The Inside Winemaking Podcast with Jim Duane

As extension enologist at UCDavis, Anita brings research and developments from the Dept. of Viticulture and Enology to the wine industry and continually interacts with its stakeholders. Our conversation covers Red Blotch Associated Virus, winery sanitation, and smoke taint.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what are the most essential operations in a winery during this COVID19 pandemic, which has limited all of our ability to staff the cellar. Given that I work alone in the cellar at Seavey, I asked Tyler Thomas, from Dierberg and Star Lane Vineyards, to synthesize his thinking on this topic from the viewpoint of a medium-sized winemaking operation.

This episode is my opportunity to answer questions that have been submitted by listeners. As is my style the answers are a practical approach addressing how I would think about these situations in my own cellar. Thank you to all the people who have emailed their questions and also sent them in from my Instagram page.

This episode features Julien Fayard, who is a consulting winemaker based in Napa. Julien was raised in Provence, trained in Bordeaux, and since moving to California in 2003 has built his own brand, Azur Wines, and is now consulting for an impressive list of clients. We recorded this podcast at Covert Estate, a beautiful winery built under a hillside that Julien constructed with his business partners.

This episode features Patrick Rue, founder of Erosion Wine Co. Prior to Patrick’s winemaking venture he was the founder and brewer at The Bruery in Orange County. Our conversation covers Patrick’s founding and growth of The Bruery, their numerous products, blurring the lines between beer and wine, flavor additive management, his winemaking vision for flavor targets, aluminum crowlers, key kegs, and the two taprooms that Erosion is now opening in Napa.

This episode features Jasper Riddle, proprietor and winemaker for Noisy Water Winery in Ruidoso, New Mexico. I was able to meet Jasper when he was in town for the Unified Sypmposium trade show in February, 2020. After being founded in 2009 Noisy Water is a winery that Jasper took from his parents’ early venture and built into a medium-sized winery that now has five tasting rooms in New Mexico.

This episode features Tim Colla, Winemaker for Saintsbury, in Carneros, Napa. Tim and I had the chance to talk about Chardonnay and Pinot Noir production as told through the history of Saintsbury’s presence and experimentation in the Carneros in south Napa Valley.

This episode’s guest is Adam Casto from Gandona Winery in Napa. We had a great conversation ranging on topics from winemaking philosophy, the Antipodes (I had to google it too), and the new ways Adam would like to gather and organize both vineyard and winemaking observational data with analytical tracking.

Our conversation covers Frederick’s education in Bordeaux, his early jobs in California, his stint at Seavey Vineyard, the building of The Napa Valley Reserve where he made wine for nine years, and his current position at Rudd Wines. We spend the majority of our time discussing philosophical and practical viticulture touching upon organic and biodynamic practices.

This episode features Chris Tynan, who is the winemaker at Cliff Lede Vineyards in Napa. Chris also has his own small brand, Christopher Tynan Wines. Our conversation covers Chris’ background, high-end Cabernet production, and a couple of varietals that haven’t had much attention to date on the podcast, Sauvignon vert, and Semillon

This episode’s guest is Chris Carpenter, who is making wines in Napa for Jackson Family Wines and is overseeing Cabernet and Bordelais varietals grown on several of Napa’s mountain AVA’s such that he has become known as a mountain winemaker. Our conversation covers the mountain wines being produced from Mount Veeder, Spring Mountain, Howell Mountain, and Diamond Mountain AVA’s, but also Cardinale, the flagship Cabernet that is a blend from throughout Napa including the valley floor.

If it were possible to have a riveting conversation about filtering wine, there are very few people I’d consider. Scott labs has such an enigmatic guru. Maria Peterson is a filtration specialist, one who has the uncommon ability to translate technical expertise into practical winery practice. This is a sponsored episode—something I arranged with Scott Labs in order to support the podcast and extend that as a technical resource for filtration, one of the most difficult aspects of commercial winemaking.

Andrew Byers is the Head Cidermaker at Finnriver Farm in Chimacum, Washington (on the Olympic Penninsula, west of Seattle). I met Andrew while moderating the Creativity in Fermentation panel during the Scott Lab’s Ferment event. Even for those who might not have a specific interest in cider making, the parallels with winemaking, especially marketing, present a new perspective for winemakers and wineries seeking to tell the stories of their brands and production methods.

This episode features the first Oregon winemaker on the podcast. Anthony King is currently making wine for a number of small brands under as part of King Wine Consulting, he is the general manager at Carlton Winemakers Studio, where he also produces his own brand, Ratio Wines. Anthony and I spent most of our time talking Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, as he has spent his winemaking career with those varietals starting at Acacia Vineyard in Napa and Lemelson Vineyards in the Williamette Valley.

This episode features Amanda McCrossin who is a sommelier, wine director, and the creator of @sommvivant. As the Wine Director for Press Restaurant in St Helena, Amanda oversees a tremendous list of Napa Valley wines and serves as an ambassador for the wines on offer and the stories of their producers.