Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"This is a brave book, fusing data, experience and intuition in a way that scientists rarely attempt... It's a significant and much-needed contribution to the literature of winemaking." 2013 BOOK OF THE YEAR Wine & Spirits Magazine "Smith is nothing if not genuine in his curiosity about the appropriate uses of science in the cellar." San Francisco Chronicle "Fascinating... His book is a tool for winemakers and a sinewy bone on which to gnaw for wine geeks." The Daily Meal "Top 10 Wine Books of 2013: Clark Smith has written the most interesting and eclectic wine book in years. Smith has a rich and swirling mind that is on display in this both technical and philosophical treaties on modern winemaking the issues that have been pushed to the fore through innovation." Tom Wark's Fermentation "Wine savvy comes easy for Clark Smith, who's the smartest guy in most of the rooms he inhabits... His 'Postmodern Winemaking: Rethinking the Modern Science of an Ancient Craft' is a thoughtful and thought-provoking look at the 'bones' of wine - structure, acidity, tannins, minerality - and how postmodern winemaking can help the industry build upon these attributes. Thus, it's a great gift for a wine geek or a science geek or a business geek." Minneapolis Star Tribune "A detailed, accessible portrait of what it takes to be a professional, successful winemaker." Newsday
Table of ContentsPreface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART ONE. PRINCIPLES
1 The Solution Problem
2 Creating the Conditions for Graceful Aging
3 Building Structure: The Basic Tool Kit
4 The Seven Functions of Oak
5 Vineyard Enology: The Power of Showing Up
6 The Vicinal Diphenol Cascade: Red Wine’s
Defi ning Reaction
7 Redox Redux: Measuring Wine’s Oxygen
Uptake Capacity
8 Speculations on Minerality
9 Winemaking at High pH
10 Integrated Brettanomyces Management
11 Harmony and Astringency: Nice and Rough
PART TWO. PRACTICES
12 Winemaking’s Lunatic Heroes
13 Gideon Beinstock’s Mountain Magic:
Handling Extreme Terroir
14 Randall Grahm: California Dreamer in Search of
the Miraculous
15 Bob Wample: Thinking Like a Grape
PART THREE. TECHNOLOGY
16 Pressing Matters: A Postmodern Tale
17 Some Like It Hot
18 The New Filtrations: Winemaking’s Power Tools
19 Flash Détente: Winemaking Game Changer
PART FOUR. PHILOSOPHY
20 Spoofulated or Artisanal?
21 Science and Biodynamics: The Limits of Rationalism
22 Natural Wine Nonsense
23 Yeast Inoculation: Threat or Menace?
24 New World Identity and Judging Reform
25 Liquid Music: Resonance in Wine
Appendix 1. Winemaking Basics
Appendix 2. Navigating the Postmodern Calendar
Notes
Glossary of Postmodern Terminology
Index
About the Author
