50 shades of green: a story of pyrazines

Description

50 shades of green: A story of pyrazines is the inaugural session in a new webinar format created for the ongoing professional development of Masters of Wine. This webinar brings together viticultural, technical and sensory perspectives on one of winemaking’s most polarising compounds. 

Moderated by Nicolas Quillé MW, the session draws on three panellists whose expertise spans the full life of a pyrazine: from vine to glass. 

Tommaso Martignon is a viticultural consultant and trainer who works with viticultural teams across France, Napa, and Oregon. He will open the technical discussion by tracing how pyrazines develop and metabolize in the vineyard. He will examine varietal and clonal differences (notably Cabernet Sauvignon versus Cabernet Franc), environmental influences and the vineyard practices growers use to manage pyrazine expression amid a changing climate. 

Kim Oshiro MW is the Founder of Bottle Thief™ and the director of partnerships and Marketing for Andrea Wine; Freelance Wine Educator. Kim Oshiro MW will shift the conversation to the cellar. Drawing on her research into pyrazine removal through silicone and imprinted polymer technologies, she’ll unpack how winemakers manage pyrazine levels post-harvest, using the contrasting 2022 and 2023 Napa vintages as a real-world case study in how different causes (arrested ripening versus a cool growing season) can produce elevated levels of pyrazines. 

Alexandre Schmitt is a former creator of perfumes and an international specialist in wine aromas and olfaction, which he has been teaching for 30 years. He is a wine blending consultant for many prestigious estates in Bordeaux and Napa. He will ask whether pyrazines are inherently a flaw or a feature, how they function as markers of terroir and vintage and how consumer perception of that “green” freshness shifts with context and age. 

Together, the panel will move the audience from the vine, through the winery, to the glass, offering a complete picture of how pyrazines are formed, managed and ultimately experienced.

The session will close with an open Q&A.