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MichaelDusi_Dir10 11/18/09 12:40 PM Page 1 WINEMAKING FOR ALL YOUR TRANSPORTATION NEEDS TANKERS • REEFERS • VANS FLATBEDS • LOWBEDS Phone (805) 239- 4989 Fax (805) 239- 4988 J-Tech_Dir08 11/27/07 2:06 PM Page 1 www.MichaelDusiTrucking.com closely monitoring the fermentation, you can minimize risk of spoilage," Park adds. From the three vineyards where La Fol- lette has purchased grapes for dozens of years to the cavernous room where they ferment the grapes and age the wine, Se- queira and La Follette reduce the chances of a spoiled vintage by closely tending to details they can control, then letting nature run its course. The payoffs for winemakers who practice natural fermentation, according to Sequeira and La Follette, are wines that express a depth of character for each vineyard. "Unlike commercial fermentations, which can produce flavor spikes," Park says, "natural fermentations can create balanced, silky, delicate wines." "Natural fermentations can produce much more complex wines." —Seung K. Park, professor Science or art? "I don't want sameness," La Follette says. "I'm interacting with every fermen- tation; each fermentation speaks with its own voice." La Follette trained as a scientist before he launched a career in winemaking 30 years ago. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry and plant biology from California State University at Northridge and a master's degree in food science and technology from UC Davis. He worked as a staff chemist at UC San Francisco be- fore learning the craft from John Kongs- gaard and Andre Tchelistcheff. "He's lived the science," Sequeira says. "Now he makes wine following his intuition." Like other practitioners of natural fermentation, La Follette balances the curiosity of a research scientist with the spontaneity of a jazz musician. "Making wine is a lot like making music," he says. "The language—timbre, pitch and tone—goes in and the music comes out." For La Follette: "The language of making wine is yeast cell biology." Thomas Ulrich wrote a story about opti- cal sorters for the January 2011 issue of Wines & Vines. He teaches journalism at San Jose State University. 50 Wines & Vines JUne 2011