Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/766392
WINEMAKER INTERVIEW 106 WINES&VINES January 2017 at least 20% whole clusters; we work with up to 50% on the Syrahs and Pinot Noir. We have experimented with 100% whole cluster on Syrah, but it hasn't worked well for us. We do not add any sulfur before fermentation. On the 100% whole cluster, the VA levels were too high for us. I am not a fan of carbonic macera- tion and don't want to use too much CO 2 to protect the grapes. To decide on how much whole cluster, we evaluate the ripeness of the stems, literally chewing the stems bin by bin. If we like the stems, we include all from that bin. We may have an idea from past years of the percentage, but the taste dictates what we do. Stem inclusion does force more time in bar- rel for some wines. Beginning in 2009, we began pushing the percentage up on two of our Syrahs, the Recluse from Broken Leg in Anderson Valley and Perli Vineyards in the Mendocino Ridge. We went up into the 35% to 40% (stems) range, and we were very pleased with our results. For our El Dorado Syrah from the Fenaughty Vineyard, we had consistently stayed around 20% to 25% until 2013, when Tracey pushed to increase the whole cluster on Fenaughty to 40%, like the other two Syrahs. This was a huge jump from the previous year. That spring, post-malos, our grower, Ron Mansfield, was tasting with us, and when we got to the Fenaughty, Ron and I looked at Tracey and said something like, you ruined the Fenaughty. We were not entirely kidding. The stems were so pronounced that we feared a green profile to the ultimate wine. However, by then we were bottle-aging our Syrahs for eight to 12 months before release, so by the time we released this wine, it was completely resolved and quite honestly one of the best vintages we've made to that point. Q You've been experimenting with pétil- lant naturel (pet nat, wine bottled while still fermenting) wines for some years, since before it was popular in the United States. Why did you want to make this style of wine? What have you learned in your experiments over the years? Are there grape varieties that you particularly like? Brandt: In 2008, I had my first bottle of Andrea Calek's Blonde. This wine stayed with me and led me to seek more, but at the time I didn't know of any domestic pet nat wines, and there were only a few I found from Europe. In 2009, I decided to try my hand and made our first pet nat from our 1896 planting of Grenache Gris at Gibson Ranch in Mendocino County, which we have made into rosé since 2004. We bottled in 500ml bombers and never disgorged. Each time we opened one, we lost 40% to 60%, but the little that was there was delicious. Plus, many of the caps leaked, so we learned that when hand-capping, after the initial sealing, do a quarter-turn and a second sealing. In 2010, we tried out a new Chardonnay vineyard in the deep end of Anderson Valley that we knew struggled to ripen. This was our first Chardonnay pet nat but not released to the public. In 2011, we made 40 cases, did not disgorge and only sold it in our tasting room. Because we don't filter or fine or cold-stabilize, the wine had to be disgorged. We included a drawing by our daughter Isabel to explain home disgorging. Some customers loved the hands-on nature of opening the wine. Others mention the lees that still color their ceiling to this day! The wine had been dubbed Ginger since 2010, but in 2011, Lily, our second daughter, was born, and Ginger was no more. Starting with 2012, we disgorged the wine. For us, pet nats deliver a refreshingly de- lightful experience that is truly alive. We add SERVING MILLENNIALS AND OLDER COLLECTORS ALIKE D onkey & Goat wines aren't for everyone, but the winery's customer base is more varied than one might think. "We certainly attract those interested in natural, organic and Biodynamic wines," says Jared Brandt, who makes the wines with his wife, Tracey Brandt. "Early on, we realized we appealed to customers who leaned toward Old World style. This is still true, but when we started in 2004, the California wine industry was dominated by the bigger-is-better style, so it was more exaggerated. For example, for years New York outperformed California for wholesale." As might be expected, younger millennial customers are important, Brandt says, because they "absolutely appreciate our natural wines but also seem very open to trying unusual wines without judgment. They do not pause when our white wines are cloudy." He adds, however, that based on Donkey & Goat's wine club, "We still consider our pri- mary demographic to be an older, more experienced wine drinker. I once delivered a case to a very good customer in Palo Alto who keeps her Donkey & Goat between Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Chateau Cheval Blanc. I love the company." A bin of Chardonnay arrives and will be whole-cluster pressed for Lily's Cuvée, a pétillant naturel sparkling wine. Jared Brandt says this Chardonnay usually has a bit of Botrytis, which lends sugar and high acidity.