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

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

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

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.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

 

Direct download: Adam_Casto_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:04pm EDT

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

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.

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.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

 

Direct download: Frederick_Ammons_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:17am EDT

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

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

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.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

Direct download: Chris_Tynan_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:09am EDT

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

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

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.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

Direct download: Chris_Carpenter_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:09am EDT

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

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.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

 

Direct download: Maria_Peterson_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:49am EDT

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

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

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.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

Direct download: Andrew_Byers_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:49pm EDT

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.

Direct download: Anthony_King_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:28am EDT

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

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

 

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.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

Direct download: Amanda_McCrossin_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:26am EDT

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

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.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

Direct download: Leigh_Meyering_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:19am EDT

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

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

 

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.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

Direct download: David_Montgomery_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:35am EDT

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

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.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

Direct download: Brett_Weis_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:44am EDT

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

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.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

 

Direct download: Tim_Milos_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:56pm EDT

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

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.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

 

Direct download: Jenny_Heinzen_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:13pm EDT

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

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.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

Direct download: Matt_Iaconis_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:57am EDT

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 jim@insidewinemaking.com.

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. 

 

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.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

 

Direct download: QA3_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:40pm EDT

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

Direct download: Randy_Heinzen_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:06am EDT

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

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

 

Direct download: Doug_Shafer_Complete.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:46am EDT

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