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WINEMAKER INTERVIEW 38 WINES&VINES July 2017 much to do in a short period of time. But we can shed some light on this process and ensure that the winery is getting the most out of a partial extraction. Let me give a little more insight into some experiences that we have had—and this is not a specific client's information, to be clear. But we have seen wineries that significantly under- and over-extract the same grape varieties from the same appellation following the same pro- tocol. A winemaker is expecting the difference in finished wine to be driven by differences in the grape supply, but that is not always the case. In fact, when the grape supply is incor- rectly managed, the results are less tons mak- ing a given program, loss of grower or block information, and it turns blending into finding strengths to support weaknesses as opposed to blending strengths on strengths to build a stronger and larger blend overall. One area that is critically important to all red wines is the stabilization of color, as the anthocyanin (color molecule) can bind with a molecule of tannin and form a stabilized form of the anthocyanin that decays very slowly (as compared to the anthocyanin without the tannin attached). There are also textural properties to these compounds that are beneficial to sensory. This polymerization reaction is manageable, and there are ways of increasing the polymeriza- tion rate and amount for a given wine. Also, we measure tannins that are very spe- cific to sensory (astringency). The Harbertson- Adams Assay measures tannins that react with salivary proteins as a link between the sensory lab and the production environment. Tannins come in all shapes and sizes, but the ones that react with your palate are the ones we care about. Q Does this process have any applicabil- ity to white wines? McLeod: No, we do not run our models on white wines, as they are very low in skin and seed tan- nins. We are a red wine assessment assay. Q You're also a partner at Safe Harbor Wine Storage in Napa, Calif. What ser- vices do you provide there? McLeod: Safe Harbor Wine Storage has two facilities in Napa storing approximately 8 mil- A NEW HOPE FOR PINOT NOIR A mong Scott McLeod's winemaking projects is a job for filmmaker George Lucas' Skywalker Vineyard in Marin County. While Lucas' movies are known for their special effects, his winery, McLeod says, is "sufficiently high tech, but not over the top." McLeod says he was able to get most of his "wish list" items. "For Pinot Noir, you really need to put beautiful fruit—whether whole cluster or whole berry—into a beautiful tank correctly. We have a Pellenc Selectiv' destemmer, and I load by gravity. The tanks are perfect, about 2.5 tons to 4 tons each from Santa Rosa Stainless Steel, with full jackets, and I even have a jacket under the floor" of the tank. The tanks can be punched down, or there's an automatic pumpover by Burgstahler Machines and scheduling and temperature controls by TankNet. "My favorite aspect of the winery," McLeod says, "is our cold room that has the ability to barrel-ferment Chardonnay at 50° F and cold-stabilize in barrel at 30° F. The control it gives me for the still wines is impressive, and the sparkling winemaker, Keith Hock, uses the room for all of his base wine barrel fermentations."