JOIN US FOR TWO SUMMER TECHNICAL SEMINARS:
Plan on joining us for the definitive mouthfeel seminar from leading Technical Experts and Winemakers with expert opinion and provocative exchange between distinguished Academics, Industry leaders and accomplished Winemakers.
A series of individual talks will be punctuated by mixed panel discussions involving the speakers, winemaker panelists and the audience. Invited Speakers for the Chasing Mouthfeel seminar include; Jim Kennedy, Ph.D. CSU Fresno, Anita Oberholster, Ph.D. UC Davis, Mark Greenspan, Ph.D. Advanced Viticulture Inc., Randy Heinzen, Professional Vinyard Services, Alessandra Rinaldi, Ph.D. Univ. Bologna, Italy, with Host Peter Salamone, Ph.D. Technical Manager Laffort USA. Look for more information coming soon.
Two Convenient Locations
Tuesday July 9th,Napa
8:00 AM – 12:30 PM in the Trefethen Room of the Napa Valley Vintners Teaching Winery at Napa Valley College, Streblow Drive off Hwy 221-Napa Vallejo Hwy.
Thursday July 11th,Paso Robles
8:00 AM – 12:30 PM in the Schwartz Learning Resource Center at Cuesta College, 2800 Buena Vista Drive,
Please RSVP to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by July 3rd
See our Web Page for the full agenda at www.laffortusa.com or visit our Facebook page for details!
June 2013:
See how the Laffort Oenosteryl tablets dissolve!
June 2013:
Our 2013 Vintage catalog is here!
June 2013:
Laffort's Quertanin Range?
April 2013:
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS…
Paso Robles - Matt BRAIN, Cellar Master, Cal Poly Univ. SLO
Fresno - Ken FUGELSANG, Professor Emeritus, CSU Fresno
Lodi - Ken FUGELSANG, Professor Emeritus, CSU Fresno
Yountville - Kelli WHITE, Sommelier, Press Restaurant
Healdsburg - Clark SMITH, WineSmith Consulting
ADDITIONAL PRESENTATIONS FROM…
Matt BRYNILDSON, Brewmaster, Firestone Brewery
Larry BROOKS, Winemaker, Tolosa Vineyards and Winery
John GIANINNI, Winemaker, Fresno State Winery
Maddy CRAWFORD, CSU Fresno
Matt RIDGE, Winemaker Van Ruiten Family Vineyards
Todd DOLLINGER, Founder, ReWine Barrels
Ronald DUPREEZ, Winemaker, Draxton Wines
| FIVE CONVENIENT LOCATIONS... | ||||
| CENTRAL COAST Tuesday, April 16th Firestone Brewery 1400 Ramada Drive Paso Robles Wine drawing- 2007 Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape magnum |
SOUTH SAN JOAQUIN Wednesday, April 17th University Square Hotel 4961 N. Cedar Avenue Fresno Wine drawing- 2007 Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape magnum |
NORTH SAN JOAQUIN |
NAPA VALLEY Tuesday, April 23th Villagio Inn & Spa 6481 Washington Street Yountville Wine drawing- 1982 Prieure Lichine magnum |
SONOMA COUNTY Thursday, April 25th Bear Republic Brewery 345 Healdsburg Avenue Healdsburg Wine drawing- 2009 Hubert de Montille Volnay Champans magnum |
| Please RSVP to Tiffany by April 12th at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by phone (707) 967-8290 - Contact your rep for more information! | ||||
March 2013:
Bottling soon? Have you tried AUTOLEES yet?
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Implementation is easy! • AUTOLEES® is a rapidly dissolving powdered product. |
Rendez-vous with LAFFORT 2013
HOW TO REFRESH YOUR WHITE WINES JUST BEFORE BOTTLING?
Try TANFRESH, a preparation of proanthocyanidic and ellagic tannins!It will act on the structure and volume in mouthfeel, eliminate the taste of residue and protect the wine against oxidation.
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The IDP process allows direct sprinkling of TANFRESH on wine.
2 – 4g/hL in white wines |
Febuary 2013:
Laffort USA names Adam LaZarre as new Technical Representative for Central Coast wineries.
