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WINEMAKING Winemaker Interview COREY BECK Finding the sweet spot for oak barrel alternatives By Laurie Daniel A native of Calistoga, Calif., winemaker Corey Beck grew up around vineyards; his grandfather, John Roll- eri, was the vineyard manager for Chateau Montelena in the 1970s and '80s. Following in his grandfather's footsteps, Beck went to work for Chateau Montel- ena as the Napa Valley winery's Cabernet Sauvignon cellar master after his 1994 graduation from the University of California, Davis, with a bachelor's degree in enology. But Beck wanted to work with a wider range of grape varieties, and in 1998 he made the move to film director Francis Ford Coppola's Ru- bicon Estate in Rutherford, Calif., where he worked as assistant wine- maker. When Coppola bought the old Chateau Souverain property in Geyserville, Calif., in early 2006, he named Beck winemaker and general manager of the new Francis Coppola Winery. At the Sonoma County site, Beck oversees the production of seven brands including the Diamond Collection, Director's Cut and Sofia sparkling wines. He also helped carry out Coppola's vision for the property, which now includes restaurants, swimming pools, a collection of movie memora- bilia and an entertainment pavilion. Beck and his team have done pioneering work with their grape suppliers, using the Adams-Har- bertson tannin assay as a tool to communicate de- sired quality parameters. (See his account, "Assay in Real Time," in Wines & Vines' October 2010 issue.) He is a board member and past president of the Alexander Valley Winegrowers, and he's vice president of the Sonoma County Vintners. For which wines are you us- CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA Mendocino Francis Geyserville ing oak barrel alternative products? Corey Beck: We've found the sweet spot for Pacific Ocean Napa San Francisco barrel alternatives to be for wines under $20 retail. If you start breaking out the cost of barrels at this price point, you start seeing a lot of the savings coming from topping losses. Typically, a 225-liter barrel will lose about 500 ml per month due to evaporation during the summer months. The beauty about aging in stainless steel is that we don't experience this kind of loss. Some other big advantages in using staves versus barrels at this price point come from the environment. We use less water because we're not washing barrels, less propane from forklifts that are required to move barrels, and the energy it takes to cool a barrel chai. And of course, there's the price difference between the staves and barrels themselves. I'm a big fan of using oak staves during white wine fermentation in stainless steel tanks. One advantage is the ability to control the temperature during fermentation, something that can be challenging in barrels. We've also worked out some creative ways of stirring the lees during fermentation, which has been very successful in helping develop the wines' mid-palates. 30 Wines & Vines APRiL 2012 Coppola Winery Calistoga As for red wines we're using French, Hungar- NV ian and American oak staves in most varietals. Selecting the type of wood really depends on the style of wine you're trying to make. Take Pinot Noir, for example. The oak, toast level and amount is selected so it will integrate with the wine and never sit on top of it. Lightly toasted French and Hungarian staves seem to work extremely well with Pinot Noir. During the aging process we select small stainless steel tanks so we can monitor the temperature and oxygen levels. How have oak alternatives improved in recent years? Beck: During the past few years, oak alternatives have gained a lot of momentum. There are many different reasons, but the two that come to mind are improved quality and the increase of the euro against the dollar, which made French oak barrels more expensive. Some years back, there were only a few companies that offered oak alternatives, now most major barrel suppliers have a separate division just to handle oak alternatives. We have to remember that 61% of the wines sold in the U.S. have a retail price point of $7 and below. If you are a barrel company that only sells barrels, then there's a lot of the market that you're not able to compete in. Most companies offer wood that has been air-dried for three years for stave programs; some even offer four years. This has made a big Winemaker Corey Beck says the use of oak bar- rel alternatives conserves water and energy. OR W &V : Wines & Vines: