Notes From The Winemaker

Evolution Of Our Winegrowing

I've been reviewing my notes from the 2006 harvest, and comparing them to vintages back to 1995 - my first Westwood harvest. There have been some interesting changes in my practices over the last decade.

First off -- compared to the early days, I put a lot more emphasis on controlling the yield in the vineyard than I used to. Back in the day our growers made all their own pruning and thinning decisions. This really started to change with the difficult 1998 and 2000 harvests, after which it became more important to me -- and to my growers alike -- to prune and thin to keep the clusters well-separated on the vines. Even with the extra care we have had some surprises, like the really short Pinot yields in 2005 and the overall heavier than expected yields in 2006.

Second, I have also embraced other changes in emphasis in farming philosophy. Environmental stewardship has always been important to me, but defining practices consistent with my position has come only recently.

I think I am going to avoid the organic and biodynamic trends. It's fine with me that some growers need to embrace these formulae in order to practice low-impact, sustainable farming. To me it's about common sense: don't do anything in the vineyard that I would not expose my own children to.

Under this simple rubric I have determined to not use any hot chemicals -- unless I absolutely have to. This means employing more hand labor to help assure that I don't have to, and minimizing inputs even of materials with low toxicity.

For example, I am increasingly concerned about the soaps and oils that are used as spray "stickers" and also as disease and insect control in some vineyards. So far I have not allowed any form of insect control (and none has been needed). I am also working to make sure the vineyard crews understand that they must use the barest minimum of sticker in our mildew-control sprays. I believe that these materials are worse for lungs than is generally recognized, and I am very sure they are especially toxic to yeast -- and therefore bad for clean fermentations.

I also recognize that I'm not just farming grapes, but also the cover and perimeter vegetation and their attendant insect populations, as well as the animal populations dependent on them on up the food chain. I am trying to make sure we are doing nothing to disturb the natural balance among these populations. In addition to minimizing chemical inputs I believe minimizing or eliminating tillage is very important to maintaining this balance, as well as to preventing loss of topsoil.

Third, I have radically changed the criteria by which I determine timing of harvest. With my background in science I used to be all about the numbers: sugar and acid levels, and juice pH. Other considerations of fruit ripeness were noted, but getting the optimum numbers was important.

As time has gone by I have nearly completely abandoned consideration of the numbers. This is the single most significant change to my practices in terms of altering the qualities of the wines I produce. These days I am tasting for ripe flavors in the berry skin and pulp, and especially lignified tannins in the seeds as my primary determinants of when to harvest. Consideration of the numbers comes after the grapes are crushed, and then primarily in the context of what fermentation problems I might encounter. Sure I am still interested in sugar, acid and pH in the context of how the wine tastes, but it is that taste that is the driver, and not the numbers.

In practice, the result of this change in approach has really only been that average pH of my wines has risen a bit vintage to vintage. Finished alcohol and acid levels have remained remarkably stable -- suggesting that my palate has a fairly narrow envelope for "good" texture, balance and finish.

This means that, fourth, my cellar practices are evolving to maintain the wines within this envelope. This evolution has led to more direct manipulation of sugar and alcohol levels, primarily through de-alcoholization processes and blending. I am also using more tartaric acid than before -- which means that it is very important to me to make certain that the acid I source tastes good on its own.

I have also embraced an increasing level of tannin replacement, but only in the Rhone wines -- my trials have shown me that exogenous sources of tannin detract form the character of Pinot Noir, and while additions of endogenous stems change the character of Pinot I can't say the change is consistently for the better. And I will not make a change for the sake of change alone.

I'm also fermenting at hotter temperatures than before, and more interested in using fermenters with a large surface-to-volume. My average length of cuvaison has also increased, from about 10 days in the mid 1990's to 16 days recently. These changes have resulted in marked improvements in the phenolic textures of the wines at pressing, as well as in marginally lower alcohol levels.

I feel that there is room for more evolution in the area of cuvaison, perhaps in active maintenance of temperatures in the 70's °F (rather than the high 50's-low 60's) at the end of fermentation. This may be especially beneficial to my extended macerations, which are currently out at 42-46 days and require semi-heroic measures to minimize the development of undesirable volatile acidity.

There is not a lot I can do to improve the consideration and care I put into sourcing my barrels and corks, short of growing and harvesting my own trees (ha ha). My barrel aging regime is pretty well established -- mature and stable. Brettanomyces has never been an issue for me -- to date none of my wines has suffered a huge Brett infection -- but if it does rear its ugly head there is a new tool (Velcorin) to employ rather than big sulfite additions and filtration. It is my intention to continue to bottle my wines without fining or filtration. About the only further evolution in my barrel regime may be to shorter aging of some wines -- it is becoming clear to me that some of my young-vineyard wines are better at 14-16 months of aging rather than 23+ months.

posted 2/10/2007 08:53:00 PM