221: JJ Naab - L'Amitié Wines

In this episode I talk with John "JJ" Julius Naab, assistant winemaker at Matthiasson Wines and founder of Lamitié Wines, about his unconventional path from Chicago brokerage and endurance sports into the wine world. JJ traces his move from finance to Santa Barbara hospitality and DTC sales at Brewer-Clifton and the moment he realized he wanted to make his own wine. We dig into his decision to complete the UC Davis Winemaking Certificate, how that "inch deep, mile wide" technical foundation pairs with on-the-job experience, and what he really learned during his first harvest at Kosta Browne in the middle of COVID and wildfire smoke. We then dive into JJ's Chardonnay-focused Lamitié project: why he chose to be known for one thing, his focus on low alcohol, high-acid chemistry, and what he looks for in vineyards like Charles Heintz (clone 4, cool sites, marine influence). JJ explains his press strategy ("the juice isn't always worth the squeeze"), fermenting Chardonnay in puncheons on full solids, running relatively warm ferments, and then moving the wine to stainless for a second year to tighten texture and enhance reduction in his efforts towards a Burgundy-inspired style that still reflects California fruit. Resources from this Episode L'Amitié Wines Matthiasson Wines   This podcast is sponsored by Wine Compliance Alliance. Are you concerned about your winery's reporting? Do you worry that it's not being done correctly, or being vulnerable to a TTB audit? Help is here! The Winery Compliance Training Academy has custom-designed courses created by industry experts with deep backgrounds working at wineries managing production compliance! Our course, The TTB reports all US Wineries are required to file is designed to walk you through the 3 reports all US wineries are required to submit to the TTB. This course is a fit for all winery staff who are responsible for filing reports or label approvals to the TTB.   Check out the Fundamentals of Winemaking Made Easy video course   The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes Now on Spotify And Amazon Music