Inside Winemaking - the art and science of growing grapes and crafting wine – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Ben is a seasoned viticulturist and winemaker currently serving as the Director of Viticulture and Winemaker at Large at Walsh Vineyards Management, overseeing approximately 1,000 acres in Napa and Sonoma. His journey in the wine industry began in 2004 after graduating with a biochemistry degree, starting at RH Phillips and later working with Jim at Seavey Vineyard.

At Walsh Vineyards Management, Ben works with a team of 125 full-time employees and up to 400 seasonal workers, focusing on client relations, vineyard management, development. Alongside his professional role, he has created his own wine brand, Vidi Vitis, which started in 2015 with a unique opportunity to salvage a ton of Stags Leap District Cabernet. His winemaking philosophy emphasizes quality fruit, experimentation, and a passion for exploring different grape varieties.

Resources from this Episode

Walsh Vineyards Management

Vidi Vitis / Forgotton Union Wines

This podcast is sponsored by InnoVint.

Wineries of all sizes rely on InnoVint's winery operating system to optimize vineyard tracking, manage wine production processes, automate compliance reporting, track costs seamlessly, and make data-driven decisions.

The best part? The software is intuitive, easy to use, and mobile and offline friendly! And with the highest-rated customer service in the industry, you're guaranteed to have a smooth transition, even right before harvest.

Learn more: innovint.us

Get a demo: innovint.us/request-a-demo/

Join our free winemaking community: innovint.us/join-the-punchdown/

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Join me as I sit down with Esther Mobley, Senior Wine Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. Esther shares her fascinating journey from an English major to a wine journalist, starting with a harvest internship in Napa Valley and subsequently working in Mendoza, Argentina. Her career path led her through Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator before landing at the Chronicle in 2015, where she has since become a prominent voice in wine journalism.

Throughout our conversation, Esther discusses her approach to wine writing, emphasizing her role as a reporter who explores wine through broader lenses of society, climate change, immigration, and culture. She explains that her job goes beyond traditional wine criticism, focusing instead on telling compelling stories about the wine industry in California. The episode offers listeners an insider's view of wine journalism, tracing her professional evolution and her unique perspective on covering the dynamic world of wine.

Resources from this Episode

• San Francisco Chronicle Wine

• Drinking with Esther Newsletter

• "The original 'cult' wine: How I discovered California's strangest vineyard" Published 2018

   

This episode is sponsored by Harvest Pillar concrete trellis posts. Want to know why more growers are going for concrete? It's because Harvest Pillar is the last trellis post you'll ever need.

Join us on an exploration into the realm of organic and natural winemaking with Jack Sporer, the visionary behind Fresh Wine Co. and Magnolia Wine Services. Learn how his upbringing in a family vineyard in Sonoma Valley blossomed into a passion for organic viticulture and thoughtful intervention methods. Jack discusses the challenges and successes of transitioning to regenerative farming and reveals the mindset that led to the creation of Magnolia Wine Services.

Winemaking Class Offers and Show Notes for all episodes at https://www.insidewinemaking.com/

Resources from this Episode

Fresh Wine Co: https://fresh.wine/

This episode is sponsored by the Vineyard Underground Podcast hosted by leading viticulturist and vineyard education expert, Fritz Westover: https://www.vineyardundergroundpodcast.com/

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Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com. Let them know we sent you.

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.  In the end I put in my two cents regarding the need to think about how we need to think and plan for similar reductions in capabilities during the harvest season.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Dierberg and Star Lane Vineyards - Santa Rita Hills, Santa Maria, and

• Winemakers that have quarantine wine for you

This podcast is brought you by the hope that you are keeping safe and healthy. if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show using the Paypal link. Thank you for the support!!

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

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.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Winemakers that have quarantine wine for you

• Principles and Practices of Winemaking book Amazon Associates link

• "The Bay Area is drinking 42% more alcohol than usual while sheltering in place" article by Esther Mobley in the SF Chronicle

   

This podcast is brought you by the hope that you are keeping safe and healthy. if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show using the Paypal link. Thank you for the support!!

