Rustic and Rewarding

posted by Adam in Snooth, Wine, Guest Bloggers, Music

For this week’s Wine and Music pairing, we have a Michigan based 5 piece band called Frontier Ruckus  and a 2005 Petit Sirah from California based Ursa Vineyards  .

The wine and the music both have a rustic and laid back feel which is very rewarding when the two are enjoyed together. Special thanks to the band’s label Quite Scientific  for letting us post this track 5 weeks before release date. I can only assume from the statement below that folks at Ursa Vineyards would also approve of this pairing.

“We love wine and want everyone else to love it too. We encourage people to taste everything, have fun with pairings & break a few rules.” - Ursa Vineyards

Ursa Vineyards - 2005 Petit Sirah Vineyard Blend

Wine Style: Red: Petit Sirah
Wine Region: California - Paso Robles / Sierra Foothills / Central Coast
Wine Year: 2005
Wine Label: Ursa Vineyards

Wine Link:Ursa Vineyards Petit Sirah

Wine Description: This 2005 Vineyard Blend is a mixture of the Ursa Vineyard’s 2005 roster of Petite Sirahs. It includes 33% of their Central Coast, 33% of their Sierra Foothills, and 33% of their Paso Robles. 425 cases of the Vineyard Blend were produced. It is a fruity and dark wine with a deep texture but it is not overwhelming or abrasive.  It really opens up in the glass and lingers on the palate.

Ursa Vineyards is a collaborative effort between a husband and a wife team who both used to work for David Bruce. All of the fruit is fermented in small fermenters and worked by hand. The handmade approach which this band and this winery take in creating their products offers a very credible and “vintage” experience which is especially present when pairing the two. The barn included on the website for Ursa Vineyards looks like just the sort of place you would find the band Frontier Ruckus performing their songs.
Frontier Ruckus

Music Style:  Folk: Americana
Music Region: Orion Town, Michigan
Music Year: 2008
Music Label:  Quite Scientific
Music Link:  Frontier Ruckus

Music Description:

Frontier Ruckus, as their name alludes, is as honest and down-home Americana as you can get (banjos/story telling) yet maintains a strong sense innovation and modern appeal (one of the more interesting and dynamic websites I have seen in a while). In the same way which the wine is a blend of local regional grapes, so too is this band which includes artists from a few different Michigan regions.

The band’s first album, titled The Orion Songbook (Orion Town is a made up place), is full of mystical lyrics and story telling extravagance. This album is a lyrical roller coaster taking the listener on a wild ride of words and phraseology that can truly be appreciated when you view the entire hand-written “scroll”  of lyrics on their website.

The track included with this post is called “Dark Autumn Hour” and is a perfect track for sunset in October with a glass of this Petit Sirah from Ursa Vineyards.  For added context, check out the band performing this song live.

Dark Autumn Hour

Adam Rabinovitz is Senior Director of Retail Marketing at IODA, the global leader in digital distribution, marketing, and technology solutions for the independent music industry. IODA distributes music from over 4000 labels, representing over 50 different countries and over 170 different genre styles.

Harvest 2008, Merlot Fermentation.

posted by Dan in Snooth, Wine Industry, Wine, Guest Bloggers

It has been a little over one month since we first harvested Sauvignon Blanc on a scorching summer day. In the weeks that followed, the seemingly endless heat wave that hit Northern California from middle August to early September subsided. Since then, we have harvested about 50% of our red wine grapes; starting with Merlot on September 4.

A frightening thing happened when we started harvesting Merlot . When the small, tight, thick-skinned, purple pearls dropped from the destemmer our must pump would not carry the grapes to tank. So, we had to carry 12 tons of Merlot in five gallon buckets (about 40 lbs) up the cat walk and hand dump the grapes into tank. It was fun the first few flights, but when the day waned on, the only thought I had was, if this is a sign of things to come, this is going to be one physically demanding harvest. Thankfully, when we started picking Cabernet last week, the grapes were a bit juicier and the pump was working again.

