New World Winemaker Blog

Rosè Wine Sales Up 10%

admin — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:55:46 +0000

It used to be the drink reserved for a hot summer’s day but now consumers are increasingly turning to Rose wine throughout the year with sales up 10 per cent in the last 13 years.

Rose now accounts for a record one in eight bottles of wine bought in supermarkets and off-licences, up from one in 40 in the year 2000.

Sales of rose wine in shops are currently worth £646 million in Britain, nearly £1.8 million a day, according to figures from market analysts Nielsen.

While growth in rose wine buying has slowed in recent years – attributed to poor summer weather – experts believe it is becoming a drink that is enjoyed all year round.

It is especially popular among women drinkers on a night out or sharing a bottle at home with friends.

Some winemakers have specifically targeted women drinkers by making less strong varieties with a typical alcohol by volume level of nine or 10 per cent, compared with other wines which can be up to 14 per cent in some cases.

Twelve per cent of all wine bought outside of pubs is now rose, compared to 2.7 per cent in 2000.

Julian Dyer, general manager of wine distributors Australian Vintage UK, said: “Rose will always have a stronger performance with hot sunny weather, but as it has grown as a category, there are now rose drinkers who are loyal to it all-year round.

“While the wider picture shows we are all still seeing the effects of the recession, there are success stories, such as rose.

“As a category, rose came to the party late so there has always been a precedent for stepping away from the norm and being a bit more forward thinking.

“Winemakers have been successful by listening to consumers who are seeking refreshing wines in lighter and more off-dry styles.

Mr Dyer added: “The rose category is a good example of a wider trend of consumers choosing their wine by style as opposed to country or region of origin.

Martin Green, from Off Licence News magazine, said: “At the turn of the century rose was the Austin Allegro of the wine world – cheap, unfashionable and something you would never want to bring to a dinner party.

“It represented just 2.7 per cent of the UK off-trade wine category and that was mainly used to quench the thirst of young women riding around in pink limos on summer evenings – about as classy as the pink stuff in their plastic cups.

“But like hoodies, iPods, Justin Bieber and the text abbreviation OMG, its popularity rocketed during the Noughties.

“Quality has soared in line with demand as winemakers realise rose’s potential for increasing profits and the importance of producing and marketing rose in its own right as opposed to regarding it as a byproduct of red wine.

“If further proof of its status were needed, Hollywood A-listers are tapping into rose’s new found chic.

“The 6,000 bottle release of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s first vintage from their Chateaux Miraval estate sold out within five hours – at about £88 per six-bottle case.”

The most popular rose sold in the UK include Californian brands Blossom Hill, Gallo and Echo Falls, while those from Provence in the south of France are gaining in popularity.

Valerie Lelong, of the Provence Wine Council, which exports six per cent of its rose to the UK, said: “The weather definitely has an impact on rose consumption.

“Consumers are keener to drink a wine synonymous with holidays, relaxation and time with friends when the weather is nice.”

The Telegraph

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by admin

Armageddon… don’t let it happen in your cellar! (Part 2)

Bernard Mocke — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 06:20:10 +0000

During a recent overseas trip, a colleague of mine once again lamented the joys of travelling. This trip kicked off with a baggage issue that ruined her dinner. Other jolly events included fishing her phone out of a toilet, missing a train, almost being run over by an expressionless Parisian, being kicked by a drunken teenager in Lille and finally a screaming taxi driver in Montpellier. Friendly people… the French. But the inside of a fermenting tank can also be a chaotic and even deadly place for yeast.

Modern winemaking can be very stressful and winemakers are putting increasing pressure on their minuscule friends. No, I’m serous! Pressure can indeed be a limiting factor; especially where low pH and high ethanol is concerned. Trapped carbon dioxide gas not only creates turbulence in a tank, but also contributes to a gradual increase in pressure. Pressures upward of 600 kPa (6 atm) typically stop yeast growth (think secondary fermentation of sparkling wine), but not necessarily alcoholic fermentation. In the book “Wine Science: Principles and Applications” by R.S. Jackson, it is stated that a pressure of 3000 kPa (30 atm) and upwards will completely inhibit alcoholic fermentation! What hardy fellows they are, these yeasts!

The use of pressure to control or stop yeast growth is not uncommon in German wineries, but high pressures can cause other problems. Spoilage organisms such as Lactobacillus, Torulopsis and Kloeckera are less sensitive to pressure and can cause a myriad of problems. The latter micro-organism is particularly pesky, as it is quite sulphur dioxide resistant, ferments at temperatures as low as 10°C and can produce high levels of ethyl acetate and amyl acetate.

