what is winemaking anyway?
Winemaking is grapegrowing. You don’t make great wines from poor grapes. You can make poor wines from great grapes, but you can’t start with the raw material the way it is and improve it. Winemaking begins in the soil, and that’s what you really have to pay attention to is where the grapes are grown; the geologic and geographic considerations have to be taken into account. You have to take into account crop levels and all the other things that go along with it. It’s great if you say, “Well, I’ve got the grapes and now I’m a winemaker.” Well, in reality, the Good Lord- -nature- – Mother Nature is the winemaker. You just act as a custodian. Whatever ‘s there, whatever comes in that little round ball when it’s brought to the winery, that’s what you’ve got to start with. You cannot make it better. You can keep it the same, but you can’t make it any better. Hicke: This is a reasonably new way of looking at things, isn’t it? Arrowood: Oh, I think I’ve always kind of looked at it that way. Hi
