Those other white wines Pt. 1

OK. We have all been in wine stores where there are seemingly endless rows of chardonnay, pinot grigio/gris, sauvignon blanc and sometimes even riesling. And then there is a section called something like "other grapes" or "other wines." Sounds like the title of a bad science fiction movie, like 'The Other Grape That Crushed LA." But what is really among these others, those that seem to be perpetual outcasts from polite society?

Well, one of them is Torrentes, grown primarily in Argentina. It is a notable grape in several regions-Catamarca, La Rioja, Mendoza, Salta, San Juan and Rio Negro. There are some stylistic variations between the different regions, Catamarca tending towards a more full bodied and intensely aromatic style, while those of Mendoza are a bit more reticent on the nose and palette. With these variations the wine still shows its personality well.

The origin of the grape points towards Galicia, that most northwesterly province in Spain. The area derives its name and distinctive language or dialect, depending who you talk to, from ancestral roots in ancient Gaul; hence the name Galicia. This area is known as the green area due to its abundant rainfall and is home to the wines made from albarino grapes and other less well know local varieties.

It is an aromatic white, keeping company with the likes of riesling, albarino and gewurtztraminer. With floral and dark tree fruit aromas, good acidity and ripe peaches, apricots and some honey on the palette, this wine has much to offer.

The acid makes it food friendly and able to hold its own with a variety of dishes such as steamed snapper with mango/peach salsa or roast game hen with rosemary and lemon. It is not a wine that does well with a heavy char from the grill as it takes on a bitterness that catches in the back of the throat.

The aromas and flavors make it a great hot weather wine for sipping or taking on picnics or out on the back deck. The acidity makes all the difference, and is one of the characteristics I like about the aromatics in general. The ripe fruits and crisp acidity are a wonderful combination.

Prices for most offerings are modest to moderate, mostly in the $10-$15 range. If you are not familiar with this wine, go get some and try it well chilled.

To paraphrase a famous saying, "Yes, Virginia, there is life beyond chardonnay."

Beer here

There is good news and bad news, or almost bad news. The almost bad news concerns industrial brewers- Budweiser, Miller, Coors- and the like. Their sales are flat or even decreasing slightly. The recession may be partly to blame for this, but in most other down economies sales of alcohol tend to increase.

The good news is that the sales of craft brewed beers, year to year, 2008-2009, increased at more than 10%. Now a 10% increase in a category that is maybe 4 or 5% of the total beer industry will not refloat the Titanic. But is does point out another interesting fact.

The reason people are going for more of the craft beers is the fact that these beers have a hand made quality and aura to them, even for the largest of the lot, which I believe is Sam Adams. At more than two million barrels per year, Sam is not a home business. But as a nation wide brand, Sam has done much to introduce people to the genre of suds and that is a good thing.

For those of you too young to remember, in the dark ages of the 1960s and 1970s and much of the 1980s, people were condemned to buying only industrial beers, or select from a small group of still local or regional breweries. But in the 1980s things began to change.

No longer were we going to be talking about 50 or so companies that brewed beer. Today there are more than 1500 so-called craft brewery concerns, including brew pubs and traditional breweries. In some places the time honored tradition of taking home a growler of beer is once again on the scene. And the brew pubs generally have food that is at least interesting and more appealing than chain restaurants. (It was interesting that after a rapid increase of brew pubs in the late 80s and 90s, that the ones that survived were generally the ones that offered the best food.)

With the craft beer movement, and to a lesser extent the micro-distilling world, I believe we are seeing a unique version of larger trends that are gaining momentum in the country. The interest in locally grown food, grass fed and humanely raised and slaughtered animals, sustainable fishing programs and increased mainstreaming of organic food, all seem to be part of a collective of desires for people to know their food, where it came from and who produced it.

The beer in the US is as good as any place in the world for the person who wants to separate him or herself from the industrial brewers. Just about all large cities have brew pubs, and craft breweries are to be found in all regions of the country. Sales are steadily increasing all with the trends listed above.