Some beer brewers postulate that higher pressures have a positive aromatic effect on their ferments, but clear guidelines during vinification have not been established. At least there are many other ways to boost aroma, so don’t be depressed.

Bernard Mocke is a technical consultant for Oenobrands

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Bernard Mocke

The Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Wine People

admin — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:52:40 +0000

Recently, I was in a conversation with a Burgundy wine producer whose wines I admire very much. I teased him about how reluctant Burgundians are to acknowledge somewhere on a wine label that a Bourgogne rouge is Pinot Noir (and possibly Gamay) and that a Bourgogne blanc is Chardonnay.

”Would it kill you to add this information somewhere on the label?” I asked.

”Actually, it would,” he replied, in all seriousness. “It would be the death of French wine civilization.”

For once in my life I was speechless. I mean, here we are in the 21st century, where communication is paramount, and you’ve got the equivalent of an aboriginal wine tribe still sending smoke signals.

What is it about wine that makes so many otherwise intelligent, interesting and ambitious people cling to habits and patterns that simply no longer work? To paraphrase from the best-selling business book, here are “The Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Wine People.”

The full blog…
Exploring wine with Matt Kramer of the Wine Spectator

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by admin

Armageddon… don’t let it happen in your cellar! (Part 1)

Bernard Mocke — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 08:38:47 +0000

On 15 February 2013, asteroid 2012 DA14 missed earth by a mere 27,700 kilometers. This ancient 130,000 ton asteroid, spanning 45 meters in diameter, would have released the same amount of energy as a detonating 2.5 megaton atomic bomb, had it collided with the earth. It looks like 15 February 2013 was global meteor day, as a 9 ton behemoth caused widespread panic and injuries as it seared through the sky above Chebarkul, a town in central Russia. Not really cataclysmic, these events, but certainly significant enough to put the thought of mass extinction into our minds.

Not only humans (and don’t forget the dinosaurs) are subject to mass extinction. Micro-organisms are intimately sensitive to changes in their environment. Take a tank of fermenting must. The savvy winemaker will manipulate this very complex environment to suit his and the fermenting yeast’s specific needs, but under certain conditions the yeast population can very quickly become extinct.

The eventual fate of the wine yeast is death. After churning out ethanol, flavour compounds and a myriad of other chemical compounds during its usually short life, the yeast unceremoniously dies. But still their job is not done. These dead cells (lees) also have a very important role, but for now the focus will be on some of the causes of death of fermenting wine yeasts.

Temperature, ethanol concentration, osmotic stress, pH, toxins, pressure, sulphur dioxide and volatile acidity can separately or in combination make your little buddies extinct. So best you follow this multi-part blog, as the next installments will focus on the specific factors listed above.

You might not be able to dodge projectiles from outer space, but you can do a lot to keep your little fermenting soldiers happy and alive right until the end.

Bernard Mocke is a technical consultant for Oenobrands

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Bernard Mocke

Read and drink at own risk…

Elda Lerm — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:20:40 +0000

In 2003, South Africa’s Medical Research Council not only reported that alcohol abuse costs South Africa at least 9 billion rand a year, but that at least 50% of all road accidents and murders, as well as more than 60% of hospital trauma, are as a direct result of intoxicated individuals (1). In 2007, South Africa introduced mandatory health warnings on containers with alcoholic beverages, as well as a system of rotating warnings (2). In order to assess the effectiveness of health warning labels, it is important to understand the objective of these warnings: are they aimed at awareness and education of the consumer and to remind them of specific risks associated with alcohol abuse OR to modify the behaviour of the consumers (3)?

Research findings all seem to agree on one thing: warning labels and information increase awareness and influence social norms, but does NOT modify behaviour (2) (3). Researchers also conclude that health warning labels can only play a role when part of a larger range of strategies and when they are more varied and more noticeable to the consumer (4). In favour of these warning labels, it was found that consumers who are able to recall the warning labels, also associate with a lower rate of engaging in drinking and driving (4). In an Australian survey, it was found that almost 90% of respondents believe health warning labels should include a FULL list of ingredients, while 75% think kilojoule content should be indicated on labels. A recent headline proclaimed “Bottles of wine and beer could carry calorie warning labels to stop women drinking”.

On the flipside of the coin, there are some that argue that these labels are not just ineffective when it comes to changing behaviours and the impact is either minimal or non-existent, but also do not take into considerations the differences in consumers with regards to sex, diet, weight etc., all factors that will significantly influence the individual’s response to alcohol (4) (3).

While both sides of the argument have merit, we need to decide…

Will the knowledge of the kilojoule content in your favourite drink discourage you from enjoying it?

