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Winemaking from the Perspective of the
Small Winery
Dr. Tom Cottrell
University of Kentucky
Wednesday, October 26th, 2011
Grand Traverse Pie Company, 2600 N.
Saginaw Rd, Midland
6:00pm Free sandwiches while they last
7:00pm Presentation
The wine industry in the United States continues to grow
rapidly with the expansion of large wineries and the proliferation of small
wineries. Kentucky now has 62 small wineries, and Michigan has 80, not all
small. The steps in making wine in small wineries follow an established
path, but allow many variations in the outcome. Many choices are open
along the way: from grape variety, ripeness parameter selection, processing
steps, yeast strain, to bottle style and label design. Most winemakers
begin their understanding of chemistry part way through their first
fermentation. The Laboratory work is simple enough to be fun, and the
processing steps are straightforward, but require attention to detail,
cleanliness and sanitation. This presentation will review and describe
those choices and steps.
Dr. Tom
Cottrell
founded Cuvaison in 1970 in the Napa Valley.
In 1982, Tom became Cornell’s first Associate Professor of Enology.
Subsequently, he was the Manager/Winemaker for Chalk Hill Winery in
Sonoma County, CA, which he grew to 65,000 cases per year, and for Sakonnet
Vineyards in Rhode Island, which he grew to 35,000 cases per year.
Returning to the Finger Lakes in 1995, Tom consulted for wineries and
winery start-ups in the Finger Lakes, on Long Island, Pennsylvania, and
other parts of the East, Mid-west, and South.
Asked in 2005 to fill a serious need in Kentucky, Tom is now the
Extension Enologist for the University of Kentucky in Lexington, primarily
assisting the burgeoning wineries of Kentucky in making consistently good
wine. Tom continues his consulting
for wineries as ‘Wine Doc’ in winemaking consulting and winery start-ups,
doing winery design, equipment specification, and Pro Forma financial
projections. He has been a member of
the American Society for Enology and Viticulture since 1970.
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