It is a good time to go out and enjoy a true American tradition: locally brewed beer!

Bordeaux blend?

So, I think most everyone has heard the phrase "Bordeaux blend" on any number of occasions, whether talking about actual wines from the region or a wannabe from CA or Australia or elsewhere. Most of the time these wines are cabernet sauvignon based with maybe some merlot, cab franc or, rarely, malbec or petit verdot.

But what's missing here? What's missing is the 6th grape of good ol' Bordeaux, Carmenere. Many people do not know that Carmenere is the 6th blending grape of Bordeaux. The fact that it is legal, does not mean it is still commercially utilized. After the phylloxera catastrophe this varietal was not replanted. And this is not so surprising considering that the grape needs: warm temperatures, abundant sunshine and does well in a dry climate; none of which seem to appear on a regular basis in Bordeaux, at least until global warming struck.

Given that none of these criteria are found in Bordeaux on a regular basis, one can only assume that the winegrowers were popping too many corks when they made this one of the "approved" grapes for the region. This is borne out by the fact that the grape was not replanted after said catastrophe, and no one seems to have missed it in 100+ years. Apparently, it was never a large part of the blending process, and of even less importance.

Except that some prescient folks in Chile brought back numerous cuttings in the 19th century and planted them in what may be the world's best location for growing wine. The climate, similar to California in many ways offers many areas with lots of sunshine, dry weather, but with the addition of generally available irrigation, courtesy of the gods of the Andes. The snow melt rivers flow with abandon and offer plentiful water for the taking.

Seems like a match of the ages, right? Yeh, except that most Chilean growers thought that Carmenere was actually Merlot. It was not until the mid 1990s that a positive genetic ID was made that separated C. from M. which brings me to the title of the post.

Vina y Bodega Estampa S.A. produces a Chilean version of a "Bordeaux blend" with a Chilean twist: Carmenere is 60% of the blend; cabernet sauvignon is 22%, and cabernet franc is 18%. What we have is wine that full bodied, smoky, spicy, intensely fruity with dark fruits, showing a presence of oak and minerality (terroir) with ripe tannins from the C.S. and red fruit overtones from the C. F. This is a magnificent wine.

Vintage 2007 is ready to drink, but if you find some, buy a case and let it sit for a while. The structure is there for 5-10 years of aging.

Bordeaux blend with a Chilean twist. Estate bottled and waiting for you.

Wines of the Times

Having ignored the blog for quite some time, it is time to get going again. The past almost two years I was occupied with writing a book on American cuisine. It looks like it will be published later this year, so before I get going on another one I need to catch up here.

Sometime during the last quarter of 2009 I made my own little wine database. I know a lot about wine but realized that with all the tasting I did, I soon forgot most of what I discovered while attending a tasting. I was surprised after a few weeks to discover where "my" wines were coming from. The last several years the wines I bought for home consumption were mostly from the USA. And I did record a fair number in the data base. What I found interesting was the large number from Spain, and not just Rioja.

Spain led the way with 17 wines: regions were Pendes, Ribera del Duero, Carinena, Rias Baixas, Yecla. Ribera del Duero, Jumilla, Montsant, Valencia, Rueda and Rioja. What most impressed my about these wines is the overall high quality of the wines, region to region and varietal to varietal. When coupled with really reasonable prices it becomes apparent that the price/value relationship is high. The perceived value is outstanding. This is one of the concepts that gets a great deal of attention on teaching about cost control in the food service industry. Without fail, the consistency of perceived value led me purchase one Spanish wine after another and was never disappointed with any of the wines.

Surprises were the freshness and refinement of white wines made in Rias Baixas and Rioja Alta. The Rioja was new to me and the viura grape produced a crisp, refreshing, orange and almond scented wine of great charm. All of the reds ranging from tempranillo to garnacha displayed juicy red and dark fruits with a touch of oak and a distinct impression of a sense of place. Monastrell was large and full bodied but not overpowering. The tinta roriz, which is the local name in Rubera del Duero for tempranillo, was more full bodied and silky than the wines made in Rioja; not necessarily better, but quite distinct.

