Presented here is a detailed look into a historic winery, the Adega Regional de Colares outside of Lisbon, Portugal. It is also the conclusion of my thorough interview with Colares enologist, Francisco Figueiredo. He was very generous with his time, spending more than two hours indulging my curiosity. I would encourage readers to, well, read the first two installments: The Vineyards of Colares, A National Patrimony At Risk and From The Vineyards To The Adega Regional de Colares. It is a strange twist of fate that well after thinking I should not soon pass this way again, in two days I shall in fact be returning to Portugal for more wine work. More details to come.
Admin You were bottling the other day? This is your machine?
Francisco Figueiredo Yes. It is a little messy in here because we just got forty pallets of bottles. We were bottling some of the red 2004 Colares. And this is our bottling machine.
I’ve seen these guys before. Is this Italian?
FF Yes. Many are. So are the crushers and de-stemmers. The press is French. We have, more or less, modern machines. We still have some work to do. We have some walls to paint. We laid down a new floor about two years ago. We have to go slow with the investments. We will repair the roof and the walls soon, I hope.
These are the old lagares where the grapes used to be crushed and pressed. And part of the reds were fermented here. We don’t use the lagares anymore.
Does anyone still use lagares?
FF Yes. In the Douro Valley there are places where they still use them. And some of our own growers, they also do their own wine at home, they use them… Here are the old cement vats, fermenters also. We don’t use them anymore, either. And here is an old centrifugal crusher. And our new one. We use a pneumatic press for our wines. We also have two hydraulic vertical presses over there which we can use if we have a problem with the pneumatic press. And we have a machine to fill the ‘bag-in-box’. We use that type of package for our table wines. They are the boxes with the small tap. We use vacuum filling. The wine stays good for quite some time. And that is now our substitute for the glass jug. We are getting good sales from using the bag-in-box system.
So we ferment in temperature controlled stainless steel. Some of the red, because we don’t have enough room in the stainless steel, we still use those big wood vats over there. We call them ânforas; we still use them for some of the table wine. Of course, we have no temperature control with them. An interesting fact about those is that, as you know, for our steel vats we have to use the pump to circulate the juice, from the bottom to the top, to pump over to get the color out. But in the wooden ânfora, the process is done naturally because the carbonic gas pressure that builds inside is enough to push the wine to the top; and it fills that cup on the top so that the pomace always stays beneath the wine. We can do this without the use of pumps or electricity, just the carbonic gas pressure which build up naturally during fermentation. I have not seen these anywhere else in the world. The system is the same for the cement vats called ânfora Argelina, but I have never seen wooden ones.
Where did these come from?
FF They were built here. The wood is Portuguese Chestnut. Each takes ten tons of grapes. And later we then bring over the pneumatic pump and open a small door to take the pomace to the press. This has a tube inside. The cup on top has a hole, in the center, so the wine goes up, fills the cup, and the wine then drains back on top of the pomace.
It’s like a giant coffee percolator!
FF (laughs) Yes. Almost exactly like a coffee percolator. This is the same system as the traditional cement that appeared in the ’60s.
May I climb up?
FF Yes. As long as you are not afraid of heights!
We climb up a narrow ladder.
FF You can see the tube. This is really spectacular to see during fermentation because the cup is filled with wine and it bubbles! It is a pretty sight.
The doors are very small. How do you clean out the interior?
FF We go inside. Someone has to go inside to remove all of the pomace. We put a ventilator up here and let the vat breathe for some time because of the danger of suffocation. In fact, four people have died in Portugal during this harvest time because of carbonic gas. They die without knowing it. We are very careful about that. For cleaning we have a special device that sprays hot water. But it is very difficult to be 100% sure that it is perfectly clean. It is wood, after all.
But we don’t have a problem with Brettanomyces because our wine has a low pH. And we don’t have a lot of sugar in the wine. We produce dry wines, around 12% alcohol. All the sugar is consumed by the yeast. So it is not easy for Brett. The main problem for us is not having temperature control here; not the wood but the temperature control. The wine can heat up quite a bit, around 40 degrees celsius.
Really?
FF Yes. That is high enough for the wine to lose a lot of the aroma. The tube, by the way, is connected to the crusher so that the grapes come through here. We use two or three of these vats or ânfora, each year.
Whose initials are these, JVN? The maker?
FF That means Junta Nacional do Vinhos, the National Wine Institute [founded in 1937]. Since the fifties, until 1994, this cooperative was a kind of hybrid organism; it was half cooperative, half was intervention by the state, the agricultural minister. Because of that all of the wine had to be made here in order to use the Colares DOC. That is no longer the case.
And what are these tools?
FF We don’t use them any longer, but they are for pushing down the cap. They were used if we didn’t put in a full 10 tons of grapes inside the ânfora. With less grapes inside, the carbonic gas would not be enough to push the wine out of the top. These forks would be used to push the pomace, the cap, down to mix with the wine. We now use a pump for that if it becomes a problem.
These are beautiful. I trust they will eventually end up in a museum.
FF Yes, yes. Some of them already are. And they are not permitted for use these days. They are made of wood and iron. What was done at the time was to paint, to use special paints to protect the iron parts in the tools and machines. Now it is all stainless steel. But every year all of the old tools had to be painted with the special paint that protected the iron from contact with the wine.
We climb down the stairs.
So, to be clear, someone has to climb into the anfora from the top…
FF Yes, yes. You go up to the cup and climb in from there using a ladder. The center tube is pulled out and someone goes down.
Do you ever have any cork issues?
FF No. We use only corks. I have never received cork taint complaint. Never. I will always choose cork.
I agree with you completely.
FF Would you like to taste some of the wines?
Of course! You know, I have a odd thing to ask. Being from America, we like to collect hats or shirts of the places we’ve visited. I’m looking for something with the name ‘Colares’ on it. Do you know where I can find such a thing? A rather silly idea!
FF No. But it is not a silly idea. It is an idea I have given to the directors. Why not a polo shirt or something? Even for the workers!
Not to mention Gonçalo, the winegrower we spoke with earlier. He wasn’t even wearing a hat!
Francisco laughs while getting two tasting glasses.
It must be very satisfying work for you. You’re doing so many things at the same time; preserving a way of life, preserving a wine culture, preserving memory…
FF Yes. It is all very important. I am also afraid that things might not go well in the future. The vines are in danger. That’s the only thing that I regret.
He uses a thief to draw a barrel sample. This is the white Malvasia, sandy soil, 2008. We will bottle it probably in a couple of weeks. [Late November.] Malvasia has a very citric, very minerally, acidic taste, and an almost salty taste, I notice. It also has an oxidative character; I think of hay or honey.
Very oceanic… very bright and fresh. How is the water quality here?
FF We analyze it inside our HACCP plant: ‘Hazard Analyses and Critical Control Points’. (laughs) There is some paperwork that we have to do. We have to analyze the water. It is good.
That’s one helluva name. So when you’re doing bottling session how many people would normally be here?
FF Working? Around four. We do it with a small crew to get into the rhythm. We can do about 1000 to 1200 bottles an hour. That is a good speed for a machine like ours. One guy puts the bottle on the carousal, another one taking it off and putting in the cork, another one carrying the bottles, another stacking the bottles. It would be quicker if we had one of those pallet movers, but we don’t have one yet.
Do you use wild yeasts?
FF No. We inoculate. The reason is that I had some experiences making the wine with natural yeasts, the wild yeasts, but I had some problems with starting the fermentation. It is too risky for me to risk that when I do 7000 liters of Ramisco or 2500 liters of Malvasia. But I did make an experiment. It is a question of trying to select a natural yeast from the area; that would be a project that I would like to do.
So you have experimented…
FF Yes, with several yeasts. For the whites we use a Portuguese yeast; it was selected in the Vinho Verde region, in the north of Portugal.
How was it done historically?
FF Naturally. But the big difference is that it would have been in an open lagar. That makes a lot of difference from using the closed stainless steel vats. I have made wine at my parents home using, not a granite lagar, but a small plastic lagar, more or less; and I had no problem starting the fermentation. Sometimes we have a problem with it stopping!
It can stop at 12% ?
FF Yes, before the sugar is depleted. That is a risk for the wine. But the main problem is fermentation within a closed tank. That’s when it becomes difficult. We would probably have no problem if I did the Ramisco in the lagar.
Francisco draws a second wine.
Have there ever been experiments done with fortified wines in Colares?
FF No. Just for the workers. I have done one this year. (laughs) We call it jeropiga or Abafado. I have taken the juice out of the tank before fermentation started and added our wine distillate. I made five liters last year. We give a small bottle for each of the workers. It is for drinking now. We have a tradition of drinking it during Saint Martin’s Day, the 11th of November. That day it is traditional to release the young wine for the first time; and you also drink abafado. An abafado is when the fermentation has started a little bit, like a Port, it is the same. Port is a special type of abafado. We add the spirits before the fermentation has started. One is usually a little bit sweeter than the other.
He pours the second wine.
FF This is the Ramisco. This has been in the big wood vats for around two years. Then it was put into these oak barrels. This is not young oak. It is three year-old oak. Our Ramisco wine doesn’t go well with new oak. It is too strong for our wine. So we use a two to three year-old barrel. What we are doing now is three years in the big exotic barrels in the other room [another part of the adega] and one year in the small oak barrels. We now see that this is the best for the wine.
How warm does it get in the other room?
FF This room is much hotter than the other. Even during the summertime the other room only gets to 16, maybe 20 degrees celsius. Here, no.
We drink the Ramisco. This Ramisco is regional because it has not yet been certified. It becomes DOC only after certification. Before that it is regional. Six months before bottling we have to send the wine to a certification board and they will certify the wine as DOC.
What does certification involve? And who is on the panel?
FF It involves a chemical analysis and a tasting. The panel is made up of one representative of the city, there are the persons who represent the associations and cooperatives of the Estremadura region, and then there are representatives of the producers. The panel or board has about 15 people.
What wine do you use for topping off?
FF We use the same wine held in a different vat. We can mix a maximum of 10% of different years of Ramisco. If we have the need we can do that, to play with the volumes. When you use new oak, and I’ve this experience in other places, you often have to use 15%. The Australians usually don’t top. They put the barrel on its side and leave it there for a only a few months. They probably do that in California as well.
Just out of curiosity, what do you think of wine ratings, and wine descriptions, the tasting notes?
FF They are very exaggerated. Wine is simpler than that. I think that is the beauty of wine. Sometimes a wine smell like something, but the critics exaggerate. Sometimes the wine smells like something tangible, but….
We exit the adega and make our way to his car where I retrieve my personal effects.
What do you have here in the back of your car?
FF My mother-in-law sent this to my mother. It is a basket of walnuts and some chestnuts, and a bottle of jeropiga! (laughs) It is my mother-in-law’s present to my mother.
Thank you very much, Francisco. This has been an eye-opening visit.
FF It was a pleasure, Ken. Let me give you some wine before you go.
Does the adega keep a wine library?
FF Yes. Since 1931, the first harvest in the year of the foundation of the cooperative; the first wine we made.
Back to 1931? My goodness. So what is next for you, your next series of tasks?
FF We will bottle a few things. We always have a busy commercial time at Christmas. After that, in January, we usually transfer the young wines to the wood vats, take the lees out. Then we continue to bottle if we have the need. And I start in the springtime I get out of the cellar to give technical support to the vineyards. And then the cycle begins again!
Admin
The title for this second and concluding part of my interview with Morgan Clendenen, owner and winemaker for Cold Heaven Cellars, comes during her detailed discussion of the very real practicalities of farming grapes. Make no mistake. It is fraught with anxiety and uncertainty. Not that there is much anyone can do about it. She holds farmers in the highest regard. They are different. They know what is within their abilities. Indeed, having learned her lessons well, Morgan approaches winemaking with a kind of dispassionate Eastern quietism, an attitude she will patiently encourage, well, wannabe winemakers to adopt. It is all about a clear understanding of what is within one’s power, one’s control, and what powers properly belong to the world. Small miracles and potential disaster struggle for ascendance in the brain.
This attitude is equally important to cultivate in the winery. After making wine for more than a decade, three truths have emerged for Morgan Clendenen: Do not hesitate to do what you must to save a vintage; there is always more to learn; and winemaking is not for whiners.
Part 1.
Admin Could you say a little more about your earlier Pinot effort?
Morgan Clendenen I haven’t made one since 2002. In 2003 I was getting all of my Pinot from Au Bon Climat and we lost our entire crop that year. That’s when I started making Syrah. The 2008 and 2009 are the first Pinots since then. I love Syrah when it is from a great vineyard. So many people do Syrah, and Syrah usually is not something I reach for. My 2005, I’m absolutely in love with this wine, but it has a Pinot Noiresque quality to it. That’s probably why I love it so much!
Yes. Syrah has fallen on hard times here in California. I like Northern Rhone expressions in any case…
MC Syrah is a real tough road here. The only thing I’ll say is that my Syrahs tend to stand out, away from the group, not being so ubiquitous, because we do two years barrel, two years bottle before release. I come from…, I was raised raised in the house of Au Bon Climat cuvée; the acidity and restraint are definitely a number of the building blocks of my wine education for winemaking.
Yes. Would you say a bit about ‘green’ practices on the property itself? The vineyards? Do you have certain standards, certain requirements?
MC Not directly, because I don’t own the vineyards. Sanford and Benedict was for a period of time organically farmed. I have issues with some of the organic farming. I find that there is a lot more ‘product’ on the grapes themselves than some of the people who farm non-organically. I see more product! And I just can’t help but wonder how much of that is getting into the wine, and how that makes it ultimately ‘better’.
What do you mean by ‘product’?
MC Well, there are a lot of organic compounds that they use in spraying vineyards. I don’t know. I’m not vineyard manager or viticulturist. I make wine. So I really can’t tell you those kinds of things. I know that Le Bon Climat is farmed organically, and I will tell you that they are the ugliest damn grapes I get. (laughs) They are! We have a motto in the winery: “Ugly grapes make great wine.” (laughs)
And I had some ugly Pinot Noir this year and I had some beautiful Pinot Noir, and I have to tell you, the beautiful Pinot Noir tastes beautiful! The ugly is o.k. (laughs) Now I’m struggling to decide what I want to do, whether I want to blend it all together or keep it separate.
