Countdown to Harvest

Ampelos Vineyards

It's an important time of year in the northern hemisphere....an important time, that is, for grape growers and winemakers. If you have been to a vineyard in the last couple weeks, you probably saw a lot of little hard green berries on the grape vines. If you go back today, you may notice something has changed.

Véraison [vay-ray-ZON] is a wine term which refers to the onset of ripening. It is French word, but is used throughout the wine world. The official definition of véraison is "change of color of the grape berries." Véraison represents the transition from berry growth to berry ripening. In the northern hemisphere, véraison typically occurs anywhere from late June to mid August, depending on the climate.

Here is a short video from Adopt a Grape, discussing the importance of véraison in the vineyard.


Veraison '08 at Adopt A Grape from Adopt A Grape 2009 on Vimeo.

Following fruit set, grape berries are green and hard. They have very little sugar and are high in tartaric and malic acids. They begin to grow to about half their final size when they enter véraison. During this phase the colors of the grape change from green to red or yellow, depending on the variety. For those big on science, this color change is due to the chlorophyll in the berry skin being replaced by anthocyanins (red wine grapes) or carotenoids (white wine grapes). The berries start to soften as they build up sugars. Within six days of the start of veraison, the berries begin to grow dramatically as they accumulate glucose and fructose and acids begin to fall. If you were to look at a graph of acid versus sugar levels, you would see that véraison occurs when the decrease in acid crosses over the increase in sugar. The acids are actually being "burnt up" by the respiration of the grape berry. If you want to get into great detail on the actual science, check out "Wine Science Principles and Applications" by Ronald S. Jackson, or "Knowing and Making Wine" by Emile Peynaud. Both books are very technical.

Stoller Vineyards

Véraison, unfortunately for the wine grower, doesn't occur uniformly across the vineyard. Typically the berries and clusters that are exposed to warmth, undergo the change first, and those that are closer to the trunk and under the shade of the leaves (canopy), are last. There are things in the vineyard that can control the onset of véraison. Limited water stress and canopy management, that creates a high "fruit to leaf" ratio, can encourage véraison. So, skilled vineyard workers, who know how to thin the canopy properly, are worth their "weight in gold". On the other end, vigorous grape varieties, with lots of leaf shading for photosynthesis and water supply will delay the start of véraison, due to the vines energies being directed towards continued foliage growth and new buds. During this period the cane of the vine starts to ripen as well changing from green and springing to brown and hard. The vines begins to divert some of its energy production into its reserves in preparation for its next growth cycle. For the production of high quality wine, it is considered ideal to have an earlier véraison

Some wine growers will perform a green harvest, where less ripe bunches are removed. The idea is help concentrate all the energy into the remaining berries, which in turn, should produce more concentrated wines. There is a bit of a gamble however, namely if the remaining time between véraison and harvest experiences severe drought or excessive heat, the result could be dry berries, which produce unbalanced wine. So, when you visit the vineyard this time of year, you'll see growers checking their crop. They know that once véraison starts, they are only about 45 to 50 days from harvest. And that can be 45 to 50 days of holding their breath!

Let the countdown to harvest begin!

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon. How well do you know this “noble” grape?

You would think that Cabernet Sauvignon was the most planted red grape in the world. There is little argument that some of the most expensive wines in the world are based on the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. But, it is actually Merlot that wins the race with vineyard plantings.

The origin of Cabernet Sauvignon has been in dispute, but recent DNA testing shows that it is actually a cross between Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc. The grape is thick skinned, with small black berries in loose, long bunches. The grapes have large pips (seeds) and tough stalks, which add to their natural tannins (that gum drying sensation you get). Since Cabernet Sauvignon buds late and ripens late, it needs a fairly long growing season, and well drained soil, which really limits the places it can be planted.

Bordeaux

The most well known region for Cabernet Sauvignon is Bordeaux, France. More specifically, the left bank is where the gravelly, warm soils are perfect for the grape. Napa Valley, in California, came out of “nowhere” in the 1970’s, beating the French in the famous Paris tasting of 1976. The alluvial soils of Napa produce structured wines with ripe, black fruit. The area of Rutherford (in Napa) is also noted for its “Rutherford Dust” on the palate. Two regions in Australia are noted for their Cabernet wines too. Coonawarra (with its red “terra rossa” soil) and McLaren Vale, are producing fruit forward red wines. We are seeing some great Cabernet Sauvignon wines coming out of Washington State, Chile, and Italy. The grape is grown in many other regions of the world, but these are the areas that we find most likely represented in our local wine shops.

In the winery, Cabernet Sauvignon typically has long contact with the skins, pips (and sometimes stalks) during the fermentation process. This leads to heavy extraction of color and tannins. Traditionally, Cabernet Sauvignon was blended with Merlot, to add some richness to the mid-palate, but now we are seeing more and more 100% Cabernet bottlings and blending with other local varieties (Sangiovese in Italy, Tempranillo in Spain, and Shiraz in Australia). Most Cabernet wines have extended oak aging in oak barrels, but newer techniques (and cheaper ways to produce low cost wines) have led to oak chips, or even oak extract being added to the wine. The oak adds some spice, or vanilla flavors to the final product. Most top wines will benefit from some extended bottle aging (and can improve in the bottle for decades), but the newer styles of Cabernet Sauvignon, are meant for more immediate consumption.

