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Displaying items by tag: vinification

Wednesday, 14 June 2023 11:44

Beyond the Basics: Carbonic Maceration

Summary: 

In this webinar we will take a deep dive into the fascinating world of carbonic maceration, from early origins to present-day variations and applications. We will compare ‘conventional’ aerobic fermentation of crushed grapes with anaerobic intracellular fermentation of whole berries, and examine the differences between carbonic maceration, semi carbonic maceration, and fractional carbonic maceration.

We will identify some of the “Old World” regions and appellations where the use of carbonic maceration became traditional and look at how some “New World” winemakers are utilizing intracellular fermentation.

Finally, we will consider whether these procedures enhance or obscure the inherent identity of the grape varieties and the characteristics of the place where they grow.

Join us to go Beyond the Basics with Carbonic Maceration! 

Presenter: Alan Tardi

Alan Tardi is a wine journalist (Wine and Spirits Magazine, Wine Spectator, The New York Times, Sommelier Journal, Wine Folly), educator, and author of two award-winning books: "Romancing the Vine: Life, Love and Transformation in the Vineyards of Barolo" (St Martin's Press 2006/James Beard Award Best Wine Book of 2006) and "Champagne, Uncorked: The House of Krug and The Timeless Allure of the Worlds Most Celebrated Drink" (Hachette 2016/Gourmand Best in the World Award 2016).

His interest in wine developed while working in some of New York City’s legendary restaurants and as chef-owner of his own acclaimed NYC restaurant. He lived in the Barolo village of Castiglione Falletto for over a decade, working in the vineyards and wineries and managing the town's Cantina Comunale and functioned as the first US Ambassador of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco.

Alan teaches the IWS program online with the Wine Scholar Guild and is a frequent presenter at SommCon and the Society of Wine Educators annual conference. Alan is a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW), WSET Level 3, Champagne Master (WSG), and Italian Wine Scholar (IWS).

Wednesday, 21 June 2023 11:14

Roll Out the Barrel!

Summary:

Wine has been fermented and aged in barrels for centuries. Originally, it was just a convenient material from which to fashion vessels – a bit less cumbersome than clay, and a bit more flexible too. But in the 20th century, the flavour and character of oak became integrable to many popular wine styles, such as the red wines of Bordeaux and Rioja and Chardonnay from Napa Valley.
Now, the idea that the best wines – and the most expensive – are those that have been oak aged is ingrained into the marketing and selling of wine at every level. Do you actually need oak to make the greatest wine? What are the alternatives?
This webinar looks at how the winemaker’s love affair with wood developed. Why is there such an immutable link between a wine’s price and quality and whether it was wood aged or not?
What actually happens when a wine ferments or ages in a barrel? We’ll look at micro-oxidation, why there is a difference between different barrel formats and also why some winemakers consider it important to ferment in the barrel and not just age.
Why is oak the dominant type of wood used for barrels, and what other woods can be used? We’ll look at alternatives such as acacia, cherry and chestnut and how they all impart different qualities to the wine.
What is the difference between oak from different parts of the world, and different quercus subspecies? Why is oak from France’s famed forest so highly valued?
What are the challenges of keeping barrels clean, and what can go wrong when they become infected? Why does no-one want to buy a second-hand barrel for white wine production?
What is the role of the cooper, and why will wineries pay such a premium for barrels from a famous barrel maker? We also look at the rise of superstar coopers such as Stockinger in Austria.
Lastly, did you ever wonder how it’s possible for a $5 wine to have an oaky taste? Barrels are expensive, but they’re not the only option. There are many other ways that winemakers fool you into thinking barrels were involved in the wine’s production.
If you ever questioned the role of wood in the making of wine, this webinar will take you deep into the why, what and how, exploring all the angles.

Presenter: Simon J. Woolf

Simon J Woolf is an award-winning English author and wine writer, currently based in The Netherlands.