Adam has been in the wine industry nearly 20 years producing wines for California, as well as in Spain and Chile. After graduating from Fresno State’s Enology program, Adam fell in love and relocated to the Central Coast where he produced wines for several big brands including Villa San-Juliette and Constellation Wine Company. Adam was also part of the team who made Cycles Gladiator and Rex Goliath successful stories. Adam is thrilled to be part of the Laffort USA team and is eager to become the technical resource for all Central Coast winemakers.
Please feel free to contact him by email at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or by phone at (805) 234-8446.
January 2013:
How to make a safe, quick and efficient SO2 addition to your wine?
OENOSTRYL® SO2 tablets are very popular because they are precise, odourless and dissolve within a few minutes with a homogenous repartition of the SO2 in the wine. There is no need to stir the barrel after adding the tablets, therefore avoiding oxidation.
A 2g tablet adds 8ppm of total SO2.
A 5g tablet adds 22 ppm of total SO2.
November 2012:
How to determine which bacteria to use?
• It will control MLF initiation.
• It will occupy the wine’s microbiological ecosystem with
chosen, activ e, controlled microflora during vinification.
• It will conserve freshness and quality of the wines after MLF.
October 2012:
How to minimize the production of volatile sulfur compounds?
DYNASTART®, a specific yeast preparation naturally rich in vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and sterols, improves the general metabolism of the yeast and decreases the production of undesired sulfur compounds.
Recent research shows that DYNASTART® significantly improves the nitrogen uptake metabolism, helping the yeast to better assimilate available nutrition and lower its stress level, leading to less VA and H2S production.
October 2012:
Have you thought of a red maceration enzyme to improve your mouthfeel?
LAFASE® HE GRAND CRU produces high quality wines intended for prolonged ageing, for which volume and length on the palate are important. It also helps build mouthfeel by extracting specific polysaccharides.
September 2012:
How to protect your skin tannins and your color?
VR SUPRA® helps protect the natural extractable grape tannins from precipitating with naturally occurring proteins, while VR COLOR® brings balance to the tannin/anthocyanin ratio and promotes the production of stable colored compounds.
September 2012:
How to minimize phenolic compounds in reductive handling of sauvignon blanc juice?
A comparison of the phenolic acid content of free-run juice (FRJ), pressings juice from an inert press (INERTED PRESS),
pressings juice from an oxidatively-hanlded press (NON INERTED PRESS), and pressings juice from an inert press treated
with Polymust (INERTED PRESS TREATED WITH POLYMUST®, LAFFORT).
How to preserve the varietal aromas of a Sauvignon Blanc wine over time?
Fermentation conducted in Sauvignon blanc juice in 2006, with microvinification in duplicate. The two time-points indicated are at bottling and 3 months later with cellaring at 15 °C. Concentration/Perception Threshold, where a value of 1 indicates contribution to wine aroma. 4MMP = 4-methoxymercaptopentanone, broom/boxtree; 3MH = 3-mercaptohexanol, grapefruit; 3MHA = 3-mercaptohexyl acetate, passionfruit.
August 2012:
Laffort USA names Darren Michaels as new Technical Representative for Sonoma and Mendocino counties
Darren has spent more than a decade in the wine industry, first as a wine chemist at Trinchero Family Estates then as central coast manager of Vinquiry, and finally the Director of Enology at Terravant Wine Company. He joins Laffort with a healthy background in enology and enological consultation and is excited to return to the northern California wine industry and its great wines. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at (707) 260-5890.
Laffort USA Opening in St Helena!
After expanding the warehouse and office space to Petaluma in July 2011, Laffort USA is yet starting another exciting project: a 400 square feet retail space opening just in time for Harvest. The store is located at 1309 Main Street, Suite C in St Helena and is open weekdays from 8.30am to 5.30pm. The store features all the Laffort products available on the US market and hopes that its new key location will be a great asset to all Napa Valley winemakers. Being centrally located in the heart of Napa Valley will allow the winemakers to conveniently shop for their supplies. Technical assistance on products will be available, on site or linked with the technical representatives around California.
After two challenging harvests, the crop seems promising so far in terms of quantity and quality, and winemakers in the valley have already started to pick the first grapes. Laffort USA wishes all the best to Napa Valley winemakers for the 2012 vintage!
For all inquiries or to place an order, please contact Tiffany Eicholz at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 707.967.8290.
May 2012:
LAFFORT’S CeLstab® CMC (carboxymethyl-cellulose) for tartrate stabilization has been approved for continual use by TTB under 27 CFR part 24.250!