And the sparkling wine Cava was uniformly excellent. Here my personal preference is for wines made from the classic native Spanish grape (parelladda, macabeo, xarel-lo) rather than ones made with the addition of chardonnay. Who needs another chardonnay for a sparkling wine when the native varieties propduce such crisp and nuanced wines?

These are definitely wines to try for summer tie, whether the crisp whites to alleviate the hot and humid Atlanta weather, or the wide variety of reds for enjoying with slabs of grilled beast on the backyard grill.

Have fun and don't forget to write!

About time

I just read on a wine business web site that distributors are slashing prices to unload shelves full of dust collecting trophy bottles of wine. You know the ones, where someone with a straight face says this wine will be released at $150 or $250 or $1200 per bottle. Maybe some of you were actually caught up in this mass ego inflation exercise. Ego Inflation on the part of the winemaker in saying that "I am SO GOOD that my wine is worth two or three cases of anyone else's wine." Or maybe you were one of the ones duped into buying that marketing line and actually paid one of those ridiculous prices just to have a trophy wine. Why? To brag to your friends? To brag to yourself?

This whole sordid business of horrendously over inflated wine prices is part and parcel of the general ego malaise that gripped the country over the last seven or eight years. Too much money was made for essentially doing nothing so that the value of the money itself could not generate a real sense of achievement or value. The money itself, while plentiful for 1% of the population, became worthless from a standpoint of real value.

This was in part reflected in the wine high as demonstrated by winemakers actually able to charge, and get, such absurd prices for their wines. If these wines were indeed worth these prices, that would reflect an innate value in the wines themselves, whether Napa cabs or Bordeaux classed growths. But the prices have plummeted to the point that some distributors are discounting as much as 60% of what the release price was a year or two ago just to get these financial anchors out of the water.

Bordeaux exports took a nose dive in Britain for the same reason that trendy Napa producers are sitting on inventory.

Maybe now there will be an adjustment of prices to approach some sort of reality. Once the grapes are paid for and the labor and financial carrying charges plus a profit margin are factored in, the rest of an inflated price is ego in action.

Maybe it is time to think rather than boast or brag.

Next exciting chapter

Well, not much has happened since our last action packed installment. The publisher has had the revised manuscript for a little over a week. It goes to "readers" who decide if it is ready to present to the university review board.

Publisher number two was sent two ideas for other books I am working on and also no response from them either.

Even if nothing gets published this has been a great experience. I learned lots about some great people I did not know before and just the discipline of keeping at writing over three hundred pages was a trip.

Hopefully more later on the adventure.

Web site address

For those of you interested in learning more about wine whether personally or for your business, take a look at my web site, http://web.me.com/winewithachef/Site.

Talk soon.

So you want to write a cookbook?

Having recently seen "Julie and Julia," which I thought was a fabulous movie, I got to thinking about the process of writing and publishing a cookbook. Or a book on food or wine. Or maybe on anything.

It was just a year ago that I decided to author my own book, a combination of culinary history and cookbook, focusing on a number of cookbook authors, each of whom had a profound influence on the food we cook and eat today. Authors are from the earliest American cookbook to the first chef for the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.

The format was relatively easy: write a biographical section on each author that would also place them in a historical context of the country as a whole. Recipes from their original books would follow with modern adaptions and some updating of syntax where required.

I had a great time writing the book and learned a lot. As a food professional for many years, I was wonderfully surprised to discover all this "new" information. Once the book was about 75% written, I decided that I would find a publisher.

After reading a couple "how to publish your literary masterpiece" books that all said the same thing, one item made sense. Get an agent. Many publishers do not look at manuscripts unless forwarded by a known or established literary agent.

