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How to appreciate a bottle of wine

Vineyard in Tuscany / Photo by rayced

What is Terroir? Loosely stated it is a French concept, the entire phrase is “Gout de Terroir” or literally “taste of earth”, and it implies that when items are well produced they express some unique attributes that represent a “sense of place”.

Does this mean that wines can taste of the minerals contained in the earth? It’s undeniable that Muscadet tastes of the salty, marine and granite soils from which these wines originate.  When smelling a Barolo from Monvigliero it’s possible to smell the sandy soil, and the telltale note of black olive that’s so uniquely Monvigliero, or should I say Verduno, the village in which the Monvigliero vineyard is located.

Terroir does not relate exclusively to a taste of the earth, it’s so much more than that.  A combination of soil, climate and vine produces many of the identifiable traits in wines, and it is these elements which distinguish the Barolo wines from Monvigliero, from other Nebbiolo grape wines. This to me is Terroir.

Everyone smells/tastes things differently

A glass of wine has hundreds of organic compounds, we can identify only a handful, and everyone has their own unique thresholds of perception, we don’t all smell and taste the same things in wine.  Some how the combination of soil, climate and vines is able to produce unique compounds which in turn produce signature traits that are called Terroir.

The Terroir of North Coast Pinot in California may be cola flavored low acid fruit bombs. Not my style of wine, but it may be just what the unique melange of soil, climate and vine produces.  Whilst I fully recognize that this may run counter to what the wine mafia want us all to believe, I think the facts speak for themselves. What the wine mafia want you to believe is that Terroir is all about rocks, minerals, and fresh fruit.

Does Terroir exist?

I’m firmly in the camp that says it does, but not everywhere, or at least I’m not able to find it in every wine. I also fall into the camp that feels wines produced in very warm climates, or from grapes that are allowed to get very ripe, tend to exhibit a dreary sameness of fruit that obscures or obliterates Terroir, and let’s not get started on wine making processes!

It’s another thing entirely to narrowly define Terroir to only include wine one likes, which is exactly what the wine mafia has done, and they then go around intimidating and bullying people they don’t agree with.

Drink what YOU like

It’s time to just drink what you like and stop trying to move the immovable object. Let people make their own minds up on this. I certainly advocate having an opinion and sharing those opinions freely but we need to move beyond the certitude with which we espouse our opinions. Wines are such a personal preference and it’s really pointless trying to force people to like a style of wine.

Share information, share opinions, state your case, and then move on. I get it. People who generally drink organic wines from the Loire and Beaujolais are not going to enjoy many big Barossa Shiraz. Conversely those who revel in the pleasure of Cult California Cabernets are just not going to flip over many bottles of Sangiovese, but really, who cares. Let everyone know what choices we have and then let’s all make our own buying decisions without belittling or insulting those who have made different ones.

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Really old Madeira

Photo from Snooth

Greg was kind enough to dig up some treasures from his cellar to mark the occasion of me trekking over to frigid New York from my base of San Francisco. If 150 year old Madeira is served each time I’m in town (no I’m definitely not counting on this) I’ll be sure to visit often.

This tasting included 4 identifiable wines and one unknown:

1. 1880 D’Oliveras Terrantez Reserva
2. 1898 Blandy’s Terrantez Reserva
3. 1910 Barbeito Sercial
4. 1863 Blandy’s Solera
5. Something older than 1863. Apparently the bottle this originally came in was a 3-part cast glass bottle.

Needless to say these wines were Killer, Rockstar, Fantastic, and then some. Each of us in Snooth HQ got one sip of each of the wines and each one was vastly different than the previous. I’m a huge fan of the caramel, earthy, sweet/acidic, and salt water notes commonly found in Madeira and this tasting did not disappoint.  I have always found these wines hard to describe in words, so instead here’s some background information on Madeira to hopefully encourage some discovery.

Where does Madeira come from?