An acknowledged expert on the developing niche of natural wine, he's written for Decanter magazine, Meininger’s Wine Business International, World of Fine Wine and Noble Rot, and many other publications. Simon is the editor of The Morning Claret, an online wine magazine which specialises in natural, biodynamic, organic and orange wine.

Simon's first book "Amber Revolution - How the world learned to love orange wine" was published in 2018, and won the Roederer Wine book of the year award in 2019. Simon has also won numerous awards for his magazine features and online columns.

Simon travels regularly to countries such as Georgia, Slovenia, Italy and Portugal, where he continues to research the stories and traditions behind artisan winemaking. His second book, Foot Trodden, a collaboration with photographer and wine communicator Ryan Opaz, was published in October 2021. It is described as a journey deep into the soul of Portuguese wine.

Simon is also active as a presenter, editor, wine judge and translator.

Summary:

Whole cluster (or whole bunch) fermentation is the winemaking method of using whole grape clusters without destemming during vinification. It is one of the oldest winemaking methods though the introduction of modern destemming machines after World War II shifted winemaking, eliminating much of its use. However over the last 20 years, it has been making a comeback in Burgundy and beyond, though producers such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Domaine Leroy, Domaine Dujac and Domaine des Lambrays have long used whole clusters in their wines.

Join us for Robin's webinar to discover how the process works, why producers might work with the technique or why some such as the late Henri Jayer are against it, where it tends to be used more within the Côte, how producers determine the percentages of whole clusters to use within their various wines and other whole cluster “alternatives” that some producers are also utilizing.

Presenter: Robin Kick MW

Originally from the Chicago area, Robin is a Master of Wine who is presently based in Lugano, Switzerland, where she works as an independent wine consultant, wine judge, journalist and educator.

Following studies in French and English literature, she changed career paths in 1998 when she left her teaching position at the Université de Nice to study wine at the BIVB (Bureau Interprofessionel des Vins de Bourgogne) in Beaune, France and the Université du Vin in Suze-la-Rousse in France’s Rhône Valley.

In the 20+ years of working in the wine business, she has held a number of different positions including wine auction specialist for Christie’s in Beverly Hills, California and fine wine buyer for a pre-eminent London-based wine merchant with an award-winning Burgundy list.

In 2014, after many years of study and a successful dissertation on whole cluster fermentation in Pinot Noir from the Côte d’Or, she became a Master of Wine.

Her main wine passions are Burgundy, Champagne, northern Italy, particularly Piedmont, Switzerland and Jerez.

Summary: 

Join winemaker, Nova Cadamatre MW, as she walks through many of the different possibilities of winemaking vessels including stainless steel, wood, and beyond. Discover the pros, cons, and why winemakers will choose one over another option. 

Presenter: Nova Cadamatre MW

Over the course of almost two decades, Nova Cadamatre has become one of the most versatile and experienced winemakers in the industry. She holds a Bachelors from Cornell University in Viticulture.  In 2017 she achieved the title of Master of Wine and was the first female winemaker in the US to do so. She has worked with some of the best vineyards in the world including significant time in the iconic To Kalon vineyard while working as the Senior Director of Winemaking for Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville, CA.  While there she crafted the #6 wine of 2022 for Wine Spectator’s top 100 list. She has been named to Wine Enthusiast’s Top 40 under 40 list and has numerous 90+ scoring wines to her credit from both coasts

Cadamatre owns three brands of her own; Trestle Thirty One and Snowshell Vineyards from the Finger Lakes and Fiadh Ruadh (Fay-ah Roo-ah) in Napa, CA.  She currently goes back and forth between Napa and the Finger Lakes to manage both her projects and several consulting clients as a true “flying winemaker”. 

Learn more about Nova on her website www.novacadamatre.com

Published in Vinification

Summary:

Join winemaker Olivier Humbrecht MW, of famed estate Zind Humbrecht in Alsace, for a deep dive into these key components of winemaking: yeast and fermentation! 