With organic preparations you are often required to use them more frequently. Their effectiveness is limited if contrasted with more industrial strength pesticides. They break down more readily, and so on. What kinds of pest pressures do you have there?
MC We have mealybug, I know that. White fly is a huge problem out at Sanford and Benedict over the years. The white fly basically shuts down photosynthesis, that it causes your grapes not to be physiologically ripe in the end. That’s a bad thing. Mealybug is really horrible because it kills the plant. We’ve really been watching the mealybug problem. We have a big mealybug problem at Le Bon Climat. And I think part of the reason we have a really big problem is because we are organic. What’s being applied over there is not proving effective enough to take care of the problem.
That said, I want to be greener. Hey, I moved my winery into Buellton and moved my house to within a mile of my winery. Before I was driving 45 minutes to get to my winery every day. That doesn’t feel green! Especially when you’re driving a big truck. In those terms, there is always something we’re trying to figure out; how to be a greener business, how to leave a smaller carbon foot print. And I have toyed around with biodynamics. It’s something I’ve read about, studied some… I’ve even gone as far as to procure the horn! (laughs) But I have never buried it in the ground.
Where do you keep the horn?
MC I have the horn at the winery, actually. It’s a buffalo horn; it’s not a cow horn.
Well, buffalo horns won’t work, of course.
MC I don’t know. The place where I was doing it, at the ranch, (actually it’s my ex-husband’s ranch, but we’re pretty friendly on that; basically, I let you keep your stuff. We’re cool.) So over at the ranch, because I was growing organic vegetables over there, I was extremely interested in biodynamics. Yves, my French partner, just laughs his ass off at biodynamicism. He says it’s a fashion, and then takes me to look at vineyards that he knows are biodynamic. And they are pretty sad looking. But I can’t say that they make terrible wine. You know? Biodynamics has some interesting things about it. It is rather archaic in some of its principles.
I remember meeting Telmo Rodriguez, a Spanish producer; and he said his vineyard was biodynamic. It was a time when I really didn’t know much about it. I asked him about it. He wouldn’t tell me! Finally I asked, ‘if you’re not willing to share with people what specifically you are doing in the vineyard, then don’t talk about it being biodynamic’. It is a vineyard he owns, after all. I think what’s going on is that Spain is a Catholic country. Biodynamicism is a little bit of witchcraft mixed in with some homeopathy and astrology. In that way it makes it interesting to me. But, I’ve never had the chance to actually see it in action. So… I’m almost dead certain that Beckmen Vineyards is all biodynamic.
I think that anything that puts you in your vineyard more frequently, that makes you more connected with it, is better for your vineyard. Period.
I think that is exactly right. But now, with respect to the mealybug problem at Le Bon Climat, it might be interesting to think about one of the major selling points of the biodynamic approach is that it restores a certain kind of balance. It would be interesting to see whether you could do like a test block.
MC It’s at a point where nothing, not even biodynamics is going to cure it. (laughs) It’s really bad. I’m sure the rains are not helping. Rain just spreads it around. It’s a constant battle. I have a total respect for farmers. How to deal with that kind of uncertainty in a job… you can’t predict what the weather is going to do. And even when you try to predict it, that doesn’t mean you can always do something about it. I can’t imagine how stressful it must be to be a farmer.
It’s funny. During harvest, when it starts raining, everybody around me gets all nervous an upset; and I say, ‘you know. I’m just not gonna’ because there is nothing I can do about it’. The best thing I can do is that when my fruit comes in see what the deal is and go from there. To winemakers I ask ‘Why cry over spilled milk?’ Now, I don’t hear the same bellyaching from farmers out there working their butts off.
Yes. I had a wonderful conversation with Bryan Babcock last year sometime. He is a hard core farmer, I’d say. And he is very outspoken in this regard, about the exigencies of farming. He’s a tough guy.
MC For Le Bon Climate vineyard, Jim (Clendenen) would be in total agreement with Bryan. And I think it is the same thing with wine. If you get wine that doesn’t have any acidity in it you’d be a fool not to put some acid in it, in my personal opinion. I had a guy at Morgan’s Halfway House for Wannabe Winemakers this summer (laughs) who was making some Syrah. I looked at his numbers. He told me how much acid he was going to put in, and I said, ‘you know, I would put in twice as much.’ He said that he was afraid to do that. I told him not to be afraid of the acid. As perfectionists, we want to produce the best wine that we can. That is very trying. In your mind’s eye you’d really love to have fruit and juice that’s perfect; juice you don’t have to add anything to. Everything is natural, and so on. But that is just not reality. Yes, you can take your natural fruit and just let it go, don’t do anything to it. Or you can hold its hand, make sure it gets to the end point, the right place, and still have it be commercially viable. If you don’t do that you’ll end up with wine that the public may not necessarily want to drink.
So, just as in the vineyard you have to address problems as they come up, sometimes you have to be a lot more pro-active than in your heart you want to be, whether it’s chemical or whatever. And in the cellar it is the same thing. You want perfect fruit, but that does not mean you’re going to get it. You have to work with your boundaries to make the best wine you can.
Last year at Le Bon Climat the grapes were absolutely perfect. The numbers, perfect. I didn’t have to do anything. It was a cakewalk. I loved the wine. But that only happens once every two of three vintages, that you get the perfect balance. So, yes, we’re going out there, we’re testing the sugars and such, but sometimes it’s a box of chocolates; you get what you get. This year was very odd for me, the 2009 vintage. The sugars were not very high. I don’t think I picked any Viognier above 23 Brix. Most of it was 21.5; but it was physiologically ripe. Very, very strange vintage. But they will have low alcohols; they will be fresh. It not going to be green, I can tell you that; which is what 21.5 would suggest.
I thought about additions and that sort of thing, but the fruit tasted good. The juice was yellow, with a green tinge. It was a very unusual year for Viognier. A friend of mine, Karen Steinwachs, who is the winemaker for Buttonwood, I met her for lunch right before Christmas, and she said she brought in, I think it was Sauvignon Blanc at 22 Brix, somewhere in there, and she still got 14.5 alcohol! We can’t figure it out. How does that translate? It doesn’t make any sense. There is something going on, but we can’t figure it out. And she is meticulous. She tested it at her lab and she sent it off for testing. Now, we know within 99.9 % that fruit, the Brix level, was at 22. We’re stumped. Perhaps different yeasts are responsible. There are so many different yeasts now, maybe that’s the reason. Some scientist may tell you that’s just rubbish, but in five years maybe some breakout scientist will say something different. There are certain things that I don’t know to be always constant. So I told her that I’ll tell her what my alcohol is in the end. I’m not predicted to have anything above 13.5% alcohol. It’ll be interesting. If it goes higher then she and I will definitely be contacting Davis! Houston, we have a problem. (laughs)
Is she using wild yeasts?
MC She’s using commercial yeasts. I use commercial yeasts. The Saints and Sinners is a wild yeast, however. I am not a big fan or wild fermentation because most of the time some of the wine gets stuck, it doesn’t finish. If you’ve ever restarted a fermentation I don’t think there’s anything more unnatural that you can do to wine. It made me sick to my stomach and I never want to do it again. When you have to take wine and heat it up, and then add 25 pounds of sugar… that does not feel good. It does not feel natural. It feels intrusive.
Strictly speaking, with the wild yeasts on the grape skins, and even though you may use a commercial yeast, you really don’t know which yeast finished the fermentation. There is no way of knowing. There are thousands of yeasts in there.
Yes. Indeed, a number of commercial yeast companies now include combinations of wild and commercial yeasts, Saccharomyces cerevisiae principally. The idea is that the wild yeasts get a toehold before the commercial populations overwhelm them. Some qualities are imparted before others.
MC That’s what we’ve been doing in my cellar. We’ll monitor the juice, and when it is starting we’ll let it go for a couple of days. And then we inoculate. I do like natural yeasts; I just don’t want to have to deal with restarting the fermentation. You’d then have to use commercial yeasts in any case. I think that is the dirty little secret of natural fermentations. People always talk about using nothing but wild yeasts, well, ya know, bullshit! I don’t believe you! Especially for California with the high sugar levels, if you then go with wild fermentations it is a recipe for a stuck fermentation, in my mind. You don’t really know what goes on behind closed cellar doors! (laughs)
And just because it’s ‘commercial’, that does not make the yeast unnatural. It’s yeast, for god’s sake. It’s not plastic. In the past I played around with making sourdough starters from red grapes. One year I did one from Sanford and Benedict and two other vineyards. And it was interesting! The sourdough starters themselves were so very different in the breads. I had one from Gold Coast vineyard that, I swear to god, tasted like cinnamon in the bread! And that was because of the yeast starter. I took some red grapes; I put some flour in at a certain temperature, and created a starter. Once I had it started it was like having a newborn. You had to feed it… I mean, ok, I can’t deal with this anymore! (laughs) So I really like my yeast that comes in a packet! I am very comfortable with it.
I actually use a Champagne yeast for most of my Viogniers because I like the clean expression; it is a clear expression of the grape without adding this fruit factor or floral factor, all these things that the different yeasts are supposed to do. If it ain’t broke I’m not going to fix it.
Well, wonderful. I have a lot of material to work with here. I want to thank you…. wait, one more question. What do you think of the usefulness of new Social Media for a winery’s promotion? Does it help? Can you see the benefits?
MC You know, I use Facebook for work all the time. I get accosted by my friends all the time. ‘Ah, you’re on Facebook all the time, blah, blah, blah.’ Well, it allows me to get in touch with people in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, France… boom, all from one place. I think if you’re smart and learn how to use it, it offers great benefits. And it’s free. How many things out there are free that you can also benefit from, certainly on a business level? It can be intrusive. At times I wonder what the heck am I doing. I do get stalkers! But for the most part it has really helped my business.
I’ve always been a little behind the scenes, a little bit underground. I am not, as my Facebook persona may suggest, as out front as you might think. I always been more of a ‘behind the scenes’ person.
Thank you very much, Morgan, for the opportunity to speak with you. Oh, one last question, did you really ride an elephant in a vineyard?
MC Yes, I did. That is totally true. A socialite that used to live here in the valley held very elaborate parties. She chose her guests based on their entertainment value and willingness to go along with her party ideas. For her 50th birthday she had an Indian themed party. All the guests, all women, were required to wear a sari. The party was held by their pond located in the middle of their vineyard. I actually ordered a sari from India and learned how to fold the layers of cloth; there were many! Nothing like being swadled in a colorful sheet when it’s 100 degrees out! But the surprise of the party were the three elephants… I must say it was a majestic feeling, lumbering slowly through the vineyard, slightly higher than an elephant’s eye. I will never forget that view, for a time an Indian princess riding in a California vineyard.
Very cool. Take care, Morgan.
MC Bye, Ken.
Admin
Morgan Clendenen of Cold Heaven Cellars has been quietly perfecting her take on Viognier since 1996. She writes:
“My mission and goal as a winemaker is to illuminate and define Viognier, to elevate its profile and explore its potential through keen observation and copious tasting. I seek to sound the depths of this enigmatic grape, to reveal its secrets and shine a bright light on the extraordinary fruit grown in the cool vineyards of the Santa Maria and Santa Ynez Valleys of California ’s Central Coast.
Despite this strong ambition she flies under the radar, working and experimenting diligently according to her own vision. She has little interest in the expansion of Cold Heaven if the proper fruit cannot be found. Though her love of Pinot Noir may eventually require a call to a local contractor. And neither are Cold Heaven’s labels festooned with marketable tropes. They are reserved, dignified. Yet Ms. Clendenen is also a vivacious, quick-witted soul, and seems easily capable of commanding a room. So her wines, her beloved Viogniers, possess these complimentary aspects of her character: finesse, balance and a lively acid.
I spoke with her just last week, Wednesday, one of many days California was being flattened by a runaway train of foul weather. A last note, I have enjoyed only three of her wines. That will certainly change.
Part 2 will post later this week.
Admin What a lot of rain! How are your vines? Any vineyard erosion?
Morgan Clendenen This is the time of year you want rain. It’s good for the vineyards. As long as we don’t have any frost, we should be sitting pretty. The abundance of rain usually means an abundance of grapes. But Mother Nature… she’s a tricky bitch! And erosion is always a problem in California whenever it rains. So if you’ve planted in a dubious place then it may happen. But Le Bon Climat vineyard is constantly dealing with erosion factors. We try in various ways to slow the water down. But it’s an ever changing Earth we live on. Ours is a constant struggle to try to control the environment. It’s kind of funny. Well, maybe not funny: it is what it is.
About water. Do you folks irrigate?
MC Most everything I deal with is irrigated. And I’m very happy because in the past few years we’ve had some tremendous heat waves right before harvest. When you have these heat waves what you get is sugar ripeness but not always physiological ripeness. I saw a little bit of that this year. It was interesting that the sugars were there but the physiological ripeness wasn’t. And then it kind of switches places where the grapes became physiologically ripe but the sugars were not as high because we had a cold snap after a heat wave. Irrigation helps us moderate these swings.
There is only one vineyard that I can think of, I’m sure there’s more around here, and that’s Foxen. They have a specific vineyard that they dry farm. But everything that I deal with is does have irrigation. It’s a drip irrigation system.
On a personal note, just to get this out of the way, why is it that there are no two pictures of you that look alike? It’s the oddest thing. You’re like a changeling!
MC (laughs) I don’t know! The picture on the Home page of the winey site is odd because what you see is a reflection of me off the glass of a painting. You see what I see in the mirror, not what you would see looking normally at me. So I look very different to everybody. But I think I look the most like me in that picture! (laughs) It’s just how it is. When I look at myself it is always a reflection.
So no Grace Jones-like body doubles! Well, one of the reasons I wanted to speak with you was because of a wine of yours I enjoyed many years ago, an early, maybe the first bottling of the Domaine des Deux Mondes, Saints and Sinners. I’ve had Viogniers from all over California since then but I’ve never forgotten that wine. Your winery’s name stuck in the back of my mind. And then to have encountered the winemaker herself on Facebook, well, there you go.