Do consumers have the right to full disclosure when it comes to labels and a list of wine ingredients?

Will a warning or picture on a label stop somebody who regularly drinks and drives from doing so?

References:

1. Europe Intelligence Wire – Agence France Presse.
2. Health warnings and responsibility messages on alcoholic beverages – a review of practices in Europe. Walter Farke.
3. International Centre for alcohol policies. ICAP Reports 3. Health Warning Labels.
4. Centre for addiction research of BC. A Review Into The Impacts Of Alcohol Warning Labels Om Attitudes And Behaviour. Tim Stockwell.

Elda Lerm is a technical consultant for Oenobrands

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Elda Lerm

The Three Biggest Health Myths in Wine

admin — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:31:40 +0000

Of all the health-related questions that end up in the Wine Spectator electronic mailbag, some get asked with a you-can-set-your-watch-by-it type of regularity. We’ve answered them before, and we’ll answer them again, but I thought I’d address these topics here with the help of Dr. Andrew Waterhouse, professor of enology at the University of California at Davis, to weigh in on the three most enduring topics.

Health Myth No. 1: Wine contains a lot of sugar

Health Myth No. 2: Sulfites in wine cause headaches

Health Myth No. 3: We know what component of wine promotes health

The full blog…
Exploring wine with Jennifer Fiedler of the Wine Spectator

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by admin

On wine, sport and why they make good bedfellows

Bernard Mocke — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:16:51 +0000

On September 24, at the 1988 Seoul Olympic games, the rivalry between Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis came to a head when Johnson won the 100 meter sprint in a time of 9.79 seconds. Subsequent drug tests revealed that Johnson used Stanazolol, a banned substance and he was promptly stripped of his gold medal. Back in the present, after nearly a decade of alleged doping, Lance Armstrong came clean about his use of various banned substances that surely contributed to him winning seven Tour de France titles.

In 1985, German laboratories uncovered the widespread use of diethylene glycol in Austrian wines. This toxic substance (the diethylene glycol, not the Austrian wines!) made late harvest wines sweeter and more full-bodied. Jail sentences and heavy fines were handed down to key players in this scandal.

Two of my greatest passions in life are sport and wine. I therefore find it very interesting (and amusing) that both are prone to doping. As is the case in sport, a wide array of biological and chemical substances are available for use in viticulture and winemaking. Grape growers and winemakers are privy to these substances and some use them to save money, aid the winemaking process and influence the quality of finished wine.

DDT, which was once a very popular pesticide, has been banned since the early 1970’s in the USA, but reports still indicate sporadic use. Things get more interesting as we move out of the vineyard and into the cellar, so put on your doping hat. The use of sulphuric acid in winemaking (to alter pH) is illegal in South Africa, but I have a source that says that this practice is still rife. As is the addition of water to must to lower potential alcohol and increase yield. Legal alternatives are available, such as reverse osmosis and the spinning cone technique, but they do not come without a fair share of controversy. I’ve also heard of cellars (locally and international) that harvest Sauvignon blanc very green and then simply add sugar in order to get to a desired alcohol level, whilst maintaining certain green aromas.

As for alcoholic fermentation, the use of GMO yeast is completely taboo. The thing is, the world is a pretty big place, so if a certain Asian country decides to use a GMO yeast that massively boosts esters and produces less alcohol, who will know? I’ve also read an article about a commercial cellar in Europe that got caught out for using a GMO yeast that can degrade 100%of the malic acid in wine.

Excellent legal alternatives are of course available. Oenobrands offers a focused range of nutrients, non-GMO yeasts, a world first bacterial co-inoculant and enzymes for various winemaking styles, so there is really no need to break the law. Remember, cheating is for dopes. Just ask my friend, Tiger.

Bernard Mocke is a technical consultant for Oenobrands

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Bernard Mocke

Let’s get ready to rumble…

Elda Lerm — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 09:48:00 +0000

In the one corner, weighing in at about 1500 to 2000 producers globally, we have the organic wine movement, going head to head with the new kid on the block, the natural wine producers, of which France alone accounts for about 400 producers. So who do you back in this fight? And let us not forget the greatest contender…the conventional wine producers.

Natural wines are made with minimal technological and chemical intervention in the growing of the grapes and the making of the wine. In contrast, organic wines are defined as wines that were produced from organically grown grapes, but may be subjected to chemical and physical manipulation in the winemaking process. The argument that natural wine producers have, is that wines from conventional producers become uniform. This means that they lack specific regional or varietal character after the winemaker and all his processes and chemicals are done with them. So why are the organic producers so upset about the new natural wine movement?

