GrapeCraft seeks to supplant the errors of the modern period of scientific enology which dominated the field in the half century following World War II. In this period, technologies such as stainless steel, inert gas and sterile filtration gave rise to new types of white wine previously impossible to produce: While modern enological techniques give us fresh new styles of Riesling and sauvignon blanc in beautiful new products never before seen on the earth, the same techniques unfortunately give us red wines which lack soulful expression. That is because modern concepts of oxygen exclusion, gentle pressing and sterile bottling are best suited to wine styles in which arrested development is a virtue: fresh whites and some light reds. When phenolic elaboration is required, these tools hinder more than they help, leading to a contemporary wine style which we believe to lacks the compelling characteristics of traditional winemaking.
The Modern Era also eroded wine quality through the replacement of organic principles of viticulture with the facile farming solutions of petrochemical agriculture: herbicides, pesticides, and convenient mechanical methods of soil manipulation. These have robbed contemporary wines of flavor interest as well as longevity.
Robert Louis Stevenson spoke of “bottled poetry” and Ben Franklin of “proof that God loves us and desires us to be happy.” The foods that move us this way -- lobster bisque, bearnaise sauce, chocolate-- are structured foods. GrapeCraft seeks to perfect wine structure to achieve the same results. Distinctive terroir expression – the taste of a place – cannot be properly appreciated in wines of poor structure. In this way, the artisanal winemaker and the land interact constantly, the distinctive elements from a living soil being presented through the skilled hand of the artist.
Wine may look like a simple solution, but it isn't. We know this because the red wine (anthocyanin) pigments aren't soluble in 13% alcohol. What we are seeing isn't in solution; it's in tiny suspended colloids composed of color molecules and tannin molecules, coordinated together into little beads. The tannins suspend and protect the color, and the color softens and enrobes the tannins so they are rich and smooth rather than harsh and nasty.
These red wine techniques are similar to chocolate making. We use our skills in the cellar to refine these tannins the same way a chef turns cocoa powder into something rich and profound. We call this by the French name of "élevage" -- the raising of horses or of children. The term "ageing" doesn't cover it -- this is NOT a passive process! The tools for building structure include blending for phenolic balance, uses of oxygen to build carefully a rich, light structure (the wire whisk for our tannin "soufflé"), a knowledge of the seven functions of oak, and the re-incorporation of the wine’s yeast lees to enhance fat and richness.
Proper structure leads to soulful resonance through aromatic integration of wine elements. The supporting aromatics derived from oak, microbial activity, and the vegetal aspects of grape character are all chemically similar to the aromatic ring construction of tannin and pigment constituents. We reason that when these form into fine colloids which therefore possess a large surface area, they draw secondary aromatics into the colloidal structure, diminishing their volatility and allowing the core fruit aromas to take center stage.
GrapeCraft practice eliminates many problems which obsess conventional winemakers: excessive tannins, bitterness, vegetal aromas, microbial spoilage are all much more easily handled. In place of these difficulties, new challenges emerge. Once one realizes the importance of structure, one is much more reluctant to sterile bottle red wines. This means that the microbial dramas of the wine must be played out in the cellar prior to bottling. The practice of achieving microbial equilibrium, which is similar to the now well established vineyard system of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), we refer to as Integrated Brett Management (IBM).
Secondly, the principles of proper ripeness and the resulting phenolic vigor, lees incorporation, and organic principles and the resulting mineral energy all combine to produce wines with substantial life energy. On the positive side, this results in wines of structural integrity, liveliness on the palate and graceful longevity. On the negative side, this anti-oxidative vigor tends to impart youthful austerity and even reductive aromas, thus delaying release dates and cash flow. Youthful mean-spiritedness can be overcome through carefully balancing of the wine’s energy.
Such work requires a skilled sensitivity to the behavior and destiny of each particular wine. Wine is truly the ultimate slow food. Like any good chef, the GrapeCrafter is required to abandon formula and taste, taste, taste. Close attention to each wine’s needs and proclivities is central to postmodern work. Winemakers are cooks and the cellar is their kitchen.
GrapeCraft takes as its central tenet that wine is literally liquid music. Through a sensitivity to harmony and dissonance and a belief in the strong shared experience of humankind, our task becomes putting an opera in the bottle. This personification of emotion is the essence of deliciousness. Stevenson was right -- wine really is bottled poetry. It must evoke passion, resonate with our sense of harmony, and articulate beyond words a goodness that touches us deeply.
Wine, like music, is fundamentally mysterious. Our real work is not to understand it but instead to enhance its capacity to resonate with our souls. We hope you will find time to read about our methods and their inspiration. Meantime, please enjoy some of the world’s finest wine values.
