Thoughts on winemaking

I do not subscribe to any winemaking dogma. This leaves me open to new ideas and concepts while always remaining humble in the face of the inherent mystery of the grape growing and winemaking process. My tenets are dedication to the continuous improvement of process and consistency, and to be forever expanding my insight and understanding of winemaking and viticulture.

Winemaking is fine tuned to optimize each vineyard site and varietal characteristics.
Each fermentation is unique and specific for the given vineyard and varietal: from level of fruit maturity to length of cold soak; to indigenous versus inoculated primary and secondary fermentations; and to percentage of whole berry at crush to cap management techniques. All that being said, most decisions are based on intuition and a few analytical techniques that I’ve learned to trust rather than a set winemaking recipe. This attention to detail is a luxury afforded to us at Pamplin Family Winery by our small production size and state-of-the-art fruit processing equipment.

A winemaker can easily be distilled to his or her fundamental essence – their palate.
My palate responds to wines with a harmonious structure, balance and fruit purity.  Umami (savoriness) is also important, along with the finish, which is qualitatively critical.
I consider a great wine to be like a great athlete – both embody a certain artistic grace, coordination and symmetry, combined with power and endurance. I achieve this synthesis through the blending process. The Pamplin Family Winery Proprietary Red is assembled by balancing all the differing terroirs and varietal characteristics at our disposal.
It is always the best wine possible regardless of volume.

Robert Henry ~ Winemaker