The Heartbreak Grape by Marq de Villiers

This is not the first time that we have purchased a paperback version of a hardcopy book that I did not know we already had. We went to Calera to do a tasting and the book was on sale so I had to have it. I read in in 2010 on the way to the UC Davis Small Vineyard Management course. I picked it up again and read it in Virginia. It had more resonance with me this time. It's not only a book about Josh Jensen and his struggle to find land in California for the heartbreak grape, Pinot Noir, I found the book to be an excellent roadmap on what to do if you are a grape grower and winemaker wannabee.
The naming of the Jensen, Selleck, Reed, Mills and Ryan vineyards is explained. I really like Jensen's philosophy: The really nice thing about the best wineries is that they are like the best chefs. They really don't have secrets.... The real talents are happy to share all they know, because they know that next year they'll be creating something new and even better. They're teachers.
This is was Jensen said about Andre Noblet, the maitre de chai of Romanee Conti during the 1970's when Jensen was there as a harvest hand.
In our quest to enter the business, we have been fortunate to meet so many people who have shared a lot of their knowledge with us. I found this book to be a really good read.

Wineries Unlimited

This week finds us in Richmond, Virginia. We are going to Wineries Unlimited but are focussed on attending the trade show portion of the conference. When we went to the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium in Sacramento in late January, we went to many vendors' booths and got an overall impression of the kinds of equipment that were available but were completely overwhelmed. We learned that many of the vendors would be on the East Coast in March so we hope to get more information from a few of them. In the interim from January to March, my husband and I have been mulling over what we need.
The calculations that we are doing go like this:
For each ton of grapes we think that we can get 160 gallons of juice or approximately 65 cases of wine.
We need to look into the most appropriate size of equipment for volumes that can range from 3-5 tons (initial quantities) to the maximum of 25 tons or approximately 1600 cases which is our long term goal.
We are looking into destemmers (not necessarily with the crusher option), bladder presses, sorting tables and stainless steel tanks. We've talked with a few winemakers and listened to their sage advice. To us, the distillation of their advice goes something like this:
Grow the best grapes you can then the wine will make itself. Figure out what is the most important equipment that you need first and invest in that. Remember that people were making good wine long before science and technology came to have such prominence in grape growing and winemaking. Chik Brenneman at the U.C. Davis Institute for Wine and Food said something I'll always remember. When I remarked on all the state-of-the-art, beautiful, shiny stainless steel equipment in the new institute, he said a little wistfully, "Sometimes there is a need for more "art" in state-of-the-art".

Vietti Barbera d'Asti 2009

Now, I get it! We have had this Barbera d'Asti from Vietti before and I have to be honest and say that I preferred the Vietti Barbera d'Alba. This was before we went on our quest to drink Barbera with the intention that we may be planting some on our land. When we went to do our homework and visited the land of Barbera in the U.S., located in the Sierra Foothills of California, both Ann Kraemer and Dick Cooper mentioned the high acidity associated with growing Barbera in the foothills. We were a little perplexed because the Sierra Foothills is warm, but Ann mentioned that the nights are cool so the malic acid doesn't get respired! Ann shared with us her bottle of Yorba Barbera and this Vietti Barbera d'Asti reminds me of Ann's wine...well balanced execution of fruit and acids. This is not a fruity wine but if you like some acidic counterpoint, you will like this Barbera, full of dark cherries on the nose.

Chemistry of the Grape Berry

Back to basics: I know that quality wine can only be made with good grapes. In fact, during the UC Davis course, some of our instructors would say that great wine is made in the vineyard.
I'm reviewing the Viticulture course and there is a section on the chemistry of the grape berry that is easy to dismiss as something that is obvious, but I wanted to write it down again because I need to keep these things in mind.

• Carbohydrates
: Sugars
• What they do: Produces alcohol and leads to the stability and preserve-ability of wine
• Organic Acids
: Tartrate, malate
• What they do: Provides mouthfeel, taste, crispness and leads to the soundness of wine
• Tannins and other phenolics
• What they do: Provides flavor and aroma
• Anthocyanins
• What they do: Provides color
• Minerals

It's important to understand the following diagram of the various parts of the grape berry because flavor compounds such as sugars, acids, and minerals are located in specific grape berry tissues.

