A Wine Critic Who likes to Repeat Himself

Date: Fri, Oct 26, 2007 Wine Tasting

It can be difficult to write new things about wine, especially if you write about a lot of wines. How can you keep your originality? One wine critic has an answer. You just use the same phrases to describe different wines like Cabernet and Merlot. And sometimes you use exactly the same description of a wine from different vintages.

1995 Russian Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
This wine is not a blockbuster, but rather, an open-knit, richly fruity, expressive wine unburdened by excessive tannin or weight. Plump and hedonistically-styled with natural textures, it merits serious attention. The 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon offers an expansive, open-knit, black currant, earth, and spice-scented bouquet. Soft, round, generous, and richly fruity, this medium-bodied wine is meant to be drunk over the next 5-7 years.

1994 Russian Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain
This wine is not a blockbuster, but rather, an open-knit, richly fruity, expressive wine unburdened by excessive tannin or weight. Plump and hedonistically-styled with natural textures, it merits serious attention. The 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain reveals a saturated purple color in addition to blackberry/cassis and floral scents. Expansive, rich, chewy, and succulent, with low acidity, exuberant, pure fruit, and a hedonistic, fleshy mouth-feel and finish, this is a sumptuously-styled Cabernet Sauvignon to enjoy over the next decade.

1996 Russian Hill Merlot (87 points)
This wine is not a blockbuster, but rather, an open-knit, richly fruity, expressive wine unburdened by excessive tannin or weight. Plump and hedonistically-styled with natural textures, it merits serious attention. This wine is dark ruby-colored, with plump, sweet, expansive, black cherry fruit intertwined with a subtle dose of wood. The acidity is low, and the fruit succulent. Drink it over the next 4-5 years.

1995 Russian Hill Merlot (88 points)
This wine is not a blockbuster, but rather, an open-knit, richly fruity, expressive wine unburdened by excessive tannin or weight. Plump and hedonistically-styled with natural textures, it merits serious attention. This wine is dark ruby-colored, with plump, sweet, expansive, black cherry fruit intertwined with a subtle dose of wood. The acidity is low, and the fruit succulent. Drink it over the next 4-5 years.

Let me guess? Its not abusive use of cut and paste, even though it does occur in the same group of tasting notes. Its all the publishers fault! No matter, its all good!

Read Full Wine Blog Post

It has arrived!

Date: Thu, Oct 4, 2007 Wine Tasting

I now hold in my hand the truth teller, otherwise known as the Vinometer. OK, that may be overstating the case. But this rather fragile looking glass tube has the ability to measure the alcohol in dry wine. No, its not infallible but it has significant advantages over more precise but much more involved methods.

The most precise method for determining alcohol in wine is by distillation. This method is based on removing and collecting all of the alcohol contained in exactly 250ml of wine. The distillate is diluted back to exactly 250 ml. using distilled water, and the alcohol concentration is then determined by measuring its density using an alcohol hydrometer, usually calibrated at 20C and in % v/v. Other methods include ebulliometry, which uses the depression of the boiling point of water in the presence of alcohol. This method requires more expensive equipment than distillation and is also dependent on the accurate measurement of the change in boiling point of wine compared to water.

The Vinometer, as the blurb says is a piece apparatus that consist of an open, graduated glass tube with a small filling resevoir. The vinometer's reservoir or funnel is filled with a small amount of wine being tested until some wine exits out at the other endIt is then turned around and placed on a flat surface, filling reservoir side down, and allowed to self drain.The alcohol concentration level is read of the vinometer's scale, on the capillary, at the top of the liquid being measured, in %v/v alcohol.

Terroir is an excellent marketing tool, that’s why everyone uses it

Date: Thu, Oct 4, 2007 Wine Tasting

I’ve not jumped into the terroir argument in any substantial way. The reason is that while I believe there are wines that display a sense of place (e.g. the eucalyptus notes in Cabernet Sauvignon from the Willows vineyard in the Barossa or the influence of calcrete on Coonawarra wines), I just don’t see many wine drinkers showing that much interest or facility in identifying the flavors and tastes that may indicate that a wine is expressing its terroir.

Others, like David Farmer of Glug, are even more suspicious of the concept of terroir. An article written by David makes some interesting points, and is certainly worth reading. Like all well written opinion pieces he saved the best for last.

