Not Drinking Garbage Okay, now I’m furious. And you should be too. I’ve been pretty tired of the holier-than-thou attitude of the so-called natural wine movement ever since Alice Feiring brought it into being in the late ‘90s. Chapter 22 in Postmodern Winemaking examines in great detail why there is no such thing as a […]| Postmodern Winemaking
This blog consists of pieces on various wine technology topics. These are sorted into Categories: Postmodern Winemaking, Natural Winemaking, Terroir, Alcohol Adjustment, Social Responsibility, and so forth. The Search function will bring up titles discussing your keyword: sulfites, micro-oxygenation, chips, allergens, fining, and reverse osmosis are rich in content. I also recommend the Postmodern Winemaking Calendar […]| Postmodern Winemaking
Hi Clark: I have a wine with smoke taint from a grass fire. What remedial treatments are available? What is the efficacy, have you seen successful results on Pinot Noir? Dave Hi Dave, Pinot Noir generally has little tannin structure, which in other wines can absorb and integrate smoke taint, so it’s particularly difficult […]| Postmodern Winemaking
Noted columnist Dan Berger is writing a book on Cabernet Sauvignon, and he and I regularly discuss a common mental ailment among my winemaker colleagues that I call “pyra-noia,” a morbid fear of Cabernet varietal character and in particular, the bell pepper aroma attributed to 2-Isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, or IMBP. The history of this ailment is interesting. Like […]| Postmodern Winemaking
Hi Clark, What’s a good rule of thumb for O2 levels before filling tankers? Matt ——————————————————————— Hi Matt, Short answer is, you’ll do well to get below 1 ppm, and 4 ppm is where most wineries panic and sparge w N2 upon receipt. I hate this procedure, which strips volatiles, so let’s avoid pickup in […]| Postmodern Winemaking
Clark, The same red wine shows the following chemistry in adjacent years: ’11 pH: 3.65 TA: 6.2 g/l ’12 pH: 3.45 TA: 5.9 g/l How does the Total Acidity level AND the pH rise at the same time (since higher pH indicates less acidity)? Ron ——————————————————– Dear Ron, An acid is any dissolved substance that […]| Postmodern Winemaking
Hi Clark, I have been working a blog post to the PA wine industry regarding how winemakers can deal with high potassium wines. For the past few years, we’ve been dealing with wines that have an extremely high pH (4.0+) and usually the TA is low, too (<6.0 g/L). Now, I’ve tried to make tartaric […]| Postmodern Winemaking
Clark, Took your course at UCD, discovered then that we overlapped at college. I am a Cab grower for a high end Napa winery, 10 years. We are re-negotiating price, and I am advocating a higher price because they want very ripe fruit, 28-9 Brix. Obviously this reduces my yield. Are they getting more wine by […]| Postmodern Winemaking
This sounds like an ad, but I swear I have no interest in VinoShipper other than to wish them success in freeing us from our chains. I met recently with Steven Harrison of VinoShipper.com, who has, for eight years, been operating a DTC compliance and tracking tool which I think has become a real game […]| Postmodern Winemaking
Hey Clark,| Postmodern Winemaking
The Postmodern movement is an ongoing evolution and synthesis of the work of dozens of winemakers and researchers all over the world in the last two decades. Its purpose is to examine what was left behind in the modern enological revolution of the 20th Century during which the advent of electricity, stainless steel, refrigeration, sterile filtration and a host of other technologies utterly altered the way wine is made and even our underlying assumptions of what wine is..| postmodernwinemaking.com
This site is an invitation to a collaborative, interactive discussion concerning the relationship of wine and music, hosted by WineSmith Wines and its winemaker Clark Smith.| Postmodern Winemaking