1. Understanding Grape Berry Development Practical Winery and Vineyard, Issue July-August 2002, Illustration done by Jordan Koutroumanidis of Winetitles.
2. Vintage Direct 2.10 Making Sparkling Wine (Methode Champenoise)
Illustration is from Dunsford, P.A. and Sneyd, T.N. 1989. Pressing for quality. In: Proceedings of the Seventh Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference

A Visit to Stonington Vineyards

My husband called Stonington Vineyards, hoping to speak with the winemaker Mike McAndrew and Nick Smith, the owner answered the phone and invited us to meet with him and his wife, Happy. We are remiss in not going to Stonington Vineyards first since their vineyard is no more than 5 miles from where we live. Nick and Happy welcomed us in their winery and we sat and chatted for about 2 hours!
This is the 25th anniversary of Happy and Nick's ownership of Stonington Vineyards. Nick told us about some of the history of wineries in Connecticut back when they purchased Stonington Vineyards from Monique and Barbara Clarke on the last day of 1986. I did a Google search for Monique and Barbara Clarke and came upon this article in the New London Day called Family Develops Taste for the Wine Business. Nick mentioned that back when they bought the vineyard, there might have been about 6 wineries in the state. Given the paucity of people in the wine business in Connecticut, the 6 wineries seemed to have established a close relationship of helping each other. Nick carries on this tradition by helping people at Sharpe Hill and Jonathan Edwards and also extended this helping hand to us. We really appreciate their generosity!

The Perilous Journey to Fruitset

You would think that Vitis vinifera grapes have it easy because they are a perfect flower, meaning that they contain both the male and female plant parts that makes self pollination leading to fruitset something much less than a chance occurrence.
The parts of a grape flower is quite interesting and I found a great diagram:

The calyptra or cap is actually the grape flower petals that cover the stamen (male---mnemonic for me is "men") and stigma (female---mnemonic for me is "ma") until anthesis or bloom when the calyptra detaches from the pedicel exposing the stamen and stigma. Bloom usually occurs from 6 to 8 weeks after budbreak. The bloom period is when things can get tricky and conditions must be just right for fruitset to occur:

• Temperature is an important factor in germination and growth of the pollen tube. Fruitset is greatly reduced when temperatures fall below 65^oF or exceed 100^oF
• Cold temperatures, rainfall or high humidity are often associated with incomplete detachment of the calyptras leading to reduced fruitset
• Rain can dilute the stigmatic fluid and interfere with germination of the pollen grains

Given all the conditions above, it's amazing that we actually can have viable grape bunches! Not to mention all the diseases that can occur once those tender buds breakthrough in spring. Nature is amazing!
Here is another look at the grape flower from a previously published post, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay: Where Do They Come From?

1. Nick K. Dokoozlian, Grape Berry Growth and Development.
2. The illustration is from the UC Davis online Viticulture Course, VID257. Dr. Andrew Walker's Lesson 2---Plant Materials

Winter and Spring in the Northeast --- Vineyard Water Holding Capacity

Spring seems to be accelerating into summer. It was such a beautiful day today, but we will be seeing temperatures in the high 40s by the end of the week. I wonder what these unusually warm temperatures are doing in the vineyard?
One thing that is of concern to me is that there hasn't been that much rain or snow during the winter. We have soils that are sandy loam and I'm not sure that they are at field capacity. We do have a substratum at about 3 feet that is hardpan clay so we do intend to tile our land so that the grapes do not have "cold feet". I was asking my husband, what happens in a year like this year where there has been little rain or snow, what would tiling do to the water holding capacity of our soil? I found the answer and a great table at the following site: The Basics of Vineyard Site Evaluation and Selection. Drainage tiles do not reduce soil water holding capacity, but rather remove excess water. So even in well-drained soils, this is not going to lead to more frequent drought stress.
The water holding capacity of a soil is the product of soil texture (water per unit of depth) x depth of soil (or the depth or rooting).

BTW: To see a larger version of the above table, just click anywhere on the table with your mouse. The larger image will appear in the same window. To get back to the Blog, simply click on the "close X" that appears at the upper right hand corner of the larger image. This is true for any of the images on this blog. Thanks!

Vine Growth

It's getting close to wake up time for grapevines, time for them to come out of winter dormancy. Due to the warm weather that we are experiencing in the Northeast, we are already hearing that the sap is flowing in the vineyard. This is definitely a prelude to budswell and budbreak, and it is only mid-March!
My husband and I were having a "discussion" about vine growth and quality fruit so I whipped out the following diagram from van Zyl:

The above diagram can be found in many locations, including the third edition of Ronald Jackson's Wine Science.² The diagram charts the growth of various parts of the vine as it comes out of dormancy.

