Spring Winery Practices

Last week's topic in class was Evaluation of Wine in Storage and Wine Maintenance - visual inspection of wine in tanks and barrels (spotting microbial activity and leaks); tasting the wine's progression through the aging process (concentration and extraction of oak flavors); chemical analysis (red flags and what to do about it); wine "maintenance" (topping, additions); and housekeeping (barrel cleaning, etc.) As always, the best part of class was tasting! This time we tasted one Chardonnay, one Sauvignon Blanc and one Riesling, and then had to determine which of those three was the "mystery wine" in the paper bag. The Chardonnay and SB were close in flavor, surprisingly, and half of the class guessed incorrectly that it was the SB; I got it right this time - it was the CD! Lastly, we got to taste five reds that are in the aging process (the Shone Farm label wines made from our own Syrah, Cab and Zin grapes). They were all quite good even at their early stages. That particular day, I somehow "forgot" to eat breakfast or lunch (class started at 1 p.m.) so I sure felt the effects of all that wine tasting pretty quickly! Good thing this class ends the week on a Friday afternoon :-)

Basic Winegrape Viticulture

Last Monday was our first session of this class (because the 17th was a holiday) and it was a good review of some of the concepts I learned last semester. I was supposed to have taken this class in the Fall, but postponed until this semester because of scheduling issues.....I think this class will bring more clarity to a lot of what I was introduced to last semester. Last week we covered historical and climatological perspectives of the grapevine - where Vitis vinifera (genus and species of the most popular wine grapes) originated - the trans-Caucasus mountains, between the Caspian and Black Seas - and how it ended up all over the world. The most significant fact about V. vinifera is that it is very susceptible to phylloxera, an aphid-like insect that loves and lives on grapevine roots and which has no natural enemies. It is called the world's worst grapevine pest. In the late 19th Century, a phylloxera epidemic wiped out 9/10 of Europe's vineyards when cuttings from American vines were planted. Because phylloxera are native to N. America, the roots of American grape species were largely resistant, but those in Europe were not. Fortunately for the Europeans, researchers discovered that their vines could be grafted onto disease-resistant American rootstocks. The discovery saved their grape industry, and this method of grafting onto pest-resistant or cold-hardy rootstocks is still used today.

We discussed the concept of terroir - a French term meaning "taste of place" - which is the idea that the environment (soil, climate, and viticultural practices) in which vine and fruit develop determines how fruit (and ultimately wine) will taste. Climate includes "macroclimate" - that of a region (California); "mesoclimate" - that of a particular site (Russian River Valley); and "microclimate" - that within the canopy (leaves) and fruit zone of the vine. The system of Degree Days is an important system that is used to determine a region's climate in order to select the most appropriate cultivar (i.e. Chardonnay, or Pinot noir) to plant in a particular place. Because different cultivars have different heat requirements to optimally ripen their fruit, it is essential to be able to quantify and calculate a region's heat units during the growing season (April 1 - Oct 31). For all days, the average of the daily maximum temperature and the daily minimum temperature is reduced by 50 (50 degrees F is the Degree Day threshold for grapevines). All numbers (days) are added together and fall into one of five regions (Region 1 being the coolest and Region 5 being the warmest).

Back to School - Week 1 Recap

It was nice to see a lot of familiar faces from last semester returning for Spring classes. This semester I will be taking Basic Winegrape Viticulture, Integrated Pest Management, Spring Vineyard Practices, Spring Winery Operations, Spring Budding & Grafting, and Fruit Quality Assurance: Working with the Winemaker.

Looks like this is going to be a tougher semester, academically. More work, more "science" and one class in particular I'm not really looking forward to: IPM (Integrated Pest Management)...insects, diseases (bunch rot, powdery mildew), rodents, etc. Lovely. But, no getting around it, I must have it to complete the program. Fortunately, to balance that out, is WINE 42.2, Spring Winery Practices (last semester 42.1 was my favorite class)....yesterday afternoon was the first class, which we began by toasting with some sparkling wine - first 'challenge' was to taste three different sparkling wines, then identify which one of them was concealed in the paper bag. Between a Brut and Extra Dry, I guessed the wrong one! Well, in my defense, I have a head cold....

The highlight of the week was being able to attend a Sonoma County Winegrape Commission seminar and trade show on the first day of Spring Vineyard Practices class. There were some excellent presentations like "Increasing Dollars Per Acre" and updates on local ordinances, marketing, sales trends and winery prospects. The trade show was interesting too, and I collected lots of free "goodies" - a mug, a stress-reliever squeeze ball shaped like a bunch of grapes (!), keychains, lip balm, bandaids, a water-gauge for my lawn, a compass, a thermometer, a cell-phone holder for my car, a bumper sticker, writing pads, and a supply of ballpoint pens that should get me through the next year! Interesting crowd of 500+ for 'people watching' - lots more denim, boots, plaid shirts and straw hats than I would have imagined. I keep forgetting that grape growers are farmers and this is, by and large, an agricultural community.

Back to School

Well, tomorrow is the first day of Spring semester! I'm looking forward to getting back to it. Have to be out at Shone Farm by 8 for AGRI70...Integrated Pest Management. Yuck.

Wine Alert!

Happy to report that I found a wonderful new sparkling wine, just in time for my January 2nd Birthday: Gloria Ferrer VA de VI ("It's About the Wine") - a soft, lovely delicious cuvee with a very reasonable price of $22. I love discovering locally-made wines that I can get excited about because they are both good AND affordable. Standing in BevMo trying to make a decision, I found myself staring into the locked case with all the bottles I couldn't afford - i.e. a 1998 Taittinger for $249, and wondered, how good could it really be? Maybe some day I'll be able to answer that question for myself, but in the meantime...

I've been wanting to try the Gloria Ferrer label for several months now. The Ferrer family, Jose and Gloria, were already well-established sparkling wine producers in Spain (they co-founded Freixenet) who came to California in 1982, fell in love with the Sonoma Carneros wine region, and started Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards. Their beautiful Spanish-style winery overlooks a 335-acre estate, most of which is planted to Pinor Noir grapes. Wine Spectator magazine claims that they produce some of the best California sparkling wines, and I can't wait to try all of them!

This VA de VI Ultra Cuvee, a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes, has aromas of apples, pear, and Bing cherries. It's very soft on the palate with peach, Meyer lemon, berries and vanilla, but what I liked best was the very "creamy" finish. It is described as "dry but not too dry" - for me it was perfect. We had it with some savory appetizers, but it would also be good with some spicy food, and fruit-based desserts. This won Gold in 2009 at the San Francisco International Wine Competition, and also the Best in Show at the 2010 Sommelier Challenge. Jose Ferrer says, "When you serve sparkling wine you are serving a smile." In this case, it's true!