Pinot Country

practiceWhole cluster

also: Whole-bunch · Vendange entière · Stem inclusion

Putting bunches into the fermenter with their stems still attached, instead of pulling the berries off first. Stems bring water, potassium, tannin and a green-stalk smell that turns spicy when it works and stalky when it doesn't.

How it is done Tradition

Stems raise pH by absorbing acid, cool the ferment by taking up heat, and build a lattice that lets a cap breathe. Growers pick a percentage — 30%, 50%, all of it — and argue about it forever. Ripe lignified stems help; green ones taste like the pruning pile.

Facts

kindferment
regionBurgundy, The world
confidencemedium · updated 2026-09-16

Its kin

wordVendange entièreThe French word, and its root.and of this page it says: The practice itself.practicePunching downThe other half of the same fermentation decision.and of this page it says: What a foot meets when the stems stay in.the vinePinot noirA variety thin enough in tannin to notice what the stems add.

Who points back

practice · says of this pageCold soakA decision taken at the same moment, on the same fruit.practice · says of this pageHand harvestThe decision hand-picking keeps open.story · says of this pageWhat thin skin costsAnother, in the fermenter.

Sources

Where it came from: Cited a source we name · Harvested pulled from an open dataset · Tradition what the tradition says, hedged · Inference this project's reasoning · Field somebody stood there. This record as JSON.

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