As for being able to recognise when a wine is expressing terroir this seems more hope than reality and it seems more and more that terroir simply means making the best wine possible from that site. After all that is what humans have been learning to do for centuries.

Perhaps the last word should be this from the Beaune négociant, Louis Latour as reported in the August 2000 edition of Bourgogne Aujourd'hui.

"What definition do you give for terroir?

"None! It’s an idea that doesn’t move me much. A great wine is born from a set of conditions amongst which is the soil. We must simplify! The essential thing is to say to the client that this wine comes from this place. Full stop! This is already the case when we speak of ‘wine from Beaune.’ And then when you try to analyse in detail the diverse elements of terroir you find yourself with such uncertainties that it's better not to stick your nose in too far. That said, terroir is an excellent marketing tool, that’s why everyone uses it." *

* This translation is by Warren Moran, Professor of Geography, University of New Zealand and is from Terroir-The Human Factor. Link to article.

Additional Note: David Farmer's Land Surface Studies.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Academics to the Rescue

Date: Tue, Sep 25, 2007 Wine Tasting

Regular readers will have noticed that I have challenged the anti-high alcohol league to address their concerns with more than just words. After all, members of the Australian wine industry have addressed this issue in a constructive manner, so why not here in the US.

Alcohol levels in wine are increasingly becoming a hot topic in the wine world. Here in the US there is significant use of reverse osmosis (RO) to reduce alcohol levels in wine. However wineries/winemakers are not keen to come out of the closet about their use of the technology. This makes it difficult to find wines that have undergone RO in order to identify any changes that the process may make to a wine beyond removal of alcohol (and apaprently volatile acidity (VA)).

I was therefore quite pleased to find this post on the West Coast Wine Net forum. The 3 year old post provides tasting notes on a Syrah (made by students at Fresno State University in California) that was made with differing levels of alcohol.

Fruit for the experiment was harvested at 31 Brix (the 0.55 multiplier doesn't account for the 18% alcohol) with a 2-day cold-soak, the fermentation ran for 17 days at 55-60 degreesF. Pressed at 1 Brix, the fermentation proceeded to 0.6% rs afore sticking.

..........the wine was sent to Vinovation for reverse osmosis to reduce the alcohol, from the original 18.0% to 12.8%,and everything in between in 0.1% increments. The four "sweet spots" at above alcohols were selected for aging 6 months in American oak. Each lot completed alcoholic fermentation except the original 18.0%, stopping at <0.2%>. Three of the four reduced alcohol lots finished M-L fermentation. Then given a 5 micron filteration and packaged in a slick redwood box.

The final wines were 13.35%, 13.75%, 14.35%, 15.0%, and 18.0% alcohol. And after the tasting the 17 participants rated the 13.35% the worst wine (14 votes) and the 15% the best (8 votes) followed by the 14.35% with 5 votes. One individual favored the 18% wine!

The comments on the tasting, from several individuals, are interesting and worth reading.

One point to note is a comment by Mike Officer (of Carlisle Winery & Vineyards) that it's virtually impossible to get syrah to taste pruney or raisiny. Our syrah last year was around 31 brix as well. Not a trace of overripe character. I'm not sure why syrah behaves like this but might have something to do with phloems cavitating around 22 brix. It's definitely a physiological issue unique to syrah.

I must admit that I don't recall finding overt prune character in Syrah/Shiraz except for the 2004 Massena The Eleventh Hour Shiraz (Barossa Valley).

Any more examples of approaches that have tested whether or not alcohol levels adversely affect wine appreciation?

Read Full Wine Blog Post

A note to Dan Berger (and the rest of the anti-high alcohol league),

Date: Tue, Sep 18, 2007 Wine Tasting

After several attempts to post a comment on Dan Berger's latest article on high alcohol wines, and getting the message of an error on the page, I've decided to post my thoughts here. Maybe they will take my comment later?

Appellation America is directed toward a very small segment of the wine drinking population, so I wonder how much thought you or any of the other writers on the “big wine” topic give to the average wine drinker. Is it in the interests of the majority of consumers that appreciate the riper style of wine that you pen these articles?

There are an additional few questions I would like some data for, and no I don’t want dogma or anecdotes. Let’s put some meat on these bones!

