Flowering at Hirsch Vineyards

Last Thursday, I stopped by Hirsch Vineyards where Jasmine Hirsch told me that flowering was the second latest–and the latest was just last year. Given this year of wacky wine weather, I thought it was worth asking the question: What is flowering and how does a late flowering affect the finished wine?

To further reproduction, the vines burst flowers that become bunches of grapes. The period between flowering and the arrival of the grapes (called “fruit set”) is a tenuous time when severe weather can damage the emerging berries, so the shorter the period between bloom and set, the lower the risk to the harvest’s quality and quantity. Jasmine said that in 2005, they had an early bloom and a late set with heavy rains in between, which reduced the yields to a half a ton per acre, or 20% of the normal yield. By contrast, even though last year was their latest bloom, the fruit set relatively fast and the window of potential peril closed quickly. (And the wines in the barrel appear to be evolving well–more on that later.) Whether that will be the case again this year, nobody knows. But the late bloom did at least avert the storms of late May and early June that may have caused “shatter” in some other, warmer Northern California areas that had already had bloom. However, a late set may mean a late harvest, with its attendant risks. Mother Nature is capricious and, despite the efforts of vineyard owners like the Hirsches, ultimately runs the show.

The photo below is from a row of grapevines that have not yet flowered while the above photo is just across the row and shows that flowering has started in Block 8 pinot (pommard, planted in 1993) at Hirsch.

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Ar.Pe.Pe. – mountain Nebbiolo

Nebbiolo, it’s not just for Piedmont! Well, actually it is just for Piedmont (think: Barolo, Barbaresco) since there are so few examples of the grape outside the region. But consider this example from Valtellina, in the adjacent region of Lombardy, slammed up against the alps and Switzerland.

Perched at about 4,200 ft altitude, the vineyards of producer Ar.Pe.Pe. are so steep that the grapes are harvested by a sort of modified ski gondola! And their steepness so rivals Hermitage that they also have signs in the vineyards in between terraces! It sounds outrageously cool and I am putting this on my list of places to visit. Fortunately, we can taste the fruits of these vineyards in the US today.

Ar.Pe.Pe.–an abbreviation for Arturo Pelizzatti Perego, pronounced “are pay pay”–provides a tasty treat with its Rosso Valtellina, 100% Nebbiolo fermented in stainless steel with brief aging in old oak barrels. The traditional producer makes more expensive, longer-aged reds, but this entry-level wine is ready to drink. I threw it in a decanter just for laffs, served it at 55 degrees and the transparent, light red color was appetizing in and of itself on a summer evening. Delicate fruit, stoniness, and the alluring slight bitterness of Nebbiolo, combine to make this wine (about $30) a stunner.

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Vintage 2011: wacky wine weather

Weather: it’s what you discuss in elevators or with the in-laws. But if you’re a winemaker or even a wine consumer, it can actually be pretty important.

And things are heating up in talking about weather in the wine world. Especially if you are in Bordeaux that is, since it is en fuego! Or something like that: The heat has been abnormally high and the rainfall is way below average. So if the drought-like conditions keep up, the reduced supply of grapes could push wine prices even higher! Is it 2003 all over again? The vintage in Burgundy is also advanced.

By contrast, cut to the Auction Napa Valley this past weekend and people were breaking out the umbrellas rather than the sunscreen. Weather has been cool across the state. Rhys Vineyards has vineyards in more of the marginal weather areas of California and therefore is rightfully weather-obsessed, so their Twitter feed is an excellent source of weather info. Temperatures at their Skyline Vineyard, perched at 2,300-ft elevation, hovered at 49.6 degrees Fahrenheit in May, making it one of the seven coldest Mays since 1931; their vine shoots are about two or three inches behind, they tweet. They say that weather in late June is key for the fruit set so they don’t mean to sound gloomy. And after California’s cool and damp 2010 vintage, the “high-octane,” “fruit-bomb” style is taking it from all sides these days.

Australia was in the headlines for the devastating Queensland floods earlier this year. But even some of the wine growing regions were hit by heavy, “seven year rains” that rotted unpicked grapes quickly and made for a lot of grape selection both in the vineyard and on sorting tables. The Sydney Morning Herald explicitly linked the “soggy” weather to lower alcohol levels.

It’s weird that California and France appear to have flipped weather so far for 2011–there’s something you can talk about in your next elevator ride. Just don’t let the Mayans know since I think that was part of their their 2012 prophecy…

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What women don’t want: perfume shaped wine bottles!

