An Ode to Wine Drinking History

posted by Dan in Snooth, Wine Industry, Guest Bloggers

In my last post, I wrote about the dilemma I am facing in naming my personal wine project.  I said that I am 99% sure of what that name would be.  And before I unveil it here and my reasons why, let it be said that this is no press release in the vein of Snooth’s Wine Pairing application.  Kudos to the team for another quality extension of the brand that brings the wine world under rule.

In that previous post I queried for some feedback and received a few consistent comments pertaining to the ease of remembering the brand name, the ease in pronouncing it and its ability to be distinguished.*  Words like class, simplicity and minimalism were jousted around.  These defining words can do just that, not only define the brand but also, in my opinion, describe the (label) design.  A hook about this wine I am creating is that it will be a small production effort that will be sold to friends and family, a few select retailers and restaurants in NYC and the Bay Area, California.  I have acquired contracts on six tons of grapes and am looking at a potential 300 cases of white wine.  Not enough to get lost on the shelves of your local supermarket or super wine store.  This doesn’t justify an obscure name choice or design, but the limited supply helps with the early stages of marketing by avoiding the clutter.  My wine will be a hand-sell because of the nature of its composition; I will be producing a unique white wine blend with some (relatively) obscure Italian grape varieties at its core.  That being said, does the “name” mean as much as the fit (with the consumer’s palate, the sommelier’s palate or the restaurant’s wine list)?  Only time will tell.

So, it is time to tell.  The winery name will be “Massican.”  And its flagship blend, which on paper at this time, will consist of Tocai, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Ribolla Gialla will be “sub” named “Annia.”

What?

Massican.  Named after the coastal mountain range on the Southern Italian peninsula in the region of Campania.  Mount Massico garnered its mythological fame from a story of Bacchus’ travels when he was looking for a getaway after the “Carabinieri” (Italian police) were after his ass for being a cult-wino-instigator.  In this particular story, Bacchus took refuge in the foothills of Massico with a farmer named Falernus.  Bacchus was so enamored with the farmer’s generosity that when the farmer slept, Bacchus waved his magic Riedel Urn and turned his host’s hillside fields into the most sought after white wine grapes in all of Italy.  Today that DOC is called Falerno del Massico and is home to Campania’s seductive Falanghina.  My great-great Grandfather was also born in these foothills outside of the city of Caserta.  His father was a farmer who was jailed for this or that and sent his only son to the United States before WWI ensued.  During his imprisonment, the crook asked his neighbor to tend his farm.  When he was released, the neighbor did not want to give the land back.  So, he was stabbed and the criminal in my genealogical tree returned to jail.  Mythology, reverence and personal history all play a part in this (relatively easy to pronounce) name.

Since the wine doesn’t have a grape variety to distinguish it by, I will designate the wine with the name “Annia.”  Annia has two meanings.  First, it is a derivative of my mother’s name, Ann (who drinks her wine with ice cubes, even red wine, and I love her for it).  And it is also the name of the ancient Roman High Priestess, Paculla Annia, also from the region of Campania.  Paculla Annia was hunted in the Second Century BC because she was the forebearer in the flesh of what we know today to be etymology of what we consider the “Bacchanal” cult.

For you shrewd wine types, you will say, the grapes you chose, Dan, are not indigenous to your naming convention.  Yes, that is true.  But it is hard to find Falanghina in the United States, so I am attacking the Italian style of white wine production from its most prominent region, and as I have said earlier, I truly appreciate and enjoy drinking the modern style of wine coming out of North East Italy.  Although my naming convention doesn’t hone into this region’s history, it claims a history in Italian wine and, as described, a personal history.  So, I leave you with it and the words of Horace:

“… whether you bring complaints
or jokes, or brawling and insane
love affairs, or easy sleep,
or whatever purpose you preserve choice
Massico, worthy to be removed on an
auspicious day, descend,
bids me uncork [sic] wine.”

-

* A note about naming.  “Snooth.”  Not ‘smooth’.  Or what I originally linked it to, “Sleuth” (as in investigated).  Philip told me that it was the nickname for the town he grew up in England.  Maybe he can explain it here.
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

What’s in a Name?

posted by Dan in Wine Industry, Guest Bloggers

 “That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.”
Really?

If I introduced you to the rose bushes in my garden and I called them, Skunk, Vomit and Sulfur, would you really take to them with a walk away feeling of delicacy and charm?  And in that we find wine’s least charming characteristic – the power of persuasion.  Anyone can pull their Pinocchio from the glass and blurt out something rather interesting or silly  and, almost immediately, you will pick up on that same character if you are sniffing the same wine.

How does this pertain to a name?  Well, in launching my new venture I have the inevitable task of naming my wine.  This is a process that I have thought about over the years; even when I had no desire to make my own wine and label it as such.

I could tell you what I like to drink and why; however, unlike the old saying, “the journey is the destination,” in hindsight I have always felt it to be the other way around – the destination (the words and snapshots in your journal, the airline ticket stubs, the restaurant matchbooks) should incite memories of the time spent or the feelings endured.  When you are dealing with a luxury, packaged good (as pricey wine can be categorized) the hope is that the name, the label, the brand identity makes a connection that either brings you to another place or helps you identify with the thoughts and inspirations of the winemaker behind the wine.  [Note: That is just my opinion and aspiration.]

So, I am torn as to how I want to present myself with this wine.  I know in today’s day of Technology ADD, a brand needs to be dynamic and changing; offering its core essence but evolving with the times.  But for me, the dilemma is deeper.  Do I care about keeping up with the Twitterati?  Or do I want to achieve something that is timeless in its place and presentation?