1) Where are the studies showing that there is a correlation with the popularity of high alcohol wines and cola drinkers? (Just pose that possibility to the average Australian wine drinker and see what answer you get).

2) How many wine drinkers buy wine so that they can determine the regional characteristics of a wine? (Do you really believe that Mr/Mrs Average Winedrinker is at all interested in regional character when they drop by their local wine shop to get a few bottles to serve at their dinner party?)

3) More to the point, how many wine drinkers can actually identify regional characteristics in a wine?

And finally,

When is the anti-high alcohol league (Corti, Dunn, Asimov, McCoy, yourself and others) going to attempt something constructive in terms of addressing alcohol levels in wines? No, the diatribes that have been written thus far are not constructive. They are destructive, divisive and elitist. When will any of you judge these wines blinded against food? Wine has been judged this way at The Sydney International Wine Competition for the last 26 years. (Just as an FYI, the 2007 winner was the 2004 Neagles Rock One Black Dog Reserve Cabernet Shiraz. At 15% alcohol it came away with best Fuller Bodied Dry Red Wine, Best Red Table Wine of Competition, and Best Wine of Competition.) When will any members of the wine press pull together both sides of the argument to discuss alcohol and balance in wine as the Wine Press Club of NSW attempted in July of this year? If winemakers believe that less ripeness and lower alcohol levels will be popular with the cognoscenti then why don’t they make limited releases of such wines? These wines would likely sell at a premium, albeit to very small market. But surely that is a more constructive approach than writing “The current fad of higher and higher alcohol wines should stop.” If the Australian wine community can approach this topic in a constructive manner then its about time that the US does the same.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

The Art of Decanting

Date: Thu, Sep 13, 2007 Wine Tasting

As a prelude to a summary of the results of The Great Decanting Experiment I thought it might be prudent to review the only book I can find that, at least according to it’s title, is devoted to the decanting of wine.

Written by Sandra Jordan, of Jordan Vineyard and Winery, The Art of Decanting: Bringing wine to life is an extremely well presented volume. Chapters cover everything from the historical aspects of wine storage, to corkscrews, wine glasses, wine appreciation, and even a menu for a dinner to show off your ability to decant your favorite wines. The images, although a little too close to commercial photography, are nonetheless eye catching. I found myself impatiently reading the text just to get to the next page to see what other images of wine glasses, corkscrews and additional accoutrements of wine tasting might be found there. Its no coincidence that the title includes the word art, nor is it coincidence that a number of the photographs are less than subtle in their advertising of Jordan wines.

Yes, this is one of those books that you do read for the pictures! And that is a problem because there is precious little examination of why wines should be decanted and what happens when wines are decanted. There is simply no support provided for dogmatic statements such as “ In truth, the beneficial influence of air upon young reds may be the closest thing to certainty in the world of decanting. In all other matters – particularly in those pertaining to treasured library wines – the experts continue to engage in fierce debate and friendly disagreement.” Or “ For a young wine(a red one to five years old), however, consider decanting one to three hours before your dinner to allow more oxygen to reach the wine, unleash the flavors, and smooth out the texture. In short, some patience, and a good decanter can improve the flavor and bouquet of a rough young red immeasurably.”

But is all this exposure to air a good thing? The wonders that oxygen will bring to a young wine are seemingly fraught with danger for we are told that in decanting a wine it should not be allowed to splash into the decanter lest it “tire”. And please don’t “shake the decanter to more fully aerate the wine – a controversial move, to put it mildly” as Hugh Johnson, if he is present, is likely to faint.

No, this is not a book for those looking for knowledge on the benefits (or otherwise) that aeration will bring to wine. It is chock full of the art of decanting, thou.

The Art of Decanting: Bringing Wine to Life (Hardcover) by Sandra Jordan with Lindsey Lee Johnson. 132 pages, Publisher: Chronicle Books (Oct. 1, 2006). $12.71USD.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

The Great Decanting Experiment – Wine #13

Date: Wed, Sep 5, 2007 Wine Tasting

For the last wine in this decanting series we head back to Burgundy and the Mercurey Appellation. And this time it’s a Faiveley. That’s right, the last wine will be the most severe test of the idea that aeration softens tannins because this wine, like all good Faiveleys, has astringency in spades. Oh, excuse me. Its more robust than most. Let’s see if a little air will bring it down to earth!