I’m going out on a limb here and say that women don’t really want their wine in perfume-shaped wine bottles.

But that’s just what the grappa distillery Mazzetti d’Altavilla is making with their new “Essentia Vitae.” Here’s what someone who hailed it as the packaging innovation of the week had to say.

“While perfume-inspired wine may be an acquired taste, Essentia Vitae goes further than most to connect to female consumers. Its perfume-like packaging should break through the crowded product assortments that can often confound shoppers.”

Argh, those crowded product assortments confusing women wine shoppers! Apparently the wines come in three different flavors/aromas/varieties: No. 4 Ruche – jasmine scent, No. 6 Malvasia – rose scent, and No. 8 Moscato – violet scent. What that exactly means is not clear–are they for drinking or dousing?

My bold prediction: these will go the way of Beringer’s White Lie and the French WineSight. Dammit, marketers, gendered approaches to marketing are best left to important things like razors blades and deodorants!

Search for this wine at retail

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Wine confidential: state dinner with Angela Merkel

Last night the Obamas played host to Angela Merkel for a “State Dinner” (even though she is the head of government, not state–gasp!) in the Rose Garden. The meal included a salad from the White House vegetable garden; the full menu follows below. Oddly, the wine pairings were not announced! Has the usher at the White House grown tired of the slings and arrows from the blogosphere with each state dinner menu?

No matter–that leaves us a chance to do the pairings ourselves! Descendants of Italian immigrants may grab much of the spotlight in American wine today but German immigrants also have done their part. A first-generation one is Hermann J. Wiemer who makes a very nice dry riesling that would go well with that salad. I would be inclined to a young and fruity pinot noir to go with the tuna and outdoor dining; maybe a 2008 from Oregon? Maybe even a nice rosé, such as Hamacher or Copain? And for the steak, even though it is a state dinner, outside trumps high-octane and probably pricey wine too, so maybe domestic dornfelder or blaufrankisch if a good one could be found? One of Ernie Loosen’s late-harvest rieslings, such as Eroica, might be a good way to conclude the meal. But since they already have an apple strudel, I’d be inclined not to let the two sweets compete.

What would you serve? Domestic wines only need apply.

Also hit the comments if you know which wines were actually served. Btw, based on previous menus, Vegas has the odds at 2-1 that a semi-sweet bubbly accompanied the dessert.

* * *

State Dinner menu
June 7, 2011
German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel

White House Garden Chopped Salad
Fine Herbs
White House Honey Gastrique
* * *
Tuna Tartare with Rye Crisps
Pickled Young Carrots and Mustard Oil
Spring Pea Salad
Shaved Ham and Ginger Snaps
* * *
Petite Filet
With Maryland Crab Ravioli
Wild Ramp Puree
* * *
Apple Strudel
Golden Raisins and Topfen
* * *
An American wine will be paired with each course

Local Menu Selection
All of the courses are subtly infused with the perennial and annual
herbs from the garden.

The first course reflects a cornucopia of spring harvest, aptly
named, “White House Garden Chopped Salad.” The salad
is tossed in a vinaigrette made with White House honey and
apple cider vinegar and garnished with spiced Mammoth
Pecans from Georgia.

The tuna in the second course is from Hawaii. The main course
consists of Maryland blue crab and is served on a bed of wild ramp
puree from West Virginia.

The meal is completed with a delicious dessert, an apple strudel.
The apples are from Maryland, the raisins from California and the
topfen, a Farmer’s Cheese, is from Vermont. The apple and topfen
combination is a twist on a traditional German recipe for strudel
and will be served with schlag, an unsweetened whipped cream.

White House guest list (pdf)

Menu and other dinner details (pdf)

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Rating wine by health scores: who cares?

Vinopic, a new wine retailer in Britain has developed a way to rank wines based on their health-giving properties. Red wines are sold with an IQ score, or Intrinsic Quotient, devised by Roger Corder. The site says that the score rewards wines with “higher quality” and polyphenols while penalizing wines with higher alcohol, sugar, and sulfites.

While I am sure that the site will become a popular destination (particularly among Google searchers seeking the fountain of youth), my general reaction is: so what? Wine may play a part in a healthy diet. And I have met a lot of people (mostly over 50) who say they only drink red wine because of the resveratrol. But I would never buy a wine solely based on whether it’s healthier for me. I’d rather eat a high-fiber, low-cholesterol diet, go for a run, drown in a bowl of blueberries–something, anything–rather than drink a steady stream of Madiran, a wine high in polyphenols. Nothing against Madiran, its just that there are too many interesting Rieslings wines to be limited to reds. Buying wine for health reasons: It’s the kind of thing that makes me sick.

