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36 W i n e s & V i n e s s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 4 g r a p e g r o w i n g M ost but not all contemporary white wines focus on fresh- ness and purity rather than embracing aromatic integra- tion through refined struc- ture, soulfulness and graceful longevity. I love modern Mosel wines so much that I cannot keep them in my cellar. I buy them, I drink them. But I believe there is an aes- thetic difference between the beauty of these wines and the profundity of great Cabernet. Would you rather have lunch with actress Angelina Jolie or philosopher Bertrand Russell? It's time for me to confess that white wine can deliver profundity and age-worthi- ness—and before modern styles emerged in the 1960s, that's what most serious white wine was up to. I find it useful to divide white winemaking into four distinct style categories, each with its own approach and goals. I will state the four methodologies in reverse order of their historical chronology because today's meth- ods are more familiar, allowing me later to illustrate by contrast the traditional methods of bygone eras. In subsequent columns I will focus on a practitioner of each of these methodolo- gies. Clark Smith is winemaker for WineSmith and founder of the wine technology firm Vinovation. He authored the book "Post- modern Winemaking: Rethinking the Mod- ern Science of an Ancient Craft," released in 2013, and lectures widely on an ancient yet innovative view of American winemaking. Four Ways to Make White Wine Postmodern Winemaking C l a r k S M i t h Method No. 1 totally reductive. From crushing to bottling, inert gas protects grapes, must and wine from oxygen at every point. example: New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. desired outcome: Intense, fresh varietal aromatics, thiols and esters. Lean, focused palate with bright, refreshing flavors. Ready for consumption. techniques: Night harvesting, dry ice blan- keting during crushing, gentle whole-cluster pressing with inert gas blanketing, free run, sulfited must, cold fermentation, immediate sulfiting post fermentation, suppressed ma- lolactic fermentation, fining to remove tan- nin (if necessary), early sterile bottling under screwcap closures, immediate marketing. Comments: Because this methodology al- lows no access to enological uses of oxygen to refine tannins, great care must be taken to prevent tannin pickup and avoid harsh- ness and reductive vigor, which might lead to sulfides in the bottle. This style was im- possible to make before World War II, which ushered in innovations including bubble-pointable sterile filtration, an artifact of atomic energy. Would you rather have lunch with actress Angelina Jolie or philosopher Bertrand Russell? Night harvesting is part of the reductive winemaking style favored by modern vintners. Dry ice is used to blanket wine grapes dur- ing crush to prevent early fermentation.