Organic producers have spent the last 20 years building up the organic brand, putting effort and money into creating quality products, only to have their reputation, in their opinion, possibly tarnished by wines now labelled as ‘natural’. And how many consumers will know the exact difference between these two competitors? Natural wines usually have unusual flavour profiles and are prone to flaws and faults, including oxidation and spoilage. In addition, very little information is available on the ageing potential of these wines. To add to this, organic wine production is subject to country-specific regulation, whereas no such system exists for natural wine…not yet anyway.

So the natural wine philosophy is: ‘nothing added or taken away from the grapes, must or wine’.

Is this the future of winemaking? Is this just a passing fad? Does it have a future? Or is it a real contender?

Cue Eye of The Tiger music…

Elda Lerm is a technical consultant for Oenobrands

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Elda Lerm

I am drinking the stars! – Dom Perignon

Lida Malandra — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 12:55:55 +0000

I was recently reading an article that stated Prosecco sales at Tesco are up 50% year-on-year, with the Italian sparkling wine outperforming both Champagne and Cava at the world’s largest wine retailer. Prosecco sales have risen sharply, with global sales growing by double digit sales percentages since 1998, after being introduced to the US market in 2000.

One would wonder why the massive lean towards the Prosecco? Is it the fresh and lively wine with crisp, fruit-driven character, often compared to apples and dessert pears with a clean, refreshing finish? Has the credit crunch taken the fizz out of the UK’s Champagne market?

There are two camps of thought out there. One group would say that Champagne is perceived as the leading sparkling wine with years of marketing and the added advantage of the ‘Champagne’ name. Buyers are inclined to believe it is the best of the best and equates to an opulent lifestyle. Could the reverse be true that we are more exposed to a variety of sparkling wines, and we have a better appreciation for better-value sparkling wines and we may be breaking free from old traditions? Does Champagne taste three times better than a good Prosecco or Cava for that matter, but it usually costs three times more?

The other group is of the opinion that many Champagnes still cost less than some bottles of wine available and even whiskies. The French might say the shift to cheaper sparkling wines is due to the dulled and ignorant palate of most buyers. Never forget the Champagne region is special in terms of soil and climate — you can’t duplicate that anywhere else. Prosecco can be seen as an everyday drinking sparkling wine, as an aperitif or to drink with fish and chips, not for special occasions.

Is Champagne still the ultimate expression of sparkling wine?

Lida Malandra is the Anchor Brand Manager at Oenobrands

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Lida Malandra

Diversity

Bertus Fourie — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:48:40 +0000

“There is a place I love in Africa, that they call the rainbow land…Chris de Burgh”

I could not help over the past few weeks to realize the challenges that entities may face as a result of diversity…diversity in just about everything, all starting with changes in DNA. I started thinking about similarities between South African ethnic groups and what lives on grapes (forgive me, but I am pretty parochial as wine is not only my job, but also my hobby…)

South Africa as a multi-ethnic nation has diverse cultures, languages and religions. Eleven official languages are recognized in the constitution. English and Afrikaans are of European origin. Afrikaans originated mainly from Dutch ancestry and is spoken by the majority of white and Coloured South Africans. Though English is commonly used in public and commercial life, it apparently is only the fifth most-spoken home language. All ethnic and language groups have political representation in the constitutional democracy. About 80% of the South African population is of black African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different native languages, nine of which have official status. South Africa also contains the largest communities of European, Asian, and racially mixed ancestry in Africa…I bet you did not know this about our Rainbow nation.

Now I will not elaborate any further on political issues or leadership challenges, as this blog is mostly about the diversity that occurs on the republic of grapes. As winemakers, we are required not only to have a winemaking persona, but also to have personas that reflect our knowledge of chemistry, engineering, consumer behaviour, finance and many others. We are also required to know something about microbes, as they not only occur naturally on and in grapes and wine, but also direct our product in what may be acceptable for the consumer, or not. They may be friends or foes, and their diversity makes it challenging to manage, particularly if you do not know the basic elements that govern their existence…am I starting to sound like a politician?

