For winemaker Michael Biglin, the secret is in the quality
of his product. While it is not “old world,” he says, his wine-making methods
are an advance from the more traditional wine-making techniques.
“We do it all my hand, the hard way,” he says.
First, Murielle Winery uses no electricity in the
wine-making process. Michael considers himself a “green” winemaker since he
recycles as much as he can and uses battery-operated equipment. The slow
process enhances the flavors of the fruits he uses to create specialty wines.
Murielle’s stainless steel vats produce smaller than commercial quantities, but
Michael makes sure that the quality and taste are consistent. When he makes the
most popular varieties, he blends together the wine from three vats to ensure
consistency.
“It must smell right, taste right and be beautifully clear
before our wine goes into the bottle,” he says.
Only a few Florida winemakers own their own vineyards, and
Murielle is no exception. The sunshine state has a reputation for being an
especially difficult place to grow quality grapes. That is why Murielle’s
vineyards are wherever the best juice is produced. The juice that becomes
Murielle wine comes from all over the world. Visitors to Murielle’s popular wine tastings can see
the process for themselves.
Murielle wines are allowed to ferment naturally and given
time to eliminate enzymes from yeast cells, which softens the flavor. Then the
desired fruit flavors are introduced, and the wine sits again.
This time-consuming process makes it possible for Michael to
keep the sulfites lower than most winemakers. Some sulfites are necessary to
keep the wine’s quality. Fresh wine with no sulfites would “be dead” in six
months. Organic wines have 25 ppm of sulfites, while commercials wines can have
between 125 and 300 ppm of sulfites. Murielle wines have just 65 ppm of
sulfites and an average alcohol level of 11 percent.
The bottling process at the Murielle winery also is natural.
The bottles are filled by gravity. The only electricity used is to corks the
bottles.
The result is a delicious assortment of quality wines.
Michael Biglin wouldn’t have it any other way.