Gideon Bienstock on Sulfur Addition and Natural Wine

(more Gideon Bienstock from Clos Saron) Where Renaissance is all grandeur of things past, Gideon's place was almost back on the kibbutz. Vines surround his house. He's a farmer who borrows from all philosophies. I'd be interested to see the soil in the heat and drought of summer, after the flowers drain from life. Gideon adds a smallish amount of sulfur at the fermenter and then never again. ' At first I was nervous the way I was about not inoculation. To some degree it is dangerous. When we released an 03 pinot, we had a party. I was pouring it, tasted it, I realized it had a problem, lactic spoilage, the finish was this mousy, dirty. We pulled it off the market--all 20 cases---and started to watch. After four months the wine gradually started to recover. We served it two weeks ago, we sold every bottle. I began to see that sometimes the wines show problems immediately but so far, everything has rebounded. At times I've thought am I crazy? Don't I want the safety of another shot so there's not bottle variation? For me the answer is seeing the wine before and after, sulfur would clarify the...