What kind of wine do you want to make? What kind of wines do you and your guests like to drink? Luscious, soft, fruity? Lean, austere, earthy? Tannic, sturdy, powerful? We can encourage these characteristics in the cellar, but, as with anything relating to a wine, the most crucial parts happen in the vineyard. Aside from choosing an appropriate variety-climate match, the next most important factor is to find a vineyard with as many characteristics as possible that will lead to the style you are looking to produce. This article is about some of the variables within a vineyard that can help you actualize the type of wine you’d like to make, and some work-arounds when certain variables are not in your favor. In the same way that winemaking is a type of recipe (press grapes, add a certain yeast, add X g/L tartaric acid aiming for 3.Y pH, age on lees Z months, etc..), a vineyard can be looked at in a similar way, with respect to its climate, soils, aspects, and so on. For example: Warm climate
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What kind of wine do you want to make? What kind of wines do you and your guests like to drink? Luscious, soft, fruity? Lean, austere, earthy? Tannic, sturdy, powerful? We can encourage these characteristics in the cellar, but, as with anything relating to a wine, the most crucial parts happen in the vineyard. Aside from choosing an appropriate variety-climate match, the next most important factor is to find a vineyard…
Technique
Yeast are fairly simple, single-celled organisms. But their diversity, functionality, and ability to adapt is why humans, and especially winemakers love these fungi so much. Bob Peak takes us through several strains that winemakers should know are available.