I concede in my willingness to possibly accept the inevitable evolution of a brand identity, and, therefore, I have accepted the fact that the first attempt may not be perfect in all its parts.

For me, at the moment, ideas are swimming somewhere between an Ivy League education reamed of Humanities, Ancient Greek and Roman studies and all their encompassing esotericism, ethereal character and intellectualism with my modern day appreciation of minimalism, simplicity and elegance.

Can one accomplish both while teetering on the imagery of Tiepolo and Richard Serra? I hope so.

But, if you know me, I tend to stand against the pretension (of wine) albeit appreciating the history of the wine and its craftsmanship – from the technical and traditional to the irreverent and risk taking.
So, how does one portray the personality of the product and the varied personality of the person behind the product?  That is the dilemma.

I am 99% certain of the name of the wine brand and the “sub names” of the white wines I wish to create.  However, I would like to hear from you, my faithful and flawless readers, what attracts you to a wine label?  I’d love to gather your thoughts and comment on them and my decision in the next post.  Thanks in advance for your time and generosity of opinion, I look forward to hearing from you.

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

Terroir, an Addendum.

posted by Dan in Wine Industry, Wine, Guest Bloggers

Last week, Greg posted a spot-on treatise on the Terroir debate.

Between Greg and the readers who commented, there was enough meat in their words to satisfy those seeking the Executive Summary and those hoping to take a peek behind the curtain.

Greg’s comments reminded me of the wineanorak, Jamie Goode’s “Terroir” chapter in his book “The Science of Wine.”  Goode dedicates the entire second chapter (which follows ‘The biology of the grape vine) to the Terroir debate.  If a respected wine journalist is going to commit an entire chapter that early, front and center, in a book about Wine Science, then we must realize that this ethereal thing we call Terroir is and will always be up for debate.

Terroir is religion for some and bunk to others.  The notions of Terroir are deep rooted, no pun intended, shunned by those who don’t have it and celebrated by those who do.  But the comments regarding winemaking styles having an impact on the eventual representations of said dogma are true.  It is a constant debate in these parts of California as to whether Terroir exists.   Nature’s forces will never allow two wines from two different parts of the globe, even if they are from the same grape vine lineage, to taste the same.  However, the goal is that the man made impact in the vineyard and in the cellar respects his or her natural surroundings.  That being the hopeful representation of the winemaker’s motives, the conversation ensues amongst us whether or not one, five or twenty-five wines that are produced from the same vineyard will reflect the essence of that vineyard.  We hope so, but….

When a winemaker harvests grapes with a 30% sugar to water ratio and places those grapes in a fermentation tank with the intention to bleed off (what the French call ‘saigner’) the juice that was created naturally from the sorting, de-stemming and transferring processes before the ‘cold soak’ (the pre-fermentation maceration that allows the grape juice to extract non-alcoholic, color concentration along with textual and aromatic components), how much of the vineyard’s character is going to remain in the wine?  Wait, we’re not done. What usually follows this style of winemaking is the addition of pre-fabricated yeasts, water, tartaric acid and nutrients to promote a healthy fermentation.  But is that really healthy – to attempt to put back everything that was taken out of the grape?  This process is where the hand of the winemaker comes into play and knowing this, you ask, where’s the Terroir?  Where is the ‘sense of place’ as Greg D. and Greg T. point out in their comments?

This begs another question, using Greg’s example of North Coast Pinot Noir and its stylistic components - if a winemaker is stylistically apt to pursue, as Greg calls, a ‘low acid, fruit bomb’ Pinot Noir does placing a vineyard designation on the label mean anything anymore?  If one is fortunate to source fruit from some of the storied vineyards in Sonoma County are they just using the vineyard as a marketing tool?  Probably so.  And if you, the consumers, are fortunate enough to taste a number of the same wines made from the vineyard designated, it will be up to you to decide which wines you appreciate, but will you ever really know, because of different winemaking styles, the sense of place that the vineyard is offering?  Probably not.  And that is a sad state of affairs if you believe that a wine could be marketed in such a way to promote itself through association.  So now the debate comes full circle to some comments I made on this blog back in April regarding the disclosure of winemaking techniques.

As Sir Walter Scott said: “What a tangled web we weave, when first we [practice] to deceive.”

Similar to Greg, I started out one way and finished another.  But in truth, that is the beauty of wine.  We will all share our own opinions sometimes vehemently, but the truth is in the palate of the beholder.  Drink well and enjoy.

-

Here’s a quick addition to this post that is quite interesting and falls in line with this debate.  In yesterday’s Wine Business e-mail newsletter they reported on Wine Intelligence’s new research that queried wine drinking consumers about their familiarity with worldwide wine producing regions.  Some of the results are startling.  With only 31% and 29% of American drinkers aware of French wine regions Cotes du Rhone and the Loire, how is it possible that the balance would ever know the Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc “terroirs” of said regions, even if they put it in their mouth?!?  My favorite tidbit from the report asked consumers to write the first thing that came to mind when they saw the name of a wine region.  “When Marlborough was shown, the most popular response was “cigarettes”; for Chianti, the film Silence of the Lambs was one of the most frequently repeated [responses].”  Egad.

