Purple juice from ripe cabernet sauvignon grapes was slowly transforming into lush red wine in fermentation tanks. It was October and harvest season, and I was there to see how great red wines are made. “A single thread goes through every element of what you do, from the vineyard to the winery to the bottle,” explained whiz winemaker Jesse Katz, who founded Aperture in 2009.
Everything depends first on the vineyard, and Katz farms prime sites in Sonoma’s Alexander Valley. “It’s much cooler than Napa,” he pointed out, “so wines have more verve and brightness.” Fog over his SJ Ranch vineyard plot allows slow ripening that translates into wines with a savory earthiness, for example, while ancient river gravels at non-irrigated Oliver Ranch give vibrant wines with power and structure.
A hot sun beat down as we walked his prize Farrow Ranch vineyard, acquired in 2021. It’s like a big, beautiful bowl of vines, and the best plots on the steep rocky south-facing volcanic hillsides are the source of his most expensive cabernet.
The most important harvest decision is when to pick, which means identifying the right moment of ripeness. Katz was rushing to finish up Farrow Ranch because a heat wave threatened to turn grapes into overripe raisins. To preserve their balance and acidity, the team fanned out wearing headlamps to pick at 3am while grapes were cool. By dawn, they were at the winery.
Winemaking expertise and experience are also key. Katz has both, though he didn’t inherit the wine life. He discovered his vocation while accompanying his father, celebrated photographer Andy Katz, on trips to capture legendary vineyards with his camera.
By age 18, he was hooked. Following study in California and Bordeaux, Katz worked at a winery in Argentina and renowned Château Petrus in Bordeaux, as assistant winemaker at Napa’s cult Screaming Eagle, and then ran Lancaster Estate and Roth in Sonoma while developing his own brand. He gained buzz when he created a custom wine for his friend Jessica Biel’s wedding to Justin Timberlake. All taught him other essential secrets: attention to every detail, the up-to-date technology needed for his own vision of precision winemaking and the importance of publicity.