There was a bright spot in Merlot’s ominous start. Due to the extreme weather conditions in Napa this year, grape cluster weights have been abnormally light and berry sizes intensely small. As we tracked the vineyard’s development throughout the growing season, we anticipated these yields. But the old adage is, if you think you will have a big crop, it will be bigger, if you think you have a small crop, it will be smaller. In the Merlot section of our vineyard, where we typically farm four tons to the acre, we harvested less than two tons an acre. We consoled ourselves with the inherent quality that is expected in a small crop year. Small crops bring out the best in wine grapes - highly concentrated wines with firm structure and power that derive from low juice to skin ratios.

At the time of today’s post, we’ll be pressing off the Merlot and settling the free run before barreling down the young wine to finish fermentation in barrel. In my next post I will outline in pictures the sorting process - the process that gets the grapes to the tank for fermentation. But today, I will talk a little about fermentation management.

With the heavy lifting behind us, it was time to let the Merlot grapes soak for a few days on their skins. Many philosophies and studies have been done about pre-fermentation maceration, i.e. the cold soak. Some winemakers and some grape varieties react differently during this period, but the general consensus is that the optimal cold soak (whether three days or thirty days depending on the winemaker’s style) will enhance color extraction and stability during the pending fermentation process. You can control the duration of the soak with temperature, keeping it cold, to inhibit native fermentation from taking place.

Fermentation occurs when the yeasts present in the fruit come in contact with the sweet juice releasing from the berries in a warm environment. Stick twelve tons of grapes in a closed vessel and I promise it will get warm and sticky pretty quickly. We chose to soak for four days before jump-starting fermentation by inoculating with an un-intrusive yeast strain that allows the fruit to develop its own character during the fermentation process.

After inoculating, there are a couple of different fermentation management processes. In order to facilitate this process we choose to aerate the juice by using a method called pumping-over, a process the French call remontages. With the use of an impellor pump we drain the juice from the tank and sprinkle it over the top of the tank back onto the grapes. As the fermentation progresses we choose to aerate the juice to supply oxygen to the yeast to keep them active. On the front end it is a savage process and on the back end it is soft and subtle. Pictured at right is what we call a tub and screen pump-over. We drain the juice from the tank and it pounds through a screen, a sieve, before we pump the accumulating and aerated juice back onto the skins.

On a daily basis, it is our goal is to have all the available juice come in contact with the grape skins to develop extraction. Think of macerating a tea bag in boiling water. If left to its own device, the tea bag will float on top of the water and produce little flavor. If gently bobbed in the water by the drinker’s hand, color and flavor will fill your cup gradually. This is an easy way to think about why we have to assist the grape juice to come in contact with the skins during this process. As the wine ferments, changing sugars to alcohol, its offshoot is carbon dioxide (CO2) that lifts the skins to the top of the tank. Think of the tiny bubbles in your carbonated water rising to the top of your glass. Add a lemon slice to your Pellegrino and it floats. At this point, it is said the “cap” (the grape skins) has risen, and if you do not continue your pump-overs (or punch-downs, the process of physically submerging the skins in the juice) you will not fully extract the wine’s flavors and structure from the grape skins.

During this chemical process, the grape must heats up naturally, the tough berries soften and begin to release their sugary juice and the yeast strains feed on the sugar converting them to alcohol. We believe that the grape juice is “dry” (containing little or no sugar) at one gram per liter (of liquid). That’s 1/1000 th parts sugar per liter, 33 ounces of liquid. Or a scant amount of sugar in your (750 mL, 24 ounce) bottle of wine. When a wine goes “dry” it is not finished. Secondary fermentation (for red wine) needs to be completed. Secondary, or malolactic, fermentation changes tart malic acid into softer lactic acid. When this process is completed, it is necessary to remove the wine from the sediments (lees) that are formed during the process so the young wine can begin its maturation or development into the wines we drink on a daily basis. Or at least I hope you are drinking on a daily basis. In future, post-harvest, posts I will track the development of our Merlot so you can follow it into its final, bottled package, our Firebelle

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.