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

Another New Wine?

posted by Dan in Wine Industry, Guest Bloggers

It’s June 2009.  I ventured off four years ago this month to pursue my interest in wine.  It was a curiosity and a possible career change then, now it is a daily passion that, not only, fills my heart, hands, nose and mouth, but also pays my bills.  In just a few short years I have been fortunate to make the successful transition from wine drinker to winemaker.  Along the way I have seen a proliferation of new wine labels enter the market.  Some have screamed to success, some are starting off strong but inevitably won’t endure – not for lack of passion or entrepreneurialism, but for a market that has been exponentially flooded during the boom years of increasing wine appreciation. From what I can tell and what research has told us, wine appreciation has not waned, but it has become a sad state of affairs for committed winemakers as the current economy is hovering somewhere between purgatory and nuclear destruction.  The market now seems to be sputtering, spitting, trading down, dining out less, and BYOB’ing when splurging was once a status symbol of the wine (drinking) strivers. Only the strong will survive, no?  Only the realists will realize that a simple drink marketed as an elixir of ancient times modernized will weather the reduction of profits, the refinancing of loans, the sale of family businesses, the savage shake of waking from a lifelong dream.

Amongst the ascent of financial chaos, another wine will come to market in the late Spring of 2010.  It will be a white wine.  It will be a risky endeavor.  On one hand it will not be a wine for novices.  On the other hand, it will be a blend of grape varieties with the hope of promising a new, unique approach of what white wine could be – modern, stylistic, spirited, sharply focused, textured, nuanced; different - taking the best of what California vineyards (and terroir) has to offer and approaching the winemaking with intellectual verve and passion.

I am starting my own label, Ladies and Gents.  I will be sourcing my fruit from a handful of California’s preeminent appellations and some lesser known ones.  My goal is to bring in as many grapes as I can weather and let them tell me what to do next.  My approach is to mirror the burgeoning success of the new-wave of white wines coming out of North East Italy with a Californian winemaker’s bend.  I adore the new world approach of producers Lis Neris, Volpe Pasini, Terlan and Venica & Venica and their use of classic and new world grape varieties, blended and vinified.  My hope is to channel their wines on Californian ground.

It is a risk.  But one worth taking. The economy has nose-dived and many producers are pulling back, down-sizing or shuttering completely because of the arrival of the financial Four Horsemen.

But in each and every thing, one must find the essence.  And the essence of this financial zeitgeist should be opportunity.  Take a look at the markets.  Find an opportunity.  Fill a hole.  The hole I am filling is in myself.  I reared my pursuit on a love of unique, memorable and affordable wines, and I hope that the 2009 vintage can satiate my goals to add a wine of said descriptors to the mix.  In previous posts over the last year I have offered an insight of winemaking techniques and processes.  In my future posts I hope to do the same, but with personal insights on the process.  Wish me luck (and buy my wine upon release).  Details to follow….

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

Bottling Day

posted by Dan in Snooth, Wine Industry, Guest Bloggers

Below is the third and final installment of bottling our 2008 Tocai Friulano and 2007 Firebelle. As promised, here is an attempt at presenting the process with photos. At the bottom of this posting is a link to photos on the Kodak website - the photos you will find there (and some below) were taken by Joshua Liberman. You can find out more about Josh’s photography on his website.

Larkmead is a relatively small producer. On average, we’ll make 8,000 cases a year. Our facility is not set up to bottle our own wine. The main reason for this is that it is expensive to own, maintain and manage a bottling line, especially since it is only used a couple of times a year. Therefore, when it comes time to bottling our wines, like many small producers, we will bring in a ‘mobile’ bottling unit. The beast of an 18 or so wheeler is outfitted with all the necessary automated devices – a filler bowl to fill the bottles, the filling machine, a corker, a capsule put-er-on-er (don’t really know if it has a name), the label machine and two technicians who manage the process professionally.

Depending on the truck you hire for the day, you can bottle up to 400 cases of wine an hour, that’s over 6 cases a minute. Although the process is fast and loud, it is ridiculously efficient with a focus on quality. To manage the day, you will also need about nine freelance workers to help get the empty glass on the truck (two guys), the finished wine in the case box (three ladies), and the cases labeled (two more ladies) and stacked on pallets for transport to storage (two more guys). And you will need a forklift driver (myself) to move pallets of empty glass and finished wine in and out of the way.

So, as mentioned, the empty glass gets pulled off a pallet and put on a conveyor.

From here the empty glass bottle is sparged with either Argon or Nitrogen to displace the oxygen in the bottle. The bottle is then filled with wine (the wine gets to the truck by the use of a pump that is hooked up to a tank inside the winery). Once the bottle is full of wine, it is corked.

After the wine is corked, it slides down the line and a capsule is placed on the bottle.

The capsule is larger then the neck of the bottle, but it is spun and the air is vacuumed out of the in between space and the capsule is collapsed for a snug fit before it is sent to be labeled.

After the wine is labeled, it circles the other side of the truck and is placed in case boxes. Pictured below is our team manager, Hilda, who, with her team, circulate and work the starting and finishing aspects, as noted above, throughout the day. In this photo Hilda is packing our first ever, half-bottle (375 mL) offering.

Please check out the Kodak website for more detailed photos of the process. And although the day is long (I’ll arrive with the truck’s technicians at 6 a.m. - we’ll begin bottling at 8 a.m. - and leave, post clean up, at around 6 p.m.), there is always something to do during bottling, but there is one particular Larkmead cellar hand that gets to sleep on the job, my dog Sophie.