Wine #13: 2003 Faiveley Mercurey Clos des Myglands Premier Cru, Burgundy, France ($21.00USD, 375ml), 13% alcohol.
One bottle was splash decanted and the other left unopen; both in the cellar at 56 degrees F. After two and a half hours the second bottle was opened and the two wines poured randomly into three marked opaque glasses while I was out of the room.

Glass A: Muted notes of strawberry and cherry over toasted oak and anise. Very soft and supple entry that is overrun by gripping tannins. Nicely structured with good clean acidity.

Glass B: Is there wine in this glass? Nothing except a faint whiff of toffee. Same palate as glass A ; soft and supple on entry but the astringency is overpowering.

Glass C: As for glass B, very, very closed. Just a little anise and oak. Again a palate overpowered by astringency.

My opinion: A and C are from the bottle and B the decanter.

Reality: A is from the bottle and B and C are from the decanter.

Conclusion: My first assessment of the glasses was that A was from the bottle. Why didn’t I stick with that? Well, the aromas in this wine (like a lot of red Burgundy that I have tasted) are very subtle and I knew that I should spend time searching for them. In the end it was a somewhat futile exercise as the astringency of a young Faiveley batters the palate into resignation. But I will say one thing. Two hours of air seemed to make this wine more astringent, if that is possible!

Just to see what a long exposure to air might do I left one bottle about a quarter full of wine and the other was filled with the remaining wine and corked. After 24 hours the wine in the full bottle was still quite fresh and had developed a note of mushrooms while wine from the other bottle was quite oxidized and almost undrinkable.

Score: Wines tested 13, Decanters 1, Non-decanters 4.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

The Acid in My Alcohol

Date: Fri, Aug 31, 2007 Wine Tasting

Or is it the alcohol in my acid, or the pH of my…. Oh hell, it’s just wine!

I think most folks know that I’m not a fan of the anti-high alcohol league. I’m not completely sure why but for some reason the league stirs in me images of The League of Gentlemen. No, not The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The League of Gentlemen. There is something about this cadre of criers of “nothing above 14.5%” that casts a grim shadow over my world. It’s akin to the foreboding behind the 'Welcome to Royston Vasey. You'll Never Leave!' sign. I picture myself being locked into a little corner of the wine world with people that, well, just don’t sound like a lot of fun. But I digress.

Dan Berger is one of the biggest critics of big wines and Big Wine lovers. I give Berger credit; he knows he’s in the minority. Still I’m not so naïve as to believe that all wines with alcohol above 14.5% are great wines, or even representative of their style or variety. However I’m also not convinced that delicacy, harmony, and balance is found only below the magical number of 14.5% alcohol. But this is the thesis of folks like Dan Berger, Darrell Corti, Randy Dunn and others. It's just unfortunate that they don’t test their hypotheses. But I’m always willing to help, if I can! One of Berger’s most recent discussions on high alcohol wines made a point that I thought worthy of follow-up.

“Look at it this way: The bigger the wine, the more alcohol it typically contains. And the more alcohol a wine has, the less acidity it usually has. High-alcohol wines need more, not less, acid and a lower pH to balance the “sweet” taste of the alcohol. But with high-alcohol wines, we almost always get a higher pH, not a lower one.”

It seemed just a little limiting to me, given the complexity that goes to generate balance, that Berger should focus on the relationship between alcohol and acidity. Does he know something the rest of us don’t? One way to find out is to look at the alcohol and acidity in several wines. It’s a little difficult to do this with a large number of wines simply because alcohol, pH and total acidity (TA) numbers are hard to find for most wines. But I was able to get some data on three wines: Penfolds Grange (Shiraz) from 1955 to 2002; Penfolds St Henri Shiraz from 1993 to 2003; and Carlisle Dry Creek Zinfandel from 1998 to 2005. Grange and St Henri have yet to pass 14.5% alcohol, while the Carlisle Zinfandel has not been below 15.4%.

Graphing alcohol and TA reveals significant positive correlation for both Grange and the Carlisle. St Henri shows a non-significant correlation, although higher alcohol tends to indicate lower TA values. Graphing alcohol and pH reveals a significant negative correlation for Grange; that is the higher the alcohol the more acidity (lower pH), a positive correlation for St Henri (alcohol and pH values both increase) and no significant correlation for the Carlisle although the acidity tends to increase with increasing alcohol.