• Shoots: Shoots and leaves grow rapidly after budbreak and then declines to near zero as veraison is approached. By the time the vine is flowering, it has achieved about half of it's growth.
• Berry growth has three stages:
  
  • Stage I is an initial rapid growth rate shortly after flowering.
  • Stage II is a period of very slow growth rate.
  • Stage III is a second period of rapid growth as veraison is approached.
• Roots: Roots are actively growing during flowering and again post harvest.³

Knowing the growth rate of the various parts of the grapevine is key to understanding vine balance. The leaves provide the surface area of photosynthesis and the creation of carbohydrates which then goes into berry growth and ripening. During the growing season, the most efficient sink of the carbohydrates produced in the leaves are the berries. That makes sense because the plant is in the business of reproducing itself and ripening it's fruit to make it attractive to various creatures who will feed on it and in the process aid in the dispersal of seeds.
1. van Zyl, J. L., 1984, "Response of Colombar grapevines to irrigation as regards quality aspects and growth", S. Afr. J. Enol. Vitic., 5, 19-28.
2. Jackson, Ronald S., Wine Science: Principles and Applications, Third Edition, Elsevier, Academic Press, 2008, pg. 109.
3. Vine Water Deficits Caused by Reduced Soil Water Availability

New Tab - On the Wine Trail

I created a new tab this morning to collate all of the blog posts on the people we visited to inquire about their vineyards and winemaking. I don't have a search engine so I hope that this is a good way to put all of the blogs about a topic under a single heading. Please check it out and the other tabs as well.

Harvests of Joy by Robert Mondavi with Paul Chutkow

After seeing the movie Mondovino written and directed by American film maker Jonathan Nossiter, (digression: I have to admit that I feel asleep about halfway through the movie during 4 separate times, the 5th showing was the charm, my husband claims he knows Mondovino by heart), I did not have many nice thoughts about Robert Mondavi. I guess the lesson to me is that I need to be more well versed in all aspects of the industry. Reading the book Napa The Story of an American Eden by James Conaway lead me to pick up Robert Mondavi's book, Harvests of Joy. Mondavi minces no words here and gives an accurate portrayal of himself and his relationship with his family. It's clear that he loved wine, winemaking and growing grapes and in that context was a generous person. Sometimes, I thought that the book gave too much credit to his influence early on in Napa Valley, but I wasn't there and so I need to do more reading to get a balanced view. Robert Mondavi's generosity lives on in the funding he provided to UC Davis. When we were at the Unified Grape and Wine Syposium earlier this year, we saw the complex under construction.
The book was an easy read and gave me insight into an American icon in the wine industry.

Lisa van de Water: The Bad Wine Lady

I went to the talk given by Lisa Van de Water, who calls herself the Bad Wine Lady in the afternoon session of Day one, at the Eastern Winery Exposition. The session was entitled "Comparing New and Established Microbiology Technology & Products". Lisa Van de Water mentioned that detection methods for microbes includes:

• Sensory
• Visual changes
• Unpleasant aromas or flavors
• Chemical analysis
• Microscopy: using phase-constrast microscopes with oil immersion capabilities
• Culturing
• PCR

There are two articles written by Lisa van de Water in Practical Winery and Vineyards that are very helpful:
Monitoring Microbes During Fermentation

Monitoring Microbes During Cellaring/Bottling

I found those two articles to be my go-to references, especially because there are some very good pictures of the various bacteria and yeasts.
Lisa mentioned that although there are PCR tests that can give very fast turnaround times, the primers for the microbes that you are testing for need to be available in order for the PCR analysis to be diagnostic. She advised that all methods to test for bad bacteria and yeast be used so that your wine does not end up being tainted by unwanted microbes.

Update on the Eastern Winery Exposition

This is the first Eastern Winery Exposition held at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, sponsored by Wines and Vines. According to Bob Mignarri, the show manager, there were 136 exhibitors and 1200 registered attendees. The agenda for the meeting and the summary of the talks can be found here:Eastern Winery Exposition Schedule. I attended the following sessions:

• Newcomer Workshop: Starting Successfully
• Benefits and Mechanics of Close Vine Spacing and Cane Pruning
• Guide to TTB Winery Online Tax Payments, Permits
• Comparing New and Established Microbiology Technology & Products
• Bird Netting and Control Options
• Vineyard Spraying Workshop

Since my husband and I find ourselves at a point where we are considering getting a TTB permit, the session given by Rick Chow and Teresa Kampsen on the TTB Winery Online Tax Payments and Permits was extremely helpful. You can now go to ttb.gov to obtain a permit online. Rick suggested to us that when we begin the process of obtaining a permit on line with the Federal government, we should begin the process of obtaining a State permit concurrently. It now takes the Federal government approximately 70-80 days to approve a permit whereas it takes the state much longer and the state would want to know if you already have a Federal permit. Nice to know.
Oh yes---just remembered that if you do use the online permit process, currently, the only browser that can be used is Internet Explorer.