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

Bottling Prep, Part 2

posted by Dan in Wine Industry, Guest Bloggers

I left off in the last post  talking about the process of “racking” a wine in preparation for bottling.  I also detailed some chemistry information about wine that winemaking types need to think about - not only the chemistry before the wine is bottled, but also its make-up throughout its development.

By the time this is posted on Wednesday I will have cases and cases full of wine.  And I promise in two weeks time you will see a photo essay of the bottling process. I am just not that tech-savvy to propose posting this in real time.

Today, we are bottling our Tocai. It is a small, limited production dry, white wine from 125 year-old vines.  We’ll make just about 120 cases from the 2008 vintage.  This Tocai is the North East Italian variety and brings all the best wild flower and citrus blossom to the nose and floral herbaceousness that is characteristic of the wines from the Friuli region.  We will also be bottling our Merlot based blend, Firebelle, from the 2007 vintage.

On Monday morning at 7:00 a.m. my glass (i.e. empty bottles) arrived.  Stacked on pallets in our branded boxes, 84 empty cases to a pallet.  Since last week, deliveries of labels, corks and capsules have been arriving as well.  My small cellar space has been overrun with packaging. Like any packaged goods brand manager, vendors were kept in touch with over the year – since the prior bottling; kinks were worked out and changes were made.  The most consistent change each year is to our labels.  The most obvious change is the vintage date and the current wine’s alcohol level.  And if the wine is composed of a different blend (e.g. Firebelle - Merlot, Cabernet and Malbec), the grape variety information and percentages have been updated.  For our Tocai, we decided to add an image to the label to memorialize the history behind the vines.   So, some wholesale changes were made and proofs were scrutinized and press checks were attended.

With regards to corks, when buying, we set up trials with our vendor.  These trials consist of smelling corks from different bales (i.e. lots) in order to check for quality – or more importantly, TCA (i.e. the chemical name for a natural fungus that is present in wood based products and we know commonly as “cork taint”).  A cork trial is a great aromatic tester because TCA comes in varying levels of impact. With low alcohol wines, if TCA is present, the impact is more profound.  With higher alcohol wines, e.g. Cabernets, there is a chance, even if there are minute traces of TCA (registered in parts per trillion) in the cork, it will not be discernable in the wine.  TCA is mainly recognizable as wet cardboard or wet dog, or, in lesser instances, as muted fruit profile or heightened menthol character.   So, for the trial the corks are soaked in low alcohol, boxed white wine (Franzia, I believe) over night.  Each cork is in its own individual vile of said wine and poured into wine glasses upon arrival.  We’ll smell ten or more corks from each bale and test five to ten bales in one session. We’ll have a control sample and the goal is to smell the glasses of wine and look for the bales that produce the least amount of impact in the wine’s aromatic character.

Covering the corks are the capsules. Last year we changed our capsule provider, for quality and price reasons, and we were able to secure a higher quality for a better price.  Unfortunately, last year, tin prices sky-rocketed, and if you add in the fact that we purchased our capsules from a French producer while the Euro to dollar conversion was peaking in the 1.50’s, it was an expensive accoutrement. We also buy our glass from France and our corks from Portugal, thus the currency conversion rates last year increased our entire packaging costs for our 2006 wines.   [The conversion rates also impacted our French Oak barrel purchasing.  Barrels that were $500-$600 a piece in 2003 and 2004 are now hovering around the $1,000 mark.]

For example, the rough costs for packaging a single bottle of wine are as follows:

Case Box: $0.15
Glass: $1.30
Corks: $0.60
Labels: $0.25
Capsules: $0.20

On top of this, you need to factor in your grape costs, your harvest costs, your vinification costs (i.e. fermentation yeasts and nutrients), your barrel costs, your time, labor, chemistry analysis, bottling prep, and the act of bottling itself. [You will see in the next post, we use a mobile bottling service which charges around $0.30 per bottle.]

Overall, the cost of producing a bottle of wine, for us (and this differs based on the choices each winery makes), is roughly, give or take a dollar, $10 per bottle.  That does not include the overhead (turning the lights on in the morning, etc.) and the marketing and sales expenses associated with the wine).  So, when it comes down to it, our wine is fairly expensive to produce – almost 3x the price of the average bottle of wine purchased in America.  However, in a Napa Valley comparison, on a QPR basis, our wines tend to be in the top tier of value wines even at $50-$60 per bottle.  I shutter sometimes when I think about this, because when I was a consumer of wine, not in the business of producing wine, I used to think of buying wine at this price point as a luxury.  Now it is value based on the wines I drink these days.  Sorry for the aside.

So, wish me luck today and the next couple of bottling days over the course of the next week, because this is the last chance to have any control of your wine’s development.  I am looking forward to the next post, full of pictures to elaborate on the process.  Until then, drink well, the luxurious kind or not.

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

Bottle Racking

posted by Dan in Wine Industry, Guest Bloggers

In a post earlier this year titled “Winter Winemaking”, I discussed a little bit of the thought process and ensuing vinification activity of a young wine post-harvest.  Now that the majority of our 2008 wines have been blended and are marrying in barrel, it’s (chronological) time to turn our attention to the previous vintage – 2007.   As with our Cabernet and Merlot based wines, the wines will age in barrel from 18 to 22 months before bottling.  We are scheduled to bottle our 2007 Merlot blend and Estate Cabernet in early May.  So, the most obvious and important activity pre-bottling is to remove the wine from barrel and settle it in a stainless steel tank to facilitate the bottling process.  This activity is called racking.

