This is a subject that has come up time from time in this group. I
think i have read up on this enough to know what it is, and how to
work with it.

My bigger question is this. How many of you out there that re trying
to make a quality dry red wine actually induce a Malolactic
fermentation cycle.

Here is why I ask. I plan on getting 75 gallons of fresh crushed
California Cabernet Sauvignon grapes this fall and want to take my
wine making to the next level on both quality and quantity.

I am reading furiously and meeting folks who make a lot more wine than
I do. Twice now, I have personally met winemakers that have been
making wine for 50+ years and ask them a technical question about
freee SO2 or PH levels, or Acid blends, and both times i get the same
general response:
An exhasperated "Wayne, I just smash the grapes. You are waaay over
thinking it."

Not those words exactly, but close.

So my question is this. How many folks really do go out and buy the
malolactic cultures like leuconostoc oenos and induce MLF? Is this
common?