Snooth Manual Part IV

posted by mark in Snooth, Snooth User Manual

I was hoping to have the results of our “When Light Strikes” tasting panel ready for today’s post but we’re hosting the panel this afternoon so it’s not quite ready yet.

Instead I thought I’d lead you through some of the features of Snooth that might fall through the cracks on the first glance. Let’s log in and go over to the account settings page and see what we can do.

In the basic account settings, I can edit my basic info like my email address, password and site notifications. Nothing too crazy here, but on the right you’ll see some links to additional pages which have some more interesting settings. Let’s take a stroll over to the advanced account settings.

On this page, you’ll flesh out your profile by adding your zip code / location, your first and last name (so that other users can find you), your website URL if you have one, and you can add some tags to describe yourself. If you have a Twitter account and want to use Snooth to Twitter your tasting notes, Snooth provides a quick way to link your accounts up.

(As a quick sneak peek, if you add your zip code Snooth will eventually be able to give you relevant wine events in your area and special deals and offers from local merchants!)

Next you can see your alerts and syndication preferences. If you don’t want to publish your RSS feeds, or you want to hide your location on your public profile, you can do either by switching the corresponding checkbox. Also, any site emails that Snooth sends can be toggled on and off right from this page.

Finally, let’s add a profile image.

Simply click “Browse Files”, select your image, and let ‘er rip! Although you might actually like that boot you’re sporting, you’re much more likely to have people view your profile if you have a real picture of yourself posted!

Wine 2.oh

posted by philip in Wine Industry

Last week was the Web 2.0 conference in New York, and Thursday night was the Wine 2.0 event in Webster Hall. It was always going to be a long week of meetings and events - New York doesn’t host that many tech or wine events, and so, when we do, we make up for lost time.

Firstly kudos to Smoke Wallin, Cornelius Geary and the rest of the Wine 2.0 crew for organizing such a great event. There were well over 1,000 attendees and a slew of winemakers, VCs, Wine 2.0 companies and a few internet celebrities walking around. I certainly saw Time Oreilly (the man who invented the term Web 2.0 i do believe), Dennis Crowley (founder of Dodgeball), Alex Iskold (founder of Adaptive Blue) and best of all, some of the folks from the much loved I Can Has Cheezburger!

Half the crowd were everyday folks, not in the industry, but with a passion for wine. And, I really was impressed with how knowledgeable and geeky they were. I saw several people studiously tapping wine tasting notes into their iPhones (we do that here at Snooth, sure, but I didnt realize that there were others out there just like us). So to the people who taxed us with tough questions and outlandish feature requests - thanks for keeping us on our toes!

That night was the official demo of the Snooth Pulse map program - it was a huge draw, and, as the guy who put it together, Chris got to walk away with a Fusebox as a token of admiration from the good folks at Crushpad.

I made it my mission of the night to meet all the other Wine 2.0 technology companies - our direct competitors. I was very excited to finally meet Eric Orange from Local Wine Events and Jason Coleman of Winelog. I also had the good fortune to meet the team from Cruvee, Roger Marmet from Wine Taste TV, the Wine Snob (link to apple’s download store) team as well as others who’ve become friends over the years.

The result of all this is that I hope there will be increased collaboration between companies within the industry. That’s ultimately the second biggest reason that I like events like these: it allows (with a little help from a few glasses of wine) competitors to say hi to each other, to look past the immediate rivalry and to see the long term partnership potential.

And the primary reason I like these events? Its the battle hardened consumers. Clearly! Those that walk up to us and give us 30 seconds to wow them with what we’re trying to achieve. You’re the crowd that keep us plugging away.

European Vacation – Part I

posted by John in Snooth, Wine, Guest Bloggers

Two words: Jet lag.

