Learning about Sake at Spencer and Lynn

Recently, we went to a sake tasting at Spencer and Lynn. The presenter was Jeanine who made the evening fun and educational, and we got to taste six different sakes and one dessert "sake"! Here are the sakes that we tasted:

Sake	Notes	Price
Hakurakusei Tokubetsu Junmai	The sake is made at the Niizawa Sake Brewery by Nanami Watanabe, the youngest female Toji in Japan when she assumed the role in 2018 at 22 years old. The sake had aromas of apple, spice and honeydew melon. It tasted light on the palate.	$27
Atago no Matsu Tokubtesu Hongozo	This sake is also made at the Niizawa Sake Brewery by Nanami Watanabe. I felt that this sake was a bit more aggressive on the palate, possibly because it has a bit of added brewers alcohol. Without the "Junmai" label, it is permissible to add brewers alcohol to the sake.	$21
Chitose Tsuru "Kita Shizuku" Junmai Ginjo	The Kita Shizuku label informs us that the rice is grown in Hokkaido and is a cross between the native Ginpu and the heirloom Omachi rice. The sake had aromas of tropical fruit, pineapple and on the palate, honeydew melon with a hint of watercress for me.	$30
Kirinzan Junmai Daiginjo	The aromas on this sake was a bit reluctant to be coaxed to volatilize. When I finally did get the aromas, it had an umami nose and was slightly stinky (which is not a bad thing). The sake was very complex tasting and richer on the palate. The milling rate of the rice is 50% of the original size thus the "Daiginjo" label.	$90
Kamonishiki Junmai Daiginjo	This is an example of a "nama sake" meaning that it undergoes no filtration or pasterization. The aromas were very apparent beautiful tropical fruit aromas and the flavor was very delicate and delicious! This was by far my favorite sake of the evening.	$35
Hojo Biden Yamahai Junmai	The "Yamahai" on the label indicates that the sake was made in the traditional way by cultivating the natural lactic acid bacilli which exist in koji or in the wooden tools and tubs. The sake had a slightly mushroomy, earthy aroma and it was served to us warm and had flavors of chestnut and sweet potatoes.	$30
Hojun Yuzu	The last "sake" we tasted was one to which yuzu juice was added. If there is anything other than the rice, koji, yeast, brewers yeast and water added to the sake, it can no longer be labeled "sake". The Hojun Yuzu was a dessert "sake" tasting very much like a lighter version of lemoncello.	$30

Jeanine also provided this table which is a great way to understand the different types of sakes at a glance:

It was an amazing evening and we thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you Spencer and Lynn and Jeanine!

Learning More About Frost Damage

After the frost event in our vineyard on May 18th, my husband forwarded me a link to an article Managing Grape Vines After a Frost written for Ontario Fruit Growers but appropriate for us. We keep on telling ourselves how odd it is to have a frost event in mid-May but even odder, how the south half of our vineyard was affected so much more than the north half of our vineyard.

The article mentions that in spring, temperatures below -1º C (30 º F) can damage vines. Frost damage can vary within a vineyard and even within a single vine as buds are often at different stages of growth.
Assessing frost damage

• it may take several days of clear, sunny weather to get a better idea of the extent of damage
• in general two types of tissue are likely to be injured during a spring frost event: buds and shoots
• frost affected shoots may wilt, turn black and take on a water-soaked appearance
• damage to the trunk, head, cordon and spurs of the vine are less common from spring frost events, but it can occur
• often trunk injury is not apparent until later in the season, or even in subsequent years when weak growth becomes more apparent
• Dr Jim Willwerth (CCOVI) says “In many cases it is best for the grower to just not look at it for a week and see how the vines respond with secondary growth etc"

Impacts of frost damage

• determining what to do after the frost will depend on the severity of the damage, the timing of the damage and variety of grape
• where frost injury has occurred, secondary buds will develop and, depending on the type and variety of grape, a partial crop may be produced
• if the frost damage occurred before shoots were at the 5-leaf stage (Modified Eichhorn Lorennz system (EL) 12), there should be minimal impact on bud fruitfulness in the following year as shoot growth will have adequate time to produce fruitful buds during the current growing season
• if the frost occurred after the shoots are at the 8-leaf stage (EL 15), reduced bud fruitfulness may be observed in the following season.

