On top of tasting exceptional wines, visiting tasting rooms can be its own adventure. Sommras Wines is located near the top of Atlas Peak on...
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“Sophie Thorpe is an award-winning freelance wine writer based in London. Her work can be found at firstpress.uk .
There's a number in South African wine that quietly changes everything: 35. Thirty-five years in the ground, and a vine stops behaving like every other vine ...
Fermentation step by step In this solo episode, Jim Duane walks through recent harvest and fermentation decisions for the 2026 Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon at Seavey Vineyard. He explains whole-cluster pressing and press cuts for Chardonnay, why he allows some early juice oxidation, and how he handles settling, nutrients, and barrel fermentation. For Merlot, he covers fruit processing, a cold soak, tartaric acid adjustment, native fermentation, nutrient timing, pump-overs, and malolactic bacteria. Jim also discusses how vineyard conditions and juice chemistry shape his choices, including high potassium and pH, the misleading early titratable-acidity readings in red grapes, and why Brix alone cannot confirm that a wine is dry. He shares his nutrient-dosing approach and his plans for extended Cabernet maceration, tasting daily and keeping free-run and press wine separate. This episode is brought to you by the Sentia Wine Analyzer from Scott Laboratories. Sentia is a handhel
