Winemaker Jean Hoefliger on the Interaction of Multitudes

"At Alpha Omega, Hoefliger is given carte blanche as winemaker. “One of the greatest things that ever happened to me was being given complete freedom here,” he says. “It’s amazing to be given every tool you need to express your art.” At Alpha Omega, he takes a high-risk approach to making wine, fermenting in barrel with indigenous yeasts, keeping the wines on their skins for up to 120 days. “Labor-wise, we are working with 1,000 barrels that need four punch-downs per day. That’s a lot of labor and potential problems,” he said. “There’s a risk factor involved. If a winery is producing a large volume, I would never take that risk. But at a smaller volume, I do, and should, take that risk.”" - Erin Brooks