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

In this episode, expert winemaker Matt Courtney discusses the intersection of tradition and technology in California winemaking. Matt recounts his journey from casual restaurant work to crafting high-end wines with a focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The conversation explores the Burgundian influence on California wines, the distinct characteristics of Sonoma County's vineyards, and the creation of the Ferren wine brand.

The episode highlights the balance between preserving traditional practices and embracing technological advancements to enhance winemaking processes.

Winemaking Class Offers and Show Notes for all episodes at https://www.insidewinemaking.com/

Resources from this Episode

Arista Winery – https://www.aristawinery.com/

Ferren Wines – https://www.ferrenwines.com/

This Episode is sponsored by: Innovint. Wineries of all sizes rely on InnoVint’s winery operating system to optimize vineyard tracking, manage wine production processes, automate compliance reporting, track costs seamlessly, and make data-driven decisions.

The best part? The software is intuitive, easy to use, and mobile and offline friendly! And with the highest-rated customer service in the industry, you’re guaranteed to have a smooth transition, even right before harvest.

Learn more:

innovint.us

Get a demo:

innovint.us/request-a-demo/

Join our free winemaking community:

innovint.us/join-the-punchdown/

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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.

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

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 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 i...

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