Well. The first three months were something less than a joy. Many no responses. Some "you gotta be kidding, right," responses. Some nicely written that were ultimately, "sorry find somebody else." I did receive a rejection from an agent in Ireland who used wonderful language in his rejection. I actually laughed it was so well written. Yes, this is a "No," but let's not be all too serious about it.

Then started the process of writing directly to publishers. Which is a whole 'nother story.

Tune in for the next exciting chapter.

This is a photo of Manchester, Vermont for those of who haave never been there.

One of the best features of the Symposium that was interesting was the focus on Spanish wines. There was a program by Doug Frost, MS, MW, on wines of Spain where he featured unusual but distinctive and wonderful wines from less known regions.

Another program featured Steve Olson, the Wine Geek, on Sherry. We tasted about a dozen wines from the driest imaginable to wines with a texture so rich they had a viscosity similar to motor oil, but in a good way.

One of the featured underwriters of the symposium was Wines of Spain, USA. They did a great job and certainly had engaging and knowledgeable speakers.

There will be reviews later on of the wines tasted throughout the event.

Some Surprises

I was lucky enough to attend the Sante Magazine Symposium held at the Equinox Hotel in Manchester, VT. With lots of advance program information I was able to select from all the great programs and focus on wine, especially wines from Spain and ways of training staff in wine service. As a huge bonus there was a tasting and retrospective on wines of Bordeaux, with tastings back to 1989.

This Symposium will take several postings to cover.

Today I'll start with the Bordeaux wines. Presented by Roger Bohmrich, MW, who is managing partner in Mellisima USA, it was a revelation in just how good great Bordeaux wines can be.

We started with the 2005 vintage tasting Ch. De Sales from Pomerol and Ch d'Armailhac
from Paulliac.The De Sales had intense but subtle red fruit aromas and plenty of fine ripe tannins. The d'Armailhac had a deep intensity of color with a slightly smokey tinged aroma and palette of dark fruits. Composed of 60% Cab Sauv, 29% Merlot, 10% Cab Franc and whopping 1% Petite Verdot, it displayed incredible balance and confidence that let us know it would be alive and well for many years.

From 2003 we sampled Ch. d'Issan from Margaux and Ch. La Fleur Peyrabon, again from Pauillac. The D'Issan was a rapturous black red color showing dense aromas of black fruits, oak and dirt. On the palette there were plentiful tannins and great structure. At 70% Cab Sauv and 30% Merlot, this wine is still in its infancy.

The Peyrabon exhibited a large nose of deeply ripe red fruits, spice and oak. The palette was lush, full and ripe with a promise of increasing complexity as the years pass.

Vintage 2000 was represented by Domaine de Chevalier and Ch. La Dominque.The Chevalier was a deep ruby color with a long finish and tannins just starting to drop out of the wine. The flavor was intense but with an almost transparent lightness of being.

Dommique again showed intense dark ruby color with vibrant dark red fruits on the nose. After eight years, the ripeness of the fruit on the palette was impressive.

Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou from St. Julien and Leoville Las Cases, its almost neighbor from St. Julien, were both impressive. Ducru was showing a slight garnet on the rim evolving from a deep red core. The nose displayed red and dark fruits, noticeable dark cherry and spice and licorice notes. The palette was expressive and beginning to resolve into a fully mature personality. The Las Cases was also going to brick red on the rim with a little less intensity on the nose than the Ducru. The tannins were evident in maintaining a wonderful, firm structure while displaying a remarkable purity of fruit. This wine is 65% Cab Sauv, 19% Merlot, 13% Cab Franc and 3% Petite Verdot.

What Mr. Bomrich showed the attendees was how truly impressive the wines of Bordeaux can be. Despite all the hype of the French wine trade going down the drain, so long as wines such as these are produced, Bordeaux with remain the benchmark for wine growing areas around the world.

