Winemaking
By the time we get to winemaking most of the work has been done. The philosophy
of this winery is that the wine is made in vineyard. We postpone harvest as late
as possible. Because of the sunny, dry autumns we have, rot is not much of a problem,
and with the lake warmth extending the frost free period, we can harvest as late
as needed to maximize ripeness. We harvest when sugars are high and grape skins
are fully ripe and seeds are brown and crisp. We hand harvest and hand sort. Millicent,
my tasting room manager, supervises the sorting and I check them again prior to
crushing. All rotted and green grapes are removed during sorting. Crushed grapes
are dropped in 150 gallon, low bins for fermentation that have a high surface to
volume ratio to maximize skin contact . 
Whites undergo skin contact for a few hours
prior to fermentation to extract phenoles. The reds receive a 24 hour cold maceration
then are fermented at a high temperatures to maximize color extraction. They then
undergo an extended maceration up to a month to further extract flavor. Because
of the excellence of the climate the wines require little manipulation. Because
of the maximal ripeness which is usually acheived, even in late ripening varieties,
no chaptilization(addition of sugar to increase alcohol content) is usually required.
As the acidity of the grapes is maintained in our climate even at high ripeness
and alcohol levels, acid manipulation is usually not needed. We mainly need to maintain
cleanliness in the winery and allow fermentation and stabilization of the wine to
proceed without much manipulation. We use very little of oak barrels, oak chips
or other oak flavoring, partly probably because I have a strong distaste for the
flavors of oak in wine. Vinifera grapes in the right terroir have so much intensity
and complexity on their own that an artificial addition of something like oak only
takes away from the expression of the grapes. Although, however, many people think
our wines are oaked because they often have tobacco, cedar, and chocolate flavors
and aromas. We acheive this through the use of the right clones, ripe grapes, and
yeasts that help extract these qualities. Also, the grape tannins of our wines are
strong enough that the addition of oak tannins isn't necessary. Minimal fining and
filtration is done on the wines, and usually none at all on the reds. This is done
to avoid any loss of flavor or aroma in the wine from this further manipulation.