Brett-Wary Winemaking in the Custom Crush World Alison CroweGarnet VineyardsPlata Wine Partners

Crushing on Someone Else’s Pad (and living with their bedbugs)

Operate assuming Brett is present – we have to make peace with & manage it.

What are the facility’s sanitation and Brett-monitoring SOP’s and what is included in pricing?

Know thy neighbors and be a good cellar citizen yourself. “Do unto others”….

Write client/brand contracts that protect yourself- AND your wineries

Know client/brand style parameters and expectations and plan accordingly.

Brett-Wary In the Cellar (beyond high SO2, low pH, low temp)

Top only with your own wine lots. Target final RS <0.3 g/L on all ferments, do

not overfeed fermentations. Create microbially-balanced environment Limit used barrels from “strangers”. Make blends >3 months before bottling,

monitor against Brett “bloom” Pre-bottle filtration is your friend. Try non-coopered oak.

Provides Brett “food” but not a permanent home.

Stay Brett-Aware- vigilance=winemaking flexibility Get early baseline of Bot-infected,

stuck/sluggish ferments for 4EP/4EG. Monitor suspect lots quarterly for 4EP/4EG

creep. Taste. All wines present differently. Run Scorpions™ +plating for viable/non-

culturable and culturable cells if you see an increase in 4EP/4EG, & on all purchased wine.

Lower plating result than Scorpions™ points to currently inhibitory conditions, but stay vigilant.

The more you know….

Resources Adhesion and biofilm production by wine isolates of Brettanomyces bruxellensis By: L. Joseph, G.

Kumar, E. Su, and L. Bisson In: American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. 58(3):373-378.2007

The wine microbial consortium: A real terroir characteristic By: V. Renouf, C. Miot-Sertier, P. Strehaiano, and A. Lonvaud-FunelIn: International Journal of Vine and Wine Sciences, 40 (4)209-216. 2006

Yeast and bacteria analysis of grape, wine and cellar equipment by PCR-DGGE By: V. Renouf, P. Strehaiano, and A. Lonvaud-Funel In: International Journal of Vine and Wine Sciences. 41(1):51-61. 2007

Sterile Filtration -- Science vs. Myth by Steve Roberta, Graduate Student Department of Viticulture & Enology University of California, Davis September 1994

Evaluating the effects of membrane filtration on sensory and chemical properties of wine By: Bonahan, Strekas, Boulton, Heymann and Block. Department of Viticulture & Enology, University of California, Davis. Research summary presented by Dave Block at UC Davis 2/24/11

How does Brettanomyces Enter Wine? Bibiana Guerra, Wine Business Monthly, July 2010. http://www.winebusiness.com/wbm/index.cfm?go=getArticle&dataId=77350

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