Mr. Robert Mondavi

Robert Mondavi died at the age of 94. In the course of his long and eventful life he was one of a tiny handful of people who created the modern American wine industry. From his time as a novice to his time as an international business man with oenological interests all over the globe, his name was synonymous with quality, generosity and creativity.

When I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1979 his wine brand was a leader in California wines in stores and restaurants. In a very real way, he made our wines known throughout the world.

There will be many lengthy pieces written on Mr. Mondavi. This is simply a thank you to a great man who had and continues to have a profound impact on me and the entire wine world.

Here's a toast to your life Mr. Mondavi.

Thank you.

Northwest Wine Symposium

What a great experience. I recently was a judge at the above named event held on Mt. Hood, at the Timberline Lodge. There were twenty judges from around the country broken into panels of four each. Members rotated panels and we had some time to discuss wines after personal evaluations.

Wines were from Or, WA, ID, MT, Alberta and BC. What was cool was there were so many unusual wines: lembergers, ehrenfelsers, tempranillos, kerners. And Italian varietals were coming on strong; I had not thought of the Northwest as a good area for these red grapes. But was I wrong!

The overall quality of the wines was good and we had over 1200 hundred to sample in five tasting sessions. Judges were educators, winemakers, academics, retailers and restaurant professionals. We had a vibrant cross section of people and the rotation system all but guaranteed a fresh perspective for everyone when judging.

Surprises for me wre the quality levels of the Italian and Spanish grapes. There were some delightful muscat frizzantes (just in time for summer), excellent sparkling wines, well made fortifieds (although when will New World wineries stop using the European name Port for their fortified wines?), coomplex ice wines and some well made Rhone blends, both white and red.

Some problems arose with excessive brettanomyces aromas and flavors as well as some high levels of volatile acidity. But for the most part, the wines displayed a growing sense of quality, professionalism and well tended vineyards. This event highlighted what a world class region the Northwest is.

See the following link for continuing reports and updates on these wines.

Red Hills AVA

Just to the northeast of Calistoga in Napa Valley lies Lake County. Within lake County is a sub-appellation called Red Hills. Lake County was the first major wine grape growing area in California with a history dating back to the end of the 19th century. As with so many other promising places and wineries, the growers and wineries were wiped out during the black hole of Prohibition. Folks planted mostly pear and walnut trees to get by.

Fast forward to the 1960s and we see some grapes growing again in Lake County. There are now about four dozen wineries and over 100 growers of grapes who sell on contract to other wineries out of the area.

Red Hills is a sub-appellation within the Lake County AVA. It lies on the southwestern shore of Clear Lake, the largest natural lake in California and the oldest lake in the United States. The local volcano, Mt. Konocti, is responsible for most of the soil types in Red Hills. Obsidian, pumice, clay/gravel, all combine to provide a unique sense of place for this area.

Add to that the altitude of vineyards starting at around 1300 feet and rising to almost 4,000 feet, and there are many factors that go to creating wonderful grapes and wines.

The elevation creates diurnal temperature swings of often 40 to 50 degrees. The steep slopes create breezes which help keep fungus and rot to a minimum. Many of the vine problems found at lower altitudes are not an issue in Red Hills.

Vineyard soils often have high levels of calcium which helps grapes retain acidity to create balance in the finished wines.

The area's altitude places most vineyards above the fog layer coming in off the Pacific so early morning sunlight gives extra hours for slow ripening at cool temperatures.

Wines of Red Hills tend toward great purity of fruit, exquisite balance, moderate alcohol levels and reasonable prices. What more do you need?

Vines are young, with most showing under ten years of age. As these vines mature we will see greater intensity of fruit and complexity on the palette.

While reds do well here, Sauvignon Blanc is a real winnner, showing citrus and tropical fruits with good acidity and elegant balance. New Zealand watch out-someone's gaining on you!

We'll have some more on Red Hills and Lake County later. But for now, go buy some wines from the area and see what I am talking about.