MC Well, thank you. That wine is basically just a recipe I followed from Yves Cuilleron [from Condrieu] to make a wine in his style. It’s a partnership I have with him. He’s very well known for his wines. He makes several single vineyard Condrieus. His sense of doing more than one, playing around, manipulating the grapes to some degree, is always very interesting to me. In fact, his sweet wine has always been a benchmark wine for me. But with that wine, the Domain des Deux Mondes, we decide that we do this fun thing where we would blend finished wine from one of his vineyards with finished juice from one of mine. It was a 50/50 blend. We had so much success from that, and had enjoyed doing it, we decided that we would take some of my grapes and use them for Yves style.
Now, Cold Heaven’s style is nothing like that! Nothing like that. Deux Mondes is not Cold Heaven. It’s not the wine I personally would go for in a line-up. It’s very oaky and it tends to be a little riper than everything else I do. But it shows that, yes, I can make lots of different styles besides what I do. But I choose to go in a different direction with Cold Heaven because I like it the best. And that typically means lower sugars; I like high acidity. I like it to be natural.
I buy very few grapes from warm sites. I’m not interested in warm sites for Viognier, quite honestly. I’ve been working with Sanford and Benedict vineyard and Le Bon Climat vineyard which would always serve up a good helping of acidity; and I would barely, if ever, have to acidulate those wines. The first Deux Mondes was a 2004 vintage.
That may have been the vintage. I’m a little surprised because I am no fan of oak and I like high acid. But palates change. Clearly, I was still evolving! But about Sanford and Benedict. On your website you describe having found there a then “rare clone” of Viognier. Could you tell me something about that clone?
MC What we have over at Sanford and Benedict is not really known to us because whoever planted it seemed to fall off the face of the Earth. They had grafted a bunch of Viognier onto Cabernet rootstock. Then a section of it died and they went in and replanted on some other rootstock, also unknown to us.
And why did the section die? Do you know?
MC We don’t know. I wasn’t around during that period of time. It was in the eighties. So, there was a lot of change-over over at Sanford and Benedict about who was farming. When I came on board there the guy who was farming was never seen. I never saw him! He was like a mythological creature. So when that job was taken from him and the new people took over, I see them all the time. They are very pro-active in that vineyard. Coastal Vineyard Services. It’s questionable, the clone. We just don’t know.
We were approached at one point by the former owner of Sanford and Benedict. He said he wanted to plant more Viognier for me. We wanted to get a specific clone but we couldn’t get it. We ended up getting a Davis clone. What is planted mostly in California is the Davis clone; that’s what’s there. So when we planted Le Bon Climat vineyard as my primary vineyard, we planted that with a Chateau Grillet clone.
Then when I was dealing with Vogelzang, they called me up and said, ‘Look, we planted what we thought was Roussanne but it turns out that it is Viognier’. (We call it the ‘R’ clone. As in ‘Randall’. It was supposedly brought in by Randall Grahm as Roussanne.) When they tasted that wine they swore it tasted like Roussanne. I said ‘You’re out of your mind! I don’t think it tastes anything like Roussanne’. Now, I like Roussanne. I don’t like Marsanne at all. I won’t work with Marsanne. I hate Marsanne. It is my least favorite grape in the entire world! But I love Roussanne. If I could get Roussanne here I would be excited. I would like to work with that grape more. But there’s not a lot of it around here. And quite honestly there’s not a lot of cool climate Viognier vineyards around here. Cold Heaven hasn’t gotten bigger and bigger every year because I don’t want to make wine just for the sake of having my name on a label. I make the wine I want to make, you know? Unfortunately, not every vineyard is up to snuff where that’s concerned.
Let me add that I don’t think the Davis clone planted in a hot sites is good. Our clone I work with is in a warm site, but I like it a lot because it seems to hold its structure better than the Davis clone does. It seems to keep its pH lower, it seems to have a little more acidity. So I particularly like this grape. It doesn’t go as tutti-frutti as I think the Davis clone does in warm sites. I like that clean, more acidic expression of the grape. I just think it’s more food-friendly. The Le Bon Climat is just a great catch-all wine for things you normally have difficulty pairing foods with: Mexican, sushi, Asian, Chinese, spicy, Indian… it is very interesting that acidity really blends so well with spicy foods.
It’s an anomaly in California. What I do is an anomaly compared to 9/10ths of the industry.
The Vogelzang tends to be (we call it) ‘blousy’. It’s bigger, more fruit forward… it’s big on everything! The alcohol is not through the roof. It’s 14%. But it’s well integrated. Then you move into Le Bon Climat. It’s so funny. People come into the winery and love the Vogelzang, but they don’t get the Le Bon Climat! Then you’ll have a sommelier from a restaurant come in and he will go absolutely apeshit for the Le Bon Climat over Vogelzang. That’s the great thing about making more than one expression. But they are not different styles. They are stylistically different in their clonal selection and their vineyard sourcing.
So the winery treats the different grapes in pretty much the same way.
MC We do. We don’t use any new oak. We don’t like any oak flavors in the wine. We have such naturally high acidity in most of the wines that we do barrel fermentation that rounds that out a little bit. Whereas stainless becomes a little too eye-popping, I think. I’ve done some stainless experiments. I did some Viognier in stainless this year. Once it was though primary fermentation, I put it in barrel for malolactic. It’s not that I’m against stainless steel. I use it when I’m kind of curious what kind of product it’s going to give. But my wines do better with some neutral oak. And I use neutral French oak, mostly Francois Freres.
I’ve been using neutral oak since 1996. It’s been our philosophy since the beginning. Then when Domaine des Deux Mondes came around, Yves used considerable new oak. I had to start buying barrels for the first time in 2004. So we use about a third new oak on those wines. And we use Ermitage as our barrel producer specifically for Viognier. I don’t like Francois Freres new barrels for Viognier. It’s not a good fit to me. Neutral barrels are fine. But as far as the oak, for whatever reason the Ermitage just seems to be a lot more seamless in the wine.
Do you specify the tightness of the grain?
MC I don’t. When we first started the project Yves told the guys at Ermitage what was going on, they actually just gave us three barrels in the beginning. Then one year old barrels were shipped from Yves cellar. They were cleaned but one wonders just how clean can you actually get something. Are you still getting some yeast cells in there, whatever? So Ermitage gave us these barrels. There wasn’t deliberation on my part. Since then I’ve stayed with that because it just seems a good fit. So, no, I don’t get into tightness of grain… all of that. But I am starting to more of that because I’m now making Pinot Noir. This year I have a lot of new barrels in the cellar and we’re constantly tasting the wines side by side. I am very, very curious what each barrel is bringing to the plate on the Pinot. I have a 2008 and a 2009 in barrel.
END OF PART 1
Admin
When in Lisbon, Portugal for the European Wine Bloggers Conference, I had the good fortune to be taken on a detailed tour of a few Colares DOC vineyards by Francisco Figueiredo, enologist for the Adega Regional de Colares cooperative. This rewarding encounted I chronicled in The Vineyards of Colares, A National Patrimony At Risk. I must stress that little of what follows here will be fully appreciated without first having read this part. For now comes a part 2, a continuation of our conversation, but with the accent on the field research the cooperative is doing with clones and trellising.
Colares sits is along the Atlantic Coast, in the western Estremadura, a region surrounding Lisbon. A simple and inexpensive train ride north from Lisbon takes the visitor to Sintra. From there a bus on regular rounds, wends its way to Colares proper. As recounted in part 1, its wines are particularly interesting, first because of the grapes permitted by the DOC, Ramisco, Malvasia and Molar (Negre Mole); secondly, because the Ramisco grape has been historically grown in sand, the vines never required grafting during the phylloxera plague of the 19th century. They remain quite rare in all of Europe.
And so I resume the conversation. With the wind howling, I ask…
Admin Is this a fairly steady wind?!
Francisco Figueiredo (laughs) Yes, yes!
When I came into Colares the other day it was completely still. But we are on the other side of the hills….
FF This is the place I was talking about. We are here making the clonal selection. This is planted with several cuttings from the area. We have here the three main varieties we use here: Ramisco, Malvasia, the white, and also we have a traditional red variety which is Molar. It is known by Negra Mole in Madeira where they also use it for their wines. This is trellised to help us study. It helps us watch the canes and more easily see the harvest.
This is a fairly large vineyard. Was this always a vineyard?
FF This was always a vineyard. If you ask me how the wine is we make from this vineyard I will tell you that it is different from the wine made in the other vineyards we’ve seen. The maturation period is quite different here. Here we have early maturation on that type of vineyard, the ones low on the ground, than we have here with the trellis. It can make a big difference in terms of wine quality because of the weather. That can be a big problem, especially the rain. So what we see, mainly in the white varieties, is that we have early maturation on the traditional vineyard instead of the trellised vineyard.
What are the bunches like on the Ramisco?
FF They are very small. Do you know Pinot Noir? They are more or less like that. Small, open clusters, with small grapes, a lot like Pinot Noir. Ramisco has very large seeds in relation to the skin and pulp of the grape. That’s one of the reasons why the Ramisco wine has a lot of tannins. We have to soften them in the wood barrels before we can bottle it and put it on sale. This region does not produce very high alcohol wines because of the climactic conditions. They tend to be 11 to 11.5 percent alcohol; a maximum 12 to 12.5 percent alcohol in the white wine. And it also has some natural acidity; so the wine improves a lot with this four-year aging in the barrel, and after that in the bottle.
Yes. I’ve had maybe eight different vintages from a couple of different producers since I’ve arrived. I’ve been doing lots of research!
FF Do you like the wine or is it a difficult wine?
Yes! I love the wines.
FF I ask because the usual consumer likes high alcohol wines with very sweet flavors. Colares is very different from that! It is a very good wine for food.
So are Colares wines sold principally in Lisbon?
FF Yes. Mainly in Sintra, in Lisbon and the Sintra area. We make a very large amount of the sales directly from the adega regional, from the cellar in Colares itself. Colares is a small production. We make around 5,000 to 7,000, to 10,000 liters a year. So it is a very small production. The clay soil wines have higher yields, a higher production. Those types of wines we tend to distribute more widely. But the Colares wine is mainly sold in the Sintra and in some wine shops in Lisbon. But not in the big supermarkets.
Now, I notice that all the vineyards we’ve seen are on the top of the hills or dunes. Are there some that grow on the slopes? [Back in the car, we drive east to another vineyard.]
FF A little. But the ocean is very near. Maybe 200 meters away. Different from the traditional vineyard, here we are looking at mechanizing harvesting along the rows, between the rows. So here we have a low trellis. This way we can still keep the leaves and the bunches near to the ground. Here it is a divided canopy to allow the wind to pass through so as to give us a little bit more protection against powdery mildew. The higher the vine the more protection is needed. These are very old vines. This vineyard is of the adega’s director. He is also an agronomist.
And you own a vineyard.
FF My parents have planted a vineyard, in 2007. But unfortunately it is not on the sandy soil. My parents’ land is on clay! (laughs) I’ve not put in Ramisco. But I have planted Molar because it is better adapted than Ramisco which does not mature well on the clay. It needs the sand, the hot sand. So I have planted Molar, which is also a variety from here. But it’s not Ramisco. It’s not DOC. It would be nice to have a piece of sandy soil… but nevertheless I have planted a vineyard. It’s my home.
How did you become associated with the Adega Regional de Colares?
FF I have known the director for a while. When I was studying and doing my thesis, he was doing his final thesis, his PhD. And we were using the same vine for collecting data for our own work. I knew him there, and then he invited me to work here on the 1999 harvest. So I came to Colares for a one month job during the harvest, in the adega itself. I came back in 2000 and again in 2001. He then invited me to work in the cooperative. And in 2006-2007 I assumed enology position in the wine production. I was working with the wine but before we had an ‘external’ enologist. From 2007 on I assumed that part of the job.
During the height of the tourist season, how many tourists come here? Are the roads busy?
FF Yes. During summertime it is a busy, busy time. As for the adega and vineyards, there are some companies who organize wine tours and trekking around this area. They also show the vineyards to the visitors. We also organize tastings. The adega gets a lot of tourists. We put on tastings all year round. Between tastings, wedding and dinner parties, we probably have around 12,000 people pass through the cellar. If some groups require a more technical tour then they call me and I will do that.
Do enologists and wine experts from around the world come here as well?
FF Yes, yes. I’ve received guests from Australia, from France… we have received a of of people who work in the field. And some wine blogs have made reference to Colares I can recall.
[We drive along the coast, past very large new homes.]
So these large houses are mostly second homes?
FF Mostly, yes.
Was there a building project that was an especially big battle over a vineyard?
FF No. It’s just chipped away little by little.
What other DOCs in the Estremadura are under threat from development?
FF Carcavelos and Colares are the two. They are also small. They are nearest Lisbon. And Bucelas, which a region demarcated only for white wine. They produce white wine from the Arinto variety. So they are a little bit threatened. But the remaining areas of the Estremadura are not threatened.
But one of the bigger threats must be the importation of foreign varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.
FF That is now happening in the Estremadura. You have a lot of varieties getting in, mainly Syrah with a little bit of Cabernet Sauvignon. And the Portuguese varieties are being used less. People are probably now using only Touriga Nacional, which is good, and Tinta Roriz which is the Spanish Tempranillo. We see a lot of Syrah, a lot of Cabernet, Alicante Bouschet… and so our traditional varieties are being used less with the exception of Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz (which is not Portuguese, but it almost since it has been grown here for many, many years in the Douro and in the Alentejo.) But if a different grape is grown here in Colares, you can call it a regional wine, but the name ‘Colares’ cannot appear on the label.
Founded in 1931, the purpose of the cooperative was to produce all of the Colares wine as a legal protection, a guarantee of quality. And then the cooperative sells the wine to different storage companies, with different aging techniques, for example, their own barreling, their own blending, all under their own label. Back then the Colares cooperative didn’t even bottle their own wine. They sold the wine to different brands. Colares Chitas, for example, was one of them, and still is, one of the two remaining.
