her internship at Bouchard Pere & Fils in Burgundy.  

Stacy also did stints at Tahbilk winery in Victoria, Australia, Cain Vineyard and Winery in Napa, and Ledson Winery and Vineyards in Sonoma.  I'd recommend to anyone visiting Napa to check out Cain, it's a bit spectacular.  

There's no such thing as a short harvest at Miner, as they are working with Burgundian, Bordelais, Rhone varieties, and even some Sangiovese.  It's one of my favorite pass-times to pick on Pinot producers and I figured Stacy was game because Miner produces five Pinots and quite a bit of that fruit comes from Garys' Vineyard in Santa Lucia.  

I had a great time recording this podcast with my friend and consultant viticulturist, Garrett Buckland.  Our conversation gets deep into the technical weeds right off the bat, and thus I've split the podcast into two episodes.  Get your coffee, turn on your brain, and get ready to get schooled on what is involved in growing grapes for some of California's top wineries.  Garrett gives insight into:

Bringing grapevines into the US and what it takes to clean up the virus and certify new clones.

How grapegrowing has changed in the past 20 years.

The most critical aspects of caring for a vineyard designed to make iconic wines.

The effect of the current drought on graperowing and the 2014 vintage.

I had a great time recording this podcast with my friend and consultant viticulturist, Garrett Buckland.  Our conversation gets deep into the technical weeds right off the bat, and thus I've split the podcast into two episodes.  Get your coffee, turn on your brain, and get ready to get schooled on what is involved in growing grapes for some of California's top wineries.  Garrett gives insight into:

Bringing grapevines into the US and what it takes to clean up the virus and certify new clones.

How grapegrowing has changed in the past 20 years.

The most critical aspects of caring for a vineyard designed to make iconic wines.

The effect of the current drought on graperowing and the 2014 vintage

Recorded just prior to the harvest season in August, 2014, this interview with Amy Warnock takes us through her journey to becoming a viticulturist (viticulturalist, for some), up to her current work with Orin Swift Cellars based out of Napa.  Amy is a technical specialist when it comes to growing grapes destined for high-end wines.  In our conversation Amy does a wonderful job of painting a picture in broad strokes to elaborate how wine styles are created by vineyard site and how, as a viticulturist, it is her skill to understand what style of wine a certain vineyard plot has the potential to produce.  

My favorite part of our conversation is when Amy tells the story of how Bruce Cakebread from Cakebread Cellars left a message on her voicemail with a simple piece of advice that would become the entree to her vineyard career.  

A look back at the highlights from the 2014 harvest. 

We knew it was going to be an early harvest this year. We didn't know that things were going to kick off with an earthquake. Our magnitude 6 shaking on Aug 24th took us by surprise, but didn't thwart the fast and furious harvest pace that characterized this season. This podcast covers the earthquake, surprise of supple tannins, and healthy yields that will characterize our memory of the 2014 wines.

I met Russell Bevan last year as we had both done our time with the Jesuits at Gonzaga University.  Russell is a big guy with an even larger personality, which is only superseded by some of the critical review his wines have received.

He is a man to pull no punches.   That is what most excited me to bring him onto the Inside Winemaking Podcast.  Russell founded Bevan Cellars with his partner, Victoria De Crescenzo, in 2004 and in less than ten years has rocketed to the top of luxury wine lovers' most-coveted list.   In our conversation Russell lays out his disdain for "good, clean wine," and explains in detail his winemaking philosophy and the meticulous standards he and his team employ.  For example, Russell is preparing to make up to six yeast additions to his wines this coming harvest in order to re-create his version of a wild fermentation.  And this because, as he states, "There's no such thing as a true wild fermentation."  Most of Russell's ideas on winemaking challenge what I have learned during my own career and our conversation during this podcast left my head spinning in the way it does every time we meet.  I keep coming back for more.

This short episode is an update covering the experience of the Aug 24th earthquake in Napa, CA.  I talk about the experience we went through at home and then provide a very brief idea of how local wineries were affected.      While it was a terrifying experience, we came through unharmed and are incredibly grateful that the damage to our home and those of our friends was mostly superficial.  

When you are the harvest coordinator, cellar crew, owner, and winemaker of a boutique winery and the grapes are going to be picked starting at 3AM, your day begins shortly after dinner.  Waxwing Wines is the creation and 0ne-man operation with Scott Sisemore at the helm.  

During this episode of the Inside Winemaking Podcast Scott joins me to elaborate on how his years of making wine throughout northern Californian, India, and Chile inspired him to focus his attention on small lots of Pinot Noir and Syrah.  

Scott runs a lean winery at Waxwing and he is forthcoming during our conversation regarding the equipment and practices that he feels are key for producing exquisite wines.  Waxwing Wines are a focused representation of their vineyard designated sources and Scott's dedication, so much so that every cork is branded with his phone number.

Mike Dunn returned to his family's winery in 2000 and  in this Podcast tells the story of his journey outside of winemaking and how it ultimately lead back to Dunn Vineyards up on Howell Mountain in Napa.  Mike describes what Dunn looked like back when he was a teenager working for Randy.   He then goes over how some basic equipment upgrades in the early 2000's have streamlined the winemaking, saving time and everyone's back health, yet kept the winemaking simple and respected the tradition of Dunn Vineyards - massive in fruit and tannins.  

Having access to some gnarly old vine Petite Sirah, and the motivation to create something purely his own, Mike launched Retro Cellars in 2003.  During our conversation Mike gives a cheat-sheet for working with Petite Sirah both in the vineyard and the cellar.    He then ties Dunn and Retro in together and explains how time and patience are key to both of these very different wines.  

I couldn't be more thankful to have a good friend, Matt Reid, join me on the Podcast as my first guest.  Matt take us through his winemaking history and explains how a $2.98 book on the remainder shelf got his career fermenting.

This initial episode lays out what you can expect from the Inside Winemaking Podcast.  Host Jim Duane covers the show's intent, it's format, Jim's qualifications as a winemaker, his background, and the inspiration for creating the Podcast.