Some Suds

This is a picture of picking hops in the bad old days. How uncomfortable does this look? But from the past we derive the future and that's what this post is about.

This past week at Le Cordon Bleu Atlanta there was a competition for students. The focus was on using beers of Flying Dog Brewery in original recipes. The winners will be posted on their web site. We were lucky enough to have Eric Warner, one of the premier craftbrewers in the US, as a judge in the contest.

It was great to see the enthusiasm, creativity and interest from future chefs in creating some really good dishes using beer as a key ingredient. Some were more successful than others, which is to be expected. The better offerings displayed a finished flavor that fully incorporated the beer in the overall recipe. The better recipes allowed the taste of the individual beer to come through as well as being integrated in the dish.

Eric is a great speaker and loved judging and meeting the students and a million thanks to him. Despite a busy schedule he took time to speak to my Beverage class the next day. Throughout his visit there was enormous interest in the competition and in the students to learn more about good beer.

This was, I think, indicative of how good beer will progress in the years ahead. Craft beers are where wine was in the 1980s as far as market share and public interest. The sleeping giant of American consumers is waking and an awful lot of that interest will be increasingly focused on craft beers. Recent sales show that while industrial beers sales are flat at best, craft beers are increasing at rates of around 30-45% per year.

I see this as part of a general trend that is also reflected in the swelling of interest in slow food, naturally raised beef, pork and lamb and poultry as opposed to the horrors of factory farming, and a passion for people to feel a connectedness to their food.

There is a deep seated need in people to be a part of their environment, part of the land, and this most basic need is evidenced through our food. It is no accident that people are starting push back against frankenfoods, hormone and anti-biotic laced meat, chemical fertilizers and pesticides that do so much damage to the natural world.

Craft brewing is part of this and the beers produced help give people a real sense of being connected to their food. It is reassuring to know that somewhere there is a real person supervising the brewing; and taking a personal interest in his or her products. All is not faceless and spiritless mega-corporations. Ever notice how many beers are increasingly going organic? Same idea.

So support your local craft brewer and brew pub. These folks represent a return to one the most personal aspects of society. They deserve everyone's support. In five years, people will be talking about beers the way they now talk about wines. Be a part of this wholly positive movement.

Prossit!

Wines to Watch Part 1

There are several interesting areas that received good press reports over the last several months. What I am about here is to summarize some of these items and give you ideas for further pursuit of some good wines.

MICHIGAN: Never in my wildest fantasies did I think Michigan would be getting national recognition for their wines. Cherries and cherry pie? Sure. Great blueberries? Sure. Gas guzzling car? Well......

But now the state's burgeoning wine industry is racking up positive press left and right. What does best here are grapes that like a tough climate or can be shown to advantage with less ripening than others. The varietals that come to mind are riesling and pinot gris, AKA pinot grigio. Riesling seems to actually like lousy weather, which is why it does well in Germany. Alsace is is more user friendly but at the 48th or 49th parallel that can mean different things to different grapes. In Michigan the wines produced have lots of structure and a mouth filling tartness coupled with a ripe fruit nose and palette that belie their place of origin.

Pinot grigio can show well if picked early, as many Italian growers do voluntarily. In Michigan, the cooler temperatures can be a blessing in that a consistency of style is not difficult to achieve due to more problematic ripening conditions than in the Veneto region or even Trentino/Alto Adige.

With an aggressive and informative professional association, these wines are making headlines on a regular basis. Look for more news from Michigan in the next couple of years and vines achieve maturity and new wineries get started.

TTB Strikes Again

As many of you know the task of assigning appellation names in the US is the responsibility of TTB-Tobacco and Tax Bureau. In addition to having the "wrong" government agency in charge of this task, this agency has gone back on its own stated principals and rules at the behest of some well connected and extremely prosperous wine companies.

