INNOVATION
Vice President of Winemaking and Vineyards, Michael Scholz oversees winemaking, in tandem with Winemaker Brooke Shenk. Their mission is to produce exceptional, luxury-class wines with impeccable balance and depth, from 100% estate grapes. Their ever-evolving quest to lift wine quality and complexity includes a number of practices:
- Hand-sorting and optical-sorting of grapes when they arrive at winery, to ensure only pristine fruit advanced to the fermentation stage.
- Due to the diverse terroir across our 500-plus acres in production, the winemaking team often ferments blocks separately, to retain their individual characteristics.
- Small-batch, open-top fermentations for red wines to increase complexity and ensure fine tannins.
- Punchdown devices keep juice and skins in contact with each other during fermentation, without the use of more extractive pumps.
- Racks that allow barrels to be rolled several times a day, as necessary, dto gently integrate the contents.
- Use of a traditional basket press for selected lots that require kid-gloves handling.
- Oak barrels of various sizes, toasted to St. Supéry specifications.
