Winemaking
The winemaking philosophy at Keller Estate is simple: we respect the terroir that
is characteristic of our vineyard estate. Our winemaking techniques ensure that we minimize handling and manipulation of the grapes to preserve the quality and thus produce wines of the highest distinction.
Keller Estate’s winemaker, spends considerable time in the vineyard, assessing crop levels, managing the canopy and timing irrigation. His most important decision, however, comes from tasting the ripening fruit over and over again, determining the optimal time to harvest.
Since the planting of our first vineyards in 1989, we have pursued a blueprint of clonal, or grape sub-variety, diversity based on the altitude, orientation and soil composition of each vineyard block, determining the ideal site for each individual clone. The clonal diversity gives us the textures, flavors and aromas with which to build complexity into the wines.
The estate-grown fruit is handpicked in the cooler mornings and delivered to the winery within minutes. White wine grapes go directly into the press in whole clusters and the juice is allowed to run freely. Red wine grapes go directly into the destemmer to prevent excess astringency. The juice is gently moved by bins to the fermentation tanks.
The state-of-the-art winery at Keller Estate contains two tanks on hydraulic lifts which raise and lower as needed. Bottling tanks are located on an elevated tank pad. Using gravity to transfer wine is much gentler than traditional pumps and preserves the quality of the wine.
White wines are fermented with native yeasts and carefully selected yeast strains. Native yeasts bring out the desirable mouthfeel, texture and complexity, while cultured yeasts enhance the varietal characteristics. Red wines are fermented using only native yeasts, a challenging and sometimes unpredictable process, but worth the final reward.
Yet with all the technology available to winemakers today, we’ve learned that the most important task -- and sometimes the most difficult thing one – is to do nothing. Nothing but respect the fruit, the vineyard and the wines themselves.