157: Ben Matthews - Terratorium Riesling

Inside Winemaking - the art and science of growing grapes and crafting wine

This episode features the return of Ben Matthews, who was a part of Episode 83 in 2018, and went on to found Terratorium, which is the focal point of conversation for this episode. Ben has been a long-time podcast listener and he and I met when he came out to Napa for the Deep Winemaking (wine camp) in 2017. A year later Ben came back to Napa to work harvest with me at Seavey Vineyard. Upon returning to Cincinnati and founding Terratorium Ben brought me into the business to help with vineyards and winemaking. 2021 was our first year of full production and the complicated path of producing our Riesling felt like a story we could share on the podcast. Our conversation covers Ben’s telling of building Terratorium, the desire to make a Riesling, Tondre Grapefield in Santa Lucia Highlands, and the many obstacles and discussions we had in order to create our desired style of Riesling. We talk through every step of the winemaking, including all of the chemistries, during this discussion.