Presenter: Olivier Humbrecht, MW

Olivier Humbrecht studied wine together with wine marketing and wine business for five years in Toulouse, and then got the chance to do his ‘military service’ working for Sopexa in London.  He learned about and enrolled on the MW course, becoming France’s first ever Master of Wine in 1989.  He began to work with his father, and converted the family domaine to biodynamics in the early 1990s.  His father had painstakingly built up a unique collection of hill-site vineyards over the decades, notably clearing and replanting a quarter of the great historic Grand Cru of Rangen de Thann with Olivier in his later school years.  Olivier has continued to build on this, notably with the recent acquisition of a parcel of Sommerberg to complement the family’s Grand Cru holdings in Brand, Hengst and Goldert, and to complement its other holdings of Rotenberg, Clos Hauserer, Clos Jebsal, Heimbourg, Herrenweg and Clos Windsbuhl.

Olivier’s respectful, non-interventionist winemaking, combined with his and his father’s fastidious viticulture, has given the world vintage after vintage of magnificently differentiated, nuanced bottlings: global white-wine references.  He has never stopped experimenting and improving on his work, using biodynamic practices, changed row orientations and re-thought canopies recently to produce a much greater percentage of dry wines than before.

Published in Vinification

Summary: 

Have you read all about winemaking from books but some concepts are style confusing?  Have you ever wanted to dive deeper into a particular winemaking topic but didn't know anyone to ask?

Join winemaker and Master of Wine, Nova Cadamatre for the first of a three-part series which will pull back the curtain on different styles of winemaking. The first part will cover White and Rose styles of wine. Red, Dessert, Sparkling, and Fortified winemaking will be covered over parts 2 and 3 later this year.

Presenter: Nova Cadamatre MW

A winemaker with a wide and diverse background, Cadamatre started in wine on the East Coast as a winemaking apprentice with Stargazers Vineyard in 2003.  After graduating from Cornell University in 2006 with a Bachelor’s in Viticulture, Nova moved to California.

During her time in California, she worked with fruit from all over the state eventually settling in Napa and focusing on Bordeaux and Burgundian varieties from some of the top vineyards in the area including To Kalon, Vine Hill Ranch, MacDonald, Detert, and Hyde Vineyard.  In 2015, she started her brand Trestle Thirty One in the Finger Lakes of NY. 

In 2020 added Snowshell Vineyards for Naked Wines and in 2022 will be launching Fiadh Ruadh, a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Stags Leap AVA in Napa.  She currently goes back and forth between Napa and the Finger Lakes to manage both her CA projects and her projects in NY.

In 2017, Nova was the first female winemaker in the US to achieve the title of Master of Wine.  She has been named to Wine Enthusiast’s Top 40 under 40 list and has numerous 90+ scoring wines to her credit from both coasts.

Published in Vinification
Friday, 17 December 2021 07:35

Vine to Wine: A Year of Viti/Vini - December

Finally, we have reached the end of the winemaking year. 

In the vineyard, soil health is a common topic of discussion now that the vines are dormant.  This is a great time to dig soil pits and send samples off to discover more about the composition of the soil layers around the root system of the vines. 

Soil pH plays a large part in the health of a vineyard as it controls nutrient uptake.  Even if the soil contains plenty of a particular nutrient, if soil pH is wrong, that nutrient might not be available in a form that the plant can use.  This can lead to micronutrient deficiencies or toxicities. For this reason, it is very important to manage the soil pH.

Published in Blog
Monday, 22 November 2021 13:23

Vine to Wine: A Year of Viti/Vini - November

At the start of November, areas with long growing seasons are still wrapping up harvest, but most wineries in the northern hemisphere have brought their grapes into the winery.  An exception to this rule is any fruit being left out for ice wine production.

Ice Wine Production

Grapes destined for ice wine production must hang on the vine until temperatures reach a consistent 20°F/-7°C or below. Only at this point, can the frozen berries be harvested.

November begins with a lot of activity in the winery and ends with everyone taking a collective sigh of relief.  The growing season is at an end and most wine production professionals can take a moment to reconnect with their families and friends and take a well-deserved vacation. 

Published in Blog
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