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WINEMAKING straightforward assays are now available, and where viticultural research has offered some avenues of control. Manipulating the amount and timing of sunlight exposure, adjusting crop loads and applying reduced deficit irrigation techniques can nudge grape phenolic profiles in the desired directions. One prominent evangelist for phenolic profiling is Corey Beck, winemaker for Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Sonoma County's Geyserville, Calif. For several years now, Beck and his cellar crew have employed the Adams-Harbertson tannin assay to profile phenolic content and de- velopment day by day for each red wine fermentation, yielding numbers for an- thocyanins, tannins, total phenolics and "non-tannin phenolics" (monomeric cat- echins and so on.) The data, along with a complete juice-testing panel, is shared with growers, some of whom now have 10 years of records on different vineyard blocks. The quantitative data helps concretize the quality judgments made by the win- ery in routing various blocks of grapes into different wines and tiers. Growers know how their grapes score, what pro- gram they go into and how they compare with other growers, and Coppola staff can discuss with them possible adjustments in QualityStainless_Apr05 3/9/05 Growers' views on vintner involvement rowers, naturally enough, exhibit a range of attitudes about how deeply they want winery purchasers in- volved in viticultural decisions. David Beck- stoffer, president of Beckstoffer Vineyards, the largest independent vineyard company on California's North Coast, with a large portfolio of ultra-premium vineyards, says that wineries get to select their pick dates, but that's about it. "We don't farm for a particular winery style," he says, "and we don't change our farming for the wineries. We try to get vine balance, we grow for quality, we adjust for yields. If there's a disagreement about farming, we win." With their substantial holdings in nu- merous different growing areas, Beckstof- fer says that if a certain vineyard doesn't fit a winery's style, they can offer another G 11:12 AM Page 1 vineyard that does, rather than modifying the first vineyard to suit the style. Steve Sangiacomo of Sangiacomo Vine- yards, a major grape source in Carneros and Sonoma County, says he tries to maintain an "open dialogue" with the wineries that purchase his grapes. "There are lots of scien- tific tools we can use," he says, "like canopy management and deficit irrigation, but the main thing is experience, knowing the vine- yards, and wineries knowing their sources." From year to year, they make adjust- ments—removing leaves, removing laterals, controlling reflected sunlight, changing irrigation, and so on. And as for yields, Sangiacomo says that "working for multiple years, you learn where that sweet spot is, and it's not automatically the least yield." T.P. VintnersSupply_Immer_Dir11.qxd 11/19/10 1:41 PM Page 1 Quality - Value - Experience Quality Stainless Tanks A DIVISION OF MOECKLY ENTERPRISES, INC. ™ Fabricated Stainless Cooperage • Professionally crafted • Perfomance guaranteed • Custom designs & features • Quick & competitive pricing • Repairs & modifications • Special application tanks • Stainless winery equipment • Tanks in stock for immediate shipping from 500 to 10,000 gallon capacity Quality Stainless Tanks 510 Caletti Avenue • Windsor, CA 95492 Phone: 707.837.2721 • Fax: 707.837.2733 Toll-Free: 877.598.0672 www.qualitystainless.com winetanks@aol.com Custom FILTRATION & SEPARATION • Reliable depth filter sheets ◆ for successful filtration ◆ from pre-clarification ◆ to bottling VINTNERS SUPPLY COMPANY P.O. Box 153, St. Helena, CA 94574 Toll Free 800.366.6809 • Fax 707.584.7955 www.vintnerssupply.com Wines & Vines MARCH 2012 53