In any case, you and I are discussing artisanal wines, which represent a volume that is a rounding error in the wider world of wine production. The fact is that the vast majority of grapes grown in the world cannot be persuaded to make the sort of wine you and I prefer, even with the utmost manipulation. This discrepancy in volume reflects the fact that the vast majority of consumers don’t think at all about how “natural” the product is – they simply want the most value for dollar in a serviceable beverage that can take away their cares.

So how about we admit that high-volume, high value wines made from at best mediocre grapes require industrial production methods. Neither of us particularly wants to drink those wines, and I definitely don’t want to make them myself. (Though lord knows I would consider doing it — in return for a regular salary, regular hours, and health and retirement benefits — things I just don’t get as an artisanal producer.)

So if we are just talking about wines made by hand in small quantities from high-quality fruit, I don’t know where you get the idea that additions and interventions are shortcuts. Shortcuts? For what?

Being on the inside, I do know how some expensive cult wines are made. These wines are not made for you or for me, but are made to get high scores from the most influential rankers. Making these wines is a lot of work, and costs a fortune in equipment, barrels, grapes, consulting fees, services, and lab work. I can tell you that the folks who have developed methods to achieve these scores consider them to be intellectual property, and are deadly serious about protecting their rights. They are NEVER going to tell you how their wines are made.

On the other hand, I’m not making wines in that style because I don’t like to drink wines in that style. My own winemaking philosophy is never to do anything to a wine that I am not 100% sure needs to be done to make that wine taste better to me, and absolutely never to do anything just because it can be done, or because others are doing it, or because some scribbler says it’s what I should be doing.

Want to know how I make wine? Read Peynaud’s “Knowing And Making Wine” — that’s some old-shcool stuff, and about 90% of what I do is found in there. Another 5% you could find in my blog if you knew what to look for. The last 5% is my own IP. Anyway, we’re talking about 200,000 words or so to explain 95% of my methodology, which is why I made the droll remark about the very big label.

On the other hand, I believe each and every one of us has the right to know what we are putting in our bodies. I wish providing that information was simple and straightforward, but it’s not. Given that the only thing we have a right to know is what’s actually in the bottle we buy, what do you want me to test for? Seriously, I’m asking. Alcohol and calories? Sugar level? If so, which sugar(s)? Level of tannin? Defined how? Level of biogenic amines? Which one(s)? Level of potential allergenic proteins? Again, which ones? Pesticides? Plasticizers? Heavy metals? Plutonium? How much extra are you willing to pay for that bottle to cover the costs of all that testing?

OK it’s late and my young daughter just woke up whimpering about a muscle she pulled badly while playing earlier today. Time to go deal wiht something important. Cheers.

My point was that you know – as do most winemakers – that all things equal, we’d all prefer a more natural product. You’re saying the label would be too big to describe all the manipulation that takes place – fine, you’re right. But the fact remains that winemwakers who make lab/factory wine wont even TALK about the stuff they do, and in many cases bar their vendors from referencing them publicly.

So come on, let’s just be honest. These practices are shortcuts, fair and simple.

But whatever. I just buy the stuff.

And of course, a blind tasting. It is decades of experimentation in the vineyard and winery, followed by blind tasting of the results, that has defined for me when, how and how much I should “intervene” in order to make wines that more fully express my goals. My winegrowing technique was developed from experience, and continues to evolve – a far cry from adopting some sterile, static dogma after reading the scribblings of a few “experts.”

And regarding taking “the right step of putting your interventionist practices on your labels.” Because you think I should? Get real. The TTB may soon require expanded composition labelling for allergens, and so far as I know the FDA has punted indefinitely on nutritional labelling for wine. I am happy to write about my practices and describe them face to face, but they would cover one huge label.

But I get the sense that you would not be satisfied with my practices anyway. True? I guess that means I am not making the wine you are looking for. You know? I can live with that.

Before Chef Boyardee Ravioli there was just ravioli made by Italians.

Before Velveeta there was just cheese.

Also before anti-lock brakes we made cars and yes some of them were good.

Before color television there was television and yes some of it was good.

Before there were sewing machines there were clothes and yes some of them were good.

I guess I just like this century better than 8000 BC

But perhaps you can tell us all what brand is your wine, and then take the right step of putting your interventionist practices on your labels.

Good job John and David. I too use enzymes (the building blocks of all proteins that occur in nature)for Pinot Noir, predominately to brake down the skins during the aqueous phase (cold soak for up to 4 days)and not the alcoholic phase of fermentation, hence leading to more stable color. Enzymes do not add any more color than the grape inherently has, just allows it to leach out quicker. That being said they do nothing to speed up how long I leave my wines in the fermenter, or for that matter in the barrel; that is solely determined by flavors, especially the quality of the tannins that exist due to vintage, crop load, cultivar…. Some of my wines stay in the winery for 3 years, in barrel, prior to bottling – so much for “speeding up the process”.

Sorry Nimby, EVERYTHING about winemaking and viticulture (grapes do not grow in rows with drip irrigation, trellising, fertilizer, various sprays, shoot positioning, leaf pulling, harvesting… not to mention that it is a monoculture) is interventionist and everything in the WORLD, including winemaking, is based on chemical reactions, hence the reason why an Oenology degree is also called an “applied chemistry” degree. That is what grapes, and everything that surrounds us, are made of: chemicals. Grapes really want to end up as CO2 and Water (more “chemicals”) with 2 basic stops along the way: wine (a “soup” of chemicals which we like) and vinegar (another “soup” of chemicals which winemakers don’t like, at least not in their winery!).

Hope it stops raining soon!

Yes I can make wine without chemical/mechanical/manipulative intervention. But I also know how to make better wine with just the right amount of it.

Like everything else in winemaking, you have to use your judgement. Winemaking in and of itself is an interventionist activity. When to intervene and how much is up to each winemaker. Bottom line is what is in the bottle.