The issue is the use of Calistoga as an appellation name with the requirements as set forth by the TTB itself in the naming of such regions. The companies involved are misleading consumers by implying that their wines come from Calistoga in Napa Valley. There is an 85% rule that says if a specific region and vintage appear on a label then 85% of the grapes used for that wine must come from that region and vintage. A couple of companies decided not to abide by the rules the TTB established.

The TTB also built in an exception clause stating that if the brand was established before 1986 then the name could remain. Both of these companies were started after this rule went into effect and chose to ignore the rule. Now they say that by enforcing the rule TTB set forth that they would suffer economic hardship and, incredibly, TTB is seriously considering theior pitiful plea.

There was a public comment period before a final determination was to be made.

So what we have is a government agency whose job it is to establish PLACE names for the origin of wines saying, in effect, "Well, we really did not mean what we said and all you wineries who chose to abide by the law, goody for you. But these guys have lots of money so we'll make an exception to the exception that they knew about when they established their brand names and let them call their wines by whatever geographical name they want because we will not enforce our own rules especially when these guys are well connected here in Washington and Sonoma County."

Do some leg work to find out what that last comment meant.

If TTB ignores their own rules the entire validity of the AVA system comes into question. There will in effect be no viable national standards for origin of wines. In an industry where, around the world, people are seeking a sense of place in their wines and other food products, we have a Federal agency populated by political appointees negating this movement by consumers everywhere.

It is reprehensible to me to have the very agency responsible for integrity in the source of wines show such appalling disregard for honesty and their own established rules.

Shame.

Catching Up

It has been a while since I wrote my last entry. This is do in large measure to the fact that I was prepping for my, hopefully, last exam for the Diploma of the WSET. The Unit Three Exam, given on January 7 in New York was... interesting. I was well prepared but you never know when there is so much information to be covered-all the wine regions and all the wines of the world. 

We had two, 6-wine taste panels with varietal, location and quality levels involved. Then came the essays: Question one was required and we then selected four of the following six topics to answer in detail. 

Results will not be available until sometime in April.

In the meantime, I had my first article published on Appellation America.com with the topic being unusual Georgia varietals planted based on the terroir of the North Georgia mounntains.

My January/February column for Forsyth Living is on Wines of Austria, some of my favorites.

Plans are also to have the CIA, Culinary Institute of America, alumni magazine Mis en Place publish an article on my wine intensive at the Rudd Center in Napa this past September.

I was in Paso Robles after my wine intensive and conducted and interview with Mr. Justin Barnard of Justin Vineyards as well as Mr. Jason Haas of Tablas Creek. The Haas interview should come to the surface soon. Justin Vineyards Vineyards a little later. More info when it is available.

Take a look at my redone web site. I changed many things and I think it is the better for it.

More to come soon.

Filtration for Crystal Clear Wine?

OK, maybe not many people stay awake nights thinking about wine filtration, but this is often times an important part of the winemakers bag of tricks to produce wines that are clear and appealing as well as sterile and stable. We’re going to look at a couple of aspects of this technique and maybe revisit for a more in-depth look later on.

To start, let me say that not all wines are filtered. Some producers make a point of stating this on the wine label. What does this mean? This means that the wine is not filtered. DUH! It does not guarantee quality or a level of quality. It means what it says: This wine is not filtered. Period. There are some winemakers who believe that a wine should never be filtered as all of the particulate components of a wine add flavor; filtering a wine reduces overall flavor and complexity.

There is also fining-this is a process whereby, traditionally, some material is allowed to filter through the wine to remove certain particles and compounds that may cause a wine to cloud. Some of the most common fining materials are: bentonite,a type of clay from Wyoming; kaolin, another clay; silica and activated charcoal. These are inorganic agents.

Organic agents include albumin, casein, gelatin, and rarely, isinglas from fish bladders. These agents work largely by forming compounds with solids in the wine, called colloidal particles, and add weight to them so they settle to the bottom of the cask.

Much of this settling action happens if a young wine, fully fermented, is left to settle on its own time. But time is money and fining gets the wine hopping along its journey to your table faster than waiting for it to settle of its own accord.

