My brother-in-law is a beekeeper in upstate New York. He once told me that if you ask eight beekeepers the same question, you’ll get twelve answers. I’ve discovered the same is true with winemakers. During visits to wineries in the Suisun Valley the last couple of days, I’ve asked for advice on making a barrel of Cabernet Sauvignon. They agreed that Cab is forgiving. One winemaker said just add yeast and let it alone.
Where they diverged in thought and practice was what is done during and after fermentation. Some preferred a gentle punch down during fermentation. Others believe that a gentle pump over is the same. Others disagreed on this point.
Another point of contrast was aging the wine. We had responses from place in neutral oak to begin then transfer to new oak, to go ahead and place in new French oak. Another winemaker suggested to place in one-year old French oak. Another liked American oak.
Seeing as how I do not have control over the barrel that Vint Hill Craft Winery or Tin Lizzie Wineworks is going to use for my Cab, this is a mute issue. It is interesting that there are different opinions. The most important point I picked up from winemakers is that the Cab is forgiving. I hope to be forgiven for making mistakes.
The Vint Hill Cab Sauv program is to bin-ferment after double sorting the fruit to insure nothing but ripe grapes go into fermentaition. Gentle hand punch-down and gravity to the press helps reduce the impact of harsher tannins from less ripe seeds. Softer, riper, darker seeds emulsify more easily giving off coco, coffee, and graphite flavors and with an extened post-fermentaition maceraition one expects a far higher quality wine as result.