It is the torture that many people, including myself, must go through to enjoy a proper vacation.  Some people can deal with jet lag without any issues.  I used to be one of those people but I am not any more.  Jet lag was going to be my big challenge for my European Vacation.   Working in North America means I have to get the most out of the little vacation time that I have.  There is no time to be jet lagged.  My vacation plan is simple, get to Europe and do the following:

• Visit Champagne and visit at least one small producer and one big producer
• Make to Italy in time for the wedding

Depending on which of my friends you talk to, the main event of my trip was either of the two items.  I was off for 10 days and had to make the most of it.  Jet lag be damned.

People on the East Coast of North America are lucky.  For East Coasters getting to Europe is as easy as flying to California (and sometimes cheaper).  Getting to Europe from California is a challenge.  Direct flights are rare, multiple connections are common, as are flight delays and running to make your connections.

For me to get to Europe, Paris specifically, involved two 6 hour flights and a 90 minute layover in Newark.  I arrived in Paris with only 4 hours of ‘airplane sleep’ and a huge adrenaline rush.  It was 7:30 in the morning; I had a rental car waiting and my BlackBerry GPS to get me where I needed to go.

Surprisingly, it was easy to get through passport control, get my car and get on my way.  Negotiating French traffic was a challenge but not as big a deal as I was lead to believe.  After about an hour or so I was off into the French countryside headed to Reims.
It takes about 2 hours to get from Paris to Reims.  There is a nice big motorway (the A4) to get between the two cities with a nice high speed limit (130 kph or about 80 mph).    Traffic was light and I was able to make good time.  The plan was to stop at my hotel and then start visiting Champagne houses before jet lag set in.

I arrived in Reims around 10:30 am, which was easy enough.  I then promptly spent the next 45 minutes driving in circles trying to find my hotel.  My driving experience up until that point was not very different than being in North America; big roads that are well signed.  Then I was reminded I was in Europe as soon as I exited the motorway.  Street signs are small if they are there at all and they are never placed where you expect them to be.  Eventually, my hotel was found, bags dropped off and a quick clean up was performed.  Then it was time to head out for my only appointment of the day.  I was off to visit a small winery called Champagne Jacquesson in Dizy, just north of Eperany.

Overview of Champagne

Even though Champagne is famous, not everyone knows where it is.  Champagne is a province with in France 160 km (100 miles) east of Paris.    The two main cities in Champagne are Reims and Epernay.  These two cities are home to the biggest and most well know Champagne brands including  Moet & Chandon, Pierre Jouet , Pol Roger (Epernay), Veuve Clicquot, Tattinger, and Pommery (Reims).  However, the countryside in between these two cities is dotted with numerous smaller houses.  Champagne is situated at the 49th parallel which means it is at the same level as the majority of the border between the US and Canada. The Champagne province is most notably known for the sparkling wine it produces.  As many of you know, sparkling wine can only be called Champagne if it is produced in Champagne and adheres to the rules of Champagne production (Méthode Champenoise).  The grapes for Champagne are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier and all are grown in a chalky soil.

Chateau Jacquesson (website under construction)

Château Jacquesson is located in the town of Dizy to the north of Epernay and directly across the street from another Champagne house, Vautrain-Paulet.   In fact, there are at least 12 Champagne producers in the town of Dizy.

Chateau Jacquesson is a small, family owned Champagne house.  By Champagne standards they are small with only a 500,000 case production.   They only account for 0.1% of the overall Champagne market.

They are not a grower champagne (a producer that only uses grapes they grow) but they do own 31 of the 42 vineyards they source fruit from.   All the vineyards are Grand Cru, which is the highest classification in Champagne.  The vineyards around Dizy product mostly Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

I was met at Champagne Jacquesson by Jean-Herve Chiquet who is one of the co-owners of Champagne Jacquesson.  Jean-Herve conducted a personal tour of the grounds including vineyards, production facilities and storage.