Now, however, since 1994, if a person came from outside and wanted to produce Colares, if that person respected the DOC law, they could do it all themselves, even the vinification. So there are now two labels and two producers who do the vinification, including the Adega Regional de Colares.
End of part 2
Read part 1 here.
The next and last installment will be a tour of the adega itself.
Admin
This post comes under the heading of ‘unfinished business’. Some months ago I wrote a piece that caught the attention of Robert Cartwright, the winemaker at Ponte Family Estate. I thanked him for his comment and asked after his work. He generously offered to send me some samples. I received the wines a couple of months later, but owing to the hustle and bustle of my schedule, they were set aside and forgotten. Entirely my fault! Recently rediscovered, I thought it best to revisit the conversation, the well-designed Ponte Family Estate website and, of course, the wines.
Now, I don’t usually write tasting notes, a detail I made clear to Mr. Cartwright; but it became clear from reading the excellent Environment portion of their winery blog that I had to respond in some way. Truth is, they are doing a commendable job on the ‘green’ front. From using light weight bottles, to sourcing locally produced ingredients in their restaurant, from using 100% CFL light bulbs, to the elimination of plastic bottles from their facilities, they are making an effort. And ‘green’ extends to home life. Even the winery owner, Claudio Ponte, had turned in his SUV for a Prius; he advocates replacing lawns with drought tolerant plants and planting a vegetable garden. Small steps, to be sure. Of course, no mention is made of solar power or water recycling. And some ‘innovations’ are just plain silly, such as this one: “Our winemaker and his team are harvesting at night whenever possible. This effort allows the must to be chilled without using much energy.” But by and large, the greenwash is kept to a minimum.
The Wines
– 2008 California Chardonnay 13.6% alc ($23.95)
I tasted this wine at room temperature on a stormy afternoon. The nose is very tropical, with peaches, bananas and a strong coconut. It tastes very similar. The coconut is much stronger. A bit too much sulphur for having been open for half an hour. A hint of sourness that someone else described as green apple, but it’s more like a green apple Jolly Rancher candy to my taste. Very unctuous, thick mouth feel. It is not my style or to my liking, but I can taste no obvious faults. I know many wine drinkers who would like this wine.
– 2006 Temecula Valley Meritage 13.5% alc ($34.95)
This wine is a blend, naturally, of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. The bottle notes list the varieties in that order. No percentages are given. The nose is very sweet, with bacon fat (yes, though a vegetarian I can still remember the smell and taste of bacon fat) and bright fruit. A bit of sourness on the nose as well. Quite nice. Good acid, smoky body (oak), I would guess the Cabernet Franc percentage to be quite high. An entirely agreeable wine. Perfumey after taste. Long finish. Good, solid bottle of wine.
– 2007 Temecula Valley Holiday Reserve Zinfandel 15.1% alc (2006 sold for $26.95)
One of the most unusual Zinfandel noses I’ve ever smelled. Very curious. Sweet, baked trout? Almost an ocean spray and very ripe fig. Baffling. Medium bodied, sweet and sour cherry. A bit green, perhaps. Uneven ripeness from a multiple vineyard blend, I’d guess. Hot. Acidified. For a California Zinfandel collector this wine should definitely be added to the cellar. I’ve had a hundred Zins from throughout California and this one is a puzzle. Warming in the glass, the wine has taken on more of a Zin character. A bit of cinnamon candy now. Oak. Very unusual. Weird, but I like it for that reason. Take it to a blind tasting and no one would easily identify it! I don’t detect any microbial mayhem, by the way.
Very high quality corks were used for each wine.
Great thanks to Ponte Family Estate and Robert Cartwright for their generosity.
Admin
How does one approach a wine largely made with a Roman technology hundreds of years old? How does one square the modern palate, though habituated to a broad range of flavors, but nevertheless structurally incapable of thinking such a wine on its own terms? How does one taste what is ancient without a historical memory? These are more than academic questions. Imagine a time traveler from contemporary Mexico City conversing with Cervantes. Or an American Christian fundamentalist suddenly in the presence of Giordano Bruno. In a similar manner, one may say what a wine tastes like, but one cannot easily enter into a productive cultural dialogue with an ‘ancient’ wine, one pioneered by monks, certainly not with one like the Vila de Frades clay jar wine sitting in front of me. How does one properly taste ‘the blood of Christ’?
Like many aspects of Portuguese wine culture, and, frankly, of the culture of Portugal itself, there is very much for this writer to learn. Yet this equally holds true for American wine enthusiasts generally. Since my November return to the states from the European Wine Bloggers Conference held in Lisbon, I can honestly say I have not had a single constructive conversation on the subject of Portuguese wines! The absence of knowledge has been a revelation. This must change. Portugal is an intellectual paradise for the restless mind. I encourage folks to visit and explore. And to drink widely.
Moving on. During the organization of the Alentejo Vinho Regional (VR) into DOCs and Indicação de Proveniencia Regulamentadas (IPR), the clay jar tradition, with Vila de Frades at its center, was somehow overlooked. A process has been underway for some time to provide the associated villages distinct government protections.
Vila de Frades, parish of the village of the friars, is located in the Alentejo, a few miles west of Vidigueira DOC and south of Evora IPR. The local economy is based upon the vine and olives, an agricultural economy maintained by many, many small landowners. Through attrition, the wearing out and accidental breaking of their distinguishing clay jars and the expenses associated with privatized winemaking, it happened that Vila de Frades became the region’s center of wine production. I will freely admit primary, local information is hard to come by, a condition I hope to partially remedy when I visit the region and villages this February. Perhaps the reader might, therefore, forgive me offering so few details! For now an interested reader may find something of value in an earlier piece I wrote a short time ago. Stay tuned to this space.
Of the wine itself, just what grapes are used to produce precisely this wine I cannot firmly say. I do know that at least these varieties are possible: Touriga National, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca, Rufete, and the white grape, Rubigato. (A search of Catavino’s deep archive would likely prove most rewarding.) The wine is a blend of red and white. Curiously, I have found contradictory information as to the percentages permitted. One site claims it is 85% white and 15% red maximum. Another source, lost in my browser ‘History’, claims the reverse, 85% red, 15% white. (I hope to clarify this detail in a few days.) In either case there is a law forbidding the blending of red and white wines. Just how this matter is locally dealt with I am not certain. But I believe it may come down to the antiquity of the blending practice. Yet another question to ask…
As may be seen in the picture above, the wine is quite a crystal clear pale red, almost pink, (though rosé would perhaps be most accurate were it not to give us the wrong idea). The nose is fruity, with strawberry and sweet cherry. A good sniff is difficult owning to the traditional plane drinking glass, also pictured above. I suspect this choice of glass has to do, in part, with how quickly the wine might oxidize in a larger vessel.
The wine is mildly acidic, very fruity, agreeable, with 13.5% alc., definitely detectable on the tongue. But all of this is completely irrelevant because the wine must be drunk with food! Indeed, the person from whom I received this jar and glass, Virgilio Loureiro, forcefully insisted in a private communication that there can be no proper tasting of this wine absent food. So it is that its historical character, its gustatory genealogy, makes of the modern gesture of tasting notes a perfect non-sense. This is a difficult notion to grasp in our age of the near-universal acceptance of evaluating wine in isolation, for example. And let us pass over in silence the stupidity of scores. But the question of how we moderns might think and come to appreciate such a wine on its own terms is, I believe, of broad interest to wine culture.
For what is the purpose of a horse now that we have engines? What is the purpose of love since soon we will soon have a pharmaceutical cure? A Kindle for books. And as for transubstantiation, now that we are rapidly refining the science of genetics, of what use is God?
Special thanks to Eduardo Segueira and Virgilio Loureiro for help with this fragment.
Admin
Coming on the heels of my review of The Wine Trials 2010 by Robin Goldstein and Alexis Herschkowitsch was a blind tasting in the Sierras with family and friends. I had planned a more conventional tasting weeks before. It was to have been with labels exposed and winery back-stories at hand. But after reading The Wine Trials 2010 I thought it would prove much more interesting to my non-expert friends were I rather to explore, unknown to them, some of the questions forcefully asked in the book. Is price correlated to quality? Can an expensive wine be sensed? Knowing only the price range of the wines, can folks ‘ballpark’ a price point? Further, is the evaluation of wine quality made easier or more complicated if the wines may not be discussed during the tasting? And what of defensiveness, intimidation, parroting the critics, post-tasting humiliation, all of the pleasure-robbing pathologies surrounding wine? Should the blind tasting be properly constructed, might this miasma of anxiety be displaced by, well, good, clean fun?
I did not follow the letter but the spirit of The Wine Trials’ Chapter 8 Drinking games for adults, the book’s instruction manual for blind tastings. My method was the following (and nearly all of these details were known to the participants): I purchased all of the wines from one store, Trader Joe’s. The price spread was from a few dollars to around $30. The wines were made of one grape, Cabernet Sauvignon, with one notable exception I’ll explain later. Four wines were domestically produced, in California. One was from Bordeaux.
I placed the bottles, five in all, in identical paper sacks. I then removed all of the tin and plastic on the necks of each bottle and pulled the corks. Only one cork was plastic. I concealed them. The bags were then taped closed at the neck. I left the room and requested that another soul randomly number the bottles which were promptly placed among the participants at the tasting table. I returned to the room and passed out notebook paper and pens.
Though unintentional, it happened that none of the wines I selected appear on the list of 150 recommendations in The Wine Trials 2010, though it may be that they were on the original gathering of 450 wines. I do not know. Neither is it particularly relevant.
Of the five participants (and I will be speaking of myself in the third person from time to time), there were three women, all mothers, and two men, both fathers. They range in age from the late thirties to the early fifties. All are college-educated; they think for themselves. Each soul is independent and will not hesitate to express an opinion. All are good-looking, talented and desirable. They are all middle to upper middle-class. All stick to a budget. None drink to excess unless provoked by the chafing coil of daily responsibilities. Four souls are avid, casual wine-drinkers; only one is an oft-times annoying student of the vine. All of their children were present, and, I should point out, quite amused at their parent’s behavior. Moreover, the secretive character of the wine tasting exercise interested them. Who doesn’t enjoy guessing what’s in the brown paper bag?
A simple series of questions was asked. “Which wine(s) tastes expensive?” “What is the taste of expensive?” “How much would one be willing to pay for a given wine?” Not asked was which wine was a favorite, though all were free to speak of such a thing only after the other questions were answered, or at least an attempt was made. Lastly, each soul was given the option to guess the grape. (It must be said that the questions were so designed as to shift the burden off of private reflection and onto that of a wine’s commercial reception.)
Dinner had already been eaten. The numbered wines were tasted in order. A single 12 oz. crystal glass was used by each taster, and each time the glass was rinsed with the next wine to be tasted. A spit bucket was provided. Its use was encouraged.
The results? The first wine tasted was from the general Napa AVA, a 2008 Spiral cab. This wine tasted ‘expensive’ by two participants. The tannin and acid was compelling. Too much oak (or oak flavoring?) was nevertheless present. Three folks said, rather emphatically, that the wine tasted like ‘just wine’, ’simple’, ‘thin’, ‘little depth, no story; Elmer’s glue’. Of the latter, they would not pay more than $6. This is a good thing because the wine sells for $4.99!
The second wine was a 2006 Napa Valley Robert Mondavi cab. No taster sensed that this wine was ‘expensive’. Indeed, after two folks volunteered that the wine ’smelled like rubbing alcohol’, tasted ‘metallic, like cherry cough drops’, ‘not complex’, no taster, it turned out, would be willing to pay over $10. Three tasters felt the wine worth less than $7! The retail price for this wine is $20.99.
The third wine, a 2001 Chateau de la Riviere Fronsac. The ringer. Mostly Merlot. But inasmuch as it was from Bordeaux I knew it would be a strict, harsh example. One thought it poor, hardly worth more than $3. The high acid and tannin was welcomed by others, though one taster felt it had but one note. Somewhere between $10 and $15 was the general consensus. Retail: $14.99.
One of the strangest wines of the evening, the fourth, was the 2007 California Pétanque by M. Schlumberger, Inc. Perhaps it was that it was tasted after the Fronsac. One felt it was quite cheap. Others detected chalk, roses, said it had a ’story’. The consensus that it was a medium priced wine. Most would pay $14 to $16. The retail? $4.99.
The fifth wine was a surprise. We had a near unanimous agreement that it was an ‘expensive’ wine, the 2004 Mt. Veder, Napa, Chateau Potelle. One taster said, ‘I would pay over $20 for this.’ Another said it was the ‘best of the evening’. ‘Bitter’ intro, but worth $15 at least added a third. A fourth soul agreed. One last voice, a fan of the Fronsac, said this wine tasted ‘powdered’. Like Kool-Aid, simply dump it into a glass of water. Retail: $24.99.
It is clear that a blind tasting exercise like the one described above, or that found in The Wine Trials 2010, ought to be a part of every wine enthusiast’s on-going education. Not only does it interfere with received commercial and critical opinion, but it makes short work of whatever expertise one may have felt they’re owed. What is interesting is the simplicity of the work. One need merely drink from a paper bag. And no one needs to feel disappointed. Tasting at cross purposes, finding mystery with the most modest of wines, it is a minor miracle that the human palate may draw distinctions from so small a sample. Five wines!
How strange is it that family and friends, first drawn together by a common purpose, a blind tasting, should nevertheless find themselves alone.
Admin
December – the festive month where most people have at least a few days vacation time over the Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year period. Typically it’s a time for over indulging and, as ice and snow closed in on the UK, waistlines and livers were prepared for the onslaught.
In wine news Web Wine Wunderkind Gary Vaynerchuk predicted the US would avoid 2009 Bordeaux en primeur in a Decanter interview, Calistoga became the latest AVA while Amarone della Valpolicella and Recioto della Valpolicella were promoted to DOCG status – but Italy also made the headlines for the wrong reasons with yet another scandal surfacing, this time in Tuscany where illegal blending is being investigated covering several sub-appellations including Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino.
