Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
Have you ever thought about what alcohol levels in wine might mean?
Alcohol levels of wine in the United States have been on the rise for the last few decades. American’s thirst for wine to be drinkable the day it is purchased has pressured winemakers to make wine that is not made for potential cellaring.
Higher alcohol levels in wines means less tannins in wine, and more fruit forward palatable wine. To achieve a more fruit-forward wine, winemakers must pick the grapes ’late-harvest’ so that the sugars are at their ultimate level. Once picked, grapes begin the fermentation process and the sugars eventually turn to alcohol. These types of late-harvest grapes, while produces a fruiter wine, also produces an alcohol level that is much higher than the average European or more specifically, French wine. A US wine averages 14% alcohol, while French wine is around 12%.
So, what’s wrong with a wine higher in alcohol? Nothing really, except that we might only be able to have one glass instead of two to avoid hangovers or DUIs. And if you enjoy a full-bodied wine, higher alcohol levels create that. But, occasionally it would be nice to see a wine that is less fruit-forward with more tannins; a wine that is potentially cellar-worthy. This may mean that we can’t drink the bottle that day, week, or month. In fact, most French wines can’t be consumed for several years after purchase because the strength of the tannins renders it almost undrinkable. Cellaring it for years, even decades softens the tannins and create a truly great wine. Wouldn’t it be fun to try waiting out a bottle of wine when it peaks? Think of what it would be like to finally crack open that bottle after waiting for so long?
So, whether you buy our wine, wine from another winery, or beverage store, ask for a wine that might not be drinkable that day. Think about an occasion that you might want to celebrate in a couple years, and purchase that wine. Save it (of course in a cool, dark place), and when you finally open it, you can reflect on the years it took waiting for that wine to reach it’s true potential.
A lot of people ask how a winemaker gets all those flavors in wine...
Gooseberry, citrus, wet stones, baked figs, plums, cat’s pee, tobacco boxes, leather, under-ripened pears, asparagus…. How do winemakers do it? It is as if the entire grocery store is in a glass of wine!
To clear up a few misconceptions, in the United States, we don’t chapitalize, or add sugar to wine and we don’t add food flavoring or coloring. At least some of us don’t (look up Mega Purple!).
But there are a few things winemakers can add to increase flavor intensity. Winemakers can acidify wine through adding lactic acid to soften the flavor (creamy, buttery) or even to liven it up a bit (citrus, grapefruit) in warmer climates. Wine can also be inoculated with many different varieties of yeasts.
While there are many, the three central components to emphasize flavor in wine are weather, maturation, and aging. Weather is probably the key component to how a wine will taste. Great grapes create great wine, mediocre grapes can never make great wine no matter how great the winemaker is. Weather dictates the acidity, sugar content and varietal flavor. Weather can also create a complex wine or flat wine. Sun gives grapes that added sweetness and the cool nights give build up the essential acidity. This is why vintages are so important to wine buyers.
Maturation is the time wine sits in either oak or stainless steel to the time it is bottled. Oak provides a tremendous amount of flavor as to the wine. Oak imparts the vanilla, coconut, toasty, and spicy flavors. Different types of oak (French, Hungarian, American) and the way the barrels are toasted and the staves are cut also introduce different flavors. Maceration in Stainless Steel tanks and neutral oak (used oak barrels) may not give off specific flavors, but more lack-there-of in oak influence.
Last, aging either in cask or bottle also can determine flavor. How much time a wine sits in a barrel or age in a bottle can have such an effect on wine. Years can go by and wine can transform to something simple, to something that tastes extraordinary.
By Lindsey Roffey, GM RM Winery, USSA Adv Sommelier
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
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