One thing that I noticed right away about the vineyards is that the vines in Champagne are trimmed much shorter than in California.  They are about half the height I expected.  In addition to the height, the canopy (leaf coverage) was also cut back significantly.  I was told that this is legislated by the Champagne AOC and both are meant to deal with the two main challenges of growing grapes in Champagne: the lack of sunlight and high humidity from frequent rains.  In fact, Champagne uses clones of grapes where the individual grapes are farther apart to promote air circulation to prevent mold creation from humidity.

Jacquesson is a blend of old and new and sometimes, to me, at opposition to each other.  Jacquesson, like many producers in the area, have been around for many, many years.  There is history and tradition within the old buildings they reside but they are populated with modern production equipment that can look out of place.  It is neat and odd to see very old buildings (200+ years old) and modern equipment.

The presses for the grapes are gigantic.  They allow for grapes to be spread out over a large surface and evenly pressed.  The juice is feed into concrete tubs a level below.

No maloactic fermentation done to keep wines crisp with good acidity.  There is some debate on whether maloactic fermentation should be done or not within Champagne.

Mechanical riddling has been embraced by most Champagne houses.  The smaller houses have gone almost exclusively to Gyropallets.  They can accomplish what would take 2 to 3 weeks worth of manual work in one week.  According to Jean-Herve  the real benefit of the Gyropallets is not the time but space.  As he puts it, Champagne is all about taking their time, which they have a lot of, but building more caves and storage is something that they can’t do.

It seems all Champagne producers will make three styles of Champagne:
• Non Vintage (NV) Champagne –  Champagne made from the current harvest combined with reserve wines (wines from previous years)
• Vintage Champagne – Champagne made from grapes harvested in one season
• Prestige Champagne – Usually a vintage Champagne with very selective juice

Jacquesson is no exception.   Where the difference is that their NV Champagne is more vintage than other producers in that it is more an expression of a particular year.  As such, the Jaquesson NV is numbered.  The current Jacquesson NV Champagne is named Jacquesson 732.  The number indicates the number of the cuvee blend and is based on the number of bottlings that the company has done over the years.

Here are the wines I was given the opportunity to try:
• Jacquesson 732 – (3/5)
Golden in color with pear, apricot and lemon aromas.  Tart green apple flavors, very crisp with great acidity.
• Jacquesson 733 – (3.5/5)
Unreleased Cuvee (this fall).  More straw coloured with peach and yeasty aromas.  More complex in the taste with pear, apple and dough.  Again, great acidity but still a little tight.
• Jacquesson 1997 – (4/5)
Golden with a slight greenish hue.  Classic yeasty and dough aromas.  Complex wine with doughy, nutty flavors with underlying fruit.
• Jacquesson – Avize Grand Cru 2000 – (3.5/5)
Made from Chardonnay from three grand cru vineyards.  Again, golden with greenish tinge to it.  Aromas of dough with apricot which was also reflected in the taste.
• Jacquesson – Terre Rouges Rose 2003 – (3/5)
Very surprising wine.  It was more of a cherry red than rose.  Not opaque but much darker than expected.  Strong red cherry aromas  with traditional yeast, dough undertones.  Softer acidity than other wines.

By the time we were done it was 4pm.  I bought some wine jumped in my car and headed back to Reims.  It was then that Jet Lag set in.  I fought as hard as I could to stay awake but I was fighting a losing battle.  By my calculations I had only 4 hours of sleep over a 30 hour period.  Jet lag had won out.  It was 8pm and I went to bed … besides I still had another two days in Champagne, I could afford to sleep now.

I have more to report but this has gotten long enough … next up:  Ruinart, Champagne Caves, Vueve Clicquot, Epernay, Avenue de Champagne and Moet & Chandon.

When you Wish Upon a Snooth

posted by mark in Website Updates, Snooth

The path to ultimate wine happiness is paved with wine recommendations from friends and mentors (and Snooth, perhaps?). When I do get a great recommendation I know exactly what to do — I type that wine into Snooth and see where I can buy it. Boom.

