Committed to Eco-Friendly Sparkling Wines - #2
Kathleen Inman Tending Wine Barrels
Owner & winemaker Kathleen Inman shares remarkable moments from her journey - mentors, successes and what she hopes her daughters learned from her work.
Why Kathleen?
You might say she has an endless crush on sparkling wine. She made her first Rose, Endless Crush, as an impromptu anniversary gift for her husband. At the time, she already knew she wanted to make a sparkling version. She launched Inman Family Wines in 2002 and has been making sparkling wines since 2009.
What I’m Drinking
Vicky
What sparkling wines do you have chilled right now?
Kathleen
I have a bottle of one of my sparkling wines, a blend of Pinot and Chardonnay from 2015 that I call the sisters. I also have a bottle of Brut Nature made by a woman winemaker from a grower Champagne house in France.
My Long-time Commitment to Eco-friendly
Vicky
I know you are a champion for Champagne and sparkling wine. You have also been a champion for eco-friendly farming and business practices long before it became popular. What inspired your commitment?
Kathleen
I think my interest came from helping my grandmother in her garden. She used compost and at the same time she used poisons. I didn’t think we needed to use all those nasty chemicals. When I was in sixth grade, I had lots of green eco flags and patches on my sweatshirts. I loved growing things and I used to plant seeds all over the yard to see if I could grow something by myself.
Once I had my own home, I focused on recycling even though we had to store all our recycling for a month because we didn’t have curbside pickup where we lived in England. My garden was always organic. It’s what I believe.
I wanted my business to reflect the values I have - minimizing energy use and waste. The winery is all solar powered; my water heaters are electric as is the tractor. I recycle all our wastewater. I use steam to clean my equipment which means we use much less water.
What Making Sparkling Wine Has Taught Me About Life
Vicky
What are the lessons you learned from making sparkling wine?
Kathleen
Making sparkling wines has taught me to trust the process, which has also been a life lesson. With my still wines I constantly worried and spent lots of effort monitoring everything. With sparkling wines, you can’t do that. You put it away and trust that you’ve got it right. That has translated into how I make my still wine now.
The second thing I’ve learned is you don’t have to do things the way other people do. For example, I don’t put any SO2 in my sparkling wines at dosage, although it is the standard procedure to add it. I want to make my wines very naturally.
I Don’t Make Wine Like Everyone Else Does
Vicky
That’s a great segue because I want to hear more about your approach to making sparkling wines. What sets you apart?
Kathleen
I do what the French call “the washing of the skins”, letting a small amount of the dusty free run juice wash down the drain. Next, I do a free run [no pressing] of my cuvee.
Then I do a first press into one tank, then a second press into another tank. I create a blend from various percentages of those three components.
Kathleen Inman with Just Harvested Red Grapes
Essentially, I create a sparkling blend from a single vintage, single vineyard [most sparkling wine blends are from different vineyards, often different varieties and different vintages].
I mentioned that I don’t add sulfur [SO2] at dosage because I believe the CO2 protects the wine. Plus, the aldehydes produce a slightly nutty character which is part of the charm of sparkling wines. The sulfur stops the nuttiness from happening. This is the way my favorite grower Champagnes make their wines.
I don’t make wines in a formula. I call myself a grape groper. I go on how the grapes taste and feel and that’s how I make decisions on when to pick.
Sparkling Wine Adds a Festive Note to Ordinary Things
Vicky
You’ve learned a lot about sparkling wine. What do you wish everyone knew?
Kathleen
Sparkling wine goes with all sorts of food. It’s OK to have sparkling wine for any occasion including a Tuesday. It’s a serious wine and should be on wine lists. Plus, it adds a festive note to even the most ordinary things.
All images courtesy of Inman Family Wines
Check out all my conversations with Kathleen