Dealing with frost damage

• if all the green shoots have been killed back to the cordon or cane, no action is needed and vines should be allowed to grow out new shoots
• maintaining too many clusters in an attempt to maximize crop loads after frost injury can have a negative impact on next years crop depending on the severity and type of damage
• keep vine health in mind when determining your crop load size for this year
• maintaining too many clusters in an attempt to maximize crop loads after frost injury can have a negative impact on next years crop depending on the severity and type of damage, V. vinifera grapes are considered to be relatively unfruitful on secondary buds
• removing damaged tissue only can stimulate secondary bud break lower on the shoots increasing lateral growth and resulting in increased shading that can delay ripening at harvest
• removing all shoots back to the cordon if the frost occurred before the 5 leaf stage and shoots were not killed completely back to the cordon, consider removing the shoots to the cordon
• the young shoots can be removed by rubbing out buds or breaking off shoots from spurs or canes to force dormant secondary buds at the base of the shoot
• the later in the season that the shoot removal is conducted, the greater the reduction in bud fruitfulness for the following season, so it is better to remove the shoots sooner, rather than later
• removing all the dead tissue will help to reduce disease pressure in the vineyard
• in marginal frost damage if the secondary buds are fruitful, it may present a problem at harvest since the secondary bud crop may ripen later

Other considerations after a frost damage

• keep vines healthy throughout the season
• with low or no fruit, the vines may be very vigorous, manage the growth and ensure light penetration
• pay close attention to insect and disease control programs as maintaining healthy vines this year will have a significant impact on the health and well being of next years vines

You can be sure that we will be keeping all of these recommendations in mind as we manage our frost damanged vineyard.
References:
1. W. Reichheld, Managing Grape Vines After a Frost, June 4, 2021, ONfruit.

Vintage 2023: May Oh Oh

Yesterday, May 17th, we were patting ourselves in the back, having finished pruning and laying down the fruiting canes and removing the kicker canes in the entire vineyard. We were moving on to the next step which is to disbud and clean the area around our graft union.
We were working in our Axerrois, taking photos of what we were doing:

We had a hard frost on February 3 and 4 and when we did a survey of the buds, we were seeing a lot of primary bud death across all of our varieties but especially in our Chenin Blanc. Now that we were past budbreak, we were encouraged by the growth we were seeing and we were even seeing flower buds that were tucked into the growing tips of the new shoots.
On the evening of May 17th, the weather forecast was calling for frost events in the northwest and northeast corners of our state but when we woke up this morning and listened to the news, it appeared that the frost warnings were also for the southeast corner of the state where our vineyard is located.
We went to the vineyard around 9 and when we got there, this is what we saw:

We were at the south end of our vineyard and knew immediately that our vineyard had been hit by frost. We checked out the north end of the vineyard and oddly enough the vines there were much better.
For now, we are leaving the affected shoots alone. May has been a very dry month and the forecast is calling for rain on Saturday so we'll see what that will do for the vines. My husband and I have lived here for 39 years and we have never experienced a frost event in mid-May!

2020 Albino Rocca Barbera d'Alba Superiore Gepin

We are always on the lookout for Barbera so that we can compare our vinification efforts of the Barbera that we grow with some of the Barbera that we really enjoy drinking. We really like the Braida Monte Bruna Barbera d'Asti full of blackberries and black cherries balance with an acidic finish that speaks to our palate.
Recently, my husband purchased the 2020 Albino Rocca Barbera d'Alba Superiore Gepin for us to try. We immediately liked this Barbera! We paired it with eggplant parmigiana which is an excellent foil for the Barbera.
I found out that the wine is made from vines planted in 1950 and 1974. This Gepin spends 12 months in low-impact, large Austrian casks.¹ Typically Barbera is made and aged in stainless steel, so I think this was a new experience for us. We definitely need to try another bottle and pay more attention to the nuances of the aroma and flavors.
References:
1. Bibendum Wine Co., 2020 Albino Rocca Barbera d'Alba Superiore Gepin

Vintage 2023: May Vineyard Update

My husband and I have been working non-stop to do the final pruning on 11 rows of grape vines in our vineyard. We started with the vines that were already in budbreak so that we didn't do too much damage to the buds while we pruned and then laid down this year's fruiting canes. We checked our updated annual cycle of growth chart and began with the 5 rows of Chenin Blanc that we had left to do in the white varieties and left the red varieties for last.
Here is our updated annual cycle of growth chart:

After we finished the Chenin Blanc, we tackled the Cabernet Franc and then the Barbera. We left the Cabernet Sauvignon for last because the buds were just beginning to enter bud break while the Cabernet Franc and the Barbera were already leafing out.

