Making great sparkling wine isn't just about picking great grapes — it's about mastering the art of blending dozens of unbalanced components into something greater than the sum of its parts. In this episode of Expert Talks by InnoVint, winemaker Kyle Altomare (Gloria Ferrer) breaks down the technical and intuitive sides of sparkling wine production, from assemblage philosophy to how AI is changing the way his team works during harvest.

Kyle has spent over 15 years working his way from small production cellars to leading winemaking at one of California's most respected sparkling houses, with stops at Clos Pegase, Charles Krug, and Artesa along the way. In this conversation with Lauren Heindel (InnoVint), he shares how he approaches blending for texture over aromatics, why sparkling wine requires thinking backward from the finish line, and how InnoVint AI helped his team work smarter during the 2024 harvest.

In this episode, we discuss:

▶ Why sparkling wine blending requires a completely different mindset than still wine production

▶ How Kyle evaluates base wines for weight, finish length, and acid purity — not just aromatics

▶ The philosophy behind using oak in sparkling wine without letting it overpower delicate base wines

▶ How vintage variation (like the dramatic difference between 2023 and 2024) shapes blending decisions

▶ When blending becomes intuitive — and why the final tweaks never get easier if you're doing it right

▶ How InnoVint AI features like image import, voice-to-text work orders, and custom reporting changed the way the Gloria Ferrer team works during harvest

Guest: Kyle Altomare, Winemaker at Gloria Ferrer

Host: Lauren Heindel, Community Manager at InnoVint

🔗 Full episode page: https://www.innovint.us/expert-talks/making-better-sparkling-wine-blends-with-data-and-ai/

🔗 Learn more about Expert Talks: https://www.innovint.us/expert-talks/

Expert Talks is a series from InnoVint, the winery operating system used by thousands of winemakers to manage production, inventory, and operations. Each episode features conversations with wine industry leaders about improving winery operations, profitability, and long-term business health.