The pre-bottling racking is the final clarifying event for the wine, but also stands for some winemakers as the final blend.  At Larkmead we blend in the first six to nine months of the wine’s life; a philosophy we believe helps the wine harmonize and integrate with itself and the barrel profile, leaving nothing out of balance.   During the initial rackings we will use a centrifugal pump to allow oxygen to come in contact with the wine (an opportunity to soften the rough edges, i.e. tannins) and to force out any remaining CO2.  As the wine ages, it becomes near mandatory not to expose the wine to oxygen, therefore we will move the wine with the help of inert gases.  As pictured,

we are pressurizing the barrel with Argon in order to gently move the wine to tank (a tank that has been gassed with Argon to displace its oxygen).  Argon is heavier than Nitrogen (which is still widely used for this process) and does not bind to other elements (especially those in liquid).  The process of moving the wine takes about five minutes per barrel (a 60-gallon barrel is the equivalent of 25 cases of wine).  During the last two weeks, we racked with Argon over 250 barrels (or 6,200 cases) worth of wine that we are readying for bottling in May.

Once the wine is in tank, and the headspace is gassed with Argon (to displace any residual oxygen) it is time to take a sample of the wine to test its final chemistry.  The chemistry analysis will determine whether there is any remaining bacteria in the wine that can cause flaws or faults in the wine.  At this point we will be able to make decisions as to whether or not the wine needs to be fined or filtered before bottling.  Fining is the process of clarifying a wine, removing any micro solids, bacteria, yeast and polyphenols (i.e. harsh tannins).  A traditional fining solution would be egg whites.  Today there are also other gelatins that produce positive activity that will bind with the unwanted cells.   Said addition is mixed into the barrel before racking or tank post-racking and then allowed to settle to the bottom of the vessel pulling out the unwanted particles that have remained in suspension in the wine.  Filtering takes fining to the next level. Filtering can play an important role in the production of the final product.  When you filter a wine, you guarantee that the whole body of the wine will be subject to electrokinetic activity that once again helps remove any microbacteria. Fining and filtering can help ‘polish’ a wine by removing its rough edges and improving its texture and clarity.

A History of a Wine’s Chemistry Analysis

Chemistry analysis is an important contributor throughout the life of the wine making process. During the cold soak, we will look at the wine’s nutrient profile, sugar content and acid which will guide us through the pending fermentation and cue us in as to whether we will need to be adding any nutrients to facilitate a healthy conversion of grape juice to young wine.  Once the wine finishes fermentation the standard chemical analysis of the wine will include: pH (the general indicator of acidity in a wine; water is neutral at 7 pH, while white wines will be in the low 3’s and red wines in the mid to upper 3’s; thus acidic); RS (“residual sugar” or the glucose and fructose that remain in a wine after these sugars have converted to ethanol concentration or alcohol; each wine and each winemaker will have their own threshold as to what is acceptable RS in a wine.  We consider our wines to be ‘dry’ (i.e. lacking sugar) at less than 1 g/L.  Late harvest or dessert wines can be judged as such if they have more than 4g/L residual sugar); Alcohol (self explanatory) and VA (or “volatile acidity” which is predominantly acetic acid that is produced by spoilage yeast and bacteria in a wine and can cause the development of unwanted sensory effects.  Wines with high acetic numbers can also cause the formation of ethyl acetate that is a common microbial flaw.  At high levels, ethyl acetate produces the dreaded nail polish remover character in a wine; at lower levels it can produce a potential sweet, richness).

Throughout the life of the wine’s maturation the sulfur levels are monitored and adjusted to preserve the wine.  Appropriate levels of sulfur in a wine during aging will act as an antioxidant and will prevent microbial growth.  The absence of sulfur in a wine and the presence of oxygen is the biggest threat to the wine’s health.  During the wine’s life in barrel, we strive for sulfur levels in the mid-30’s and we will bottle our wines at levels around 25 to 28 mg/L (or parts per million, PPM).

With the basic chemistry established and at acceptable levels throughout maturation, it is now time, pre-bottling, to determine whether or not the wine has any remaining spoilage yeasts and bacteria that produce off character(s) in wine.  The most common ‘flaws’ that develop during primary and secondary fermentation are as follows: Oenoccoccus, a malolactic bacteria that will produce high levels of acetic acid; Brettanomyces is an easily distributed volatile acid, ester and phenol that is responsible for the off-aromas and barnyard flavors we commonly know as Brett; Lactobacilius, another malolactic bacteria that forms during sluggish fermentations produces that buttery character in a wine; Pediococcus is yet another lactic bacteria that can cause textural defects that suppress the fruit character in a wine and prevent the healthy aging of a wine.  The appropriate chemistry analysis of these bacteria will let you know if you have any of these miscreant cells remaining in your wine.  Although some of these cells may be present, there is a good chance that they are ‘dead cells’ that were neutralized during the healthy process of sulfur maintenance.  If we feel that the wine is in jeopardy due to high levels of any of these cells, we will make the decision to filter the wine.

A short cut to checking if a wine has problems is to check its turbidity, i.e. the wine’s clarity or haziness.  Turbidity will help determine whether a wine has any suspended solids.  Those solids may include the yeast cells or the microbacteria listed above; however, as mentioned, those solids may or may not be active in deteriorating the wines.  It is up to the winemaker to make the judgment based on the full chemistry analysis as to whether or not they wish to clarify the wine further through filtration, to finish and polish the final product or to free it from the potential danger of those bacteria attacking the character of the wine.