Except! … Sometimes the wine isn’t for sale. Even with 350,000+ wines in stock worldwide there are still plenty that aren’t. Maybe it’s a library vintage, or a special wine that hasn’t been imported to my country yet. Until today, the search stopped there.

But now we’ve got one more shot at it. When you wishlist a wine on Snooth, we’ll send you a quick note when it comes in stock. This is a great new feature, and I’ll be using it regularly to keep track of those hard to find wines I’ve been recommended.

There are auction sites on Snooth too, so not to worry if the wine is obscure. We’re happy to report when that 1982 Chateau Lafite you’ve been eyeing becomes available.

So wish(list) upon a Snooth. It makes no difference what you’re looking for. I can’t promise you’ll meet any singing crickets, though.

The Global Heartbeat of Snooth

posted by Chris in Snooth

To look at the serene surface of our website, you would never guess how much raw data moves throughout its underbelly on a day-to-day basis. Every morning, we cycle around a million prices through our database. Every week, around one thousand new people find our site and set up accounts, and most of them bring at least a few reviews to the site with them. Every month, we deliver 1.5 million search results. These requests are received with the persitance of a beating heart, albeit a bit more arrhythmic in nature.

This ballet of epic proportions mostly goes off quietly, without a hitch. So, we thought it would be impressive to visualize the epic breadth of what happens on our site every day, using an increasingly popular technique of live geo-coding.

By visiting the Snooth Pulse, you can get a true sense of what kind of data we are dealing with. The screens will update when new searches are run. Your browser will refresh every second, so it’s not accurate to the fractional second, but you can still get the idea. It’s still mesmerizing to see the searches come from all over the world. You can even check out the screensaver version, and put your browser into fullscreen, if you want to take the Pulse Experience to the next level.

The truly exciting part is that we’re still growing, and as we do, the Snooth Pulse will become a blur of activity!

Chianti Classico Riserva - Football’s favorite wine

posted by Callie in Snooth, Wine, Guest Bloggers

Today, I’m dedicating my blog to one of New York Wine Company’s favorite Tuscan red wines, Chianti Classico Riserva.

To understand the pedigree of these wines, you need to understand a little bit of their background and history.  It is hard to distill three centuries of Chianti history into one quick blog, but it’s worth a try.

The first documentation of a wine region named Chianti dates all the way back to 1716. This region was quite large and by 1932, had to be re-drawn because of the large variations in quality and style of the wines that had been produced there.  The region was divided into seven sub-zones bason on the nearest “city”: Classico, Colli Aretini, Colli Fiorentini, Colline Pisane, Colli Senesi, Montalbano and Rufina.

Chianti Classico encompassed most of what was the original zone, and has been recognized as the leading appellation in terms of quality. The introductions of the DOC in 1967, and DOCG in 1984 meant a set of; highly enforced rules that governed everything from what grapes could be blended to how long the wine must age prior to release. These standards were monumental in the transformation of generic fiasco Chianti (large squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket), into wines that are now seen as rivals to the great reds of Montalcino and Montepulciano.

Today, Chianti Classico must contain at minimum 80% Sangiovese, allowing for the blending of other international varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and even Syrah. It was only in 1995 that producers were permitted to make Chianti Classico with 100% Sangiovese grapes. Basic Chianti Classico can be released fairly immediately after bottling, however, producers have begun to select the best grapes for their Riserva bottling, which at minimum must age for 24 months after harvest before release into the market. These extra two years, which the wine; typically spends maturing in wood vats or French barrels, creates a tremendous amount of structure, color, and tannin. The end result are some of the most age-worthy, deep, and satisfying wines one will ever encounter, and as often is the case, some of the best value premium wines in the world.

Callie Exas has just launched her wine career at New York Wine Co. in Manhattan. So far so good!