On the lighter side of the news Decanter reviewed the claims about wine and health with a handy fact sheet on the all that’s good and bad (sometimes at the same time!), new Wine Personality of the decade Eric LeVine presented a tantalising preview of the upcoming CellarTracker changes
and we at Reign of Terroir welcomed back Donna with her wonderfully amusing and insightful post The Many Faces of Wine and for inspiring our combined Decade Of Wine Industry Highlights.
Here in the UK a few more First Quench jobs were rescued when Hampshire based Wickham Vineyards took over 14 local stores and quality UK supermarket Waitrose lost top wine man Justin Howard-Sneyd MW to Direct Wines Ltd, which includes Laithwaites Wines and the Sunday Times Wine Club.
I had the delights of 2 festive meals at the beginning of December. First the NEWTS annual gathering at the Newcastle College Chefs’ Academy restaurant, where the food was prepared and served by the hospitality students. Drink was BYO, just as well for a Wine Tasting Society, but even better there was no corkage charge!
Our table of 7 began with the excellent Ployez Jaquemart 1999 Brut Champagne (my contribution) then moved onto the Château Pesquie 2007 Viognier to accompany the starters (I had a delicious Pigeon breast salad) and soup. For the main course my pan-fried Duck was superb and complemented by a smoky, spicy & vegetal glass of Cloudy Bay 2007 Pinot Noir. A cheese-board finished the evening alongside my second contribution, a very disappointing Trimbach 2000 Cuvée Frédéric Emile Riesling; all kerosene and no complexity. Much better was the bottle of 1984 Vintage Port brought by another diner – I forgot to note the producer but it had a nice raisin component and drank well, although I suspect Port aficionados would have been merely satisfied.
The following evening it was the turn of the office party and we moved away from traditional fare with a Chinese meal at a local restaurant on Newcastle’s Quayside. I admit I did not expect to have much wine that night but I was surprised by their very drinkable options which were on the table;
–Cristobal 1492 Torrontes from Mendoza was a great matching for the Chinese meal, with good aromatics.
–Caliterra 2008 Reserva Merlot from Chile’s Colchagua valley added a bit of youthful tannin to the table, and enough fruit for a very enjoyable drink.
–Tyrrells 2008 Old Winery Pinot Noir, a familiar favourite and good with Peking duck pancakes, although not as elegant as the ‘06 or ‘07.
Once again I headed south to New Milton in Hampshire where my company head office is – camped in hotels for nearly two weeks isn’t my idea of fun, but at least I get a chance to visit a few local restaurants on expenses! This time round the Boathouse in Christchurch provided a good meal for a group of 8 of us and the Campo Viejo 2006 Rioja Crianza was a safe bet for the table, smooth and easy drinking.
Later on a visit to the Pacific 23 restaurant (part of a traditional British pub) saw a choice of Gewurztraminers to accompany the Thai food; the Chilean Casa la Joya 2008 by Viña Bisquertt was a good example of a New World Gewurz, but too dry for the meal and better as an aperitif, while the 2007 Cave de Ribeauville from Alsace was perfect with the rich and spicy food.
At home I saw an interesting recipe on a TV show and decided to try it out – Wild Mushroom and Spinach Lasagne. I added my own twist to it by making a Béchamel sauce using the mushroom stock and adding Comté cheese before pouring over the mushroom and spinach layers – it was such a success that by month end I’d made it again! The Cata Mayor 2006 Tannat from Uruguay was a good partner to the first dish, but I suspected an earthy Pinot would have been better so second time round I opened the Brook Ranch 2006 Pinot Noir from California’s Marmesa Vineyards. This was my first Californian Pinot and the colour was darker than expected for the variety, with a lovely smoky bacon & resin nose and a mouth-watering cherries and tannin finish which made it very enjoyable to drink, however, a poor mid-palate kept it firmly in the 3 star category. At £10.99 it was encouraging as an introduction to the region and I have a couple of more expensive ones from Cuvaison and Au Bon Climat nestled away for some time in the next year or two.
December purchases were very light; only 6 bottles in total and three of those were Champagne and a Crémant du Jura for drinking over the holidays. The best deal was probably the Palais des Anciens 2008 Chateauneuf-du-Pape by Vignobles du Peloux (an obscure producer in the Boisset group) from the Co-op at £11.99. Of course it was Christmas that was the main focal point of the month, and a full 2 weeks off work allowed me to wring every last drop of enjoyment from the time. Even better, Christmas day’s dinner was at my parents in Scotland where my mother (a retired cook) was doing the largest beef 4 rib roast I’ve ever seen! Needless to say the food was stunningly good and the wine I brought up to accompany it didn’t let it down.
The first drink of the day was Heidsieck Monopole Blue Top NV Champage, chilled outside in the snow (yes, it was a White Christmas where I was); a medium mousse released strong apple fruit and was perfect for the Christmas toast. This was followed by the floral Reichsgraf Von Kesselstatt 2004 Ockfener Bockstein Riesling; sweetness and acidity in good balance with a lemon finish.
The main course was partnered by the Château St. Georges 2003 St. Georges St. Emilion which had a delightful toffee nose and a strong acidity that worked well with the beef.
Finally the evening was brought to a close by a Sauternes, the 1999 Château Filhot. I’m still not sure about Sauternes, at least in the < £20 category, as this medium bodied sweetie had a good shot of honey but didn’t inspire me (I’d rather have had a Tokaji).
Of the other wines drank over the month one was so good it made it into my Top 10 wines of 2009. This was the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve from Agur Winery in Israel. I also had a delicious dry Pedro Ximenez from Chile, the Marks & Spencers label 2008 PX made for them by GEO wines, the perfectly typical Villa Maria Private Bin 2007 East Coast Gewürztraminer from New Zealand and a tasty bottle from Australia’s Brokenwood winery, their 2004 Cricket Pitch Red.
I forgot to mention Christmas presents! My wine obsession was catered for this year by a gift membership to the Wine Society, a veritable British Institution where £40 for a lifetime membership gains you access to some wine gems at great prices, I plan on putting in my first case order soon.
I hope you all had a good time over the holiday period, ate some good food and drank some good wine (and had less snow than we did here). The noughties are now done, onward into the next decade!
Greybeard
The Wine Trials 2010, by Robin Goldstein and Alexis Hershkowitsch (along with scores of others), is a curious book. At once rigorous and slippery, honest and evasive, it is precisely because of it’s structural ambiguity that it is a good place to initiate a discussion of what might be called the informal cultural anthropology of wine. And the discussion may most properly begin among small groups of wine enthusiasts tasting blind. This is the book’s great strength.
Robin Goldstein, whom I’ve never met, is perhaps best known for an interesting experiment (some folks used harsher language) he performed in 2008 involving the Wine Spectator’s (WS) ‘Award of Excellence’ program, the details about which this space has written. He created an entirely fictional restaurant on the internet, composed a wine list of WS ‘under-performers’, paid his $250 entrance fee and, voila!, the Award of Excellence was his. Equally importantly for Mr. Goldstein’s purposes (and ours) was the solicitation for advertisement space. Full details may be found on his website, Blind Taste. It was an amusing coup.
The Wine Trials 2010 takes elements of this project forward. First of all, it is important to stress that the tone of the book is a kind of hopeful skepticism, a forceful, yet playful insistence that though the consumer’s conscious freedom to taste is muted by three distinct cultural obstacles, they might yet escape through the practice of blind tasting. (And, of course, with the help of the wine recommendations in this book!) This is a book for adults interested in the ‘big picture’. It is meant to provoke thought. But that it also interferes with thought I hope to make clear.
The first of the three obstacles is the wine press, generalized under the titles Parker’s Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast. The second obstacle is the ‘placebo effect’, a universal feature of the human condition. The third obstacle, an equally universal feature, is cultural training whereby everyone is introduced from infancy into a specific gustatory regime. I shall briefly examine each in turn.
The Wine Press How is it that a $12 Domaine Ste. Michelle Cuvée Brut sparkler from Washington State is consistently preferred in blind tastings to a $150 Dom Pérignon? Or a $9 Beringer Founders’ Estate Cab to its close relative, the $120 Beringer Private Reserve Cab? Or a $6 Vinho Verde from Portugal to Cakebread’s $40 Chardonnay? Precisely because they were tasted blind. And the reverse, choosing the more expensive wine in the full light of day? In part, this is because of the distortions the wine press. Through well-publicized tastings by established critics, advertisement and a battery of lifestyle-enhancement triggers, the consumer comes to believe a higher price is correlated to quality. To see is to believe. Of course nothing could be further from the truth, the book argues. And it tries to show the reader why.
The Wine Trials 2010 tells us that four hundred and fifty “widely available” wines were initially selected, all under $15. As distinct from last year’s edition, this time around “We have accepted nominations from professionals in many different areas of the wine industry, from producers to sommeliers, importers to retailers.” It was from this pool that after multiple blind tastings among dozens and dozens of contributors, one hundred and fifty wines made the cut. Part Two of the book is an alphabetical compilation, with details and notes, of these wines. Now, what is surprising is that every one of the 150 wines “outscored much more expensive bottles in our brown-bag tasting.” It is surprising because of what the reader never learns :
1) The identity of the “more expensive bottles”. Indeed, very few expensive wines are mentioned in the book. Apart from the Dom Pérignon, Beringer and Cakebread, the only other wines touched on are Veuve Clicquot and a Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru from Louis Latour. Were there others? What was the price spread? Were $20 bottles included? We just don’t know.
2 Neither is a definition of “expensive” provided. Is it $18, $25? (The least expensive of the wines mentioned comes in at $40.)
3) Lastly, though the Wine Spectator comes rightly under considerable fire for their very questionable methodology, readers are not informed whether the “expensive” wines were ever given especially high scores in that magazine.
These are important methodological faults of The Wine Trials 2010, in my view. Of course, the book’s principle argument is that value may be found at lower price points. I heartily agree. No one would argue otherwise, not in the real world. But I do not believe their case is properly made absent a full disclosure of the expensive wines’ identities, how the expensive were selected and how widely did the authors select. We do know that all wines had to be “widely available”. But that is the sole criterion, as near as I can tell.
The placebo effect The Wine Trials 2010 discusses very important developments in the field of Neuroscience concerning how it is that to believe something is true in fact physically alters one’s perception. The authors provide a fine, though limited bibliography for further reading. Recounting various historical and current experiments in which test subjects, from the sophisticated to the novice, were creatively mislead (shall we say), the book amply demonstrates the very real phenomenon of the placebo effect. In these experiments wine experts come to believe the same wine in different bottles, one expensive, one cheap, actually taste different; casual drinkers, when mis-informed that they are drinking a cheap wine said to be expensive, prefer the ‘expensive’, by significant statistical margins. New experiments are being formulated as I write, so rich is the field.
Perception and expectation do alter taste. About that there is no question. Mr. Goldstein calls this framing of experience “The taste of money”. This we know occurs. And it is a far deeper phenomenon than the casual drinker might be willing to admit. Or the authors themselves. Indeed, the clinical trials of new drugs are routinely abandoned because the pharmaceutical company is unable to show a statistically meaningful improvement in a patient over a placebo in blind trials.
Further, there is a large body of brilliant research on differing experiences of pain when a subject’s expectations are wildly distinct. Take, for example, a soldier shot on the battlefield. He is offered pain medication, but he refuses it, deferring to his fallen fellows. Why? With allowances made for specific details, it is because he knows he is going home; he knows he will see his kids and wife; he knows he will receive a hero’s welcome; he knows he will receive on-going medical care. He was wounded defending a cause. Clinical experience clearly shows the experience of pain will be attenuated.
Now contrast that series of expectations to the victim of a random shooting on the street. This poor soul has no expectation of proper, complete care; he does not know whether his employer will keep his job for him and whether, as a consequence, he will be able to pay the rent; or how he will provide for his family. He is the anonymous victim of a random crime. There is no ’cause’, just the brutal reality of the street. Again, clinical experience reveals a different experience of pain.
I’ve gone on this tangent because I think the authors of The Wine Trials 2010 grossly overstate the simplicity of consumers rising above ‘the placebo effect’. They provide what I would call a ’soft’ case. The research they cite, however methodologically flawed, still remains compelling. It is simply that neuroscience and anthropology, the hard research, provides stronger evidence of the persistence and durability of ‘the placebo effect’ than the authors appear to believe.
Cultural Training The Wine Trials 2010 offers some very valuable insight into modern wines, what they call a ‘globalized’ style. Recognizing the jeopardy much of the world’s wine diversity is in, they point to a plausible suspect. Robert Parker? No. For Parker is only the bearer of a cultural marker, a gustatory preference. The real culprit is sugar. From the book,
[...] the culprit for the style convergence might not be Parker himself, or his followers themselves; it might be the taste for sugar that he, and they, all acquired in childhood–a taste that an increasing percentage of the world’s children are now also acquiring. [....] Should we call Yellow Tail not ‘Parkerized,’ but rather ‘globalized’”?
I think there is something to this. And one might look no further than The Wine Trials 2010 list of wines itself for evidence of this increasingly important cultural factor. Sure enough, of the 150 wines selected a full 42 ‘Heavy New World reds’ (their category) made the cut in their blind tastings! Nearly a third, and by far the largest single grouping. Of course, they might argue that this is because the decisive factor for inclusion into the original 450 wines was that they be “widely” available. And Heavy New World red does not necessarily mean ‘globalized’. But it, nevertheless, begs the question. No discussion of this statistically significant result is entertained in the book.
And this takes us to a more difficult question about the value, you could even call it the philosophy, of blind tasting. Mr. Goldstein cites a lively discussion shared on Eric Asimov’s NY Times wine blog, The Pour, about the subject. Among the many topics touched on, Asimov insisted that “blind tastings eliminate knowledge and context that can be significant in judging a wine. [....] It is an almost anti-intellectual position. Obviously what’s in the glass matters. But the more knowledge you can bring to a wine, the better your understanding of that wine will be.”
