30 WINES&VINES March 2017
WINEMAKING
Kendall-Jackson Winery
For the past 25 years, Randy Ullom
has been the winemaster for Ken-
dall-Jackson Winery, the flagship
of Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Jackson
Family Wines. Producing consis-
tent, high-quality wines at a at high
volume is a monumental challenge
complicated by many varietals,
regions and price tiers.
Vineyard measurements:
Ullom said simply, "It boils down
to management of irrigation and
vine balance." Pressure bombs,
plus in-ground and in-vine sensors
are the tools Kendall-Jackson uses
to monitor and maintain moisture
levels at an optimal point to get to
an ideal berry size.
Cropping level: Ullom believes
that a balanced vine is what every-
one should be seeking. So beyond
irrigation, he recommended pay-
ing attention to canopy manage-
ment and fruit thinning at véraison.
A green fruit drop is easy, but his
crew members will also pull off
overripe fruit to narrow the Brix
range. He believes wineries should
be hands-on when asking a grower
to do leaf pulling, shoot thinning
or drop crop. "Be there and do it
with them for a little bit. Being
hands-on and showing what you
want is worth its weight in gold."
Harvest decisions: Like the
others, Ullom said the ultimate
harvest decision is the taste—that
you pick on flavor, not on numbers.
He views Brix as an important in-
dicator and values pH and TA as
well. He states, "pH tells you when
you are getting close and what is
going on in the berry." For exam-
ple, if pH is starting to bump up
too fast and TA falls rapidly, the
berry may be falling apart inter-
nally. In some vineyard blocks,
Kendall-Jackson will pick 100 ber-
ries and measure diameter, mois-
ture and weight.
Mechanical vs. hand harvest-
ing: Kendall-Jackson's most signifi-
cant change has been toward night
harvesting, regardless of whether
fruit is hand or machine picked. In
Ullom's view, hand harvesting at
night improves the working condi-
tions of the pickers, as they avoid
the hot sun of late summer, and
improves the quality of the grape
picker's life. It also uses less energy
by picking essentially "refrigerated
grapes." Machine harvesting at
night is always combined with de-
stemming and sorting in the vine-
yard on the harvester itself. Crew
members use both Braud and Pel-
DUBOISag.com
1.800.667.6279
TOOLS
&
SOLUTIONS
for tomorrow's
vineyards
Find everything you need in our wide
range of tools and equipment for grape
growing!
Protection Against
Birds
Felco Electro
Portable Pruning
Shears
Trellising & Staking
Accessories
Design &
Solutions
SOIL TESTING & ANALYSIS SUPPLIERS
Company Phone Website
Advanced Viticulture Inc. (707) 838-3805 advancedvit.com
Agri-Analysis LLC (800) 506-9852 agri-analysis.com
Central Valley (707) 963-3622 central-valley.com
Coastal Viticultural
Consultants Inc.
(707) 965-3700 coastalvit.com
CSP Labs (916) 655-1581 csplabs.com
Dellavalle Laboratory Inc. (800) 228-9896 dellavallelab.com
Double A Vineyards Inc. (716) 672-8493 doubleavineyards.com
Fruit Growers Laboratory Inc. (805) 392-2000 fglinc.com
Hanna Instruments (800) 426-6287 hannainst.com/usa
Hortau (805) 545-5994 hortau.com
Milwaukee Instruments (252) 443-3630 milwaukeeinstruments.com
Ranch Systems LLC (415) 884-2770 ranchsystems.com
Spectrum Technologies Inc. (800) 248-8873 specmeters.com
Terra Spase Inc. (707) 967-8325 terraspase.com
Veris Technologies Inc. (785) 825-1978 veristech.com
Vineyard Soil Technologies (707) 255-3176 vineyardsoil.com
Woods End Research
Laboratory
(207) 293-2457 woodsend.org
For more information about the suppliers listed above, visit winesandvines.com/buyersguide
or see Wines & Vines' 2017 Buyer's Guide.
Pneumatic Stand for Foil Spinner
Contact us today!
575 ird St. Bldg. A Napa CA 94559
707-255-6372 | napafermentation@aol.com
www.napafermentation.com
Takes 27-32 ml Capsules
Spinner is 110v
Table Top Unit
