This episode features Michael Evans, who is the co-founder of the Vines of Mendoza in Argentina's Uco Valley.  After falling in love during a trip to Mendoza in 2004 Michael found a local partner and created a place for individual owners to build a wine starting right from vineyard plantings.  Under the guidance of full vineyard staff and consulting winemaker, Santiago Achaval, owners can choose the varietals and winemaking style in order to build their own personal wine.  Vines of Mendoza has grown to 1,500 acres and now features The Vines Resort and Spa, which includes the restaurant Siete Fuegos directed by acclaimed chef, Francis Mallmann.  Michael has an infectious passion for winemaking and the beauty of Mendoza, which made for a great podcast.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Vines of Mendoza, Argentina
• The Vines Resort and Spa, Mendoza Argentina
• Achaval Ferrer, Mendoza Argentina
• Contact Michael Evans by email [email protected]

I will be at City of Riesling in Traverse City, Michigan on June 10 and 11th.  If you love Riesling, please come check out the trade and consumer events that this event has to offer.  David Bos is billing City of Riesling as "The best white wine on earth in one of the prettiest places on earth."  

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

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This episode features Frederic Panaiotis, Chef de Cave for the Champagne house, Ruinart, which was founded in 1729 and lays claim to being the oldest maison in Champagne.  Frederic was on a press tour in the US and I had a chance to record this podcast with him in San Francisco.  Chef de Cave translates to Chief Winemaker, which is the post that Frederic serves at Ruinart.   As both a holder of tradition, and innovator Frederic is leading the technical team at Ruinart.  What i learned from our conversation is that this historic Champagne house is anything stagnant.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Ruinart, Champagne
• Veuve Cliquot, Champagne

I will be at City of Rielsing in Traverse City, Michigan on June 10 and 11th.  If you love Riesling, please come check out the trade and consumer events that this event has to offer.  David Bos is billing City of Riesling as "The best white wine on earth in one of the prettiest places on earth."  

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

This episode features Gabrielle Shaffer, who is the viticulturist and winery relations manager for Stagecoach Vineyard.  AT 600 planted acres across 175 distinct parcels, Stagecoach is one of the largest and most important vineyards in the Napa Valley.  Gabrielle works with 90 different winemakers, who are purchasing grapes from Stagecoach.  Gabrielle also has her own brand, Gamling and McDuck, which she founded with her partner, Adam McClary.  Gamling and McDuck, which features Chenin blanc and Cabernet Franc, is opening a tasting room in downtown Napa.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Stagecoach Vineyard
• Gamling and McDuck

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

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This episode features Thibaut Scholasch, founder and VP of Research and Development for Fruition Sciences.  Our conversation gets deep into the weeds of technical viticulture.  Fruition Sciences provides four technical vineyard services that track novel parameters within grapevines.  Thibaut discusses those services chronologically as they are pertinent during the growing season and describes how viticulturists and winemakers can utilize the data to optimize inputs such as irrigation and Nitrogen fertilization.  Thibaut has also created the Vintage Report seminar that is an annual gathering "connecting terroir and innovation."

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Fruition Sciences 
  • Physiocap
  • Dualex Nitrogen tracking
  • Sap flow
  • Multiplex Color/Anthocyanin tracking
• Vintage Report

This podcast is brought you by Hanna Instruments.  Makers of edge and Halo Wine pH meters, these tools are purpose built for winery environments.  The edge Wine pH meter is rich in features including using digital electrodes that can be swapped out anytime to switch to a different parameter, built in rechargeable battery, two USB ports, datalogging, automatic calibration, and Hanna’s exclusive calibration check feature that will alert the user to potential problems during calibration including when to clean the electrode and when the buffer might be contaminated. The edge Wine pH meter is a versatile pH meter for winemaking that be used as a benchtop, portable and even a wall mount to conserve space.

• Edge pH meter from Hanna Instruments
• HALO Wireless pH meter from Hanna Instruments

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

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This episode features Rudy Zuidema, who is the winemaker at Shadybrook Estate in Napa, where we met to record this episode.  Rudy also makes wine for other clients and is known for his experience with organic and biodynamic farming.  Under his own brand, Zuidema Wine Co., Rudy produces a single vineyard Grenache from the McGah Vineyard in Rutherford.  The second half of this podcast is focused on the winemaking technology known as flash detente process.  Rudy founded and operates Flash Wine Technologies, which provides flash detente services to wineries with grape lots as small as ten tons.  His flash detente operation is based out of Kunde Family Winery in Sonoma.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Shadybrook Estate, Napa
• Zuidema Wine Co., Napa
• Flash Wine Technologies, Sonoma
• Ehlers Estate, Napa
• Crimson clover for under-vine weed suppression
• Stella Natura, Biodynamic calendar
• Allora Vineyards, Napa
• Red Cap Vineyards, Howell Mountain
• Kent Price Wines, Napa
• Encanto Vineyards, Napa
• Kunde Family Winery, Sonoma

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

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This episode features Becky George, who is the winemaker for Kelly Fleming Wines in Napa.  Becky also produces her own wine under the Mojave Wines brand, which is a tribute to her childhood growing up in the Mojave Dessert.  Becky and I studied winemaking at UCDavis together 15 years ago, and used this podcast to catch up on all of Becky's work throughout the globe leading up to her current projects in Napa and Anderson Valley.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Kelly Fleming Wines, Napa
• Mojave Wines
• Artesa Vineyards and Winery, Napa
• Oenology and Viticulture and University of Adelaide, Australia
• Hanging Rock Winery, Australia
• Schramsberg Vineyards, Napa
• Domaine Meo-Camuzet, Burgundy
• Yarra Burn, Australia
• Williams Selyem, Sonoma
• Marcassin Vineyards, Sonoma
• Vine Hill Ranch, Napa
• Tule Irrigation Advisor

