Wine Century Club

Let’s start this one off with a “test”. What do Savagnin and Graciano have in common? If you said they are both grapes, then you are on the right track. If you further said they are grown in unique locales, and make interesting wines, then you might consider yourself somewhat of a “wine geek”. 

When “talking” about wine, most people focus on Cabernet Sauvignon, or Chardonnay, maybe even Pinot Noir or Sauvignon Blanc….but there is so much more out there to try. Many people are now subscribing to the “ABC” philosophy of wine tasting, that is “Anything But Chardonnay (or Cabernet)”. There are over 7,000 different wine grape varieties, and about 24,000 names for these varieties, grown throughout the world. Only about 150 varieties are grown in large enough quantities for the wine to make it into your local wine shop. And, that is what makes finding an unusual variety so much fun. With one sip, you can experience something from another part of the world. So, if you enjoy the hunt, and the adventure of finding these “uncommon” wines, then I have got a challenge for you.

The Wine Century Club was formed by Steve and Deborah DeLong in 2005. The DeLong name might sound familiar to you. If you have been in a wine shop, or a tasting room, and seen a wine grape varietal chart on the wall, you may recognize the name. The DeLong Wine Grape Varietal Chart is designed like a periodic table, aligning the grapes by acid and sugar levels. There are 184 grapes on the chart.  The Wine Century club grew out of that chart. As people began to taste the wine made from these grapes, a club developed to recognize those that had tried 100 different grapes. Now, in addition to regular membership, they also recognize serious grape nuts who have tried at least 200 (Doppel), 300 (Treble), 400 (Quattro) or 500 (Pentavini) different varieties.

Membership is simple. All you need to do is download a checklist of common and uncommon wine varietals, try 100 of them, then mail in your completed list. Once your list has been verified, you receive a free certificate (suitable for framing) designating you as a member of the Wine Century Club. According to their website, they currently have 1,378 members worldwide. The club is not a bunch of wine snobs, and they aren’t “ABC” advocates. They are open to everyone that is adventurous; including amateur taster to professional Sommelier.

I have some friends that are now on a quest to join this growing club. You would think that tasting 100 varietals would be fairly easy, but you would be wrong, and that is part of the fun. The hunt to find new grape varieties will lead you to some great new finds, and some that you’ll probably never try again. Hint: look to Italy and Greece for some rare finds. Even the East Coast of the United States offers some non-vinifera grapes, as well as hybrids, that are uncommon. I joined in 2010. At the time of my membership, I had tasted 127 different grapes. I am still working on getting to 200.

If you have been paying $60 or more for the same California Cabernet Sauvignon over and over, why not spend $25 for an unusual Cabernet Pfeffer or Negrette from Kenneth Volk in California? Is it the unknown that scares you, or excites you? If it excites you, then you need to start tracking your wine tastings, and join the club.

When you are in the restaurant, check the wine list for the uncommon grapes. The markup will typically be lower, as most people won’t venture beyond what they are accustom to. I think you’ll also find that most Sommeliers seek the unusual, so talk with the Somm, and ask what they would recommend. Restaurants that are on the “cutting edge” will typically have a Sommelier that is allowed to add some obscure wines, that pair ideally with the chef’s cuisine. Look at Gruner Vetliner... Just a few years ago, no one had heard of this grape, and now it is popping up, not only in wine shops, but in restaurants. The latest addition seems to be Assyrtiko, from Greece. I am seeing more and more on shelves and wine lists.

So, if Savagnin,  Graciano, Negrette, or Assyrtiko are familiar to you, then you are already on your way to membership. Download an application and join on the Century Wine Club website. The next thing you know, you will be changing the wine store stocks on its’ shelves, and what the restaurant puts on their wine list. You will also be experiencing the local wines that are “normal” or “common” in other parts of the world.

Muscadet

Two posts ago, I shared a wine tasting event at a local restaurant. One of the white wines was Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine Sur Lie. Since most are probably not familiar with this grape, I thought I'd share a bit, in the hopes that you will seek out a bottle, and try some.

Loire Map c/o The International Sommelier Guild

Muscadet (also known as Melon de Bourgogne) is different from Muscat, which most people associate with grapey, lightly sparkling wine. There is an old story that Melon de Bourgogne arrived from Burgundy via the Valois Dukes who gave their poorest variety to the Loire as a joke. Only France would consider this a practical joke! It is thought that Muscadet is a cousin of Chardonnay. Muscadet is generally an undistinguished and neutral variety with some apple, citrus and herb notes. But with lees contact, is much improved. It also ripens early, regularly, and fairly generously, making it useful in the cool maritime climate of Loire Region in northwest France. Its' home is in the Pays Nantais region of the Loire, thanks to influence of Dutch merchants. The Dutch liked the fairly neutral grape for making Brandy.