Madeira is an island in the Atlantic that belongs to Portugal. The island itself is a horrendously difficult place to grow grapes with poor soil and very steep topography. Trellised vines are planted on terraces, called poios, that are carved into the rock ranging from sea level up to over 3000 feet. The best vineyard sites have a Southern exposure.

How did Madeira come to produce a fortified wine?

Early 1400’s – Portuguese discover a wooded island off the coast of Northern Africa. Madeira means wooded in Portuguese. In the 1500’s, the main port on Madeira is used as a way station on the trek to the Americas or around Africa to Asia. Wine is sold to these shipping expeditions which happens to better as the boats sail around the world. By dumb luck taking these simple wines and exposing them to heat and many other disturbances people go to great lengths to avoid with their regular wines turns these into caramelized goodness. Consumers like the way these wines taste, so farmers on Madeira start purposely heating their wines, estufagem, to replicate that twice around the world on a boat flavor.

Similar to Port, Madeira is a fortified wine made in a variety of styles. I’ll let you research the various styles and grapes used on your own, but what’s amazing about Madeira is its ability to age for what seems like forever and its ability to last once opened.

These are tortured wines, so there is pretty much nothing you can do to harm them.  These are great for those of you that keep your wine stored in your kitchen or in another less than ideal location. If you’ve never had really good Madeira, do yourself a favor and try it out. You don’t necessarily need to go buy a bottle (although it will keep forever even after it’s open), but your local quality wine bar should have an interesting choice or two.

Further Information:

• Pictures from the tasting

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The Wine Barrel Making Process – From Forest To Finished Product

At the Cooperage / Photo by Dan Petroski

I could easily write to you about the barrel making process, “once upon a time, in a forest far, far away…” however, that would be boring.  I have created a photo slideshow that takes you through the barrel making process.  This is a snapshot of the forest, the selection of wood, work in the saw mill and cooperage from forest to finished product.

The making of a wine barrel can take up to 180 years.  The trees of the French forests Nevers, Allier, Troncais, Vosges, Bertranges etc. although 70% privately owned, are all under the watchful eye of a government agency to protect and preserve the natural habitat and safeguard the industry.  Oak trees which the Agency deems suitable by age and quality are harvested once a year, after October auctions.  The age of the trees can be no less than 50 years and at their peak 180 years old.  The Agency releases an auction catalog broken down into parcels from each particular forest.  The good coopers send their top arborists out to inspect the quality of the wood and estimate their bidding prices.  Each parcel of forest comes to market every ten years or so and once the auction is completed, winning bidders have until March to harvest the selected trees.  Unlike grape farms with diverse soils and micro-climates, the quality and character of these forests remain pretty stable throughout.

When the trees are harvested, the wood is processed almost immediately.  However, the preliminary staves will be seasoned in natural elements (air, wind, rain, snow) for 24 to 36 months.  The photos that you will see are not one tree going from harvest to barrel room.  The seasoning process along with the geography tends to be the determining factor to great barrel production.  What you learn from tasting barrel samples in French caves (part-two of my trip) is that it is not the level of toast that the barrel has to offer, but the wood itself.  Just like winemaking, great forests will produce great barrels.  Enjoy the photos and let me know if you have any questions.

Note: these photos were taken with my camera phone; so, please don’t take offense to the quality.

Dan Petroski is Assistant Winemaker at Larkmead Vineyards in Napa Valley. Dan has an MBA from New York University and worked as an Ad Exec in New York for several years, before switching it up and trading his suit for a move out west.

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Dinner With A Wine Maker

Photo by Stephen Chapman

I recently got to go to a good restaurant, the El Dorado Kitchen in the town of Sonoma and a winemaker paid.  Not only did he pay, he pulled some wines from his personal collection to pair with what we were going to eat.  In addition to great food, we sampled the great wines listed here.

Pre-Dinner:

2004 William Selyem Hawk Hill Chardonnay – While we were winding down the day in the tasting room we opened a bottle of William Selyem Hawk Hill Chardonnay.  What’s very intriguing about this wine is that the fruit is sourced from a vineyard we get Chardonnay from as well.  The styles are different but similar if that makes any sense.

