Diana braces herself on a wooden plank as she foot plunges a Pinot Noir ferment

I’m a big ol’ nerd and did my Master’s research on how yeast (tiny beasties) impact wine aroma. They do a whole lot, and I can talk about it for hours😅

So, I view myself as more of a wine-steward than a winemaker. There’s a point during fermentation where the wine tells me what it is, and it’s my job to capture that in the bottle and share it with all of you.

Someone once told me this sounded like reiki…I don’t know about that, but in any case, let’s get into it!

Is your wine…natural, low-intervention, traditional, sustainable, biodynamic, clean, or conventional?

There are a lot of different terms used to describe wine these days, which can make things really confusing 😵‍💫I’d probably lump myself in with the low-intervention group. But I don’t think it’s a good name because I am incredibly present during the winemaking process and affecting the wine as much as a helicopter parent by adjusting temperatures, stirring, bubbling, and chanting words of encouragement.

So, instead of using jargon to describe my wines, I’ve put together this list.

I’m all about good beasties aka wild yeast that live on grapes, which means I

  • Ferment with good beasties
  • Use organic, sustainably farmed grapes
  • Don’t use a lot of sulfur dioxide (because good beasties no likey)
  • Don’t make >14% ABV wines (because good beasties no likey)
  • Don’t let good beasties get upstaged by bad beasties (because good beasties deserve better)

I have a massive amount of respect for good beasties and the hard, tasty work they do, So I’m absolutely 100% *not* about

  • Putting stuff like mega purple, gum, flavorings, and liquid oak extract in my wines
  • Fining with animal products (fun fact: mixing up isinglass and egg whites are two of my least favorite things)
  • Using DMDC aka Velcorin to kill bad beasties
  • Using reverse osmosis (that sh*t’s straight up alchemy)

Here’s what I might add or do and why

  • Sulfur (to get rid of bad beasties because mouse is the worst)
  • Bentonite clay (because I send wine across the equator and chunky wine can put people off)
  • Filter (to stabilize the wine if it hasn’t gone through 100% malolactic fermentation, because wines taste weird af if it spontaneously happens in bottle)

I’m always happy to discuss. So, if you’ve got questions or want to know more, drop me a line.