LAFFORT, the worldwide leader in next-generation tartrate stability product development, offers a full portfolio of non-subtractive tartrate stability products which are under TTB continual use approval, CeLstab® CMC, a pure carboxymethyl-cellulose product for white and rose’ wine stabilization, MannOstab®, a pure MP40 yeast mannoprotein which is OMRI™ listed Organic, for red, white and rose’ wine stabilization and also Ca2+Stab for calcium tartrate stabilization. LAFFORT is the expert in the production and application of these break-through innovations.
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With the recent administrative changes from TTB we are now proud to offer these same worldwide proven products to the US market, building on the experience of our global customers over the past 5 years, CeLstab® and MannOstab® perform to the highest standards around the world.
Not all CMC products for tartrate stability are the same when it comes to efficacy, organoleptic neutrality, purity and process application considerations including viscosity and filterability. . The Laffort team has years of experience in using these products and can assist you in integrating these products into your existing practices. With CeLstab® the energy cost savings can be as high as 80% compared to chill stabilization, which does not include extra water, labor and logistical time savings. Your cellar crew will be grateful to you, not to have to remove tartrate from your tanks anymore! The non-subtractive, non-chilling methods also contribute to the overall respect of the wine, preserving the freshness, aroma and flavors of the wine.
Winemakers are talking
Alan, from Emilio Guglielmo Winery (Santa Clara County, CA): “Celstab® has brought to our winery much greater flexibility. No longer do we need to incur the large energy costs, product loss and time commitment associated with traditional cold stabilization nor do we need to coordinate the logistics of electro-dialysis. In addition wines treated with Celstab® retain more of their original character. “May 2012:
Looking for a way to improve your red press wine quality?
Wishing your press wines were a little better? Let's discuss it! Do you know that through an appropriate and early fining, the press fractions can significantly be improved in quality, to be used in the final blend.
Among the different fining agents that we tested in a recent study, Polymust helps to:
- Significantly reduce the spoilage population to a level close to the free run wine level (reduction up to a thousand fold).
Effect of the Extralyse enzyme and the Polymust AF fining agent on the
Brettanomyces population (Press wine of a Grand Cru Classe of Saint Emilion, 2010).
- Significantly improve the wine clarity (turbidity reduced by 30 to 40%).
- Significantly reduce the coloring matter instability, to almost completely stabilize the wine.
Impact of different fining agents on color stability of a press wine
(Pauillac, 2011; measurement performed after racking).
- Significantly improve the tasting characteristics of the wine (astringency index decreased by up to 35%).
Effect of different fining agents on the astringency index (SPI), all reducing the wine’s astringency.
The fining results are optimized when using Polymust AF in conjunction with a beta-glucanase enzyme, Extralyse.
To know more about this study and its results, contact us (707-775-4530) or access directly to the article on our website: http://www.laffort.com/en/news-from-laffort-usa/articles
March 2012:
Laffort USA names Michael Kafka as new Technical Representative for Central Coast and Central Valley wineries.
Petaluma, CA March 6, 2012. Laffort USA is proud to announce the arrival of a new team member: Michael Kafka will be the new technical representative for the Central Coast and Central Valley wineries.
Michael is a second generation winemaker, began his career in the wine business at the ripe old age of seven assisting his father in the harvesting of grapes, and subsequent crushing, fermenting, and pressing processes.
After graduating from Fresno State, he started working for the Cribari Winery. His main focus was on generic wines and brandy production. After several years there, Michael decided to take on a winemaking role at Bronco Wine Company, in Ceres, CA. The opportunity of working very closely with the Franzia family taught Michael every facet of the wine business from growing grapes to selling wine on the streets.
His next experience was to see what the Napa Valley had to offer a winemaker. He accepted a winemaking position with Beringer Vineyards in St. Helena. There, he had the fortunate experience of working side by side with some of the best winemakers and viticulturists in the business.
Over his 20+ year career, he has also had the fortunate experience of working at Kendall Jackson, at Blackstone and at Robert Mondavi Woodbridge. In the spring of 2007, he set out on a new adventure of his own: bring to fruition a custom crush business from scratch. This task was a great learning process for Michael as it helped him develop the skills and attributes to be a great winemaker.
Michael will put his passion to work with winemakers in his community and territory as a technical resource. He is eager to share his experience and bring the Laffort experience and R&D to the local winemakers. Please feel free to contact him by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by phone at 209.404.5171.