The most significant appellation is Muscadet Sevre et Maine, which accounts for half of production in the Nantais region, though there is also Muscadet des Coteaux de la Loire in the north, and Muscadet Cotes de Grand Lieu in the south west.  Muscadet is the basic appellation for wines without lees contact. At their best, these basic Muscadet appellation wines are ordinary and pretty straight forward. The wines are generally pale with green flecks. The aromas of the Muscadet are abundant in white flowers and fruit.

Sur-lie

Typically, Muscadet vinification is done in cool stainless for the most part, and after fermentation, the wines are stored over the winter on their lees, which imparts a subtle yeastiness and, occasionally, a slight spritz.

The term "Sur Lie", which is often associated with Muscadet, translates to "aging on the lees," and often referred to as "yeast contact." Wine is aged in the barrel with the yeast retained, rather than being clarified before aging. Aging on the lees increases the complexity and creaminess of the wine. The lees function as an antioxidant but can occasionally taint the wine. Bottling is usually in the spring after the harvest—but definitely before the next harvest—it is often bottled directly from tank. The slight residues of carbon dioxide which remain after fermentation give the wines their particular freshness and special liveliness on the palate, often referred to as the ‘pearls of youth’. They also offer a great finesse and a characteristic bouquet. It is required to have 12 % or less alcohol, and a high level of acidity.

Muscadet shines as one of the great seafood wines (in particular shellfish). The classic pairing is with raw oysters. It is also wonderful with (and in) mussels à la marinière and mussel soup with saffron, and with simple grilled fish. Muscadet may have been the wine used in the original beurre blanc, a white butter sauce from Muscadet's native Pays Nantais.

The wine is designed to be consumed young and you should make a point to avoid “mature” versions of the wine

Albariño

Last week, I told you about a wine tasting we conducted, and the two “best buy” wines of the evening: a Mexican Nebbiolo, and a Spanish Albariño. To my surprise, a lot of the people at the tasting were unfamiliar with Albariño, so I thought I might take some time, and do a short information piece on this up and coming wine variety.

Albariño is a green, thick-skinned grape variety. It was presumably brought to Iberia (now Spain) by Cistercian monks in the 12th century. The monks were centered at Cluny, in the Burgundy region of France. But, its name "Alba-Riño" means "the white from the Rhine", which could indicate that it traveled a bit, before settling down in the Rίas Baixas region (Galicia) of Spain. Albariño accounts for 90% of all plantings in Rías Baixas. I should point out the DNA research has been inconclusive as to the origin of the grape.

It is also common in the Vinho Verde region of Portugal, where it is known as Alvariñho. Vinho Verde translates to “green wine”, but in this case, the “green” is referring to youth.  The wines are blends (Alvariñho along with Loureiro and Trajadura), which are commonly bottled with a bit of carbon dioxide remaining trapped in the bottle, producing a light spritz on the palate.

Rias Baixas Pergola Vineyards

The thick-skinned grape resists fungal disease, which is prevalent in the damp climates of Rίas Baixas and Vinho Verde. Albariño is a low yielding grape variety and expensive to cultivate. Most often it is fermented in stainless steel, to preserve the fruit and floral flavors and retain the sharp acidity. But, it also responds well to malolactic fermentation and barrel fermentation and maturation, creating complex wines with some aging ability.

The grape is noted for its distinctive aroma, due to its thick skin. The closest grapes to associate with would be cross between Viognier, Pinot Grigio and Gewurztraminer. On the nose and palate, you’ll find apple, pear, apricot, peach and citrus, along with floral notes of jasmine or acacia. When grown in highly acidic, granite soil, Albariño produces a more minerally wine. On the other hand, sandy soil gives the wine a softer, more rounded profile. In general, the wine produced is unusually dry, light, and high in acid with moderate alcohol levels.  Its thick skins and large number of pips (seeds) can cause some residual bitterness.

Outside of Spain and Portugal, there are small plantings of Albariño in Australia (where, for a long time, what was called Albariño, was actually Savagnin Blanc) and the United States (particularly California, Oregon and Washington).

Pulpo ala Gallego

These wines are made to be consumed young (usually within the first year after bottling) and go nicely with many appetizers, poultry, seafood and shellfish. The classic Mediterranean food pairing is pulpo ala Gallego (boiled octupus with sea water, potatoes, and pimenton). It is also one of those wines that works well with spicy food, so next time you are eating Cajun or Szechuan…look for a bottle of Albariño. It’s a variety that is growing in popularity, not only because of its great taste and food friendly nature, but because the wines are great values (usually under $20).