The Hawk Hill Vineyard is very close to the Pacific Ocean which means a long growing season.  Typically these grapes are harvested in November, much longer after a lot of red varietals are harvested.  What does this mean?  A lot of sugar.  High sugar means high alcohol.  And with the William Selyem example this is true (15.1%).  This high level of alcohol was evident by a lot of heat in the wine.  It didn’t feel very balanced and the finish was a bit odd.  Knowing William Selyem to be a high quality producer I wondered how this could happen.  It appears for this particular year, the wine maker was in Baltimore when the grapes should have been harvested resulting in the grapes being picked too late, resulting in very high alcohol.  After the Chardonnay we closed up the winery and headed out to the El Dorado Kitchen.  Five people squeezed into my little car and off we went.

Appetizers:

house made charcuterie

• Smoked paprika cured pork loin – meyer lemon, shaved parmesan
• Cabernet sauvignon cured beef eye of round - caperberries, pickled red onion
• Fennel sausage – olive & pepper tapenade, fennel pollen
• Pork terrine – cornichons, whole grain mustard
• Duck rillette – endive & orange marmalade
• Crispy baby artichokes – onion rings, garlic confit, meyer lemon, sweet carrot puree, fines herbes aioli

1992 Galah Sparkling Shiraz – Sparkling Shiraz is definitely an Australian specialty.  Yes, other countries do sparkling red wines but for some reason I associate sparkling red with Australia.  I can honestly say that this wine was probably the hit of the night.  All the sparkling Shiraz I’ve tasted had some sweetness like a demi-sec champagne.  This wine was big and bold.  Apparently, it had been aged for five years and an 8 year old port was used for the dosage.  The wine had a big mouth feel, tannins, and lots of flavor.  For an aged sparking wine it showed incredible structure and paired incredibly well with the appetizer we had.

Second Appetizer:

• Prince Edward Island steamed mussels – creamy sauvignon blanc broth, tarragon, crispy fries

2002 Rochioli Estate Pinot – Next up was a great wine from one of the greatest cult wine producer in Sonoma.  We had a nice aged estate example.  The estate wine is a blend of the different vineyards and blocks.   Once again I had high expectations which weren’t quite met.  It was a very good wine but not great.

Main Course:

• Red wine braised short ribs – truffle fries, horseradish crème fraiche
• Liberty duck trio – seared duck breast, leg confit, pate, sunchoke, fresh organic huckleberry sauce, benziger family ranch biodynamic braised greens
• Bacon wrapped pork tenderloin – spaetzle, brussels sprouts, whole grain mustard sauce

1985 Bordeaux - Okay, I know I should have taken better notes but I forgot.  All I can remember it that this ‘85 came from a super second (growth).  Had a great aroma that got better as the wine opened up.  Leather, cedar and smoke.  It was robust with great tannin.  One problem with having one wine to try and pair with every main course is that it doesn’t work.

Since the Bordeaux was aged nicely it had softened up quite a lot but it still have some strength.  The surprising thing was that it didn’t hold up to the short ribs.  It didn’t overpower the pork or the duck.  It actually complimented very well.

Dessert:

• Orange crème brulee – infused orange peal, chocolate shortbread

2006 Peller Estates Riesling Ice Wine – By this time there wasn’t much room for dessert but I wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass me by.  I really wanted to try the ice wine/crème brulee paring.  I picked this one. As it turns out, this works pretty damn well.  The acidity in the wine balanced off the creaminess of the dessert.   I am very happy that I made room for dessert.  And just like that, the night was over.

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Wine On The North Fork Of Long Island

Paumanok Sauvignon Blanc / Photo by Snooth

The climate is maritime in the summer (weather predominately comes from the Gulf) and continental in the winter (when the weather predominantly comes from Canada). This results in a moderate summer, with a long growing season but a cold winter, which is fortunately moderated by the presence of water on three sides of the Fork.

