The Inside Winemaking Podcast With Jim Duane

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 gr

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,

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

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 AN

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 Dur

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 Deep Winemaking 2017 is scheduled for August 10-12th in Napa.  Come spend three days imm

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 R

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

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 developi

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 Deep Winemaking 2017 is scheduled for August 10-12th in Napa.  Come spend three days immersed in technical visits with winemakers, viticulturists, barrel cooperages, and wine laboratories

"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 B

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  Marsel

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

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

Tom Rinaldi 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   jim@insidewinemaking.com The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes And Stitcher Radio Too Questions?  Com

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 v

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 Mel

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 barre

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   jim@insidewinemaking.com   LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Colgin Cellars Clos P

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.