WINEMAKING

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MEET WINEMAKER, DICK SCHULTZ

A California native, Dick Schultz began fermenting wine and beer as a teenager. He moved to the Napa Valley in the late ’80’s, where he was introduced to the wine business by friends who had wineries in Angwin and Calistoga. In ’96 he moved to the Anderson Valley in Mendocino county where he began working at Navarro Vineyards and as a part time lab tech at Scharffenberger Cellars. Dick then moved to Healdsburg in Sonoma County where spent time at Quivira, Gary Farrell and Pelligrini where he was able to work with Merry Edwards. In ’02 he landed at Everett Ridge Winery where he took over winemaking in ’03, eight years later he went out on his own and started Orsi Family with Bernie Orsi in 2012.
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Winemaking

After selection and sorting in the vineyard, the grapes are sorted again in the winery to remove any unwanted fruit or other material. The fruit is gently destemmed using the latest technology, dropped directly in to small open top fermenters where they soak for 3-5 days. Each individual fermenter is then inoculated, using a yeast that was isolated in Barolo, then punched down by hand and fermented to dryness. The wine is then gently drained from the fermenters using gravity to neutral french oak barrels where it goes through secondary fermentation and is allowed to age for 18 to 24 months depending on the varietal and vintage.