Anyway, managing complexities efficiently probably start with understanding the magnitude of the challenge. I was utterly amazed when I took the book “Biology of Microorganisms on Grapes, in Must and in Wine”, and started counting what actually occurs on grapes and in wines. Now I am not a microbiologist, and I do not wish to quarrel about physiological differences between Leuconostoc oenos and Oenococcus oenos, but I do think even if some of these are anamorphs of each other, or genetically closely related and the differences insignificant, the diversity is quite darn amazing! The following is a table of “bugs” that occurs naturally on grapes and in fermenting wines and musts (and I did not count the sub-species…:

Bug	Genus	Species	How many species?
Lactic acid bacteria	Lactobacillus	brevis	16
		buchneri
		casei
		fermentum
		curvatus
		delbrueckii
		diolivorans
		fructivorans
		hilgardii
		jensenii
		kunkeei
		mali
		nagelli
		paracasei
		plantarum
		vini
	Leuconostoc	mesenteroides	1
	Oenococcus	oeni	1
	Pediococcus	damnosus	4
		inopinatus
		parvulus
		pentosaceus
	Weissellas	paramesenteroides	1
Acetic acid- bacteria	Acetobacter	aceti	9
		pasteurianus
		peroxydans
		orleaniensis
		lovaniensis
		estuniensis
		malorum
		cerevisiae
		oeni
	Gluconacetobacter	liquefaciens	8
		xylinus
		hansenii
		europaeus
		oboediens
		intermedius
		entanii
		johannae
	Gluconobacter	oxydans	1
Yeasts	Hanseniaspora		22
	Metschnikowia
	Candida
	Cryptococcus
	Rhodotorula
	Aureobasidium
	Rhodosporidium
	Auriculibuller
	Brettanomyces
	Bulleromyces
	Debaromyces
	Issatchenka
	Kluyveromyces
	Lipomyces
	Pichia
	Sporidiobolus
	Sporobolomyces
	Torulaspora
	Yarrowia
	Zygoascus
	Zygosaccaharomyces
	Botrytis
	Saccharomyces	cerevisiae	4
		bayanus
		pastorianus
		kudreavzevii
Bacteriophages

Isn’t this amazing? Not counting strains and sub-species, Lactobacillus has more than 22 genera and species, acetic acid bacteria more than 18, and yeasts more than 26!

And the most important thing to remember, I suppose, is to either educate yourself as a manager that guides this immense diversity (“winemaker”) in the oenological principles, or surround yourself with people who can.

Wish some leaders could learn from this…

Bertus Fourie is a winemaker, turned Enology lecturer and creator of the Barista coffee Pinotage.

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Bertus Fourie

The WINERAM Experience: Episode 2

Colin West — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 08:38:34 +0000

Episode 2 takes place in Christchurch and the Greater Canterbury Wine Region with focus on Waipara and Pegasus Bay Winery. Our presenters Jo Holley and Colin West have taken off from Queenstown and the Central Otago wine region and arrived in Christchurch to meet Ed Donaldson of the Pegasus Bay wine family. From here Ed is going to join our presenters as they check up on the positive progress of Christchurch since the earthquake and explore the greater Canterbury and Waipara region before tasting wine and learning about the second stage of the winemaking process at Pegasus Bay Winery!

Check out the video of this Episode 2 on WINERAM website!

That’s a wrap!

The WINERAM Experience by Colin West

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Colin West

Here’s to the Winemakers!

admin — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 12:32:48 +0000

“I am a winemaker. Not a shepherd or a steward.” Sine Qua Non founder Manfred Krankel spoke those words during the third day of Wine Spectator‘s New World Wine Experience, and I started clapping. Then I realized I was the only person clapping in a room packed with 800 people and sheepishly stopped. I shouldn’t have.

The Wine Experience is Wine Spectator‘s annual gathering of the best winemakers in the world for three days of tasting, talking and having fun. The whole weekend provides a chance to discover some great terroirs—you can taste wines from more than 200 wineries, often from regions you’ve never tried—and chat with the people behind the wines. The winemaker or owner is often the one pouring. It’s a chance to learn from some of the best.

But I often feel like people who work in wine (or write about it) like to pretend that winemakers don’t actually matter.

Read more…

Exploring wine with Mitch Frank of the Wine Spectator

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by admin

Clone versus Site: Which is more important?

John Kelly — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:17:10 +0000

Yesterday my friend Daniel Dycus recounted a conversation he had the other day with a certified sommelier. Daniel told this fellow he thought grape clone was at least as important as site in determining the characteristics of a wine. The somm told Daniel that he would “sound like an idiot if he said that to someone who knows anything about wine.” Well, Daniel was not sounding like an idiot, because this somm doesn’t know diddly about clones, at the very least.

Simply put, in my experience, clone often trumps site—especially when it comes to Pinot Noir. For example we recently had the experience of moving cuttings from a vineyard in Napa Valley (near Coombsville) to our vineyard in Sonoma Valley (near Santa Rosa). Different soil, different climate, different rootstock, different vine spacing, different trellising, different farming—and yet the wine we have made from this block is recognizably more similar to the wine we made from the older Coombsville site than it is to the wine we make from the Dijon clones of Pinot grown at our site. For that matter, there are reproducible differences between the wines we make from the Dijon clones we grow at our site, differences that I recognize in wines made from the same clones grown at other sites.