So if Dan Berger is correct then poor old St Henri, my favorite wine and one of Australia’s most refined, harmonious and balanced Shiraz wines does not fit his thesis. Or could it be that balance (delicacy and harmony) in a wine is just a little more complex than pH and alcohol?

Read Full Wine Blog Post

What Does the Future Hold for Seppeltsfield Fortified Wines?

Date: Fri, Aug 31, 2007 Wine Tasting

“Like the ’51 Grange, like a Streeton painting, a Melba recording, a Bradman bat, or a Lawson short story, its part of the Australian ethos. A true icon”. - Huon Hooke, Sydney Morning Herald September 24, 2002.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Who Buys Australia’s Fortified Wines?

Date: Wed, Aug 29, 2007 Wine Tasting

The recent sale of Seppeltsfield and its stocks of fortified wines to Kilikanoon got me wondering about who buys these extraordinary but amazingly inexpensive wines.

As recently as 1966 fortified wines accounted for some 62 percent of wine sales in Australia but by 1984 it was only 16 percent. Sales fell even further to around 7% by 1993, and have continued to fall to the present day. In the 1993-94 financial year fortified wines were 8.4% of domestic wine volume and 2.3% of export volume. By 2005-06 domestic volume was 4.2 % and export volume accounted for 0.35%. Much of this drop in market share has been the result of enormous growth in sales of table and sparkling wines, although the volume of fortified wine sold in Australia has fallen steadily from 27 million liters in 1993-94 to 18.5 million liters in 2005-06.

Eighteen and half million liters seems like a large volume but with a population of 20,434,176 (July 2007 est.) that is less than a liter per person. That 18.5 million liters looks even more insignificant when its broken down by wine styles (Sherry, Port, Other) and wine containers (glass less than2 liters, soft packs, other). For 2005-06 fortified wine in glass (of less than 2 liters) made up 1.36% of domestic sales by volume with Sherry at 0.4%, Port at 0.87% and Other accounting for 0.085%. I’m assuming that "Other" includes Muscat and Tokay which (in glass of less than 2 liters) sold 366, 000 liters in 2005-06. Divided amongst 20 million people that is less than 20 milliliters/person. That is not even a fluid ounce!

With numbers like that its no wonder that the Chairman of the Muscat of Rutherglen group, Colin Campbell recently announced a $1.4 million (Aust) dollar project to transform all sectors of the Australian fortified wine industry. Campbell stated “We expect the outcome of the project will be a totally new approach to presenting our wines – in bottle shops, restaurants and cellar doors. The renewed focus on fortified wines will permeate all sections of the wine industry – distributors, retailers, restaurants, wine producers, and vocational and tertiary training institutions. We believe consumers will also embrace the changes.”

Part of the funding for the project includes a grant of $500.000 (AUD) from the Australian Government to aid the Australian fortified wine industry re-brand its products and increase access to European markets. But how much fortified wine is exported? Unfortunately not a lot but in contrast to the steady fall in domestic sales the volume of exported fortified wines has remained remarkably constant between 2 and 3 million liters; 2.873 in 1993-94 and 2.587 in 2005-06.

Where is Australia exporting these wines today?

In 2005-06 over 70 percent of exported fortified wine went to four countries; USA 20.8%, UK 19.6%, Canada 16.7%, France 15.2%. However in the first three countries fortified wines do not constitute a large segment of total exports. Fortified wines only accounted for 0.26% of exports to the USA even though they consumed 28.4% of total exports. Its worse in the UK where 0.2% of wine imported from Australia was fortified and they received 36.2% of total exports. Canadians have a greater appreciation for Australian fortified wines with 0.89% of the wine being fortified; Canada receives 6.8% of exported Australia wine. Perhaps surprisingly France shows the greatest attraction for fortifieds. Even though France consumes only 1% of exported Australian wine, they accounted for 5.2% of the fortified wine exports.

I'm not even going to try to figure out the consumption per person in these countries, but if you want to do part of the exercise put these numbers in your calculator. 539,000 divided by 300 million. Yes that right its less than 0.0018 liters per person in the USA. But let's look on the bright side. It can only go up from there, can't it?

