Young or old, winemakers only have so many chances to get it right
Yet Peter Ferreira, Graham Beck’s 30-year vintage winemaker, rarely fails to put fizz in his craft
One of the problems confronting dedicated winemakers is they have only limited time to pursue their craft: one vintage a year, one chance every 12 months to manage the growing season, the harvest, the winemaking. Since the difference between good wine and great wine — all other things being equal — lies in infinitesimal tweaks, they need to know everything about everything: soil, vines, pruning, harvesting, small-batch fermentation, choice of barrels, time in oak — all the science, all the accrued knowledge. You also need the time to watch what you’ve made evolve in bottle. Sometimes you only realise, years down the line, that you have to change how you’ve always been pressing the fruit or managing the fermentation...
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