That Daniel’s somm friend gets it so wrong is emblematic of a larger issue: a total misconstruction by the supposed cognoscenti of what is meant by terroir. This somm along with scads and scads of other “experts” has been taught that terroir is all about location, location, location. It’s not, and never has been, even in Burgundy.

John Kelly is the owner and winemaker of Westwood Wines, Sonoma California. This blog was originally published on his blog: “notes from the winemaker” on the 12 November 2012.

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by John Kelly

High Total Acidity and High pH?! How to handle it…

Katie Cook — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 22:08:28 +0000

One of the reasons that grapes have been used to make wine for thousands of years is that they are one of the few fruits in the world that contain large concentrations of tartaric acid. The strength of acids is measured by their ability to shed protons – or more specifically, hydrogen ions (H⁺). Without going too deep into a chemistry lecture (which I’m sure will lose most of you in a few sentences), when you measure the pH of your wine, you are measuring the concentration of these ions – that’s what the big ‘H’ in pH stands for. The tricky thing to remember is that while pH is a measurement of H⁺, the formula for its calculation causes the pH to be inversely proportional to the H⁺concentration. Thus, as the H⁺ concentration increases, your pH decreases.

So what is the big deal about pH? Because tartaric acid is relatively strong, it works to keep a wine’s pH near 3.0, which in turn keeps the wine stable against microbes. This is one of the reasons why wine made from grapes has flourished around the world: it doesn’t spoil easily, and acts as an antiseptic. The combination of ethanol and the acidic environment are extremely inhospitable to most microbes. In an indigenous yeast fermentation, after the wine hits 5-6% alcohol, one yeast will dominate the fermentation: Saccharomyces cerevisiae or S. bayanus. After the sugar is depleted, there isn’t much left in the wine to act as a food source for microbes that are capable of surviving in those harsh conditions. Lactic Acid bacteria, if present, will begin to consume the malic acid (transforming it to lactic acid), while Acetobacter species are capable of turning ethanol into acetic acid (vinegar). However, Acetobacter needs oxygen in order to do this, so as long as you keep your containers full, you don’t need to worry much about them.

This year, like in 2010, we saw problems with high pH in many of our wines, but we saw it especially in Marquette. The most likely explanation is that Marquette grown under certain conditions has an excess of potassium, which can drive up the pH. Malic acid concentration likely also plays a role in increasing the pH, since it is a weaker acid that in turn is converted to an even weaker acid (lactic acid) in red wine vinification. In any case, the high pH is worrisome and steps need to be taken to ensure that the wine remains stable.

Sulfur Dioxide Addition. While it is still possible to limit microbes with sulfur addition when the pH creeps up to 3.8, you need to use substantially more SO₂ as your pH increases. Most of the sulfur you add to wine becomes bound to sugars and other compounds in your wine. The rest of the sulfur exists as “free” or unbound SO₂. At a pH of 3.4, you should aim for 35 mg/L of free sulfur in your wine in order to be sure that it’s protecting your wine against microbial spoilage. However, at a pH of 3.8, you’d need nearly 90 mg/L of free sulfur to get the same protection. Considering that the legal limit for TOTAL sulfur in your wine cannot exceed 400 ppm, one can see how maintaining a high free SO2 rate can quickly make it possible to exceed that limit. Though it’s possible to keep your wine clean with a high pH, it isn’t easy. One should consider a pH greater than 3.8 the breaking point where acidification becomes necessary.

Wine Sensory. The pH has a huge effect on the color of red wine, as it affects the colored pigments. If you start to keep track of your wine color and corresponding pH, it becomes almost possible to predict your wine’s pH based on color alone. A high pH wine will lose the vibrant red tones, and become more of an eggplant purple color. Low pH wines will have a bright pink rim and vibrant red hue. Differences occur between grape cultivar, of course, but generally if you observe the rim of color at the edge of the wine when you tilt your glass, if it’s purple then the pH is high. High pH wines also have a tendency to be described as “flabby” or “flat,” however it is difficult to say whether or not that holds true when the wine has a corresponding high total acidity, like we often see in Marquette. In Riesling, wines with equal sugar/acid ratios can taste sweeter at a higher pH.

Cold Stabilization. Wines with a pH greater than 3.65 should not be cold stabilized. When wines are cold-stabilized, the goal is to precipitate potassium bitartrate crystals so that they don’t fall out of solution in the bottle. Above pH 3.65, this salt acts like an acid. So, by removing an acid from the solution, it causes your pH to increase. However, if the wine’s pH is LESS THAN 3.65, cold stabilization will help to LOWER your pH. Below this point, potassium bitartrate acts as a base, so removing from solution causes the solution to become more acidic. Pretty cool, huh?