While working on the Barbera, we found that out of all the varieties that we grow, it is our problem child with tendrils everywhere! It took a while for the pre-pruning and pruning step to get out the excess canes from last year. Having done that we went to tackle the last remaining rows, two rows of Cabernet Sauvignon. After the Barbera, the Cabernet Sauvignon seems like the docile child and we have been powering through it. We still have a little more work to do but we see the light at the end of the tunnel.
One thing we did notice as we began working in the Cabernet Sauvignon was this oddity:

There seemed to be one vine that was way ahead of the others. We know that we have some white varieties in our Cabernet Franc but we didn't think we had any whites in the Cabernet Sauvignon until we realized that we transplanted a Cabernet Franc into the Cabernet Sauvignon because we had excess Cabernet Franc. From the above photo, you can see how far advanced the Cabernet Franc is compared to the Cabernet Sauvignon.
We hope to have the entire vineyard pruned by the end of Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all moms!

Two Champagnes and a Brunello

We had our friends over for a thank you and celebration--a thank you for helping us in the vineyard and a celebration for our friend's birthday. We have learned that Champagne is not just for celebrations anymore, but it is a potent potable that is good anytime, anywhere and with everything. We began our get together meal with cheeses that our friend bought from our nearby Cheese Shop which was 7 year old cheddar and cheeses from sheep and goat and paired it with this 2015 Laherte Freres Empreintes Millesime. It was a good pairing. The champagne tasted of stone fruit with an acidic finish which was mellowed out by the cheeses. It was an excellent way to begin the evening.
We are always interested in the details of the champagne and learned that it was a blend of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir. The dosage level was 2 to 4 g/L. We had the Laherte Freres Ultradition Extra Brut at a pre-Christmas celebration with our son and his family. We really like this champagne and think it is a better fit to our palate than the 2015 Laherte Freres Empreintes Millesime.

We moved on to this 2001 Brunello di Montalcino Capanna, that my husband pulled out from his cellar because our friends were on their way to a vacation in Italy. The meal my husband made was a roasted leg of lamb, Greek potatoes with a Greek salad. (We should have had a more Italian style dinner!) What we tasted immediately was that although the Brunello was now 22 years old, it was still very youthful tasting. The wine was made from Sangiovese Grosso grapes and comes from the vineyard of Capanna, a micro-estate located in Montosoli, which is considered to make some of the best crus of Brunello. No chemical fertilizers or herbicides are used, and every effort is made to maintain natural biodiversity in the vineyard. The winemaking is a fruit forward expression.¹ We enjoyed it!

For the finale, our friend brought over her favorate champagne, an Egly-Ouriet Les Vignes de Vrigny Premier Cru. The champagne is made from old vine Pinot Meunier located in the premier cru vineyard of Vrigny. The champagne is made from indigenous yeasts, and the wine is not filtered and benefit from long aging on lees before disgorgement. The wine spent 40 months on lees and was made in 2017 and disgorged in November 2021. It is extra brut with a dosage of 1 g/L. All of this information is located on the label in the back of the bottle, which is a great way to learn more about the champagne. We paired it with a French Silk Pie a recipe from Handle the Heat. We know that our friend is a chocoholic and this pie is just the perfect, silky yet light chocolate pie we have ever tasted! So we made it for the second time in honor of our friend.
Happy Birthday! Hope your trip to Italy is going well!
References:
1. Wine.com, Capanna.

Vintage 2023: The First of May

It's already May! When I wrote my previous blogpost, Vintage 2023: April Budbreak, on April 23rd, we had budbreak in the vineyard from the various grape varieties that we grow. At that time, my husband had pruned almost half of our vineyard, but there were still more things to do such as prune the tops of the other half of the vineyard, pick up the pruning cuttings, lay down the fruiting canes, and raise the netting.
Our friends used an expletive to describe the amount of work that we had to do, so they came to help us in the vineyard. From April 18 to April 28, they helped us to prune the tops of the canes, raise the netting and remove the cuttings from the vineyard so now, we have less than a third of the vineyard which needs to have the final pruning and cuttings removed. We can't thank our friends enough for coming to our aid!
Here is what 2/3rds of the vineyard looks like now.

One observation that our friend made was that although budbreak occurred in mid-April, the buds appeared to remain dormant. Typically, in May when budbreak usually occurs there is a time where the shoots are growing and it is called the grand growth period. It appears that the buds are dormant. So unusual!
Today, the first of May is windy, possibly the remnants of the storm that came through our area overnight bringing thunder and lightning and about 0.7 inches of rain.
It's time for us to get out there and tackle the remaining 1/3rd of the vineyard.