"The strength of "Copper Cane" wines lies in their generous fruit character, expressiveness, and balance. While bringing out the traits of each vintage, we aim to maintain the fruit, color, and Copper Cane's consistent style. We do not imitate France's Burgundy or Bordeaux. Based on California's climate and natural environment, we focus on expressing our identity as California wine."
John Lopez, the director of winemaking who laid the foundation for Copper Cane's winemaking and oversees all products, visited Korea for the first time in Apr. and told ChosunBiz this. Copper Cane is a California wine producer led by Joe Wagner. Joe Wagner is the son of Chuck Wagner, co-founder of Caymus Vineyards, and reportedly began participating in winemaking at 19. In 2014, he founded Copper Cane under the philosophy "Go With Your Palate."
Lopez began his wine career at Caymus in 1998 and worked there for 17 years. When Joe Wagner founded Copper Cane, he reportedly tapped Lopez as the first talent to join him. Lopez has since worked together on several projects, including Belle Glos and Quilt, and now oversees Copper Cane's winemaking overall.
According to Copper Cane, Korea is a key market that ranks No. 1 in Asia for Copper Cane brand sales. "Korean food and Belle Glos wines make a great pairing," Lopez said. "In particular, when paired with Korean meat dishes such as galbi or bulgogi, the flavors of Belle Glos shine. These are red wines, but if you keep them slightly chilled for about 5–10 minutes before drinking, you can enjoy them even more."
Lopez cited an "experimental spirit" unbound by convention and leader Joe Wagner's "trust" as the background to Copper Cane's consistent quality. "Joe Wagner always gives us complete freedom to come up with new ideas and experiment," Lopez said. "Even if it means ruining or failing a wine during the process, he encourages us to keep trying new things to learn where the limits are."
The direction is clear. Rather than following the methods of Europe's traditional regions, the focus is on capturing California's own natural environment. "Cryo extraction using dry ice is one of the core methods that allows Copper Cane to express regional characteristics while maintaining consistent quality," he said. It is a method of using dry ice when moving harvested grapes to the cellar and putting them into fermentation tanks. The following is a Q&A.
—What is the secret to Copper Cane maintaining its unique style in winemaking?
"The key is the process of aggressively using dry ice to draw out ample fruit character. We introduced it on a trial basis when we first released Belle Glos in 2001, and its effectiveness led us to expand it. Using dry ice greatly amplifies the grape's inherent expressiveness and adds deeper layers of flavor to the wine. Thanks to this approach, we can maintain consistency of quality even though the climate varies every year. Before Copper Cane, I had never used this method. You can consider it a technique we have developed at Copper Cane."
—We heard you often carry out bold experiments that break conventional rules in the winemaking process.
"Joe Wagner's philosophy itself is to avoid being trapped by tradition and to push the limits. Anyone on the team who has an idea can try it. Once, when fermenting Malbec, we weren't getting as much color extraction as we wanted. So we removed half the juice, froze it, then put it back and finished fermentation as an experiment. Everyone around us tried to stop us, but when we did this, the wine showed a very deep color and we obtained juice rich in tannins. Joe Wagner also saw the results of my outlandish experiment and said, 'My God, you really pulled that off?' and loved it. An experimental culture that isn't afraid of failure makes good wine."
—Do you do a lot of experimental winemaking?
"Yes. I'm not someone who can make wine strictly by a recipe. You can't make wine just by looking at numbers on a computer. Your hands need to be stained purple, you need to look at the tanks yourself, taste the juice, and keep experimenting on site. Sometimes you ruin a wine during the experiments. But you have to keep experimenting to learn where the limits are."
—Among Korean consumers, there is a perception that American wines are overly dense and heavy. Belle Glos has volume yet shows acidity. How do you manage that?
"The element that the CEO, Joe Wagner, and I manage most obsessively is perfect balance. When temperatures spike and there is a risk of grapes becoming overripe, we don't just look at sugar levels; we conduct "split harvesting," dividing vineyards into very small blocks and harvesting each block separately at its optimal time so the grapes retain proper liveliness. In some years, grapes may not ripen sufficiently. In that case, we adjust our use of oak barrels. By using more new oak or changing the toast profile, we can make the wine softer and more generous. Copper Cane has long collaborated with coopers, using barrels tailored to the characteristics of each region and vineyard."
—What common philosophy does Copper Cane value most when making wine?
"A profound respect for the natural environment. Our ultimate aim is to express, without artificially confining or distorting them, the unique characteristics of each block and vineyard from which we source grapes, so that the story of that land flows honestly and truthfully."
—We heard the name Copper Cane also reflects your harvest philosophy.
"As the canes of the grapevines grow, they turn copper in color, which is one indicator that harvest is approaching. When we see that color, it means we need to examine the grapes more closely. We look at sugar and acidity levels and also judge how physiologically ripe the grapes actually are."
—What would you like to emphasize to Korean consumers about Copper Cane?
"Korean consumers enjoy wine very actively. Korea's food culture is also fascinating. I think the umami-rich flavors of Korean food pair well with Belle Glos's fruit character and structure. Copper Cane is a brand that showcases the strengths of California wine as they are. Its strengths are abundant fruit character, balance, and expression of each region's individuality. We do not follow other regions. We respect the natural environment where the grapes are grown and make wine in the way that best brings out that region's characteristics."