What do you think? Even though the US regulatory authorities prohibit selling a wine on health claims, would you buy one based on perceived health value?

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Ontario to heavy bottles: keep out!

Remember those obnoxiously heavy bottles that were all the rage before the recession? Well, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario has told them they are not welcome. That’s right, to be sold monopolist’s stores that serve the 13 million residents of the province, bottles must be lightweight, tipping the scales at 420g maximum (as a reference point, the wine inside the bottle weighs 750g).

It’s good to light a fire under producers to lightweight bottles; wine lags other beverages, which have been constantly reducing the weight of their packaging over the past few decades. However, the LCBO is only applying this rule, applicable in 2013, to bottles selling for less than C$15.

Thus the new rule still valorizes heavy bottles: Producers may still try to position their premium wines with shelf-bending bottles under the false assumption that heavy bottles means better wines. But still, most of the wines at the LCBO sell for less than C$15 so the move will have a big impact from a volume perspective on reducing carbon emissions of the wine trade. Perhaps the move will encourage high-volume producers to opt for lighter bottles for all of North America, the same way Kleenex and other produces have French written on them when producers want labeling compliance for all US and Canada with a single package.

What do you think: brilliant move or despicable over-regulation?

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Buckingham Palace pours the good stuff for Obama

Even with word of cutbacks in the wines poured at British state events, the Queen offered some choice wines for President Obama and guest this week: 2004 William Fevre, Les Clos, Grand Cru Chablis; 1990 Domaine de la Romanée Conti, Grand Echezaux; and a 1963 port. Just a tad better than the selections at the White House!

However, perhaps in a nod to the White House, which only serves domestic wines, Buckingham Palace also uncorked an English sparkling wine, the 2004 Cuvee Merret Fitzrovia Rosé from Ridgeview in Sussex. The Palace served a 2002 Veuve Clicquot, cuvée “Rich” (how blingy!), with 28 g/l dosage.

In other news from the “Leaders and Liters” desk, Christine Lagarde is a teetotaler.

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Vintage port: 1948 Taylor, 1945 Fonseca, 1927 Niepoort

How far would you drive to taste some vintage port? That’s most often a rhetorical question but I actually confronted it head on last week as a rare vertical tasting including some legendary wines came on the agenda in Montreal. Since I tucked away some 2003 Fonseca from one son’s birth year, I thought this would at the very least offer a something of a preview of how it will taste when we drink it together in 2024 and beyond. So I hopped in the car.
Organized by the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto and led by Dirk van der Niepoort, the tasting offered an opportunity to track the aging arc of port, one of the most age-worthy wines. Vintage ports represent one of the classic wines made from a field blend of grapes, all from one vintage. The wines only age about two or three years in barrel before bottling and spending the rest of their formidable lives in the cellars of collectors. (By contrast, the more popular tawny ports blend vintages and thanks to doing most of their aging in wood, are ready to drink upon release.)
One impression that this tasting left me is that while young port is dark, fruity and tannic, more mature port grows more supple–but not always. We started off with the Dow’s 1994, which tasted and looked very young and seems to have excellent stuffing for the long haul. Then we leaped over the 21-year-old mark with a Taylor 1985 and a Cockburn 1983, both of which had flipped just to the other side of the young-mature divide. The Taylor still had big tannins; the Cockburn was more supple. (Incidentally, all three of these wines can be found for under $100 or so, making them relative bargains for any birth-year celebrations you may enounter; find these wines).
Out of the next group, the most interesting comparison was two excellent 1970s, Graham’s and Niepoort. The Grahams was surprisingly exuberant and mouth-filling for this stage in the evolution; a showy, 40-year old cougar ready to devour something younger. The Niepoort was a slightly more youthful color, and had more focus but really expanded on the finish, a lovely, delicious wine today that no doubt still has many decades left in it.
On a historical note, I was intrigued to learn that bottling mostly returned to Portugal only in 1970. Prior to that it had been in…wait for it… England! The wines were exported in cask and bottled and cellared there. Some of the older wines in this tasting had come from private cellars and some didn’t have proper labels (see the Croft 1966 above).
The real highlight of the tasting for me was the last three ports, all superb, A+ wines. The 1948 Taylor had an alluring herbal aroma with a luscious mouthfeel and a layered, long finish–almost worth the drive itself. Dirk Niepoort said that a wine of this age can actually go through the supple stage of bottle aging and reemerge with newfound vigor. The alcohol was detectable in the ’48, but well-integrated, unlike the 1955 Taylor which, for me, had a distinctly hot finish.
The 1945 Fonseca is a top wine from one of the top vintages of the 20th century, a hot year with low yield. In the glass, the gorgeous wine has bittersweet chocolate on the aroma as well as surprising fruit; a dollop of chocolate permeated the array of flavors while the tannic structure was richer and rounder than the Taylor ’48. This bottle was excellent and the wine is drinking well today but will probably continue that way for some time.
Finally, we tried the 1927 Niepoort sourced directly from Niepoort’s cellars. In the glass, it was even more youthful looking than the ’45 Fonseca. Sure enough, on the palate the wine exhibited a luxurious texture, tannins that had faded and folded into pure silk. The layered quality of the previous two wines was less, but the texture and poise were superb.
So, as Michelin would put it, the tasting was very much “worth a drive.” And I’m tempted to get more 2003 to tuck away for birth-year celebrations well into the future.