Out of a deep sleep

The Winter is over, and Spring is here. It seems that when the weather begins to improve, I see more people out and about. The long cold winter is over, and we are all coming out of our winter slumber, and ready to move forward into the warmth of summer.

The same is true in the vineyard. Grapevines go through a cycle of slumber, growth, harvest, then slumber. This time of year the vines are in a critical and fragile state. Budbreak and flowering are beginning to take place, getting ready for a new crop of grapes, and ultimately the next wine vintage.

Last weekend (Easter, April 8th) I was up in the Central Coast, and spent some time wine tasting, as well as taking a look at the vineyards, to see where we were in the cycle. So far, this winter, and early Spring, have been pretty dry in California. Even so, the vines have started pulling up water from the earth, preparing for production. "Budbreak" is when the tiny buds on the vine begin to swell and create shoots and eventually leaves, that help the photosynthesis process.

The soil temperature and the grape variety will determine where budbreak will occur first. Warmer soils will encourage earlier budbreak, than those in cooler soils. Even the soil type makes a difference. Clay soils tend to be cooler, and retain more water. These soils will delay budbreak, versus rocky soils which can actually retain the suns energy, and are warmer. Usually, the daily temperature needs to exceed 50 °F

Syrah, just starting to bud

The type of grape variety also has an impact on when budbreak will occur. Some early budding varieties are: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Zinfandel. These are also early ripening varieties. Some early budding, but late ripening varieties are: Reisling, Chenin Blanc, Grenache, and Sangiovese.

On the other end of the spectrum are the late budding varieties like Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah. Both of these are also early ripening. The best known variety that is both late budding and late ripening is Cabernet Sauvignon.

Obviously, soil, climate, and aspect of the terrain are important factors in determining which varieties are best suited for planting.

The vineyard manager needs to watch his vines. Certain decisions must be made at this time, including the first fungicidal spraying (usually a copper based product). If the vineyard is biodynamic, a entirely different set of decisions will be made. Weather during this time is critical. Frost danger still exists, and once the buds push through, they are at risk of freezing. Last year, a deep frost at this time of year, wiped out about 35% of the central coast crop. So, why not try to delay budbreak? Well, if it occurs too late, the grapes might not have enough time to fully ripen, before the fall rains come, and the grower will be in an uncomfortable position of gambling on longer hang time, or picking unripe grapes, or even worse, loosing an entire crop. Just like this time of year, frost or rain at harvest can also have devastating consequences.

Viognier - with embryo clusters

While in the vineyards, I took a look at different grape varieties, all at various stages of growth. At one stop, there were three different varieties planted next to each other. The Syrah grapes were just beginning to bud. If you look very closely at my photos, you can also see how the tiny buds shown are pink, which is an indicator that bud break has recently occurred. Just across the road (literally 20 feet away) the Viognier grapes have fully budded, and are beginning the embryo bunch stage.

The embryo bunch stage is also a very critical part of the grape life cycle. These small green clusters are going to be the flowers that will eventually become the grapes. These are the first indication of the potential size of the crop. Usually, within eight weeks after budbreak, the tiny embryo clusters develop into flower clusters. Since we are not yet in the full flowering stage (usually some time in May), I will defer the discussion of the flowering stage for another article. But again, just like the budbreak stage, this time of year runs the danger of rain, wind and frost. Additionally, the vines can be affected by coulure or millerandage. All of these can dramatically affect the years' harvest and grape quality.

Everyone is closely watching the vineyards right now. Those of you who live in California know that we have rain and much cooler weather hitting us right now. The storm on Wednesday (April 11th) saw temperatures drop here in Southern California, and Friday's storm is supposed to be larger and cooler. Keep your fingers crossed. The next month or so, is critical to this years' wine vintage.

Clones

I was talking with a friend today, and he had received his club shipment from Melville Winery Estate. In the shipment were three different bottles of Pinot Noir. Each was made with a different clone. You don't know how tempted I was to name this weeks' blog "Clone Wars", but my better sense helped me to hold back.

So what is a clone, and why should it make any difference in the wine you drink?

First, the definition of a "clone" is (Hartman, et. al., 1990 from Ed Hellman, Texas A&M): a genetically uniform group of individuals derived originally from a single individual by asexual propagation (cuttings, grafting, etc). What that means in layman terms is that a new plant is created in the exact image (biologically identical) of another superior grape vine, without the use of a seed. The clone is created from clippings (bud or shoot) from the "mother vine". In this way, the grape grower can populate his/her vineyard with those grapevines that produce the best grapes. The superior grapevine will demonstrate attributes and characteristics that the winemaker finds desirable. However, most vineyards will have a mix of different clones, so that the livelihood of the vineyard is not dependent on a single clone. Also the winemaker may blend the different clones to create a more complex quality wine.

