Winemaking: as one of our featured winemakers this month, Matt Berson likes to say, “it’s equal parts barrel heaving, lab tinkering, hand wringing, and business minutiae.” But once it gets under your skin it’s hard to do anything else.

There is no one “right” way to make wine. There are hundreds of decisions that a winemaker makes each day to create a wine that expresses the true character of the grapes and reflects their own personal style.

This month we are exploring four different winemaking techniques that our featured winemakers have deliberately chosen in order to create a wine that says something about their passion for wine.

Our first red is a Grenache from Southern Oregon’s Simple Machine. Owners Brian Denner and Clea Arthur work hard to make their wines as simply as possible including using whole cluster fermentation for every wine. Our second red is a Gamay Malbec blend from Amity’s Silas Wines. This unusual blend has a little “funk” to it from the introduction of a tiny amount of a bacteria called “brett” into the barrels.

Our first white is an Auxerrois (yes, you read that right, but can you pronounce it?) from Carlton Cellars which is a barrel aged white wine. Our second white is a Riesling from Love & Squalor which is a blend of Riesling grapes from different vineyards and AVAs, as are all of their wines.

This months wines are a great way to explore the choices winemakers make in creating the unique wines that we so enjoy!