Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/561374
3 2 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | S e p t - O c t 2 015 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m on the production of Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa and Sonoma counties. Prior to joining Silver Oak, he was the winemaker at Antica Napa Valley, the Antinori family's estate in the Atlas Peak AVA. Chery chooses to de-stem only and not crush Pinot Noir berries, and he occasionally uses whole clusters, as much as 30%, which are dumped first into the fermenter. "The more fruit integrity, the bet- ter the overall aroma profile, in my opinion," he said. And while many Cabernet Sauvi- gnon producers also prefer to work with whole berries at the onset of fermentation, Weis explained that Silver Oak uses loose rollers to pro- vide for some crushing. It is easier for wineries that gravity-feed Cab- ernet into tanks to use whole ber- ries, but some crushing facilitates pumping to tank. Weis said as fermentation progresses and cap management techniques such as punchdowns and pumpovers are employed, the whole berries get broken up anyway over time. T h e n e x t d e c i s i o n t h a t w i l l impact fermentation is whether or not the winemaker chooses to do a cold soak, a period of time in which the lot is chilled to stall the onset of fermentation and allow for an aque- ous extraction. Many winemakers believe that without having alcohol present, color and flavor are extract- ed without harsh tannins, bitterness or astringency, and then the majori- ty of tannin extraction occurs during fermentation and extended macera- tion. Further, cold soaking will also allow indigenous yeast to grow and initiate the fermentation to create more complexity. Chery thinks cold soaks are a "great tool to extract color and allow indigenous yeast to grow, contributing to a more complex aroma profile" from Pinot Noir. It's also the best way to grow an indig- enous yeast starter. To prevent spoilage organisms and excessive oxidation, Chery makes an SO2 addition at harvest, and then cov- ers the open-top fermenters with a plastic sheet over the cap, which he sprays with a light SO2 solution and layers with dry ice twice daily. His ideal cold soaks last four to five days and are set at 50°F. Dur- ing cold soak, Chery employs a light punchdown regime, maximum of two per day, to mix the tank prior to sampling. Weis and his team at Silver Oak and sister winery Twomey use short cold soaks of about 48 hours for Twomey Merlot, but not for Sil- ver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon. "I have used cold soaks in the past, in a similar manner to how it is used at Twomey … essentially to prolong the fermentation a bit," he said. "The idea is to let it start out colder, add the yeast inoculum during the cold soak, and force the yeast to slowly acclimatize and start to reproduce, also outcompet- ing anything untoward that might be lurking in the soak. Especially with varieties like Merlot and Pinot that can start to rocket through fer- mentation, a cold soak followed by slow reaching of peak temperature spreads things out a bit. In my prior experiences, it was interesting to note that some of the mountain Cabernets would have all the color they would need after just a couple days of cold soaking. The rest of the process would be to essentially build structure around that and, of course, ferment to dryness." For his Pinot Noir, winemaker Jerome Chery cold soaks to extract color and allow native yeast to grow. SOIL & CELLAR REMI COHEN