AKA - How to make wine from everything besides grapes!
It seems to me that what we have called wine and revered as wine and created certifications and diplomas about, is not actually wine. It’s one perspective on one kind of wine from one region of the planet. And I think the first step, the lowest hanging fruit if you will, to having an authentic local wine culture is simply using local ingredients. Put another way, culture grows out of the earth. If it is imported and forced onto the land, it is neither sustainable nor is it culture. Do we even know what American wine, or Australian wine, or Chilean wine actually tastes like? Or do we only know what French wine tastes like when you make it in various places around the planet?
My guests for this episode are the gentlemen of Hermit Woods Winery in New Hampshire: Ken Hardcastle, Chuck Lawrence, and Bob Manley. They have an incredible story of asking these questions and beginning a journey of discovering and creating their local wine culture. These guys are exploring unexplored territory in wine, and they have a lot of knowledge to share about what they are finding.
The wines of Hermit Woods Winery are well-aged, dry, textured, complex, with great mouthfeel and nuanced aromas, but they aren’t made from grapes. They’re made from blends of things like quince, day lily, kiwiberry, black raspberry, honey, and rhubarb, and many other fruits and plants, herbs, flowers, and spices that thrive in New Hampshire. They make about 35 different wines, at least, every year, and they have been at this for over 15 years. They started by asking “Does it have to be a grape?” and I think they’ve answered that question with an emphatic “Absolutely not.”
We cover their philosophy and their unique approach to winemaking, and this conversation has an inordinate amount of practical and helpful ideas for anyone who might want to consider joining this local wine movement. These guys are an incredible resource, whether for technical advice on navigating the particular challenges of fermenting things like tomatoes and how long you need to wait before Japanese knotweed wine stops smelling like baby wipes, or for how to reconstruct a metaphoric grape.
Though this should be obvious, I think it’s very important to point out that the diversity of ingredients that Hermit Woods uses supports, honors, and generates more biodiversity and more diversity of wines. There are many practical advantages to not relying on a single variety of fruit for your entire production, and in the bigger picture it also leads to a healthier, more resilient, and more beautiful wine culture. These three friends are changing the world of wine as we know it, and they seem to be having a lot of fun doing it.
https://hermitwoods.com/
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Sponsors:
Centralas Wine
Elizabeth Whitlow - Regenerative Organic Certification, Vineyard & Farm Worker Treatment
Andrew Beckham - Novum Amphora & Beckham Estate Vineyard
Bill Shinkle - Tranquil Heart Vineyard & Winery in Hemet, California
Natural Wine is Bulls%$t
Solminer - Anna & David Delaski, Growing Austrian Grapes Regeneratively in Santa Barbara County
Michael Phillips - Mycorrhizal Planet, The Apple Grower, and Vineyards & Orchards as Fungal Ecosystems
Leigh Bartholomew - The Problems With Organic
Professor Magali Delmas - Organic Wine Tastes Better & The Green Bundle
Krista Scruggs - Zafa Wines, Regenerative History and Winemaking in Vermont
Steve Matthiasson - How To Grow Wine Grapes Organically
James Endicott - Vinocity Selections & How To Use Wine To Solve Climate Change
Nathan Stuart - Tablas Creek Wine Shepherd, How Using Animals Makes Better Wine
Ann Thomas - Western Reserve Distillers, Organic Distillery
Belen Arredondo & Lindsay Williams - South LA Wine Club & LAtina Garagiste
Lisa Bauer - Yamakiri Wines & Sineater Ciders, Never Let A Grape Go To Waste
Craig Camp - Troon Vineyard in Applegate Valley Oregon, Biodynamic & Organic
Herrmann York Winery - Making Unique Wine in Southern California
Matt Niess - North American Press, Native & Hybrid Grapes and Cider
Laura Brennan Bissell - INCONNU Wine Muse & Winemaking Musings
Alice Anderson - Amevive, Ibarra-Young Vineyard, Regenerative Organic Viticulture & Natural Winemaking in Santa Barbara
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