The Battle for Wine and Love

Ciaran went off to the United States earlier this year to market wine and bought a book by Alice Feiring, entitled: “The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World from Parkerization”.  Pieter met Alice last year and chatted to her about her views on winemaking (while drinking beer at a bar in SoHo).  Alice advocates for real/authentic/natural wines and has a number of guidelines:

Healthy farming practices
Hand picking
No extended cold maceration
No added yeast or bacteria
No added enzymes
No flavors from oak or toast
No additives that shape flavor or texture
No processes that use machines to alter alcohol level, flavor, or texture or that promote premature aging

Bertus Albertyn, winemaker at Avondale in Paarl, South Africa, is also a keen proponent of a more back-to-basics approach and has been experimenting with natural fermentation of whole bunches in large, neutral flavour (i.e. not new), oak barrels.  We are treating two 400 litre barrels in this way – the one is called Cuveé Bertus, the other Cuveé Alice.