Mark and I were there yesterday to attend Lenn Thompson’s Wine Bar, at Roanoke Winery where we tasted wines by Lieb, Roanoke, Wolffer Estates, Grapes of Roth as well as Lenns very own creations from Sonis Cellar.  On our way out there we stopped by Paumanok Vineyards, which is the Long Island winery with the best overall scores on Snooth and was given a tour by the owner, Charles Massoud. Charles is a real scientist in the way that he farms the vineyards and it was a real pleasure to hear him talk about the soil, the climate and the winemaking process. Here’s an overview of what he told us:

Soil

The North Fork is a glacial moraine that was formed one million years ago and is part of the same system of moraines that stretch up and down the Eastern seaboard of the US – from Nantucket and Cape Cod, right down to Long Beach Island in New Jersey. The soil is made up of sand and loam on a bed of gravel, and this is where the first, but certainly not the last, comparison with Bordeaux came out. The Bordeaux region of Grave literally gets its name from the gravelly soil. This means good drainage, a crucial element here given the high summer humidity and year round rainfall.

Climate

The coastal influences and the maritime summers result in great seasonal variability in the growing conditions (again, like Bordeaux). However, this is New York and, unlike France, it can get brutally cold in the winter. The vines go dormant in the winter, but if the temperature drops below -15F then they will die. Although Upstate New York and even New York City easily gets colder than that, the ocean moderates the temperatures just a touch and with a little help from global warming the vines make it through the winter.

Spring frosts are a huge problem out here, as well into April or May there’s the chance for a sudden dip in temperature and once the vines have begun to bud they are extremely sensitive to cold. This year alone, Paumanok lost over 80% of their Chardonnay crop to frost. Chardonnay is particularly sensitive to this as it buds early. Of their 15 acres of Chardonnay they harvested 5 tonnes, instead of the 15 that they would have expected. Although they lost the crop, the vine did have some secondary and tertiary buds break later in the year – this doesn’t result in good grapes for wine, but does keep the vine alive.  By the time summer rolls around it begins to get really hot, and although the Ocean influence results in high humidity, it also keeps the temperatures slightly lower than what the rest of Southern New York sees.

Long Island growing tactics

Here’s where Charles’s talk got really interesting, as he told us about the tactics specific to Long Island that winemakers use to optimize the sugar production of the grapes during the growing season.

First, they defoliate the bottom 6-8 inches of the vine, which is where the grape clusters hang. This promotes good airflow and helps avoid mildew, rot and other problems that the humidity might create. Having just plucked a bunch of leaves off the vine, the next task is to ensure that there are enough leaves left to be able to produce enough sugar to ripen the clusters. 12 mature leaves are required per grape cluster, and as the vines tend to have around 30 leaves after the defoliation, this would allow the vine to ripen 2.5 clusters of grapes per branch. So, someone then walks every row and cuts off the extra clusters until there are only 2 clusters per branch maximum.

At this point every vine has a maximum of 2 grape clusters hanging from it, with at least 24 leaves per branch, and thanks to the defoliation the grapes can survive the humidity and are also exposed to the sun which further allows them to ripen. Paumanok’s science behind the farming, and the meticulous attention to fine tuning the crop were clear from Charles’s explanations. He is a man obsessed with the production of the fruit. Someone who believes that winemaking can not make up for poor fruit, and that the best it can hope to do is to not ruin, what is otherwise, a perfectly ripe clean grape.

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10 Tips To Get The Most Out Of A Visit To Wine Country

Photo: The Napa Valley is an easy day trip from San Francisco

This past weekend I did what the most tourists in California do, I went to Napa Valley. Napa Valley continually outdraws any other tourist attraction in California. Yes, even Disney Land. Napa is a beautiful place. Not only that, it is a great place to grow grapes. With great soils and wonderful growing season, even in the most difficult years, the wines that come from Napa rival the worlds offering. With all that Napa has going for it, your experience may not be picture perfect.

I guess my expectations of a wine tasting experience are a little skewed. In the four years that I’ve lived in California I would estimate that I’ve done somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 trips to wine country (in Napa or Sonoma). Roughly put, I’m in wine country at least once a month. I’ve come to know what I like and what I don’t. 

