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WINEMAKING vineyards drive a half-dozen spontane- ous fermentations. Sangiacomo, Manchester Ridge and van der Kamp vineyards exert a mystical influence over La Follette. "I'm not here to make my own mark," he says. "I'm here to partner with the land, to let it speak." A seasoned farmer and winemaker, La Follette has collaborated with growers from each of the three vineyards for at least a dozen years. "The longer I work in the vineyard," he explains, "the better I understand the fermentation." He characterizes Manchester Ridge as floral and lean, van der Kamp as muscular and powerful, and Sangiacomo as savage and raw. The way La Follette sees it, his calling is to decipher what each vineyard is saying much like a conductor interprets a musical score. La Follette knows, however, that creating a vintage that hits all the right notes is as much a science as an art. "You can produce wine with native yeast," says Charlotte Gourraud, enolo- gist, agronomical engineer and general manager for Laffort USA. "But you need to know the vineyard, maintain a sanitary winery and understand and monitor the microbes so that you can react quickly should the fermentation turn sour." Highlights • Spontaneous fermentations can add complexity to wines, according to wine- makers who employ them. • Winemakers argue that spontaneous fer- mentations enhance the natural flavors of vineyard sites. • Practitioners of natural fermentation reduce the SO2 yeast and bacteria. Listening to the yeast The berry and tropical fruit-like scent of freshly pressed Pinot Noir is music to La Follette's senses. The must ferments in 1- to 6-ton stainless steel milk tubs that are shallow enough to punch down by hand. "It's more intimate," he explains. "I can focus on the caps and the aromas using my eyes and nose." A spontaneous fermentation is a medley of unpredictable microbes. Three Adding complexity "While it is clear that the quality of grapes sets the upper limit of wine quality," La Follette says, "yeasts play an important role modifying grape compounds." In addition to converting sugars to etha- nol, yeasts produce aromatic compounds, combine molecules to enhance texture and mouthfeel, consume nutrients to prevent the growth of other microorganisms and Torulaspora delbrueckii Precise Water Monitoring using Sap Flow they use to control rogue varieties of native yeast dominate the clusters of grapes that field crews gather from the vineyards: Kloeckera, Candida and Pichia. According to Linda Bisson, professor and geneticist from the Depart- ment of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis, Kloeckera apiculata and Hanseniaspora uvarum are the most common yeasts found on grapes fresh from the vineyard at 65%-80% of total isolates, with Pichia and Candida species comprising closer to 10%. They appear on the surface of the grapes three weeks before harvest, and unlike other native yeast found in the vineyard, they can survive the anaerobic must. Scientists rarely isolate Saccharomy- ces from recently harvested grapes, which can number one-in-10 million yeast. • Take control over terroir, higher quality grapes • Measure vine water use for precision irrigation • Watch real time vine reaction to weather and moisture • Innovative website reports - stress monitor • 100% Satisfied Customers • Communication interface through fruitionSciences.com ZYMAFLORE® AlphaTD n. sacch. ... Handcrafting biodiversity www.dynamax.com 1-800-896-7108 www.fruitionsciences.com LAFFORT U.S.A. - 724 Broadway Street, Sonoma, CA 95476 laffortusa@laffort.com - Phone: (707) 343-1632 www.laffort.com/en/laffort-usa Wines & Vines JUne 2011 47