In The Wine Trials 2010 Mr. Goldstein responds in a very curious, though similar, way. He writes, “Our descriptions do not rely solely on blind tasting notes. Without a doubt, a lot of the fun of wine is in all the stuff that’s not in the glass.” [emphasis in the original]
Now, I have not read all the original source material framing this exchange, but I will say that both gentlemen seem to agree that Knowledge, with a capital K, is extraneous to what’s in the glass. I couldn’t disagree more; for knowledge comes in many different forms. I would argue that viticultural and winemaking practice have a direct bearing on what’s in the glass. Whether biodynamic, organic, conventional, whether terroir-driven, practice and soil informs the wine. It is one thing to recognize it, it is quite another to claim, as Mr. Goldstein certainly does, that knowledge, this time with a small k, does not inform a wine.
Mr. Goldstein is equally dismissive of the notion that wine is meant to be consumed with food. Who would argue with what half the wine-drinking world holds to self-evident? Well, he erases entire libraries and cultures when he writes,
“It is true that information about your experience of a wine in the absence of food, or in a sequence of other wines, will not be perfectly relevant to a reader’s future experience of that same wine over a relaxing meal. But information about how the wine’s fruit character and tannins reacted with your next-door neighbor’s demi-glace might well be even less relevant”
Try telling that to a Spaniard! I guarantee that uttering such a thing will not get you invited into his family’s house.
It is almost as if he is claiming ‘knowledge’ of/about wine is limited to price, the eccentricities of the winemaker, label and prestige, only those elements that fall under the umbrella of wine marketing and ‘the placebo effect’. An astute student of socioeconomic folly does not make one a wine critic. Neither does he claim to be, to be sure. And as to that, it is a curious effect of this book that it leaves this reader with the impression that Mr. Goldstein does not himself drink wine. There is little passion for wine on the page. Intelligence, yes. I think he might be principally a creature of the behavioral sciences, perforce hamstrung by the multiple ways his freedom may be hijacked by subterranean cultural forces at work on us all. Or, perhaps, a touch of how the gynecologist might reflect upon the prospect of having sex. He’s just seen too much!
But I like the book, even though my point of view cannot find a home there. It is stuffed with ideas, too many to fairly discuss in a modest review. It forcefully puts forward a point of view, a series of challenges to a large part of the wine industry which deserve, no, demand to be heard. I like the book well enough to give Mr. Goldstein the last word.
“The aim of The Wine Trials–aside from seeking out good, widely available values under $15–is to question the institutional structures that govern the industry, to encourage people to learn their own palates through the exercise of tasting blind instead of trusting the numerical scores that Parker and the magazines assign. It is the economic power of these institutional structures that damages not only the wallet of the everyday consumer, but also the chances for a small, interesting, good-value producer–even one that makes a wine costing more than $15–to succeed on the store shelf or on the restaurant wine list.”
Please also see the spirited debate over at 1 Wine Dude’s site.
Admin
It has been an extraordinarily productive second year on Reign of Terroir. Founded in early December 2007, this merry band of writers has continued to improve and deepen our work. With undiminished passion for the culture, history and future of wine filling our sails, we expect to be around for many years to come. The guiding principle of this blog is that no topic, story or individual will be approached without the writer learning too. I share with my colleagues this principle: if we don’t learn alongside our valued readership there is no point to the work. We would prefer, we insist, that something durable, something of lasting value come of our untold hours of scribbling!
But for the purposes of this post I will speak only for myself. What follows are the ten (okay, eleven) of my favorite interviews of the year, listed in chronological order. I decided not to include narrative and/or more technical pieces, despite my fondness for many of them, in favor of those posts where the idea is to let another speak with limited interference. The interview format, each requiring hours of (mostly) faithful transcription, has proven a favorite of mine. Even my sole complaint, the hours of tedious transcription, is actually a benefit. I am compelled to listen closely, in some instances to replay a dozen times difficult accents or wind and noise-buffeted passages and sentences to finally understand the sense of my interlocutor. (I’ve had migraine-inducing days teasing the meaning from an international phone call with an Aussie! Did he just say he wore women’s dainties?) For it is not always easy to receive clarification in a timely manner.
Just as with learning a foreign language, through repetition I am left with a lasting memory of the encounter. Indeed, though posted, I often keep the tape, not only for the resolution of the rare dispute, but because the voices of these people are fascinating, their speech rhythms and word choice, very much a part of the story. Sadly, the ‘performance’ of the conversation cannot be adequately conveyed. Perhaps I’ll begin posting audio files alone. Seems lazy to me, especially in a culture where the written word is under threat.
And doubtless the greatest reward from the interview format are the details which emerge from the brains of these gifted people. Some individuals are more guarded than others, to be sure. But in the fullness of the time I spend talking with folks much does emerge that seconds ago was unsaid and, perforce, unknown. Of course, the reader, too, will have to spend time with the people mentioned here to learn these things. Let me assure you, there are some wonderful insights to be found.
Let me add that many of the interviews are broken up into parts. The ‘infinite’ WordPress page is not. Reader patience is also a consideration. In any event, links to subsequent parts may usually be found at the end of the post. Sometimes after the introduction.
I have a couple of hours of recorded voices still awaiting transcription. And I will be back on the phone in a few days speaking with a new, creative soul. Stay tuned.
The charming and delightful Ariel Ceja of Ceja Vineyards.
Forensics scientist John Watling.
Swiss winegrower Peter Schmidt.
Sonoma winegrower Will Bucklin.
A lovely soul, Neal Rosenthal.
What a voice! Clive Coates.
Founder of Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard, the magisterial Ken Burnap. (I still have one portion coming. Fascinating man.)
The brilliant Jonathan Nossiter. His mind moves like quicksilver.
Portugal’s First Family! My friends, the Sequeira’s of Carcavelos.
Another intellectual hero of mine, Portugal’s White Knight, Virgilio Loureiro.
Colares’ enologist, Francisco Figueiredo.
Happy New Year!
Admin
When I was asked for a list of top wines I’d tried over the year I quickly went through wines that had impressed over the last 12 months and ended up with a shortlist of about 25, but deciding on the final 10 was a lot harder than I expected.
You will not be surprised to see that the list is made up of an eclectic cross-section of the wine world – some drank at home and some tried at various tastings throughout the year. The lack of a single Bordeaux or Burgundy is a testament to my budget and the dearth of good, affordable wines from these regions.
The initial list is in order of style only – each was excellent in its own right and further ranking would be overly subjective.
White/Rose
*Château Montus 2003 Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec, France
*Cossetti 2008 Roero Arneis, Italy
*Dr Hermann 2003 Erdener Treppchen Auslese, Germany
*Viña Valoria 2007 Rioja Rosado, Spain
Red
*Château Musar 1999, Lebanon
*Mont Tauch “In Extremis” Durban 2001, France
*Ferngrove 2006 “The King” Malbec, Australia
*Agur Special Reserve 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Israel
Sweet/Fortified
*Pertaringa Vineyards Full Fronti, Australia
*Boplass Cape Tawny Port, South Africa
The detailed notes which follow adds some context to each wine; where drank, how much it cost and the flavours which caused them to stand out from the crowd, however, some of the ones that didn’t quite make it were good enough to at least deserve a mention in dispatches, so;
Cascina Ca’ Gialla 2008 Roero Arneis, M&S Ernst Loosen Erdener Treppchen 2007 Kabinett, 2005 FMC Forrester Meinert Chenin, Cline Cashmere 2007 GSM, Quinta da Fronteira 2006 Douro Selecção do Enólogo, Château Pesquie 2006 Quintessence Rouge, Dominio de Ugarte 2004 Reserva, Bodegas Emilio Moro 2006 Ribera del Duero, M&S Bonny Doon 2005 Central Coast Syrah, Reschke “Bull Trader” 2004 Cabernet Merlot, Casella Family Reserve 2007 Tempranillo, Hochar Père et Fils 2002, Royal Tokaji 2000 5 Puttonyos Aszú, Kracher 2006 Beerenauslese, Jackson-Triggs 2006 Proprietors’ reserve Vidal Icewine & Henriques & Henriques 15 Year Old Malvasia Madeira, Ployez-Jacquemart 1999 Champagne…phew!
Château Montus 2003 Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec was made by Alain Brumont in Gers and bought from the Wine Society in August 2008 for £10. I drank this in February 2009 as part of a Wine Library TV Forums “Simultasting” (one of my last major contributions to the forums as it turned out).
Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec is the Madiran’s white wine, both SW France Appellations sharing the same area, and Montus is made from the Petit Courbu variety.
The 2003 was a pale lemon colour with a creamy, floral aroma. At 14.5% abv the lack of legs was surprising and the nose closed down quickly. Initially the flavour was also closed; sharp at the beginning, bittersweet (more bitter) in the mid-palate and warming peach-stone on the finish. Later it opened up into something richer, a melange of fruit with melon and honey and a long, lingering finish.
Cossetti 2008 Roero Arneis was tasted at the inaugural Newcastle Wine on the Tyne Festival in October. This classic Piemontese white was £14.99 from Castello Italian Food & Wine and showed enough complexity to stand out in a busy tasting; very fruity on the nose this was a stunning wine with dry, honeyed stone-fruit flavours.
Dr Hermann 2003 Erdener Treppchen Auslese was also tried at an October tasting, this time an Alsace & Germany tasting at the Newcastle Wine School. Opened as the last wine of the evening this Mosel Riesling, available from Majestic for £8.99, had a full-on petrol & kerosene nose with a great dry/sweet balance and a taste of lime wrapped in caramel – definitely the star of that night and confirmation of why I like rich Rieslings.
Viña Valoria 2007 Rioja Rosado is the only Rosé in the Top 10 and came from Corkscrew Wines in Carlisle for £5.99. This 100% Tempranillo was bought and consumed in August and was sublime drunk outside with family on the one and only sunny Saturday afternoon that month. It had a gentle nose with some forest fruits and in the mouth was dry, smooth with a savoury watermelon taste – extremely well balanced with a mixed fruit finish.
Château Musar 1999 – Bought in June 2007 from Waitrose for £13.99 and drank with friends at home in June. The ’99 Musar was my first exposure to this cult Lebanese producer and, so far, the best (the ’00 and ’01 vintages haven’t excited me as much). A quick decant and pour released some beautiful aromas including smoke and tobacco with a subtle hint of V.A. and barnyard. Sweet and savoury in the mouth this had a Rhône style and was very, very smooth with fine-grain tannins and a long finish – a sublime wine drinking beautifully.
Agur Special Reserve 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon – I bought the bottle during my visit to this Judean Hills winery in February 2008 for the equivalent of £13.00. This is a last minute entry to the list as I only opened it mid-December to drink with family at home, but as soon as I tasted it I knew it was one of the best wines of the year.
It had a thick, dark purple colour, almost inky while the nose was enticing, smoky with some liquorice, vanilla and a hint (just a hint) of horse-manure. Supremely well balanced in the mouth both acidity and tannins were obvious but in synch. There was some sour cherry in the mid-palate and long chewy finish with some sweet berry fruit, this was an excellent wine, drinking well but probably could have improved with several more years in the bottle.
Mont Tauch “In Extremis” Fitou 2001 – was tasted at the August North East Wine Tasting Society (NEWTS) meeting and was bought for £18 on a visit to the region a few years ago by Harry Rose who gave the presentation on the Western Languedoc. This was my best wine of the night; a blend of 40% Syrah with 60% Carignan & Grenache which had a tarry nose with strong liquorice, a floral twist (maybe violets) with a touch of raisins. It was very smooth in the mouth with gentle tannins showing moderate length and a touch of sweetness.
Ferngrove’s 2006 King Malbec from Western Australia was another wine tasted at the Wine on the Tyne October Festival and cost £13.95 from local retailer The Hop, The Vine. As my first ever Australian Malbec I was impressed by its elegance – it had a spicy, complex nose good grip and subtle flavours. This was much better than the Argentinean and South African Malbecs also at the tasting and was yet another wine I liked that was drinking well but had ageing potential.
Boplass Cape Tawny Port, a 100% Tinta Barocca matured for 12 years in Portuguese oak barrels, was bought in Nov 2007 for the paltry sum of £4.50 from Bootleggers Bottleshop in Johannesburg.
I drank this in August and found it an equal to many a 10-15 year old tawny I’ve had from Portugal, which shouldn’t be surprising as South Africa has a tradition of fortified winemaking stretching back hundreds of years and this was from Calitzdorp in the Klein Karoo, where the Terroir is very similar to the Douro. Note that local producers can still use “Port” for wines sold in South Africa until 2014, but an agreement with the European Union phased out its use for the export market for 2007.
The wine was a burnished, autumnal colour, relatively clear, with a nose of warm raisin, sweet toffee and a tickle of alcohol on the sinuses! Sweet and luscious on the tongue the raisins came to the fore and the alcohol spread out over the palate. There was good acidity into the finish, with a medium length and a touch of heat on the throat.
Pertaringa Vineyards Full Fronti brings my list to a close. This was also tasted at the October Wine on the Tyne Festival and cost £11.50 a bottle from The Hop, The Vine. The Fronti refers to Frontignac, aka Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, named for the Languedoc town of Frontignan which is famous for its fortified Muscat. Australia has taken the variety and style to heart and the Full Fronti from McLaren Vale is a powerful 20 year old wine with a massive attack of raisins on the nose which continues into the thick, sweet taste with toffee and chocolate aspects. It was such a perfect end to a busy tasting that I returned for a couple more refills!
So that’s my modest list, an affordable mix of good New and Old World wine that tasted great on the day – isn’t that what wine drinking is all about?
Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year,
Greybeard
The following list is a highly selective, somewhat whimsical compilation of this decade’s wine industry highlights, obituaries excepted, of course. Contributors are the three founders of Reign of Terroir: Ken Payton, Karl Laczko and Donna Childers-Thirkell. And Brandon Miller joins in.
Wine in the news
2000 – The expected shortage of Champagne to see in the new Millennium fails to materialise, those clever French marketers!
The Italian Wine Scandal of 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009
2001 – Aniane became the poster child against Globalization with the election of Communist Party candidate Diaz as Mayor.