Note: The definition of fortified wine used to collect these numbers is: Wine to which grape spirit, brandy or both has been added, thereby adding alcoholic strength and precluding further fermentation. Fortified wine must contain at least 150 millilitres/litre and not more than 200 millilitres/litre of ethanol at 20° Centigrade.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

A Fortified Future for (Australian) Wine?

Date: Mon, Aug 27, 2007 Wine Tasting

The Foster's Group, the Australia-based global multi-beverage company, agreed today (Aug. 27th) on the sale of the Seppeltsfield site in the Barossa Valley to Kilikanoon, a Clare Valley winery. The fate of Seppeltsfield has been haunting lovers of Australia’s most awarded fortified wines for months. The Seppeltsfield property was purchased by Joseph Seppelt in 1851. Today the 185 hectare property includes the National Trust listed historic homestead and approximately 100 hectares of surrounding vineyards and its blue stone cellars are home to 9 million litres of fortified wines including stocks of the 100 year old Para Liqueur Vintage Tawny; begun in 1878 when Benno Seppelt placed a barrel of the finest wine from that vintage in the cellar and decreed that it would remain untouched for 100 years. In addition to the 100 Year Old Para, the other fortified wines make up Australia’s most diverse and most acclaimed range as the listing below proves.

The most awarded wine of any style is the DP 90 Rare Barossa Valley Tawny which has won 14 Trophies and 59 Gold Medals in Australian Wine Shows since 1990.

DP 59 Rare Rutherglen Tokay, recipient of 4 Trophies and 48 Gold Medals in Australian Wine Shows since 1990.

GR 113 Rare Rutherglen Muscat, recipient of 9 Trophies and 35 Gold Medals in Australian Wine Shows since 1990.

DP 63 Grand Rutherglen Muscat, recipient of 5 Trophies and 24 Gold Medals in Australian Wine Shows since 1990.

DP 57 Grand Rutherglen Tokay, recipient of 29 Gold Medals in Australian Wine Shows since 1990.

"Seppeltsfield houses the world's greatest collection of fortified wines dating back to 1878 in an unbroken tradition. We are proud to become the next custodians of this priceless national treasure", said Kilikanoon CEO, Nathan Waks. "We will work hard to ensure that Australia's already fine reputation in this area is enhanced and to rejuvenate the Seppeltsfield Village over time through sympathetic wine-related redevelopment" (see Press Release)

The sale includes the Seppeltsfield winery, Cellar Door, approximately 100 hectares of surrounding vineyards, the majority of Seppelt fortified wine stocks currently on site, fortified brands names including Para, Solero, Trafford, Old Trafford, Mt Rufus and an exclusive license for the Seppeltsfield brand for fortified wine.

I among others feel tremendous relief that Seppeltsfield and its fortified wines stocks have attracted the attention of a buyer and may now have a future. With interest in these rare but extraordinarily inexpensive wines having fallen into a slump, it was always on the cards that they could just fade from Australian wine culture. However the future is not assured. Foster’s will “continue to retain ownership of key fortified wine stocks on site which will form the basis of Foster's fortified wines.” These wines appear to include Penfolds Great Grandfather and Grandfather wines, but with Foster’s record of bowing to profitability one wonders about their future.

The other concern is more practical. Kilikanoon, although they have an enviable reputation as makers of dry wines like their Oracle Shiraz, they make no fortified wines. So there are unanswered questions. The most important being - Who will be responsible for maintaining the wines already stored at Seppeltsfield and for the production of future releases and future vintages of the 100 Year Old Para? Putting up the money to buy Seppeltsfield is one thing, having the experience to continue the tradition is an entirely different wine game.

EDIT: Killikanoon is the principal of the newly formed Seppeltsfield Estate Trust. The Seppeltsfield Estate Trust will buy the assets. The owners of the Trust include Kilikanoon Wines, Janet Holmes à Court, Greg Paramor and Kilikanoon’s major shareholders Nathan Waks and Bruce Baudinet. (see bottom of Kilikanoon Press Release).

Read Full Wine Blog Post

The Great Decanting Experiment – Wine #12

Date: Fri, Aug 24, 2007 Wine Tasting

For our twelfth wine we are finally headed to Bordeaux. Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is in the Saint-Julien appellation; one of the four major appellations of the Médoc region. On the left bank of the Garonne estuary, Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is one of the five second growth (Deuxièmes Crus) vineyards of St-Julien. The chief feature of the vineyard are the pebbles or "cailloux" which contribute to the greatness of many Medoc wines. This gravel, about 5 meters deep, is on a calcareous base of about the same thickness. The vineyards are planted in 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot.