Maple Springs Vineyard

On our way to the Eastern Winery Exposition in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, we met with Jef and Eric at Maple Springs Vineyard. We spoke with Jef prior to ordering our vines from Mercier and he gave us very favorable feeback regarding Mercier. In our quest for learning as much as we can about the business, we called Jef and he said, "Sure! be happy to meet with you." We arrived at Maple Springs Vineyards in Bechtelsville around 12:30 and caught Jef and Eric working in the vineyard. They both showed us around the garage that they had used for their first vintage and gave us a barrel tasting of their chardonnay. It was delicious! Their first vintage is already sold out so I'm glad that we were able to taste Jef's remarkable creation. Jef and Eric showed us around the new winery and tasting room that is being constructed from a building that was already existing on the site. The construction is almost done and it looks as beautiful on the inside as it does on the outside.

The inner beauty includes winemaking equipment that will ensure that the best quality grapes goes into the wine. We met with Marianne who is the owner and marketing arm of this power team. Then we went to the vineyard, Eric's domaine. Eric gave Gary a closeup of the equipment that he uses to maintain the vineyard. The deer fencing was enviable! Both Eric and Jef gave us tips about vineyard management and winemaking and we were able to ask questions to our heart's content. We had a great time at Maple Springs Vineyard and wish Jef, Eric and Marianne much success in the future!

2000 Ferrando Carema Black Label

I remember the day we "found" this wine at Wines and Vines in Northampton, MA. My husband eyes grew wide and he said, "I've never see this wine anywhere". So we bought it and then drank it with the best pizza in our area. Carema is located in northern Italy, in Piedmont near the border of Valle d'Aosta. The grape used in the Ferrando Carema is the nebbiolo. You can tell that the wine comes from a cooler growing region. The color was clear and ruby red and we tasted spice and cedar in the wine. This is a wine imported by Neal Rosenthal and I first heard about it when I read his book: Reflections of a Wine Merchant. I could not find much information about Ferrando on the website except from this one location, Crush Wine and Spirits, where there is a quote from Neal Rosenthal: "When I am asked which wine would I choose were I to be restricted to a single one, my answer is: Carema." The Carema made it to our wall of fame!
Upon more searching, I found more information about Luigi Ferrando here:
Mad Rose Group Rosenthal Wine Merchant. If you can't read Neal Rosenthal's book, his website has good information regarding the Ferrando wines.

Sad Day: Noël Pinguet is Leaving Domaine Huët

My husband told me about this on the day it happened and I'm just now catching up to it. The story was released on February 24th. We just absolutely love the wines from Domaine Huët! These are wines made in the Loire Valley from Chenin Blanc grapes.
Here is a link to an article in The Wine Spectator:
Domaine Huët's Noël Pinguet Retires
One of our favorite wines from Domaine Huët is their Clos du Bourg.

National Grape Registry

Before taking the UC Davis online course, I had no idea that such as place as the National Grape Registry existed. Yes, I am a proponent of the online courses, it has taught me so much.
Today, I spent some time at the site which is located here:
National Grape Registry
We have ordered our grapevines for delivery in the spring of 2013 (please see the previous post: The Clones are Coming). I am rereading my Viticulture notes and in doing so, either had forgotten or never really paid attention to the fact that the different clonal selections listed in the National Grape Registry can be the same Foundation Plant Services Selection but differ due to the heat treatments performed during the testing of the grape variety for viruses. This is true for Chenin Blanc, one of the varieties that we have ordered from Mercier. The source of both FPS02 and FPS03 is FPS01, but with different heat treatments. When we were at Mercier, Sebastian allowed us to taste both the FPS01 and the ENTAV clone. Out in the field, when both bunches were just picked, the FPS tasted sweeter than the ENTAV clone, but when we chilled both clones and then tasted it again, the ENTAV clone was much more flavorful so we went with the ENTAV clone.
The National Grape Registry site is a good site to familiarize yourself with the various clones of a variety that have been tested and are available.

Vineyard on Pequot Trail

Today, we received a phone call from our architect who mentioned that he was working with some one who bought the property on Pequot Trail that is planted in vines. The owner was interested in perhaps growing his vineyard more organically, so our name came up. We had just come back from a walk at Napatree Point where we saw around 50 plovers. We know that they come to nest in Napatree but we're thinking they are a little early this year. But, I digress.
We called Alex and he mentioned that he was just in his vineyard and would we like to go over to his home. We went there and met his wife Nora. We talked about soil tests and grapes over a glass of Chardonnay made from their grapes. They have about 1 acre planted in Chardonnay. This vineyard has been there for around 20 years. When we walked the vineyard, we saw that it was being pruned. Two canes were being left for this years growth. Although, it has been a warm winter so far the buds were still dormant and not showing any signs of scale crack.