Here are my rules, okay guidelines, for a great wine country experience.

1. Know what you want. Sounds simple enough but it is a bigger challenge than people expect. If you don’t know what you want to do, you’ll end up wandering aimlessly and getting in my way. Have a theme and stick to it. Something like, superior cabernet producers or mainstream wine producers. Whatever it is, it will help you with getting around.
2. Have a plan. This means doing some research. Yeah, I know, heading to wine country is supposed to be fun and it is not supposed to be work but a little planning helps the day, weekend or week go smoothly. Know the wineries you want to visit, get an idea of where they are, and get an idea of distance between them. The last thing you want to be doing is rushing to an appointment and being stuck behind a tour bus heading to Mondavi.
3. Call ahead. Not only is this courteous but it may be required. Most wineries will allow you to drop in, many more are requiring that you call ahead and have an appointment. Some will be anal about the timing, others will be flexible and happy to accommodate you.
4. Get recommendations. If you don’t know what you want, ask people. A lot of wineries (including the one I work for, Loxton Cellars – shameless plug) live off recommendations. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations from staff at wineries. We understand that the wine business is about “co-opetition”. If you do ask be prepared to answer the questions of, “what do you like?” and “what are you looking for?”. The answer to the first is Syrah/Shiraz and the second is small, independent Australian run winery (again shameless plug for Loxton Cellars in Glenn Ellen, CA).
5. Be flexible. I know, I know, this flies in the face of having a plan. But, as the saying goes, “Stuff happens”. This is a rule that I could take more to heart. Even the best thought out plan doesn’t always work. If you’ve done your planning right you’ll be able to adjust quickly.
6. Stay off the main routes. Nothing drives me more nuts that trying to make a left hand turn on to highway 29 at 2pm on a Saturday. You’ll have more luck with the scratch-and-win lottery tickets. Thus, my recommendation is to plan your route so that there are more back roads than main roads. My experience says that you’ll uncover some little known gems and you’ll actually save time in travel (even if it feels like it is longer).
7. Avoid Saturdays. ’nuff said. Saturdays are when the booze cruises, stretch limo and bus tours are out in full force. You’ll have trouble getting appointments, unless you had called a month in advance. You’ll encounter some tasting bars that are two or three rows deep. And parking becomes an issue. Okay, this mostly applies in the summer time but in general…avoid Saturdays if at all possible.
8. Go when the new releases are available. Most people want to go to wine country during the summer. Wrong, wrong, wrong. The best time to go is when wineries release their new wines. Why? Well, you’ll actually get an opportunity to taste the small production wines and be able to buy them. So when is this? Spring and Fall. Plus, you’ll avoid the crowds and the hotel rates will be better.
9. Have a designated driver. This should go without saying. Police presence in wine country may seem low but they are there and they will bust your ass. No joking here. Working at a winery we hear about the times when people have not taken this to heart and it gets messy. If a winery staffer suggests that you might have had too much remember they see this kind of thing every weekend and it isn’t meant as insult, it’s meant to get you home okay.
10. Have dinner in wine country. Again, something that I wish more people did for many reasons. First, it helps you avoid traffic back to San Francisco (where most people seem to want to stay). Second, there are some outstanding restaurants in wine country and I mean beyond The French Laundry, Brix, and Bouchon. Lastly, the food is friggin’ awesome. If you need some suggestions, let me know.

While what I have said here was meant to be about Napa and Sonoma (my home away from home), it really applies to any wine region. You’ve spent the money and the time, you might as well get the most out of it. Some people can have fun doing things by the seat of their pants but the reality is, most of us (especially me) need some structure, rules, guidelines, whatever, to make something like this work. Using these rules…errr…guidelines makes things work for me. If you need more advice, you know where to find me…I’m always on Snooth!

John Andrews is a software product manager during the week and is a professional Tasting Room staffer at Loxton Cellars in Glen Ellen, CA on the weekends.