In the glass, the wine is typically ruby or purple (depending on the age) and somewhat opaque. On the nose, you should be able to pick up black cherry, blackberry, cassis, bell pepper, tobacco, and in California and Australian wines, eucalyptus or mint. The wines are going to be medium to high acid, tannin, body and alcohol.

Cabernet Sauvignon is a big wine, and can overwhelm light or delicate foods. The Classic wine and food matches are going to be fatty red meats (where the tannins are neutralized by the fat, allowing the fruit in the wine to come through). Typically beef and lamb are the most desirable. Meats that utilize mild spices, like black pepper, pair well with Cab since the mild spices help to minimize the perception of tannins. Bitter foods, like endive or cooking methods like grilling can also counterbalance the tannins. Some strong cheeses, like aged cheddar, Brie or Camembert work well, as does bitter dark chocolate (remember, your wine should be sweeter than your dessert, so the more bitter the chocolate, the better). Also, different regions, of production can affect your food pairing. Old world wines tend to be earthier, and can pair well with mushrooms. Cool climate Cabs will have a more noticeable vegetal aroma and flavor, so vegetables are a possibility. New world wines are more fruit forward, and usually higher in alcohol (so stay away from hot spices, which will elevate the heat levels).

So what are your favorite Cabernet Sauvignon based wines?

A Weekend in Las Vegas

Lotus of Siam

Last weekend, I was one of fourteen people invited to attend the International Sommelier Guild's Teacher Education Program (TEP). Half of the group was from Canada, and the rest from different locations across the United States. This is an instructional program that reviews all the policies, procedures and curriculum of the Guild, and is intended for those that want to become wine instructors. The sessions were conducted by Wayne Gotts (VP) and Roberta Belfry (Dean of Academics). Now before you leave this article, let me tell you up front, that I'm not going to bore you with the three day details of study and presentation. I wanted to share some of the wine experiences our group had.

It's been a while since I have been in Las Vegas, even though it is only a little over three hour away (the return trip took twice as long on a Sunday afternoon). When I walked in to the casino, my first thought was, "why are all these people smoking in the building"...not allowed in California. The second thought was, "I'm sure glad they have air conditioning", as it was 104 degrees at 8:30 at night.

Nove

After class on Friday night, ten of us ventured over to the Lotus of Siam restaurant. We had been tipped off that their wine menu was exceptional, and their prices were even better. We were not disappointed. As you can imagine, a group of Sommeliers is an interesting bunch. We started off the evening with a bottle of 2000 Le Clos Blanc de Vougeot (white Burgundy), followed by a 1997 Corton-Charlemagne (which is debatable as to whether it was corked or not...my feeling was that it was just old). By this time we sat down for dinner, and as is the case with large groups, we couldn't decide on how to order dinner, so we left it up to the restaurant. We asked the chef to put together a dinner for our group, and keep the cost around $15 to $20 per person. We were well fed, and the food was great. But, I digress...back to the wine....since this is a Thai restaurant, their selection of German Riesling was outstanding. There was some debate on Kabinett versus Spatslese, but in the end we ordered a 1999 Schloss Johannisberg and a 1985 Dr Loosen Bernkasteler Doctorberg. I've got to say that the Dr Loosen was an outstanding pairing with the Thai food, and the 1985 vintage was wonderful. Believe it or not, each persons' total cost for dinner and wine was $70 (that included tip, and the additional bottle of Champagne Louis de Sacy we had with appetizers).

Hung Nguyen

Now I know I probably lost some of you with the wines I was able to try, but hang in there. I'm sure that Saturday night's wine might be recognizable to most of you. On Saturday, we had our only organized dinner of the weekend, and met at the top of the Palms Casino, at Nove. We were greeted with a cucumber/tequila shot, that was very refreshing, and interesting, followed by Champagne and bottles of Brunello, and Prado Enea Muga Rioja. We had a great Italian dinner, with loads of appetizers, but the real fun was to come after dinner. We were told about this great wine shop that was located in the bottom floor of the Rio Casino. The Wine Cellar is managed by Hung Nguyen. He has the most amazing selection of wines I have ever seen in one place. To start, he has every bottle of Chateau d‘Yquem from 1855 to 1990 (one of only two full collections in the world). Hung invited us into the large cellar, and here we encountered bottles of Petrus, Chateau Lafite, Vega Sicilia "Unico", Sassacia, and Chateau Margeaux (not to mention the other thousands of bottles on hand). All of us chipped in some money and bought a bottle of 1999 Sassicaia, and 1995 Poggio Antico Riserva Brunello.

While the weekend was full of course study, presentations, learning, and a bit of stress...the evenings were filled with unbelievable experiences. Spending it with a group of Sommeliers, made it even more memorable. Did you know that Las Vegas has the highest concentration of Sommeliers of any city in the world? I can see why. I made some great new friends, and many of them will be heard from in the wine world. Oh, and for those who were wondering...yes, I completed the course, and am certified as a Wine Educator with the International Sommelier Guild. Now, we just need to find a location and people willing to learn, in the Inland Empire.