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

In this podcast Legendary winemaker, Dick Peterson, describes his recently released book as, "A history book of California winemaking as told by me." "The Winemaker" is a must read for any wine geek or fan of California winemaking. Dick began making wines with Ernesto and Julio Gallo in the 50's, took over at Beaulieu Vineyard after being chosen by Andre Tchelistcheff in the 60's, developed The Monterey Vineyard and the original Taylor California Cellars in the 70's, then dynamited and drilled caves to develop Atlas Peak Vineyards in the 80's. In his eighties he is still consulting for wineries and makes his own wines from Wrotham Pinot, which he cultivated after finding a single old Roman vine in England. More on Dick's background and accolades can be found on his website listed in the Inside Winemaking.com show notes.

Our conversation covers not only Dick's career of winemaking in California, but also has stories that didn't make it into the book, including how a spelling mistake helped get some of Piero Antinori's greatest Sangiovese budwood into the Napa Valley. I had a wonderful time with Dick and was quite impressed with his both his honesty and detailed accounts of a long and storied winemaking career.

Soil science is a difficult subject to get your head around. Years of making "housecalls" to visit with farmers throughout California has honed Kyle Truesdell's ability to translate complex topics of soil science and vine interactions in a manner that anyone can understand. As an agronomist with Certified Crop Advisor and Pest Control Advisor licenses, Kyle runs the Wilbur-Ellis offices in Napa and Sonoma. He still makes time to get out and visit vineyards, and that is how I met him this past October at Seavey Vineyard. After peppering him with nearly every soil question I had ever thought of, I realized that our conversation could be helpful to many, and that lead to the recording of this episode.

A summary of my winemaking through the 2015 harvest season in Napa. Heat, fire, and rain drove a fast and furious harvest in the vineyards and winery. This episode of the Inside Winemaking Podcast includes a special interview with Rob Taylor, who tells of his experience living through the Valley Fire that erupted on Sept 12th and wreaked havoc through Lake County, north of Napa in California.

After reading an article summarizing the 2015 vintage (up to September) that Matt Reid wrote for the Napa Register, I scrapped my own attempt and invited him to deliver that on a solo podcast episode on the Inside Winemaking Podcast. Matt is the proprietor of PWR Wines, winemaker at Benessere Vineyards, and consulting winemaker at Burgess Cellars. In case you missed it, Matt Reid was the first interview for Inside Winemaking back in August 2014.

With his father's suburban loaded up with Petit Sirah and layered with dry ice, David Grega, nearly asphyxiated on the highway before he got his grapes to the crusher on his very first day of winemaking. As someone who has no interest in saying "no" to opportunity, David has taken a novel approach to his career with wines. An Army combat veteran of Iraq, cigar enthusiast, self-made Tea sensory instructor, and now Cab winemaker by day and Rhone wine guy by night, it became clear during our podcast conversation that the unifying characteristics of David's success in a range of fields stems from his focus and hyper-disciplined self education. We spent a good portion of our recorded conversation talking about David's path into all things wine and ended with his specific vision of what he hopes his impact to be on the winemakers that come after him.

Carlotta Wines is the brand that David and his partner created to focus of wines using mainly Rhone varietals. David also works with winemaker, Jeff Ames, who is the creator of the Rudius Wines, and together they manage Jeff's clientele of high-end Napa Wineries including Tor Kenward, Boich Cellars, and Anthem Winery.

Up in the Tahoe forest I had a chance to catch up with the woman behind the gas mask. A winemaker who omits the easy details in an effort to draw you in.

Enter, Sabrine Rodems, winemaker for Wrath Wines, Scratch Wines, and the woman behind the curtains of Wines of Danger. With two feet in the winery and the phone on speaker, Sabrine is not interested in conventional winemaking. The word "experimentation" came up constantly during our conversation about her endeavors to dial-in the vineyards that she is working with.

In perhaps the most entertaining interview I've ever had in a vineyard, Jake Terrell from St Francis Winery and Vineyard, takes me through his experiences throughout California's prime vineyards. This interview has it all: earthquakes, historic vineyards, old-vine Zinfandel, Cabernet from Russian River Valley in Sonoma, strategies for reducing vineyard irrigation, and an epic Cannibas plantation.

I was particularly interested in having Jake share his expertise in caring for old vines, something he defines as planted before 1950. He did not disappoint and in our conversation he gives multiple tips on how to work with old vines with the goal of delivering the highest quality grapes, something for which Jake is focused at all points of the growing season. Beyond old vines we discuss how timing is critical for all high-end grapegrowing and he names the two most critically time-sensitive vineyard practices.

As a farmer who drinks a wide variety of wines, and has a keen fascination with the Old World, Jake paints a vivid picture in detailing the style for which the St Francis wines are known. The conversation finishes with an invitation to visit St Francis, which is in the Kenwood area of Sonoma. Need more reasons to visit? The winery's restaurant was rated number 1 restaurant in 2014 by Open Table, they are certified sustainable, and the North Bay Business Journal listed St Francis as one of the best places to work in the North Bay of San Francisco.

Having never set foot in a vineyard before packing her Subaru with orchids and all other possessions Ashley Anderson set out across US for Napa and didn't look back.

Now, 16 years later Ashley is the vineyard manager at Cain Vineyard and Winery up 1,700 feet on Spring Mountain in the Napa Valley. She knows intimately the 87 acres that she farms for the Cain wines, especially Cain Five.

During this episode of the podcast Ashley tells how she is adjusting her farming for the current drought conditions, explains how "tolerance" is a major aspect of organic farming (Cain is about to finish their organic certification), she talks about the results after five years of trials with biodynamics, and most profoundly, Ashley describes why her and her colleagues at Cain are invested for the long term. All 16 of Ashley's harvests have been with Cain.

Master of bubbles, Tom Tiburzi, spares no effort to explain the intracacies of making spectacular sparkling wines in California. The 2015 vintage will be Tom's 26th with Domaine Chandon, yet the excitement he brings to this episode of Inside Winemaking leaves no doubt that he is more passionate than ever.

Our conversation explores what normal red-wine traits are "evil for sparkling wines," how to keep Pinot noir fermenting slowly, the characteristics of a great sparkling base, why the visitor's center staff may be caught scratching the inside of flutes, how CO2 amplifies all flaws, and how wine style leaves an imprint similar to the fashion of a specific decade.

At my request Zeke Neeley, who you may remember from Episode 2: Champagne, Cucumbers, and Estate Winemaking..., to come back and record a solo post about something he is well-versed, the use of Sulfur in winemaking.

In 15 minutes Zeke lays out the historical use of sulfur, specifically sulfur-dioxide (SO2), some of the common misconceptions it has had publicly, it's role with bacteria and yeast, the paradox of not using it, and his own personal opinions on the best use of SO2 for commercial winemaking.

Like cooks in a kitchen, all winemakers have different approaches to the use of SO2, and it's key to remember that Zeke's practices are a summation of his studies and practical experience. Nothing can rile up a room of winemakers like the discussion of SO2.

I think anyone interested in serious winemaking will come away with new insights from Zeke's post. I'm very appreciative that he was willing to sit down and record his thoughts on this hot-button issue.

Let me know if you find short guest post episodes such as this valuable. [email protected]