2001 – Jamie Goode starts writing his Wine Anorak Blog, still going strong.
2002 – Nothing of note happened in the wine world except for the founding of Gerry Dawes’s Spain wine blog and…,
February 2002 – E&J Gallo Buys Martini Winery
August 2002 – Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Practices developed by the Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers.
2002 – Winemaker Randall Graham of Bonny Doon promises to bottle all of his wines with Stelvins, even staging mock funerals mourning the “death of the cork.”
2003 – The new Cru Bourgeois classification.
2003 – The heatwave vintage in Europe makes for atypically ripe wines, a sign of things to come?
2003 – Australian brush fires
2003 – Crushpad starts their “winemaking for all” business
2004 – Jonathan Nossiter releases Mondovino. R. Parker’s head explodes
2004 – CellarTracker launched with 265 members
2004 – First Decanter World Wine Awards with 4,500 wine entries (the 2009 had over 10,000).
2004 – 30th anniversary of Bronco Wine Company
2004 – Constellation buys Robert Mondavi Corp.
2004 – the wine blog Wine Terroirs founded
2004 – the wine blog Vinography founded
April-May 2004 – The great Pavie debate between Parker and Robinson on the 2003 vintage
2005 – Sideways released influencing Pinot Noir & Merlot sales disproportionately!
2005 – Decanter Magazine celebrates 30 year anniversary
2005 – The latest of Bordeaux’s “Vintage of the Century”, to which 2009 may soon be added!
2005 (onwards) – Militant French Winemakers CRAV make noise
2005 – Gary Anderson torches Sausalito Cellars to cover his tracks as he’d already sold off millions of $ of the wine supposedly stored there. Found guilty in Nov. ‘09.
2005 – the wine blog Catavino founded
February 21, 2006 – Wine Library TV starts
2006 – Jay-Z abandons Cristal Champagne
2006 – 2009 the new St. Emilion classification is created in 2006 and lawsuit filed over conflict of interest and the subsequent lawsuits, suspension, over-ruling of the suspension, fresh appeals, INAO reinstating the 1996 classification using emergency powers, and more appeals, and so on and so forth. Though seemingly resolved with the French court of appeal, this hot mess will probably be continued in 2010.
2006 – Schwarzenegger vetoes Zinfandel as the official historic wine of California
August 2006 – Bill Koch files lawsuit against Hardy Rodenstock over the Jefferson and other bottles.
2006 – Australian brush fires
2007 – Bonny Doon downsizes
2007 – Buena Vista Carneros, California’s first premium winery, celebrates its 150th Anniversary
2007 – Cavitas introduces High Power Ultrasonic barrel cleaning technology
2007 – The Cru Bourgeois classification is overturned due to conflict of interest. Resolved in 2009 with the elimination of Superieur and Exceptionnel levels.
2008 – Fresno State releases its 10th vintage
2008 – Open Wine Consortium founded
2008 – 1st North American and European Wine Bloggers Conferences held
2008 – Wine Spectator scammed into giving a non-existent restaurant an Award of Excellence
2008 – Alice Feiring’s ‘The Battle for Wine and Love’ published
2008 – rapper Lil Jon releases first wine
2008 – Australia wine sales plummet in the UK and US, ending a 15 year streak of increased export.
2008 – Hong Kong abolishes all duties and taxes on wine, setting itself up as an Asian hub for wine merchants & auctions.
2009 – Crushpad announces Bordeaux branch
2009 – Ebay emerges as a primary source of rare wine bottles for counterfeiters.
2009 – FTC regulates bloggers
2009 – 2nd annual North American and European Wine Bloggers Conferences
2009 – Wines and Vines celebrates 90th year of publication
2009 – Fires sweep across Australia destroying both vines and some wineries.
2009 – Bottle Shock released on the Judgement of Paris tasting of 1976 and forever confusing Stephen Spurrier with Alan Rickman!
2009 – Michael Broadbent wins libel suit against the publisher of the book ‘The Billionaire’s Vinegar’
2009 – The founding of Palate Press
2009 – ‘Liquid Memory’ by Jonathan Nossiter released. M. Steinberger’s head explodes
2009 – Calistoga becomes America’s newest AVA
And a long, but by no means complete list of obituaries
2009 – Alsace winemaker Jean (Johnny) Hugel
2009 – Oregon winemaker Gary Andrus
2009 – McDonald “Don” Blackburn, California
2009 – Long Island vintner Christian Wölffer, NY
2009 – Cornwall vintner George Musgrave, UK
2009 – Filippo Casella, founder of Casella Wines (Yellowtail), Australia
2008 – Robert Mondavi, California
2008 – Pioneering Australian winemaker Trevor Drayton
2008 – Pioneering Oregon winemaker David Lett
2008 – Didier Dagueneau, Pouilly-Fumé
2008 – Tom Shelton, former head of Joseph Phelps Winery, California
2008 – John Cossart, Henriques & Henriques (Madeira),
2008 – Abruzzo pioneer winemaker Gianni Masciarelli, Italy
2007 – Ernest Gallo, California
2007 – Sancerre winemaker Nicolas Reverdy
2007 – Austrian winemaker, Alois Kracher
2006 – Robert ”Bobby” Fetzer, California
2006 – Henri Jayer, the French Burgundy winemaker
2006 – Willy K Frank, Finger Lakes, NY
2005 – Burgundy winemaker Philippe Engel
2005 – Tibor Gál, Hungarian Winemaker
2004 – Jim Barry, Clare Valley winemaker
2004 – Romain Lignier, winemaker French Burgundy
2004 – Lonen Curtis, owner, Jocelyn Lonen Vineyards
2003 – Australian winemaker John Stanford
2003 – Diana Cullen, pioneering Margaret River winemaker
2003 – Mario Schiopetto, Friuli, Italy
2002 – Victor Manola, Silver Sage Winery, British Colombia
2002 – Bruce Duncan Guimaraens, winemaker for Taylor Fonseca, Portugal
2002 – Champagne winemaker Daniel Thibault
2002 – Justin Meyer, Silver Oak Cellars, California
Admin Ken Payton, Greybeard and Donna
I received an important update from my friend Hans-Peter Schmidt. He is Managing Director and Head of Research for the Delinat Institute in Switzerland. He is also a viticulturist and winemaker at Mythopia, essentially the organization’s center. Founded June 5th, 2009, the Delinat Institute is dedicated to
“the scientific development of ecologically holistic strategies for an economically viable, carbon neutral farming with high biodiversity.”
One of the Institutes principle concepts is that of climate farming which argues for a rich mixture of organic, biodynamic and sustainable practices. From their website:
• Consequently breaks the monocultural systems
• Increases and sustains soil and above ground biodiversity
• Stabilizes the vineyard ecosystem and the commercial output by a sophisticated use of mixed cultures (vegetables, fruits, trees, shrubs, herbs, wine, flowers, mushrooms, bees, livestock, energy source plants in complementary coexistence).
• Optimizes nutrient cycles by the use of green manures, compost and biochar
• Renunciation of artificial fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides
• Protects the plants through stimulation of self-defence mechanisms and promotion of biodiversity, which is complemented by microbial and herbal preparation.
• Generates energy from solar power, wind and biomass
• Provides carbon sinks by the production of biochar and humus
• Is engaged in landscape protection through aestheticization of the agricultural space
• Maintains and conserves the diversity of varieties and species, protects endangered plants and animals
• Opens up new perspectives for humans to live in harmony with nature
And it is with these ideas, located under the concept of climate farming, that they approach all the vineyards at which they consult. Their vineyards include Château Duvivier (Var, France), Quaderna Via (Navarra-Spain), Albet i Noya (Penedes-Spain), Mythopia (Wallis, Switzerland), Fasoli (Veneto, Italy), Hirschhof (Rheinhessen, Germany) and Meinklang (Austria).
Now comes news of their recently published Charter for Vineyard Biodiversity, the update referenced above. But the Delinat Istitute is not interested in launching another certification program. As Peter explained to me,
“We do not plan a new label, certification or something bureaucratic. We try to motivate others toward ecological transformation and to inform about the background of the different measures. The Charter is not only an ecological statement but a plea for Terroir quality management and preservation of viticultural traditions. The Charter is designed in such a way that every winery client can walk through the vineyard and do the eco-control with his own eyes.
The Charter is the baseline for Delinat production directives, and will be implemented by about 100 vineyards throughout Europe starting from 2010. The Charter is open to every vintner and is actually finding a great interest from many vineyards owners, both organic and conventional. The Charter is the baseline for the consulting work of Delinat-Institut.”
One of the finest documents of it’s kind I’ve read in a very long time, I would encourage all to share in its nuance, beauty and scientific rigor. Delinat Institute’s Charter offers some of the best of progressive agricultural thinking a reader may hope to encounter. And they can make it profitable!
Charter for Vineyard Biodiversity
—Authored by the Delinat-Institute, Switzerland
The principal idea of the new methods for quality-orientated wine growing is a precise encouragement of biodiversity. Nevertheless, the idea only arises indirectly from that aesthetic image of a vineyard where one can smell flowers and where the grasshoppers are jumping around. Vineyard biodiversity is rather based on the concept of understanding the vineyard as an ecosystem, whose flexible balance is formed by means of a complex network of a high biological diversity.
The promotion of biodiversity is not the goal itself, but the path for the establishment of the vineyard as a stable ecosystem.
The main objective for the encouragement of biodiversity is to convert the vineyards into stable ecological systems and to increase the quality of the Terroir by means of a sustainable use of natural forces.
Biodiversity of the soil and the soil-cover
1. The encouragement of biodiversity in the vineyard starts from the reactivation of the soils. For this purpose only bioactive manure is applied: compost, compost extracts, herb extracts, green manure, biochar, mulch and BRF (fragmented wood). The uses of artificial manure, concentrated fertilizer, herbicides or liquid fertilizer are not allowed. An application of non-composted animal manure must equally be avoided.
2. Installation of a constant green manure through leguminous plants between the stocks. Re-creation of a closed material flow and thereby guaranteeing a nutritive supply of the stocks without the need of an additional artificial manure. The sowing of a grand variety of leguminous plants provides a very high biological activity of the soil and improves the storage of water and nutrients as well as controlling erosion.
3. Green soil cover all year round. The goal is to achieve a plantation rich in species with autochthonous flowers. At least 20% of the seeds mixture for the green manure must be composed of plants with flowers that attract insects. In total, one must be able to find at least 50 types of wild plants in the vineyard.
Vertical Biodiversity
4. Planting bushes at the end of the respective rows where they do not interfere with the work cycles. The criteria for choosing bushes is based on the potential attractiveness to butterflies and other insects, the nesting possibilities, the symbiosis of the roots and the use of their fruits. Autochthonous species will be planted.
5. Planting hedges as an intermediate line between the stocks. Depending on the local conditions, at least 2 x 20m of closed hedges per hectare. The hedges are potent biodiversity hotspots and as aisles, ideal for a network connection of ecological areas. As natural barriers between the rows they hold back epidemics of harmful fungus.
6. Planting fruit trees for the improvement of vertical diversity. Trees planted among plants of lower height and in badly structured cultivation areas represent an enormous attraction for birds, insects and other groups of animals, and encourage a re-population of the ecological habitat. Trees that are outstanding in an aerial plankton also act as collectors of spores; an area from where the yeasts and other fungus can expand in the vineyard (diversity of natural yeasts for the wine making and as a competition for harmful fungus). At least one tree should be planted between the stocks for each hectare of ground as well as several small trees on the appropriate boundaries with a NE-NW orientation. The distance to the nearest tree should not be more than 50m from any point of the vineyard. Possible losses in the harvest may be compensated by the harvest of fruits.
Structural Biodiversity
7. Ecological compensation areas rich in species of at least 2 x 20 m2 for every hectare
should be created as diversity hotspots both in the centre of the boundaries of the plots with stocks, where aromatic herbs and wild flowers grow (ruderal vegetation and flora, megaforbics). The distance to the nearest hotspot should not be more than 50m from any point of the vineyard.
8. Creation of structural elements such as stones and piles of woods for reptiles and insects. Installation of artificial nests for wild bees, insects and birds. The artificial nests may be integrated on the staking posts. Perches for birds of prey for a reduction of rodents. The pesticides used in the spraying must, therefore, be composed by harmless substances for bees and insects (renounce chemical pesticides and sulphur.)
Crop biodiversity
9. Cultivation of at least one secondary crop in the interstices of the main crop. This can be vegetables such as tomatoes or pumpkins, fruits such as raspberries or strawberries, a winter cereal such as rye and barley or aromatic herbs, planted or sown between the rows of vines. Also suitable are fruit bushes like chokeberry, sea buckthorn or sloe planted in lines between the vines, as are rows of fruit trees (vineyard peach, plum, almond, quince, etc.). Secondary crops also include bees, sheep, chickens, fish and other small farm animals. The areas earmarked for secondary crops must be large enough to ensure a proper economic return.
Genetic Diversity
10. Instead of grubbing the old vineyards and planting the surface again from scratch, the old stocks are replaced one for the other, choosing the plants by means of massale selection in the same vineyard and planting them as graft in the corresponding nurseries, therefore achieving a selection of varieties of multiple generations which adapt perfectly to the Terroir. The genetic diversity obtained reduces the pressure of infection due to plagues, increases the hardiness before the dominant environmental conditions, and improves the quality of the wine.
End
Admin
As winter approached the U.K. a major wine retailer succumbed to the bitter climate, England’s Vineyards reported a good harvest and somehow I ended up in places I rarely visit – London, France & Germany.
The main news in the wine media for November was the bankruptcy of First Quench, the parent company of Wine Rack, Threshers, The Local, Haddows, Bottoms Up and Victoria Wine retail stores. The company went into administration at the end of October but initial reports suggested most stores would continue trading while new buyers were found. However, by the end of November it was confirmed that over 780 of their 1200 stores would be closed by Christmas. Apart from a few single stores scattered around the country only 14 stores in the South East & London were saved as a group, along with the Wine Rack name, as reported by Decanter.com. By the end of November over 4,000 redundancies had been confirmed with more guaranteed, including my local Wine Rack in nearby Hexham, the last dedicated wine outlet in the market town other than Supermarkets.
