Winemaking

Kevin Holt, award-winning winemaker, shares his approach to winemaking

Non-interventionist winemaking is a myth. The end result of crushed grapes and natural biochemistry is vinegar; to stop the process at the wine stage requires intervention. The winemaker’s job is to decide where to draw the line from there. While there is a place in the world for both “natural” and “manufactured” wines at either end of the spectrum, I believe that great wine is made somewhere in the ever-shifting ground between these two extremes.

As with any craft, the skill lies in knowing when and how to apply the correct tools to gently shape the product, and when to get out of the way and let the beauty of the raw material shine through. Finding and expressing the character of a great vineyard is what makes great wine, and sometimes that takes a bit of spade work, but it never requires burying the grapes in winemaking. Finding the balance point is the key. Balance in the process results in balance in the glass.