A Picturesque Pairing

posted by Adam in Snooth, Wine, Guest Bloggers, Music

Thus far in my Wine and Music pairings (which started in May), I have not included any “classical” music and have focused mostly on summery and zesty tunes that fit nicely with the recent warmer months and with less heavy wines.  As we have now entered the cooler climate and the changing of the seasons, nothing seems more fitting then a purple colored, full bodied red wine and some contemporary piano compositions.

In this case, the artist refers to his material as “Post-Classical” and it’s a blend of classical and electronic.  The album included in this pairing is 24 Postcards in Full Colour from producer/artist/composer Max Richter. An interesting note about this album is that as part of the project, each track has been paired with its own image (there are 24 tracks, 24 postcards images included with the album).

This album is a great match for a Petite Sirah, which packs a more intense punch than a regular syrah. Petite Sirah is said to be better when paired with full flavored foods such as roast beef, or with mature cheeses. In comparison, this album is full of embellishing 2-3 minute compositions which are precise yet powerful, and are chock full of mature emotional flavor. This album is a pleasant and complimentary match for the dark yet inviting essence of this wine.

Sones 2004 Petite Syrah – Monterey County

Wine Style: Red: Petite Sirah
Wine Region:  California: Santa Cruz Mountains
Wine Year: 2004
Wine Label: Sones Cellars
Wine Link: http://www.snooth.com/wine/sones-petite-sirah-central-coast-2003/

Wine Description: This approachable Petite Sirah begins with aromas of cherries and cedar which are followed by flavors of dark berries, oak, and black pepper. This wine has a firm yet subtle texture and a good mouth feel.  There were a total of 145 cases produced. Sones Cellars is a small family winery located in Santa Cruz, California. Their flagship wines are Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. Michael and Lois Sones met in the mid-1980s while working at sea on a cruise ship.

I also mentioned this wine briefly in my previous post as a good pairing with southern rock outfit Delta Spirit. As much as I enjoyed tasting this wine with a rock band, I find that the more compositional aspect of Max Richter really pulls the emotion and the substance out of the wine and leaves room for opening up of flavors.

Max Richter

Music Style:  Classical: Composition
Music Region: London, UK
Music Year: 2008
Music Label:  Fat Cat
Music Link:  http://www.maxrichter.com

Music Description:  German Born, now living in London, Max Richter studied Piano at University of Edinburgh and is said to be heavily influenced by Philip Glass. Richter’s first project was called Piano Circus and was an ensemble of six pianists that has performed all over the world. Max Richter has recently produced albums for folk legend Vashti Bunyan, and for the Scottish rock quartet The Twilight Sad – also on the Fat Cat label. Max has also performed and written with electronic luminaries such as Future Sound of London and Roni Size.

The name of this track is “H in New England” and it includes gently cascading and fluxing trails of piano. It is both complex and simple and includes a series of emotionally gripping crescendos. It reminds me a lot of the changing of the seasons (and the leaves in New England) that starts later in September.

H in New England

Adam Rabinovitz is Senior Director of Retail Marketing at IODA, the global leader in digital distribution, marketing, and technology solutions for the independent music industry. IODA distributes music from over 4000 labels, representing over 50 different countries and over 170 different genre styles.

Harvest 2008, Post 2: Survival of the fittest

posted by Dan in Snooth, Wine, Guest Bloggers

Winemakers in Napa Valley are breathing a sigh of relief this week.  There has finally been a reprieve in the weather that has been blistering through Northern California.  However, I send my sympathies to our winemaking friends in Sonoma County where “all bets are off” and winegrowers and winemakers have been out picking Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes over the last eight to ten days like it was the last harvest before Armageddon.  So what has happened the last two weeks?  As I mentioned in my previous post, it has been hot.  The weather stations at the vineyard have recorded eight 100+ degree days over the last 14.  The heat has caused many to scramble to irrigate vines and sample grapes for ripeness to determine ideal harvest dates.

