SUSTAINABLE SOMM

Coly Den Haan, owner of Vinovore, a Los Angeles-based wine shop that focuses on female winemakers, used the word "free-for-all" to describe what's being predicted as one of fall's biggest wine trends: Co-fermenting... Co-fermenting fully embraces an "anything goes" mentality. Fruit? Throw it in. Wine? Throw it in. Cider? Throw it in. At its core, it is about taking different grape varietals, harvesting them together, and fermenting them together. The result is a wine that often represents a specific synergy and harmony from grapes or fruit that grow together from flowering to harvest and then integrate further during fermentation. For these producers, the co-existence of the wine starts in the vineyard and depending on the harvest maturity for each grape variety, the winemaker can extend the fermentation longer by adding freshly harvested grapes to an already fermenting tank and keep this co-fermentation process happening for a longer period. The goal is for the flavors to find..