As I type this, I am happy to report that we have the full chemistry analysis of our Merlot blend, Firebelle. The wine has a pH of 3.9, RS of less than 1g/L, VA of less than 1g/L, Alcohol at 14.5% and no spoilage bacteria whatsoever.  The turbidity of the wine is 25 NTU and we’d like to see that lower than 15; so, we are going to rack the wine from tank to tank because during the process of moving the wine from barrel to tank, it is likely that you will shake up some solids which we are comfortable knowing will settle out once again in the weeks ahead pre-bottling.  So, looks like a near perfect (chemical) wine.  But most importantly, how does it taste?  Well, that is for you to decide when the wine releases January 2010.  I’ll report back in a couple of weeks with a photo essay of the bottling process.  Until then, thanks for reading.

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

Winemaking Techniques: Disclosure and Regulation

posted by Dan in Wine Industry, Guest Bloggers

Friends of Snooth, not much of a blog here, but hoping to get some forum-like feedback.

Last week on the “eBob” bulletin board a question was posed regarding the marketing of wine.  More exact, the disclosure of winemaking techniques (with regards to its marketing).  The concern of the post was whether or not it is ethical to present a wine with all its romantic ideals coming from a particular place if the wine was manipulated to taste in such or such a way.

The style of a particular wine was not in question, but how the winemaker achieved his or her goal, and if it is appropriate, for educational purposes, to be discussing these practices if they are part of the process.

The Devil’s Advocate debate was: does it really matter?

Will disclosure actually diminish one’s perception of wine?  Will there be buyer’s remorse or more importantly, will you not purchase a wine that used fish bladders for clarifying purposes or added water and acid during fermentation to achieve optimal results?  [Note: the addition of water and acid during fermentation not only can produce more of a wine, but also can lower potential alcohol levels and help produce a healthy fermentation if grapes are harvested, over-ripe, slightly dehydrated and out of balance.]

A similar, political example to this is: last year, you may recall the outcry against Brunello di Montalcino producers who were cutting their wines with juice from other regions of Italy to alter the wine’s taste and/or production levels.  Remembrance of this issue can be found here.

Governments have gotten involved, wine has been confiscated and as a result consumers are stuck holding an empty bottle.  But has your taste and enjoyment of these wines changed?  Do we need Governments to get involved to protect against these indiscretions?  If you once enjoyed Brunello and stocked your cellar with some, do you now feel cheated? Are you heart-broken?  Are you smashing bottles of Brunello and dumping them down the drain?  Are you not buying Italian wine anymore because one is a reflection of many?

There are many questions to be asked about this debate of disclosure and many opinions to be heard.  On the subject of regulation, in the recent issue of Decanter an interview with Tom Black, a Tennessee businessman, mammoth collector and investor in Alto (the NYC restaurant) made a pinpoint argument against regulation.  He says, and I quote, “We scream free trade to the world but don’t allow it.  I’d let people buy direct from the winery and have it shipped home.”

On the Parker boards regarding the above disclosure debate, the ugly comment was reared, “[you assume] the geeks that inhabit this forum resemble the normal wine consumers.”  I hope not to degrade anyone reading this by reposting that comment, but let’s hear it – what are your thoughts about disclosure and/or regulation?

Taste, Taste, Eat, Taste

posted by Dan in Wine Industry, Wine, Guest Bloggers

Since my Tasting group of hard-hitting Sonoma County Pinot Noir producers somehow disbanded last year, I have taken it upon myself to fill the void in various ways.  First and foremost, as my friends in the Valleys will tell you, when I have a cocktail party at my house, it is always accompanied by a theme – for example, an 80’s NYC Art Scene Gallery Exhibition Opening when guests were requested to wear black, white or a combination of both and cheap white wine and cheaper sparkling wine was served over white and fluorescent orange hunks of cheese; or a Gatsby themed party where Prohibition era cocktails were mixed and silos full of Champagne were consumed.  Hosting a traditional dinner party or pot-luck is also an engaging option for wine geeks – whether it be regional focused (with accompanying foods) or vintage focused.  A recent dinner party at my house contained a face off of a 2006 Sancerre (Alphonse Mellot Edmund) vs. the 2006 Larkmead Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc.  The red portion of the program contained two 2000 Bordeaux second labels (Mouton’s Chateau D’Armailac and Leoville-Las Cases’ Clos du Marquis) and two 2001 Italian wines, Terralsole’s Brunello di Montalcino and Pira’s Vigna Rionda Barolo.  The reds weren’t a precise theme, but it opened up the palates of us Cabernet focused Napa Valley types.

Over the last couple of months, I was fortunate to organize a blind tasting of 2005 Cabernet’s from Napa Valley (a work event to compare Larkmead’s wines from said vintage to some of the ‘cult’ Cabernets garnering lots of attention and even higher price tags).  I posted a forum note, here on the site, and reviewed the wines.  More recently, I was fortunate to be pulled into another Cabernet (blind) tasting to, once again, gauge a wine (this time a new wine to market made by Thomas Brown of Schrader fame) and how it compares to relatively similar wines and their price points.  While I was in NYC last month working at our distributor tasting, I had the good fortune to get out from behind the table and taste a few of the Int’l imported wines that you’ll see in New York restaurants and retail but may not necessarily make it out to the West Coast (esp. the wine stores of Napa and Sonoma).  These trade tastings happen pretty regularly and are free of charge, all you need to do is have a good relationship with a wine shop owner or restaurant wine director and ask if any trade tastings are coming up – when and where. [Ed. Note: I am sure the Snooth team can help on this one, hint, hint. Get connected, good wine drinking will follow!]

