I get a lot of questions about oak in wine and its role in the process of aging wine.  At Kokomo we have this saying: "We oak our wine to taste, similarly to salting our food to taste".  We don't want the salt to overpower the dish, but, rather to accent the flavors of the dish.  Same goes for accenting wine with oak.  I have found that you need a percentage of new oak on wines, especially for crafting ultra-premium wines.  However, the amount of new oak to be used varies from varietal to varietal and vineyard to vineyard.  We also like a bolder Eastern European or American oak on certain wines but by far and away, French oak domintes in our cellar.  This costs us quite a bit more but the results are well worth it.  We mostly use 'medium' toast and occasionally use 'medium plus' toast when needed.  We use toasted heads on American and Eastern European but never on French.  Perfecting the oak thing is an ongoing trial.  It's about marrying the exact complimentary oak regimen with each wine/vineyard to pair beautifully.

A hot topic of conversation among wine industry folks are the “Millennials”, also known as the emerging group of wine drinkers that fall between the ages of 21 and 36.  This demo is certainly into wine and the older establishment is wondering how to attract their loyalty.  Being 35, I am at the tail end of this age group, so I guess that makes me an expert!  In my opinion, the way you rally Millennials to support your brand is by NOT trying to target them, a bit of reverse psychology, if you will.  This segment of the wine consuming population is after one thing – AUTHENTICITY!

Here at Kokomo, I feel like we have captured a lot of fans in this age group and I attribute that growth to our company being real – playing the music we like, hanging pictures we like, genuinely talking to visitors as if we are hanging out with friends, and making wines that we like to drink.  Bottom line, it’s pretty simple – the Millennials have been bombarded with slick sophisticated marketing their whole lives and are adept at smelling a fraud a mile away.  Keeping it real and keeping our messaging authentic has been a totally natural process for us, and guess what?  It feels right and it works.

One of the most common questions I get is “how did you learn to make wine and only be 35?”  After I mention my post grad UC Davis studies everyone seems to be satisfied with my formal learning process.  As to my hands-on learning evolution, I started in the cellar and learned from the ground up.   I wanted to take the time on this particular blog to give a nod and a thank you to fellow winemakers who take the time to engage in conversation and answer my questions about their challenges and experiences that are similar to mine. 

One of my neighbors here at Timber Crest Farms, Ben Papapietro, is a meticulous note taker and has on more than one occasion opened up his notebooks to share his knowledge.  He is certainly a master of Pinot Noir and a great mentor!  On the other side of the parking lot is a young wine maker by the name of Jamie Peterson.  Jamie and I often sit over wine and engage in interesting conversation about fermentation techniques.  Recently I was treated to a couple of fantastic winery tours – special thanks to Biale Winery in Napa who specialize in Zinfandel and Ramey Wine Cellars of Healdsburg who are masters of Chardonnay.

My winemaking style will evolve with time and continued discussions with various winemakers.  It is satisfying to practice an art that is centuries old and our passion compels us to make better and better wines!

Today is October 12 and the rains have subsided.  Prognosis at this point…we are bringing in Chardonnay as quickly as possible ‘round the clock.  We brought in half the Chard before the rain and it is BEAUTIFUL with bright acidity.  I decided to take a calculated risk and let several tons stay on the vine longer – looking for a rise in sugar and higher ph (lower acidity).  When we first looked at the forecast, the weather called for 2 inches of rain over 2 days but what we got was 4.5 inches over 4 days!  It’s during these challenges of harvest when we are thankful to have an experienced Vineyard Crew headed up by Randy Peters who is blazing through his 40^th harvest this year.  We seem to have made out better than most with our aggressive leaf pulling along with the use of some new organic sprays that have deterred a good deal of botrytis (bunch rot).  At this point, we are HAND SELECTING only Chardonnay clusters with no botrytis.   Cabernet?  Still on the vine for another couple of weeks.  Cab clusters are thick skinned and the berries are loosely clustered, so, when we do have an early rain it doesn’t bother it a bit.  The loose cluster structure allows for plenty of air flow preventing the possibility of botrytis.  Cab is usually the last to come in, so no worries there!  One more thing….we have been racking a lot of wine….so far in barrel – Zinfandel, Malbec, Primitivo and Pinot Noir….the cellar is filling up quickly.