Is this a wine that needs decanting? The Chateau recommends that a ten year old wine should be decanted two hours before serving, 20 year old decanted 1 hour and a 40 year old wine decant at the time of serving. Our wine is 5 years old so it will get at least 2 hours.

Wine #12: 2002 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou (St Julien) ($37.00USD, 375ml), 13% alcohol.
One bottle was splash decanted and the other left unopen; both in the cellar at 56 degrees F. After two and a half hours the second bottle was opened and the two wines poured randomly into three marked opaque glasses while I was out of the room.

Glass A: A little muted with notes of banana skin, violets and dusty coffee. Full bodied with clean acidity and firm tannins carrying a short finish. More aromatics on the palate.

Glass B: Has the most complex aromatic profile with oak, cedar, dusty coffee and banana skin. More acidity and obviously firmer tannins that carry a longer finish than glass A.

Glass C: Very muted. Faint violet under dusty banana skin. Again firm tannins but little length to the finish. Nicely balanced but with less vibrant acidity than in glass B.

My opinion: B is from the bottle, A and C from the decanter.
Reality: B is from the bottle, A and C from the decanter.

Conclusion: After smelling all three glasses I was ready to name glass C as the decanted wine but tasting revealed that the wine in glass B was more vibrant with the firmer tannins encouraging a longer finish than the wine in the other two glasses. Still it did take a while to reach a final conclusion, and calling A and B as the wine from the bottle was always the backup decision.

Common to many wines the act of swirling the wine in the glass over time did open this wine even further. That does seem like a contradiction if exposure to air actually lessened the appeal of the wine. But exposure to air in a decanter and coating the inside of a glass with a thin film of wine by swirling are not one in the same. That thin coating of wine is likely to release its volatile components more readily possibly due to effects of surface tension and exposure to warmer air within the bowl itself. If you don’t believe me take two glasses, pour several ounces of wine into one and just a few milliliters into the other. Now swirl for a few moments and smell. Notice any difference?

Score: Wines tested 12, Decanters 1, Non-decanters 4.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Lower Alcohol Wines – Oh, the irony of it all!

Date: Thu, Aug 23, 2007 Wine Tasting

Those who favor lower alcohol in their wines point, not infrequently, to European wines as the saving grace against the onslaught of high alcohol wines from the New World. And in fairness the argument does have some merit as many white wines particularly those with residual sugar, including the sweeter Riesling styles, do have quite low alcohol. But even if a wine does have high alcohol the anti-high alcohol league has remedies. All you have to do is run it through reverse osmosis or a spinning cone and watch the alcohol drop off like the extra pounds on a dieting Oprah! The problem is that both practices "are not currently permitted in the production of wine for sale within the European Union", and that has the potential to create significant problems. In recent weeks wines have been banned from sale in the UK because their lower alcohol levels were achieved by these practices. Sovio, a semi-sparkling Spanish wine, bottled at 8% abv, had been subjected to spinning cone treatment, and the French Plume wine range sold by Tesco achieved its alcohol levels by reverse osmosis.

What to do, what to do? Well, wines from the USA and Australia (pending agreement) that have undergone alcohol reduction by either treatment can be sold in the UK due to bilateral agreements with the EU. But that subjects EU wines to unfair competition from both non-EU nations. To address the problem the Wine & Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) in the UK is seeking a temporary derogation under the appropriate EC Council Regulation to allow lower alcohol wines made using these two practices to be marketed and sold in the UK.

Problem solved? Not really because the European Union will need to develop uniform legislation to address this problem as its member states appear to have different solutions to the dilemma. Both reverse osmosis (in France) and spinning-cone technology (in Spain) are under experimental use but the wines made using these processes can only be sold in their country of origin. However, according to French producers, wines made using reverse osmosis are being sold and marketed in the Netherlands, Austria and Germany.

Getting lower alcohol wines to consumers in Europe, especially lower alcohol European wines, looks like being a tricky process. Who would have thought that would be the case?

Read Full Wine Blog Post