Irrigation

What the French call rain, grape growers in Napa and Sonoma call irrigation.  The ability to dose water to vines under strict management is a godsend to grape growers.  Drip irrigation is an expensive prospect when you think about it.  For example, Larkmead has 113 acres under vine, with roughly 1,000 vines per acre. That’s 113,000 vines that require the pictured irrigation system installed.  But this system pays dividends.  It allows us the ability to put as little or as much water at will.  A typical irrigation schedule can call for four, six, eight or more gallons of water per vine throughout different points of the growing season.  With this type of control, we can also add nutrients to the vines during the irrigation process.  This is an efficient and effective method in managing the vine’s growth and development.  During the current heat wave(s) we’ve tried to beat the heat by irrigating to hydrate the vines so they can cope with the pounding intensity of repeated hundred degree days.  One gallon takes about one hour to ‘drip.’ So, in order, to irrigate the whole vineyard, and monitor what gets what, it will take us up to four days working around the clock, turning water pumps and valves on and off.  Our vineyard team has done a fantastic job in managing this process and our vineyard has been holding up very well during this period and not building sugars too fast.  That brings me to sampling.

Sampling

One of the ’sweetest’ things we do in preparation for harvest is sampling our grapes out in the vineyard.   Everyone will say this is the deciding factor of great winemaking - knowing when the fruit is ready.  Adam Lee of Siduri has been blogging about this on the Wine Spectator website with a cast of winemaking characters from all over the world talking about the 2008 harvest.

But as we know, to each his own.  Some people prefer tart acidity over no acidity; bitter tannins before soft, supple ones; subtle fruit instead of jammy explosions in your mouth.  You can definitely make wines of each of these styles by picking your grapes on the same day (the science, I mean art, of winemaking), but if you know what you are looking to create before getting your boots dirty in the vineyard, you’ll have a better understanding of when the grapes are ready to achieve your particular style of wine.

So what has the heat wave been doing to the vines?  It is causing sugars to rise in the grapes at an unbalanced rate with the rest of the fruit’s maturity. When this happens and there is no weather relief in sight, you are stuck with wine grapes that are essentially flavorless behind an overbearing ‘sweetness.’  High sugars equate to high alcohols and very front-end loaded, one-dimensional wines.

During this period we have been sampling the grapes repeatedly to monitor their ripeness, checking sugar and acid levels, canopy health, skin and seed maturity.

When walking the vineyard, the first thing you will notice is canopy health.   Are the leaves remaining green, getting dull or yellowing?  Vines will start yellowing around the fruit zone which means they are telling you they are working overtime and they don’t have much more to give to the development of the fruit.

When you pluck a berry from a cluster of grapes and put it your mouth, the first thing you feel is the texture of the skins followed by the juice explosion.  As you mash the grape around your mouth, is the juice too sweet, or just right?  Are the skins chewy and creamy or dusty and papery?  Are the seeds pliable or crunchy?  You’ll spit the remains in your hand, check out the skins and look at the seeds, are they green, are they still smothered in pulp?  These are all indicators for grape maturation.  But one grape does not make a wine. So, we sample whole clusters, randomly throughout the specific part of the vineyard we designate.  We’ll bring the clusters back to the winery and crush them by hand and let the juice macerate on the skins for up to five hours.  We’ll then decant the juice and check the color.  Mature skins will create darker, richer hues after maturation and this is one more determining factor in how and when we know the grapes are ready.

The picture above is of Cabernet grapes we sampled this week.  The juice is macerating on its skins, which we will leave for up to five hours before decanting the juice and measuring its sugar and acid levels.  We’ll check the color and taste.  And then we’ll decide when to harvest.  Typically we’ll sample a vineyard block in this fashion about three times.  But that doesn’t include the number of times that we’ll walk the vineyard tasting and formulating our readiness decision.  This particular parcel of Cabernet will be harvested next week.  I’ll keep you posted on how it turns out.

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.