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Henschke Hill of Grace says goodbye screwcap, hello Vino-Lok

The 2008 vintage of Henschke Hill of Grace has not yet been released. But when it comes out, the wine that is arguably Australia’s finest single-vineyard wine, and priced at around $500, will be sealed with neither screwcap nor cork; It will be closed with Vino-Lok.

Stephen Henschke became enamored with the technology when he presented a paper at a conference in Germany in 2004. He brought some of the glass closures back to Australia and tested some bottles of Hill of Grace with Vino-Lok in collaboration with the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI). Now with five years of testing and bottle age, Henschke is pleased with the evolution and will convert half of the 2008 production of Hill of Grace to Vino-Lok. The past few vintages have been entirely under screwcap.

“We have always viewed screwcap as a transitional closure, poised between cork and, well, we don’t know what,” Henschke told me in New York yesterday.

Vino-Lok, known (if at all) as Vino-Seal in the US, is a glass stopper that has an inner elastic ring that forms a seal with the bottle. Over on the Vino-Lok site, they say that it opens with a “click.” Henschke says they look “cool.” He’s so pleased with the closure that he has just installed the first Vino-Lok bottling line in Australia at his winery.

Vino-Lok touts its ability to age wines. And Henschke agrees that the evolution is slow, akin to magnums that are considered the ideal size for cellaring. “I call a [750 ml] bottle under Vino-Lok a half a magnum,” he says. “That’s how well it ages.”

Is the world of fine and collectible wine ready for a new closure? We will find out in the next year or so with the release of the 2008 Hill of Grace.

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A Good Year (Widescreen Edition)

A feel-good movie that highlights the beauty of France as much as it does its stars, A Good Year provides a languid, gorgeous viewing experience. Director Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe--who first worked together on the Academy Award-winning Gladiator--are reunited in this romantic film, which is based on Peter Mayle's book A Year in Provence. Crowe plays Max, a workaholic London bonds trader who doesn't know the meaning of vacation. When his uncle dies, leaving him a picturesque estate in the south of France, Max views it as an opportunity to cash in the vinery and pocket the profits. The film is reminiscent of Diane Lane's Under the Tuscan Sun in the way the scenery plays as much of a role in the film as its characters. The lush village and streaming sunlight portray Provence as an idyllic, magical place. Even Max falls under its spell. While not a particularly likeable character, especially in the early part of the film, Max also isn't a bad guy. When he gets the chance to live life at a less manic pace than which he is used to, he finds that a good year isn't dependant on a financial windfall. Though Scott tries to drum up some suspense in the film (Is the beautiful visitor really Max's illegitimate cousin? Will Max fall in love with the feisty local woman he trades quips with?) nothing that happens comes as much of a surprise. Still, while the film doesn't fully utilize Crowe's range of skills, the actor is charming in his role and A Good Year provides a fine time in the cinemas. --Jae-Ha Kim

Extras from A Good Year

Russell Crowe and Co-Stars on Filming in Provence

A Good Year Virtual Vinyard

Beyond A Good Year

A Year in Provence

More from Director Ridley Scott

More from Russell Crowe

Stills from A Good Year

Price: $14.98

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