Filtration can be performed almost anywhere along the wine making process: wine is often filtered after fermentation when the wine is racked, transferred from one barrel to another, to start the aging and settling process. This is a coarse type of filtration and removes only the largest of the wine solids.

Modern filtration is either depth filtration or surface (AKA absolute) filtration. Depth filtration has the wine pass through a reasonably thick filtering membrane or agent. Solids get trapped somewhere in the channels of the filter and do not pass go and do not collect $200. Bummer.

As the name suggests, absolute, or surface, filtration removes everything if the filter holes are small enough. These holes are on the surface of the filter and need to be removed when clogged. This type of filtration can have openings so small that even bacteria and yeasts are filtered, hence, absolute filtration.

There are myriad variations on filtering agents and filtering machines, so we can come back to this topic if you would like. Let me know.

So next time you hoist a goblet of vino, hold it up to the light and see just how beautifully clear this wonderful beverage is; and realize that it takes lots of skill and experience and love to produce this product.

A Trip to Napa

The last week in September I was lucky enough to enroll in a course, a wine course, at the Culinary Institute of America Rudd Center in Napa Valley. The Rudd Center is a portion of the facility located in the heart of the valley. While the main part of the entire facility, the old Christian Brothers Winery, is devoted to culinary study, there is a separate building on the property that is concerned with wine study. After all, wine and food were born together and make ideal study buddies.

The course, Great Wine Regions of Europe II, focused on the Loire, the Rhone, South of France, Austria and Greece. It was presented in the state of the art amphitheater style classroom that can accommodate around 30 students. The presenter was an extremely knowledgeable Master Sommelier by the name of Bob Bath.

There was lots of information presented, about 24 wines per day tasted, and a good group of folks to hang with. With breakfast and lunch included, nobody starved.

What is important about this facility is that the same level of professional expertise is demanded for the wine studies as for the culinary and baking programs. The CIA offers a Wine Professional Certificate which requires a high level of knowledge of wines, service, wine business and food and wine pairing. To my knowledge, this is the first facility of its kind in the US. And when I asked my classmates why the CIA was chosen for study, certainly there are other wine education programs around, the same answer came through-quality of educational experience and knowledge of the instructors. The fact that the Rudd Center is located in the heart of Napa Valley and is drop dead gorgeous as well, certainly didn't hurt.

A long time ago I graduated from the CIA in Hyde Park, NY with a degree in Culinary Arts. For the longest time I wanted to get to the Rudd Center as my teaching and learning focus has drifted towards wines over the last few years. I finally made it and intend going back next spring if at all possible.

Good place. The photo is the front door to the Rudd Center.

Spain and Portugal

This past Sunday my tasting group and I were scheduled for wines of Spain and Portugal, light wines as the Brits say; table wines as we Americans say. One of the great aspects of the Wine and Spirits Education Trust program, is that, over a couple of years, I tasted wines that I never before knew existed. And as part of my Diploma study course, we taste wines from all over the world for Unit Three, Light Wines of the World.

Beyond the “regular” and familiar wines we ventured into: Rioja Reserva, Gran Reserva, a red from Navarra, a red Duero, a white from Rueda, made with the Verdelo grape which is responsible for the verdelho style of Madeira, but here fermented bone dry and crisp. There was a wine from the Duoro River Valley where port grapes are grown. But this was a scrumptious red table wine using the Tempranillo grape and the Touriga Franca, which is one of the top five quality grapes used in producing the exquisite fortified Ports I love.

A Vinho Verde delighted with its low alcohol, early fruity taste and its wonderful fizzzzzzz! And of course, there was a strwawberry/raspberry scented rose′ from garnacha grapes from Rioja.

What impressed the group was the fine quality of the wines-not a dog among them. In fact, most were exceptional. And when the price was factored in, they were all great values. We taste blind and do not reveal labels and prices until after all wines are tasted.