After the NY tasting I had the good fortune to sit down to dinner with, in my opinion, one of the top wine enthusiasts and generous fellows I have ever met.  He organized a dinner where ten people gathered at Little Giant on the Lower East Side and we uncorked 21 wines that were brought by said fellow and friends.  (Below is a list of the wines and my half-crocked tasting notes, of which I posted on this site - if the wines were in the Snooth database.)

In an ‘event’ like this, it is obvious that the wine will overshadow the food and the company and conversation will educate you beyond the bottle.  I definitely feel this dinner (among similar others I had in the past year+ with this fellow) rank up their with some of the incredible tastings and dinners organized by Snooth’s own, Gregory Dal Piaz.  Keep thanking him for his generous notes and tastings!

So, if anyone has read Gregory’s posts, and are reading this, I do hope that you have that itch of a drunken desire that prompts you to organize your own wine tasting, cocktail party, dinner party, blind tasting, theme drinking, BYOB drinking, etc., etc.  In these recessionary times, there is no better way to spread the resources around than to encourage your family, friends and work colleagues with a relatively low cost BYOB night of drinking under the pretense of this or that theme.  Which reminds me, something that has been lingering in the ears and mouths of my friends is the 80-point blind tasting.  We have all had our fair share of poor reviews and we all feel blotted by them.  It is our hope to uncork the bottles, raise the glasses and to enjoy the heck out of these wines that may or may not have become second-class citizens based on someone’s third party review.  It will happen soon and I will let you know when it does; but, in the meantime, it would be great to hear about what is inspiring you to gather and gulp some of the good stuff.  It may inspire us all to make the best with what’s around.  And by the way, I invested in a couple of restaurant wine dinners recently and was pleasantly pleased with the week’s worth of food and wine that accompanied a price that would be close to the retail value of one or two of the wines that were consumed on the night in question.  Return on investment very high in some of these dinners – so, check your resources, something too good to be true will be on the horizon, I am sure of it.  Eat well, drink better and let us know what you have been tasting!

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Little Giant Dinner
March 24, 2009

Domaine de Croix 2006
Beaune, 1er Cru, Pertuisots
- Youthfully subdued nose, opens to a soft, supple aromatic midpalate; elegant use oak that translates on the finish.

Domaine Humbert Freres 2006
Gevrey Chambertin, Premier Cru, Poissenot
- Textured nose of cherry-aspirin pill box sweetens undertones of earth and mushroom; a hint of cola on the palate broadens to a bitter cherry finish.

Wind Gap 2006
Grenache Booker Vineyard Paso
- A bit overripe, masking tell-tale Grenache rusticity and texture; however, surprisingly refined on the mid-palate with a soft, supple tannins that dry out quickly.

Wind Gap 2006
Syrah Sonoma Coast
- Intense Kalamata olive nose; stemmy to a fault (?).  However, luckily, more impressed with the aromatic mid-palate but can’t get over the nose!

Larkmead 2002
Solari Reserve Cabernet
- Rich, luscious, sweet, tannin and acid.  Vanilla, cream, dried herbs, black tea and Asian spices.  Tastes like a Jolly Rancher when compared to the Canon.

Ch. Canon 1982
St. Emilion
- Signature BDX nose (some said “Brett,” I say “Terroir”); Cedar, cherry, eucalyptus; bitter cherry finish.  Or as we discussed: the Grande Dame at the ball, wearing Chanel, sweating a bit after the Waltz, returns to the table after powdering her nose.

Realm 2006
To-Kalon Vineyard
- An Oakville nose of dusty, textured fruit; creamy mouthfeel, vanilla, sweet and succulent with a weed (i.e. hempy) finish.  Elegant and refined tannins, a nod to good winemaking in the 06 vintage.

Realm 2006
Dr. Crane Vineyard
- Similar (identical oak ?) mid-palate to the To-Kalon under a darker, more brooding nose and off-putting, astringent tannic finish.  Finishes a little hot with similar hempy character of the To-Kalon – may say something about the barrels used.

Carlisle 2007
Zinfandel, Montafi Ranch, RRV
- The warm, inviting nose.  Teasing.  Powerful, explosive fruit wrapped in a creamy core.  Lull’s you in and then throws you a spliter of astringency on the finish.  Leaves you wanting to redeem yourself (or it).

Paul Jaboulet Aine 2003
La Chapelle, Hermitage*
- Elegant and balanced.  Soft and polished.  Focused purity.  Meat.  Fruit.  Cream.  Acts I, II and III.  Runs you up the tree.  Offers you the options to get down. And finishes with happily ever after.

Chapoutier 2003
L’Ermite, Hermitage*
- Reggie Jackson circa October 1978.  Power, structure, consistency.  A true champ.  Highlighted with a bit of verve – spice, menthol, mint.  A spectacular finish.  Lingering in the memory.

* Hard to beat these two wines.

Domaine Robert Arnoux 2007
Vosne-Romanee, 1er Cru, Les Suchots
- “Pretty”, soft, subtle sweetness on the nose that dominates the wine.  A little shy in the mouth but finishes with some tell-tale, “I want another sip” acid.  Needs time to balance a bit.

Domaine Jaques Fredrick Mugnier 2004
Chambolle Musigny, Bonnes-Mares
- Best representation of a mood based wine.  Intriguing in exotic kind of way.  Dark and brooding; best consumed on a rainy day because the acid and tannin promise the spirit of sunshine in the future.