What we were faced with this year. The Marquette grapes that were harvested this year arrived at the winery with a pH of 3.6, but also had a total acidity of almost 1.0%! Knowing that the pH would increase during skin maceration (potassium is extracted from the skins), and again during malolactic fermentation, I acidified the must at harvest with tartaric acid at a rate of 0.2%. This brought the pH below 3.5. During Malolactic fermentation, we saw the pH creep up again to 4.0, so we were forced to once more acidify the wine to make it stable.

So here’s where a decision needed to be made: how much tartaric acid should we add? The total acidity was around 0.65%, which is pretty good for a red wine. Adding too much tartaric acid would make the wine tart and unpalatable. If I was working in a commercial winery, these are the options I’d see:

1) Acidify with Tartaric Acid. Aim to get the pH to 3.8, and hope that the tartaric acid additions didn’t make the wine too tart, then avoid cold-stabilization. A rule of thumb to use when acidifying: 1.0 g/L of tartaric acid will generally lower the pH by 0.1 (this is a guideline, of course… to be accurate, always perform bench trials before making a large addition).

2) Acidify with Tartaric Acid. Aim to get the pH below 3.65 and KNOW the wine was going to be very tart, but then cold-stabilize. With this option, the cold-stabilization will further lower the pH another 0.1 to 0.2 points (depending on the potassium bitartrate concentration). Then, working at a pH of 3.4-3.5, we will have room to remove the tartaric acid using chemical deacidification methods. Chemical deacidification comes with the worry of losing some of the aromatics, so bench trials should be performed to determine the amount of additive works best for the individual wine.

3) Blend the wine with a lower pH wine (of course do bench trials to see if you like the blend). This of course is still an option if you choose option 1 or 2, especially if you find the wine is still too tart. Blending is one of the the real arts in winemaking.

4) Use an anion exchanger. However, while an ion exchanger is available on the commercial scale for wineries, the cost of the equipment isn’t practical unless your last name is Mondavi.

We went with option #2. Since we are an experimental winery, blending is not an option. If I went with the first option, the amount of tartaric acid needed to get the wine under a pH of 3.8 made the wine too tart. The wines were acidified with 4 g/L of tartaric acid, which brought the pH down below 3.6 (and the TA above 1.0%), and they are now chilling at 28°F. I’m hoping that cold stabilization removes 1-2 g/L of total acidity, and we can use potassium bicarbonate to remove an additional 1-2 g/L. In the end, I’m hoping that nearly all of the added tartaric acid that was added to the wine can be removed, and we’ll be left with a wine that has a healthy pH between 3.6-3.8, with a palatable TA around 0.6%.

Katie Cook, Enology Project Leader of University of Minnesota, Horticulture Research Center

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Katie Cook

The WINERAM Experience: Episode 1

Colin West — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 13:54:36 +0000

Kia Ora!

The WINERAM Experience. We aren’t a bunch of wanky-wine-o’s. We are a crew with a passion! Combining a few wine-o’s with a couple film buffs and what your getting is a cinematic inside scoop on what the wine industry is really about! I’m sick of getting the question “So your a wine connosieur?”, no more misunderstood views of what the wine industry is.

Through Sara’s eyes she’ll show you as the world of wine is opened up to her. Through my eyes, I will show you how I experience the one thing I”m truely passionate about. Dig it, love it, follow it.

New Zealand, Travel, Adventure Sports, Raw Natural Beauty & WINE!

EPISODE 1

Queenstown and Central Otago! This is the first episode of a six part web series on New Zealand’s wine, travel and adventure sports! Not just your average wine-o, Colin West has come down from the USA to meet up with local kiwi Jo Holley to show her what wine is all about and why anyone from any age or demographic can appreciate wine! In return she shows Colin her country and together they get involved in the country’s top adventure sports located in the wine region themselves! This time local talented mountain biker Josh Clark shows them the ropes at the Gondola just down the road from Peregrine Winery where after mountain biking they all go in for to learn a bit more about Central Otago’s wines, and also the first stage of the winemaking process: Canopy Management!

View Episode 1:

http://www.vimeo.com/westgrantproductions/wineramepisode1

That’s a wrap!

The WINERAM Experience by Colin West

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Colin West

Facial for your barrel anyone?

