Moving this thread (as suggested) to this forum for an update. Thanks for all the feedback on balancing pours with conversations, noise mitigation, information dissemination and other details. Things are coming together nicely on both the tasting and seminar side of things. If anyone here is able to attend definitely let me know–I’d love to connect and offer a few surprise pours. The current participating winemakers will be include: Adam Saake, Anthony Beckman, Beno Stewart, Bertus van Zyl, Bibi Adams, Blair Guthrie, Cary Quintana, Chris Walsh, Connor Brockman, Darek Trowbridge, Don Henderson, Emily Fernwood, Jake Des Voignes, James Jelks, Dr. Kaan Kurtural, Kristie Tacey, Matt Niess, Megan Hughes, Nat Wong, Pax Mahle, Sam Bilbro, Tom Sherwood and William Allen.
Topics include:
1- ADAPTATION
Are low-intervention and natural winemaking increasingly incompatible with sustainability? What will winemaking in the region look like as temperatures rise and rainfall patterns shift? More spraying? Vineyard canopies? More mechanization? Genetic engineering? Different varietals? Even earlier harvests? Higher elevations?
Climate Adaptation experts, Dr. Tibisay Perez, Dr. Whendee Silver and Dr. Kaan Kurtural discuss some of the hard truths facing our industry if we want to continue to drink Pinot Noir, Chenin and other European varietals from the region. Dr. Kurtural ran UC Davis’ experimental vineyard in Oakville to study the near future of viticulture and is now putting his research into practice. Dr. Silver and Dr. Tibisay (UC Berkeley Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management) have been studying and developing new ways to farm more sustainably through climate-smart agriculture, soil carbon strategies, and trace gas measurement in farming systems—all of which have implications for sustainable vineyard management. In addition to the adaptation challenges farmers are facing, sustainability practices are requiring changes in viticulture that conflict with many low-intervention and natural winemaking ethics, raising the question, ‘Are Natural and Low-Intervention Winemaking Sustainable in Our Region?’
Meanwhile, Matt Niess, our local champion on native varietals, says the answer is not only absolutely YES! but is sitting right in front of us: native and hybrid grapes are not only more resilient and adapted to survive climate variability, they also taste great!
Is it time for us to stop buying Sauvignon Blanc and Cab Franc and get more familiar with Lenoir, Catawba, Brianna and Baco Noir?
2- FLAWS
Is it a feature or a bug?
When does a wine cross the line and become simply flawed?
Natural wine has challenged the long-held quality principles of traditional winemaking by championing minimal intervention practices from farming to bottling. The movement elevates the role of authenticity, freshness, a sense of microbial life and the natural processes that more accurately reflect both terroir and the winemaker’s philosophy. We often describe our wines to be ‘alive, ever-evolving and dynamic!’ VA, brett, mousiness, reduction, oxidation, cloudiness and unusual aromas are embraced—to a point.
As winemakers push the boundaries to differentiate and experiment, however, are we losing basic quality standards? In its drive to counter excessive manipulation, have natural winemakers gone too far to the edge of neglect? Are we romanticizing flawed wine? And does it even matter?
Jared Brandt, a pioneering natural winemaker and co-founder of Donkey and Goat, thinks so. And he isn’t afraid to talk about why it matters. Jared will be joined in conversation by Clark Smith, author of best-selling ‘Post Modern Winemaking’, and ardent defenders of the fun and creative world of experimental natural wine.
3- Terroir
One of the great ironies of traditional winemakers is that they even use the word, terroir. If you’ve ever looked at Scott Labs Winemaking Handbook, with over 140 pages of chemical additives designed to deliver the exact flavor profile you’re after, you know why the natural wine movement took off. What are we even drinking!?
While most natural winemakers use only a dusting of sulfur to stabilize their wines, everyone works hard to maintain the integrity of well-grown grapes throughout their process to deliver the most authentic expression of that varietal grown in that particular vineyard as possible. But the exact same grapes from the exact same vineyard made by two different natural winemakers will always taste different. So what do we mean when we talk about terroir? And what are the creative boundaries that winemakers can explore before the nature of place is overshadowed by process and personality?
Pick dates, handling, pressing, fermenting, aging—there are just so many decisions and variables, and each one can nudge the flavor just a little bit further from its original profile. So is terroir really a thing? And is it an important thing? And can you really taste it?
Join us for a conversation with local winemakers who will talk about these variables and how they navigate them while trying to retain a sense of place in their wines. Everything from how the microbiomes in soil manifest in grapes to how the music a winemaker listens to while pressing plays a role in what we drink.
You can follow us here: https://www.instagram.com/unfilteredwinefestival/
Edited versions of the above conversations will appear as a future episode of ‘The Indie Wine Podcast’: Indie Wine podcast - Podcast - Apple Podcasts