Better news came with the first reports of England’s 2009 harvest, which appears universally good. I received an e-mail from Three Choirs Vineyards which confirmed that 3 weeks of picking had brought in 200 tonnes of grapes with “excellent” quality and sugar levels – more than the 2007 and 2008 harvests combined (although still only half of the bumper crop of 2006). A good 2009 looks to be a consistent theme across Europe as vintage reports keep coming in.
As for me, the beginning of November had me in Ingelheim-am-Rhein, a small town in the Rhineland Palatinate, west of Frankfurt in the Rheinhessen wine region. Ingelheim is known as the Rotweinstadt (Red wine town) and while I didn’t drink anything remarkable while there I came home with a box set of 6 wines; two each of a Riesling, a Blauer-Portugueiser and a Spätburgunder from the local Ingelheimer Winzerkellar. More memorable was a delicious Luxembourg Riesling in the KLM lounge at Schipol on the way home, the 2007 Paradaïs from Château Pauqué which had a honeysuckle and honey nose with an oily texture and a zesty light taste.
My other main business trip was just outside of Paris. It’s not often I travel to France so I try and make the most of the experience and this time it was made easier by my French colleagues treating me to an Haute Cuisine meal in the small town of Osny. The restaurant was Le Moulin de la Renardière and the classic menu and wine list promised a good evening. While my French colleagues all went for the Foie gras de canard to start I decided on the decidedly more rustic Aspic de queues de bœuf – a meaty oxtail brawn.
My main course of Parmentier of Duck Confit with a thin layer of Foie Gras and parsnip puree followed the same rustic theme, and both were delicious. For wine accompaniment we decided to stay with Givry in Burgundy for both white and red, starting with the 2007 Blanc by Remoissenet Pere & Fils of Beaune. This had plenty of oak, dry with good balance and complexity with a citrus finish. The Givry Rouge from the same producer was a step up in quality; the 2000 Vintage started with an earthy, almost dirty nose but had perfect balance and was delicate, subtle and elegant in the mouth. I am unfamiliar with the Givry Appellation but was impressed by these introductions, and the refined atmosphere of the classic restaurant reminded me that good French food and wine takes some beating!
The day before at our hotel, itself a converted Chateau we’d enjoyed a much less ostentatious meal along with the Domaine du Roncee 2007 Chinon, a wine that was a bit light on its own but with enough fruit & complexity to be perfect with food, especially the chèvre salad which was my starter.
The return trip through Paris Charles de Gaulle airport had me tasting some pleasant wines in the lounge before take-off, including the smoky, spiced fruit Chateay Tour Seran 2004 from the Medoc and the 2005 Probus Cahors by Baldes which had deep berry fruit and a liquorice nose, however, the 2006 Côtes de Beaune Villages by J. Drouhin was dull and disappointing.
In between these trips I had a long weekend in London as travelling companion to my better half as she attended her own business meeting. I usually try and avoid the capital if at all possible (I’m just a country boy at heart!) but once there a trip to Vinopolis, the wine-themed visitor attraction, was essential.
Vinopolis, on the South Bank of the Thames near London Bridge, celebrated its 10th anniversary this year and I plan on expanding on this visit in a separate piece, so suffice to say I spent a long and enjoyable afternoon wandering through the various exhibits and tasting some of the dozens of wines available, including the Clos de Cana 2001 from Lebanon’s Bekaa valley. This rich red had liquorice and aniseed on the nose, with firm tannins, balanced acidity and fruit and some caramel on the finish – impressing me so much I had to pick up a bottle to add to my ever increasing Lebanese section at home.
Back in Newcastle and the main wine experience was the monthly NEWTS (North East Wine Tasting Society) tasting – this time a producer I am more than familiar with, Château Pesquié from the Côtes du Ventoux. You may know I spent a fantastic week there in 2008 as guests of the family, including working in the vines and winery, therefore it was with interest that I tried the wines as part of a presentation by 2 other society members who have also visited the Château.
It is fair to say the tasting was a success with the exception of the 2008 Perle de Rosé, which was embarrassing for me as, during my stay at Pesquie, I picked some of the grapes destined for this wine and was present at its inoculation.
However, the other Pesquié wines were well received with the 2006 Quintessence Rouge voted best on the night and the 2005 Quintessence Blanc praised for being one of the best Rhône whites tasted in recent years. The opulent 2005 Artemia was enjoyed for its style and concentration of flavour, but its higher price raised questions of value compared to the Quintessence.
Unsurprisingly November’s purchases reflect some of the travelling done with the average price (and hopefully quality) greater than usual. Prolonged browsing of airport Duty Free can sometimes be dangerous and at Schipol I couldn’t resist the Marchesi di Barolo 2004 Barolo, for just under £40, to make a trio of ’04 Barolos in my collection (the other two were much cheaper!). The well stocked (and mostly French) wine section of Paris Charles de Gaulle airport tempted me with the Steinert Grand Cru 2005 Pinot Gris by Pfaffenheim and “les Marchais” 2004 Gevrey-Chambertin by Faiveley – purchases which continue to see France as the largest part of my modest store at 25% of bottles. For reference Australia and Germany are joint second at 11% each followed by Italy & Lebanon at 8%.
The majority of the remaining bottles bought came from the demise of Wine Rack as I joined in amongst the circling vultures to take advantage of the 30% off death-throes and ended up with bottles including the Duetorri Amarone Classico 2005 and Château Filhot’s 1999 Sauternes, which is likely to end up as a Christmas dessert wine this year.
Thanks to the generosity of a colleague I also acquired the 2006 and 2007 vintages of Château St. Georges, St. Georges St. Emilion to join the 2003 which I am planning on opening shortly, again possibly for the Christmas festivities.
And so onto drinking, and the various glasses tasted at multiple restaurants mean a month with far too much to detail to fully recount, although most of it merely of quaffing value.
A few notables included the Cave Vinicole de Hunawihr 2005 Gewurztraminer Reserve which was a model of typicity with a sweet floral aroma and spicy lychee nose.
The 2007 Tamar Ridge Tasmanian Pinot Noir, made especially for Marks & Spencers, was an elegant and fruity New World Pinot with light forest fruits and some Christmas spice, while for a venerable wine the Lagunilla 1999 Rioja Gran Reserva showed delicate elegance, with an auburn & brick colour on the swirl and a smoky nose. Light-medium bodied with gentle acidity and smooth, aged tannins it had some cherry and a refreshing finish.
Of course these are dangerously close to mainstream drinking, so I redeemed myself with a pair of slightly more off-beat offerings.
First was the very drinkable Alsace Pinot Noir (my first) from Cave de Turkheim, the 2004 Élevé en Fût de Chêne which had a pleasant smoky bacon aspect. Second was the Disznókö Tokaji Dry Furmint 2006 was also very good, showing how this newer style of dry Tokaji coming out of Hungary is to be embraced as equally as its sweeter relation.
November has gone, December is upon us and the festive month is no doubt likely to provide a Bacchanalian tale for the next ‘corner, until then, Slainte!
Greybeard
From December 4th-6th Vila de Frades (the village of Friars), a small community of 1000 souls, hosted Vitifrades, the festival of clay jar wines and olive oils. Begun in 1997, the Vitifrades Festival has been the principle showcase for this very rare tradition of winemaking. The Alentejo region of Portugal has seen a great many changes in wine production over the last 30 years. But what has changed little, what still clings heroically to life, in Vila de Frades, Vila Alva, Vidiguiera, and other local villages, is the dedication to a specific winemaking technology little changed since the time of the Romans. Winemaking in our time is obsessed with new technologies and is limited in its expression by narrowing differences foisted upon winemakers by marketing forces and the well-publicized palates of a very few. But who among we drinkers would not welcome the opportunity to visit Vila Frades and to taste the wines at such a festival? Indeed, it is a festival dedicated as much to clay jar wines (and olive oils) as to a local culture of resistance.
From a recent (vol 49, #4, 2009) Chronica Horticulturae article by Virgilio Loureiro titled ‘Historical Wines of Portugal’,
“Portuguese culture did not escape the ‘wave of progress’ that devastated the viticultural world in the end of the 20th century but contributed to affirm the wine as a global drink of prestige. Besides the Port, Madeira, and Mateus Rosé wines, which were already globalized, the Green wine, the Alentejo, the Douro, and the Dão reached international maturity. However, not everything has been positive. The powerful force of new technologies and the anxiety to produce more and lower-priced wine caused irreparable damages to regional originalities, the soul of world cuisine, especially in its millenarian grape and wine-growing patrimony. It is in this context that it has become urgent to speak about old European historical wines, so that one of the most important symbols of the Mediterranean World and Western civilization is to be understood as more than merchandise or business.”
And of clay jar wines specifically, he writes,
“White, red, or pale wines made in great clay jars, hence their name, have a long tradition in the Alentejo, the southern part of the country, and these wines continue to be made according to this Roman process. The special taste conferred makes it the preferred one to Alentejanos, who only drink another wine when jar wine ends. The jar manufacturers, that did not use the potter wheel, have disappeared, and the gateadores, who placed the patches (cats) in the jars, as well as the pesgadores, who waterproofed the interior of the jars with pitch, are almost gone. Among jar wines, the Palhetes of Vila de Frades assume particular relevance and are locally known as petroleiros. They are a variety of the jar wines that originated in the Saint Cucufate Convent. The friars, having used one of the largest Roman villae in Lusitania, now in ruins, created a petroleum color jar wine called palhete, made from a blend of about 80% white grapes and 20% red grapes.”
What follows is a series of photographs taken during this most recent Vitifrades Festival by Prof. Virgilio Loureiro. I post them here with his kind permission. Saludos!
A Jar Wine Cellar
Antonio Ferro (left) with Virgilio Louriero.
Participants.
A traditional wine bar.
Principle Pavillion.
Visiting another cellar.
People in the street.
Procession.
A wine cellar after the visit.
Admin
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Admin You were bottling the other day? This is your machine?
FF Yes. Many are. So are the crushers and de-stemmers. The press is French. We have, more or less, modern machines. We still have some work to do. We have some walls to paint. We laid down a new floor about two years ago. We have to go slow with the investments. We will repair the roof and the walls soon, I hope.
FF Yes. In the Douro Valley there are places where they still use them. And some of our own growers, they also do their own wine at home, they use them… Here are the old cement vats, fermenters also. We don’t use them anymore, either. And here is an old centrifugal crusher. And our new one. We use a pneumatic press for our wines. We also have two hydraulic vertical presses over there which we can use if we have a problem with the pneumatic press. And we have a machine to fill the ‘bag-in-box’. We use that type of package for our table wines. They are the boxes with the small tap. We use vacuum filling. The wine stays good for quite some time. And that is now our substitute for the glass jug. We are getting good sales from using the bag-in-box system.
So we ferment in temperature controlled stainless steel. Some of the red, because we don’t have enough room in the stainless steel, we still use those big wood vats over there. We call them ânforas; we still use them for some of the table wine. Of course, we have no temperature control with them. An interesting fact about those is that, as you know, for our steel vats we have to use the pump to circulate the juice, from the bottom to the top, to pump over to get the color out. But in the wooden ânfora, the process is done naturally because the carbonic gas pressure that builds inside is enough to push the wine to the top; and it fills that cup on the top so that the pomace always stays beneath the wine. We can do this without the use of pumps or electricity, just the carbonic gas pressure which build up naturally during fermentation. I have not seen these anywhere else in the world. The system is the same for the cement vats called ânfora Argelina, but I have never seen wooden ones.
FF They were built here. The wood is Portuguese Chestnut. Each takes ten tons of grapes. And later we then bring over the pneumatic pump and open a small door to take the pomace to the press. This has a tube inside. The cup on top has a hole, in the center, so the wine goes up, fills the cup, and the wine then drains back on top of the pomace.
FF We go inside. Someone has to go inside to remove all of the pomace. We put a ventilator up here and let the vat breathe for some time because of the danger of suffocation. In fact, four people have died in Portugal during this harvest time because of carbonic gas. They die without knowing it. We are very careful about that. For cleaning we have a special device that sprays hot water. But it is very difficult to be 100% sure that it is perfectly clean. It is wood, after all.
FF That means Junta Nacional do Vinhos, the National Wine Institute [founded in 1937]. Since the fifties, until 1994, this cooperative was a kind of hybrid organism; it was half cooperative, half was intervention by the state, the agricultural minister. Because of that all of the wine had to be made here in order to use the Colares DOC. That is no longer the case.
FF We don’t use them any longer, but they are for pushing down the cap. They were used if we didn’t put in a full 10 tons of grapes inside the ânfora. With less grapes inside, the carbonic gas would not be enough to push the wine out of the top. These forks would be used to push the pomace, the cap, down to mix with the wine. We now use a pump for that if it becomes a problem.
FF Yes. It is all very important. I am also afraid that things might not go well in the future. The vines are in danger. That’s the only thing that I regret.
FF No. Just for the workers. I have done one this year. (laughs) We call it jeropiga or Abafado. I have taken the juice out of the tank before fermentation started and added our wine distillate. I made five liters last year. We give a small bottle for each of the workers. It is for drinking now. We have a tradition of drinking it during Saint Martin’s Day, the 11th of November. That day it is traditional to release the young wine for the first time; and you also drink abafado. An abafado is when the fermentation has started a little bit, like a Port, it is the same. Port is a special type of abafado. We add the spirits before the fermentation has started. One is usually a little bit sweeter than the other.
FF This is the Ramisco. This has been in the big wood vats for around two years. Then it was put into these oak barrels. This is not young oak. It is three year-old oak. Our Ramisco wine doesn’t go well with new oak. It is too strong for our wine. So we use a two to three year-old barrel. What we are doing now is three years in the big exotic barrels in the other room [another part of the adega] and one year in the small oak barrels. We now see that this is the best for the wine.
FF This room is much hotter than the other. Even during the summertime the other room only gets to 16, maybe 20 degrees celsius. Here, no.
What do you have here in the back of your car?
