Why He Lets Pinot Ferment Wild but Never Chardonnay Pt. 6

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Tonight's Episode

Forrest asks the question on everyone's mind: is AI finding its way into the vineyard? Justin embraces technology on the business side — presentations, emails, efficiency — and sees real potential in equipment applications like smarter sorting and earlier detection in the vineyard. But when it comes to handcrafting wine, he's protective. To Justin, AI is a recipe: put in the parameters, get a result. Wine's beauty lives in vintage variation, challenging seasons, and a little chaos. Strip out the creativity and you're making formulaic, boring wines.

Then the conversation turns to Justin's minimalist, low-intervention style. His philosophy: high-detail, attentive farming delivers fruit so good the wines nearly make themselves. He picks for natural acid and alcohol balance and avoids additions when he can — not hands-off, not lazy, just letting the vintage and the site dictate quality instead of heavy-handed winemaking.

One fascinating detail: the Pinot Noir ferments naturally on native yeast, but the Chardonnay gets inoculated — because every time he's let Chardonnay go wild, the fermentation got stuck. Adapting to what the circumstances give you, in action.

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Key Takeaways

Justin uses natural fermentation with native yeast for Pinot Noir but inoculates Chardonnay because wild fermentation on Chardonnay consistently gets stuck.
Justin embraces AI for business efficiency and equipment applications like sorting and vineyard detection, but opposes it for winemaking decisions to preserve vintage variation and creativity.
His winemaking philosophy prioritizes high-detail farming and minimal intervention, allowing the vintage and site characteristics to determine quality rather than heavy-handed additions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Justin inoculate Chardonnay but not Pinot Noir?

Chardonnay fermentations consistently get stuck when allowed to ferment naturally on native yeast, so he inoculates it. Pinot Noir ferments successfully on native yeast.

How does Justin view AI in winemaking?

He sees AI as formulaic—it takes parameters and produces a result—which strips out the creativity and vintage variation that make wine interesting. He prefers it for business tasks but not for handcrafting wine.

What is Justin's approach to low-intervention winemaking?

He focuses on attentive, high-detail farming to produce excellent fruit, picks for natural acid and alcohol balance, and avoids additions when possible, letting the vintage and site dictate quality.