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

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. Our conversation ranges from Julien's background, native fermentations, rosé winemaking, and the key aspects of working with clients to support their projects.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Fayard Winemaking - Napa Valley

• Azur Wines

• Covert Estate - Napa Valley

• Nicholson Jones - Napa Valley

• Atelier Melka - Napa Valley

• ETS Laboratories

• Hendry Ranch Wines - Napa Valley

   

This podcast is brought you by the love of the good lord and my wife reading the intro. if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show using the Paypal link. Thank you for the support!!

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

This episode features Patrick Rue, founder of Erosion Wine Co, who I first met when he was part of the Deep Winemaking course in August, 2019. 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.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Erosion Wine co - Napa Valley

• The Bruery - Orange County, CA

• Offshoot Beer Co

• Berkeley Fermentation Science

• Pulse Air Wine Cap Management

• Key Keg - PET wine dispensing keg

   

This podcast is brought you by the love of the good lord and my wife reading the intro. Please consider donating to the podcast using the Paypal link at the bottom of the Homepage.

if you learn something from the collection of podcasts at Inside Winemaking, please considering donating to support the show.  Paypal 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 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 Symposium 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. During our conversation, Jasper mentions some of the challenges in growing grapes in New Mexico but spends most of his energy describing the opportunities that he sees in his area and around the state.

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.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Saintsbury, Napa Valley

• Chappellet, Napa Valley

• Seavey Vineyard, Napa Valley

This podcast is brought you by Fruition Sciences. At the start of 2020 we know what is on your mind. As winemakers and winegrowers we are thinking about keeping our vines healthy while producing consistent quality yields year in and year out. However, we know that you are also considering the effects of climate change on our vineyards and wines and the improved management of our natural resources like water.

We have great news. Now, we, winegrowers and winemakers, can use a compelling method that allows us to keep our vines healthy and improve yield and grape quality while also saving water and reducing costs. We are happy to inform you that this is possible. The method is called 360viti-Water Pilot and is base on sap flow sensors technology.

This impressive technology developed by Fruition Sciences is based on more than ten years of experience show stunning results in California, Australia, and France. The method measures and monitors the transpiration rate of your vines so you can make sure that they receive the right amount of water at the optimal time. You will precisely know when your vines need water so that you can respond appropriately, keeping them healthy and performing at their optimal levels. Because this measurement is plant based, you will be able to target and address the needs of the specific vines or areas of your vineyards, improving the quality of your grapes when it comes time to harvest.

Given the latest heatwave episodes this will be a necessary measure to keep your vines safe. Please contact the Fruition Sciences team today. Together we will change the way we use our precious resources while taking care of our beloved vines.

To learn more visit fruitionsciences.com or you can also send an email to leyla@fruitionsciences.com or find us on Linkedin. We are also available by phone at 888-295-5187.

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

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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.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Gandona Winery, Napa Valley

• Dana Estates, Napa Valley

• Laing Limit, work by Australian psychologist David Laing reporting that people can only pick out by smell four or less distinct smells from a complex mixture. The book The Nose Knows by Avery Gilbert covers this is more depth.

This podcast is brought you by Wine Compliance Alliance. Ann Reynolds, who runs Wine Compliance Alliance has been on the podcast twice before. In Ep. 45 we discuss common compliance issues that wineries deal with and in Ep. 61 she has a solo episode where she covers the compliance items for starting a new winery.

Winery compliance. Bring it up to winery owners or their staff and you get either a completely blank look or a grimace of some sort. In other words winery compliance is a topic that is either very unfamiliar or very disliked. But yet, every winery is required to do it and can suffer serious consequences if they don't. Wine Compliance Alliance focuses on providing wineries with solutions to both of these areas of issue. If a winery has little familiarity with their compliance requirements our office can provide training assistance to get them up to speed to be able to manage it themselves. If a winery would prefer instead to have their files managed for them we've got you covered there too. Wine Compliance Alliance, Full throttle from grape to bottle.

Find out more at winecompliancealliance.com

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

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

And Stitcher Radio Too