Domaine Prieure Roch 1995
Vosne-Romanee, Les Suchots
- Shockingly still fruit forward.  Dark, rich and elegant midpalate balanced with fine acidity.  Not necessarily noble, a bit more rebellious.

Clos Saint Jean 2005
Deus ex Machina, CdP
- One of the most intense wines (in balance) that I have ever tasted.  It’s richness is kept in check with layers of purity, complexity and texture. This wine bleeds terroir and passionate winemaking.

Clos Saint Jean 2006
Deus ex Machina, CdP
- A bit off-putting - the roller-coaster ride of a young wine’s evolution in bottle.  Unlike its previous vintage, the wine is a bit more linear (laser like fruit focus with more expressive alcohol); oak influence rearing its ugly head.  Overjoyed to have tasted it, but some infanticide took place with this wine.

Clos Saint Jean 2005
La Combe des Fous, CdP
- Best in show.  Dark and brooding at first glance.  Soft and succulent as you get to know her.  Balanced and perfect when you walk away thinking about her.  The wine’s concentration and intensity is focused throughout the experience. Never wavering, cannot find a flaw in this wine.

Domaine La Barroche 2005
PURE, CdP
Youthful.  Tight.  Showing its extremes - high-toned fruit focus, vegetative and black olive (whole cluster), a little too much alcohol becoming raisin-like; shy on its potential.  Would love to revisit.

Domaine de la Mordoree 2005
La Plume du Pientre, La Crau, CdP
- Similar to the PURE, needs time.  It’s port-like character shows hints of intense, concentrated complexity.  Remove its chastity belt in ten or twenty years and this wine will be a knock-out.

Domaine Gustave Lorentz 1983
Gerwurztraminer
Shockingly fresh.  Clarity is remarkable.  The pineapple and malic character is stunning.  A refreshing way to re-liven the palate after luxurious red wine consumption.  I would drink this nightly to count sheep in the spring-time pasture happily.

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.

Gambero Rosso Recap

posted by Dan in Wine Industry, Wine, Guest Bloggers

About this time last year, I blogged about the top Italian wine tasting event of the year – the Gambero Rosso “Tre Bicchieri” road show.

Last week, I was able to attend the event for the second year in a row.  It is an understatement to say that I was knee-knocking excited and pedal to the metal from Napa to San Francisco on that bright, sunshiny day.  I arrived promptly at 2 p.m. for the trade portion of the program to find the place already swarming with Italophiles.  I fingered the pages of my tasting guide, but decided quickly to start with the white wines from the first table and continue from there to completion before moving on to the reds.

There were 122 producers present from Gambero Rosso’s 2009 guide of top Italian wines.  In a world of rating, i.e. score, escalation, it is always amazing to me that the folks at Gambero Rosso review 2,000+ producers and over 18,000 wines each year and only give their top score, “Three Glasses,” to three hundred plus wines.  As consumers we have to tip our tastevins to the publication’s discerning palate.

However, in hindsight of the event, I was disappointed.  Understanding that we are in a worldwide economic recession, and the dollar isn’t as attractive to Europeans as it was last year, there was a less significant number of producers present this year.  Second, the tasting was prominently categorized by Distributor.  Not saying it hasn’t been done as such in previous years or other events, but this time around it was obnoxious.  If a Distributor was fortunate enough to have two, three or more top Italian wines in their portfolio, the wines were stationed side by side and sometimes there was one person pouring the wines of two or three different producers.  I understand this for Trade purposes – i.e sell the strength of the portfolio - but during the couple of hours when the San Francisco wine cognescenti were tasting, the grey-flannel pant and oxford shirt brigade of Distributors floating behind the tables were schmoozing to push the wines more than they were trying to pull you into the allure of these spectacular representations of Italian appellations and artisanship.

And this was not the only drawback.  First the white wines were chilled to Titanic, glacial proportions.  Not a single white wine in the first hour of my tasting showed any discernable character beyond razor acidity. The most disappointing interaction was with a Friulano white when two of us tasting stated that the wine they were pouring was flawed.  The rotund Distributor called for one of his colleagues to taste – the colleague then passed off an ambivalent face as to say, ‘Bu’ (translation, ‘whatever’).  It took persistence from the woman from a top San Francisco wine store and myself to say, “this wine is corked.”  With reluctance, a new bottle was opened and tasted, ice cold.

I have been fortunate to be on both sides of the table over the past couple of years.  And when pouring wines at such events like this, I am gracious and thankful that someone would (a) stop by and taste our wines, (b) be already familiar with our wines and (c) have an opinion about the quality and presentation of the wines.  Larkmead is a boutique producer in a world of big-time, big-price Napa Valley wineries.  Similarly, Italian ‘three glass’ wines from Friuli are a small fraction of the American awareness; the first rule of sales – the customer is always right.  If you don’t want to believe that, find a new profession.

All in all, it wasn’t a bad day.  I was quite impressed with the completeness of the 2004 Barolos I tasted.  I was intrigued with some of the older, ready to release white wines, and I was shocked by the elegance and approachability of the handful of Amarones present at the tasting.  Later this week, I will post some of my tasting notes directly on this site and will announce it on the bulletin boards.  I would be curious if any of you Snooth’ers went to this tasting in San Francisco or in other parts of the country that the Gambero Rosso road show is presenting.  I’d love to hear your thoughts – especially you Southern Californians who had to wait five hours for the wines to arrive!
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.