Some of the characteristics that make clones distinct include berry and cluster size, yield, fruit color, phenolics, flavor and aroma, time of budbreak and amount of time to ripen, vine and canopy vigor, cold/heat hardiness, and disease resistance. Obviously, all of these are critical to grape quality, and the eventual wine produced.

When we hear about clones, it is usually in reference to Pinot Noir, but any grape variety can be cloned. It just happens that Pinot Noir is an old variety, and is very susceptible to mutation. Some of Pinot Noirs' "relatives": Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Meunier. Each differs from the parent grape. If we just look at Pinot Noir, the French have identified over 1000 different clones of Pinot Noir.

Photo care of Langetwin Winery

California is a perfect example of how clonal selection affects the wine produced. The early history of Pinot Noir in California was the story of smuggled "suitcase" clippings from Burgundy. For example, cuttings taken from Romanée-Conti (considered the world’s most distinguished Pinot Noir vineyard) were planted, and some had outstanding results, while others didn't do so well. After 1987, Dijon clones began to arrive. All of these clones were identified by a French scientist named Raymond Bernard. He identified individual vines that had different characteristics, propagated them, then assigned numbers to each. Now, clonal selections are registered by the University of California Davis (UCD) and certified by ENTAV (Etablissment National Technique pour l’Amélioration de la Viticulture) in southern France. These registered cloned vines are then named or numbered and propagated on site and cuttings made available to nurseries. There are only four nurseries in North America authorized to propagate and sell ENTAV clones.

So the next time you try Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, or Sangiovese (the grape varieties you'll most likely encounter clones), keep track of which clones are present. Each will have different expressions of the grape variety. Knowing what you like, may help influence your tasting decisions in the future. Form your own opinions and experiment.  Just remember that the clone alone, will not affect the final wine....vineyard site, growing practices, and cellar processes will affect the final product.

Carménère - The lost grape of Bordeaux

Have you tried a merlot from Chile in the past few years? If so, are you sure it was merlot? You may have been tasting carménère (car-men-YEHR).  Let’s take a quick look at Chile, and how carménère may be the “signature wine” of Chile. 

Spanish missionaries brought the first vines (pais) to Chile around 1549 (there are no native grape vines in South America). Between 1840 to 1850, French immigrants, brought with them, the vines from their homeland: merlot, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, plus many others. Chilean winemakers modeled their wineries after those in France and began planting in the valleys around Santiago.

Vine cuttings of carménère were imported by growers from Bordeaux, where they were frequently confused with Merlot vines. Carménère was part of the field blend, grown with merlot. So, when cuttings were brought from the merlot vineyards of France to Chile, carménère came along with it. In Bordeaux, carménère was considered as good as cabernet sauvignon, but it had irregular yields, so was not as reliable. 

Chile is a very isolated country. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Andes to the East, the driest desert on earth (Atacama) to the north, and the ice fields of Patagonia to the south….Chile is apart from everything. This isolation prevented Chile from the phylloxera louse (a serious vine killing organism).  In the 1870s, this louse spread all throughout France, and from there to other European and North American vineyards, destroying the vines at the roots. Among those displaced by phylloxera were winemakers, growers, and coopers (barrel makers). To this day, the wines of Chile come from vines that grow on their natural rootstock.  Most other growing areas in the world require that the vines be grafted onto phylloxera resistant rootstock. Can you taste the difference?

For a while, Chilean growers thought carménère was merlot and labeled their wines as such. Evidently “Merlot Chileno” was thought to have a distinctively green tasting characteristic for many years. Then in 1994, thanks to DNA testing, it was discovered that the reason for this was that much of the merlot production included, or was, carménère.

Genetic research has shown that carménère may be a distant relative to merlot. Carménère buds and flowers later than Merlot and the yield is lower. When young, carménère leaves have a reddish hue underneath, while the leaves of merlot are white.  Merlot ripens two to three weeks earlier than carménère.

As a wine,  carménère has deep red color, and low acidity. When ripe, it displays black plum, blackberry, coffee, grilled meat, soy sauce, and spice. The tannins are gentler and softer than those in cabernet sauvignon and it is a medium body wine. When produced from ripe grapes, carménère has a fruity, cherry-like, flavor with smoky, spicy and earthy notes. Its’ taste might also be described as dark chocolate, tobacco, and/or leather.


So, is this the “signature wine” of Chile? Give carménère a try, and let me know what you think of this lost grape of Bordeaux.