This podcast is brought you by Hanna Instruments.  Makers of edge and Halo Wine pH meters, these tools are purpose built for winery environments.  The edge Wine pH meter is rich in features including using digital electrodes that can be swapped out anytime to switch to a different parameter, built in rechargeable battery, two USB ports, datalogging, automatic calibration, and Hanna’s exclusive calibration check feature that will alert the user to potential problems during calibration including when to clean the electrode and when the buffer might be contaminated. The edge Wine pH meter is a versatile pH meter for winemaking that be used as a benchtop, portable and even a wall mount to conserve space.

• Edge pH meter from Hanna Instruments
• HALO Wireless pH meter from Hanna Instruments

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

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Pam Starr has been making the wines and building the Crocker and Starr brands since she first met with Charlie Crocker of the Crocker Estate in 1997.  This podcast covers the long story of how Pam built Crocker and Starr beginning from the handwritten business plan.  Associate Winemaker, Evyn Cameron discusses Crocker and Starr's portfolio, they ways how her and Pam evaluate Cabernet Franc fermentations, and some of the winery's cool new equipment.  Our conversation gets out into the weeds of Cabernet Franc, which is one of the varieties that Pam is most known for.  It was a ton of fun to have this Franc geek-fest and discuss a grape that doesn't often get the limelight.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Crocker and Starr, Napa 
• Spottswoode Estate Vineyard and Winery, Napa
• Carrick Winery, Central Otago, New Zealand
• Cliff Lede Vineyards, Napa
• Seavey Vineyard, Napa
• Gemstone Vineyard, Napa
• The Inside Winemaking Podcast

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum links at the bottom of the Inside Winemaking homepage.  Every small donation is helpful.  

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

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Dave is a long time friend and agreed to help create the recent Winemaking Chemistry Series - pH and TA episode.  I asked Dave to be a part of that project because of his background in organic chemistry and his ability to describe where in winemaking those principles are most critical.  We ended up going deep on several aspects beyond wine acidity and I made the decision to make this a stand-alone episode.  Dave is currently the winemaker at Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery in Sonoma.  HIs experience making wine at a larger scale than most previous podcasts guests presented the opportunity to discuss the highest-leverage winemaking tools and the advances that oak suppliers have made available to wineries.  The final portion of Dave's episode is our discussion of pH and TA that was featured in the previous Chemistry Series podcast.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery, Sonoma
• Louis Latour, Burgundy
• Tahbilk, Victoria, Australia
• V. Sattui, Napa
• Acacia Vineyards
• Rosenblum Cellars

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This episode is the second in the chemistry series and focuses on the acidity elements of pH and TA (Ep. 56 was on sugar and alcohol).  Dave Nakaji, winemaker for Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery, came on the podcast to discuss how he integrates pH and TA as parameters to guide his decision-making all the way through from grapes to finished wine.  Beyond his experience with wine, Dave has a PhD in organic chemistry, and the rare ability to simplify the complex understanding of acid chemistry as it is applied to winemaking.  The next episode (Ep. 68) will feature Dave's full interview.  After Dave and my discussion of pH and TA, Casey Banach from Hanna Instruments joins the podcast to review the care and maintenance of pH meters.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Edge pH meter from Hanna Instruments
• HALO Wireless pH meter from Hanna Instruments
• Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery, Sonoma

This podcast is brought you by Hanna Instruments.  Makers of edge and Halo Wine pH meters, these tools are purpose built for winery environments.  The edge Wine pH meter is rich in features including using digital electrodes that can be swapped out anytime to switch to a different parameter, built in rechargeable battery, two USB ports, datalogging, automatic calibration, and Hanna’s exclusive calibration check feature that will alert the user to potential problems during calibration including when to clean the electrode and when the buffer might be contaminated. The edge Wine pH meter is a versatile pH meter for winemaking that be used as a benchtop, portable and even a wall mount to conserve space.

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too

This is the first episode of Inside Winemaking to leave the West Coast and learn about winemaking in Virginia.  Tyler Henley is the winemaker for Boxwood Estate and has been making wine in Virginia for four years, after an extensive background working at wineries in California and Chile.  Tyler and I worked together at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars ten years ago.  Thankfully we've kept in touch and were able to connect over Skype to record this episode.  Beyond Tyler's background we cover what makes viticulture unique and the challenges of growing grapes in Virginia.  Winemakers working in marginal climates have to get creative, are master problem-solvers, and their experiences can be of great value when shared.  

The audio in this episode is a bit rough, and I appreciate your patience during this discussion that was recorded over Skype.  

For those of you that are new to Inside Winemaking, having learned of it from Eric Asimov's mention in his NYTimes article, welcome.  Most podcasts are recorded in person, but I will record remote episodes from time to time when the opportunity presents.  

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Boxwood Estate Winery, Middleburg, VA
• Chappellet, Napa Valley
• Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Napa Valley
• Brassfield Estate, Lake County, CA
• Matetich Vineyards, Chile
• Blue Valley Vineyard and Winery, Delaplane, VA
• UCDavis wine jobs bulletin board  Site for winery jobs and internships
• Norton grape variety
• Power Harrow Youtube Video
• Casanel Vineyards and Winery, Leesburg, VA

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

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