Bertus Fourie — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 07:45:15 +0000

This blog can be regarded as the sequel for “Snow blower on Enceladus”, which I have posted in November last year. The blog was all about technology that uses CO₂ ice pellets to clean and rejuvenate the inside of barrels by “blowing” these ice pellets under immense pressure against the inside staves of barrels, leaving them clean and “disinfected”. Another advantage of course remains the fact that the condition of a used barrel can be inspected. Many winemakers was struck with complete and utter dismay at the sight of many a blister in the inside of these very pricy barrels…and most probably found the puss that “oozed” from these blisters a terrible reality.

Yet the challenge remains to manage barrels in such a way that you get what you want from them: Extraction of flavor, and introduction of oxygen. Yet both decrease as a result of extraction and blocked pores, as the barrels grow older. The other challenge is of course to maintain a good sanitary status after these barrels are emptied and filled with new wines, as spoilage organisms such as Brett and acetic acid bacteria literally get a “breather” in between emptying and filling…

Several techniques are at the disposal of winemakers to clean barrels. Many high tech barrel cleaning systems are currently on the market, from “ordinary” pressure cleaners, to units that can empty the barrel and clean it afterwards without having to move the barrels from the stack. It is possible to use dry steam or wet steam. You may even use chemicals such as SO₂treatments or the patented “Thales cleaning” method. Yet again – different strokes for different blokes.

The purpose of this blog however, is to take a view on the “Barena” method. One of the differences to the Ice Jet System is that they do not physically dismantle the barrel. A rod is simply placed through the barrel’s bung hole, and quartz crystals are sprayed under pressure against the inside of the barrel. These crystals were sterilized by heating it up to 300 degrees Celsius several times. Approximately 30 kilograms of these crystals are used per barrel. The quartz removes less than a millimeter of the surface of the staves, almost like peeling off a skin from a litchi. The barrel is then rinsed with de-chlorinated cold water. Step 3 in the process is the “disinfection stage” where the barrel is steamed for 12 minutes.

The barrel is now ready to dry naturally. A disinfected silicone bung is put into the bunghole, and a needle through which SO₂ gas is injected, penetrated through the bung. This leaves the barrels treated and ready to be filled yet again.

Unfortunately the downside remains the transport of the barrels to the depot where they are treated and back to the cellars. I also like the fact that I can physically inspect the inside of the used barrels when I used the Ice blast technology, although you may argue that it is possible to look into a barrel with optical fibers…honestly, how many of us actually use these gadgets on barrel inspection day?

Nevertheless, I also like the idea of “blasting” (and opening blisters I suppose) away deposit and residue by force, “steaming” the pores open and bugs away, and finally treat it with sulphur. It all makes sense…almost like giving your barrel a facial.

The technology will soon be available in South Africa, and I really think it’s time to look at some hardcore evidence – which method will ultimately prevail? Let the wine decide…(or the bottom line?)…

Bertus Fourie is a winemaker, turned Enology lecturer and creator of the Barista coffee Pinotage.

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Bertus Fourie

How Do You Pronounce Foreign Wine Names?

admin — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 08:05:32 +0000

Do you Americanize wine names or use the authentic pronunciation?

In the past year, I’ve noticed an odd thing bubble up in pop music: artists talking about drinking wine they know nothing about. It happens in Frank Ocean’s “Super Rich Kids” (“too many bottles of this wine we can’t pronounce”) and in André 3000′s guest verse on Rick Ross’s “Sixteen” (“we eat until our belly aches and then go and grab the finest wine and drink it like we know which grape and region it came from.”)

Maybe two isn’t quite an official phenomenon, but it does make a strange blip in an otherwise strong current of wine name-dropping fashionability in pop music (see: Cristal, Santa Margherita, Ace of Spades). The songs involve too many layers of role playing to know how Ocean or André 3000 personally feel about wine, but Ocean—or Ocean’s character—got one thing right: Wine names can be maddeningly tricky to pronounce.

Read more…

Exploring wine with Jennifer Fiedler of the Wine Spectator

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by admin

All dressed up, but nowhere to go with your wine?

Bernard Mocke — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:57:25 +0000

“If I was a winemaker and I made wine that tasted the same five years in a row, I would consider myself a failure.” This statement was greeted by a soft gasp of shock and then an uncomfortable silence that settled around the dinner table. The identity of the person who made the opening statement will forever remain a mystery, but I will try to shed some light upon the unique (and sometimes volatile) relationship between the winemaker, the marketing team and the consumer.

‘Death of a Salesman’ is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. It tells the story of Willy Loman, a failed salesman, who ultimately commits suicide. This flawed, but valiant deed marked the end of an unremarkable sales career. The reality is this: salespeople in the wine business are still under increasing pressure, as is the winemaker as well as the consumer. Seeing that the consumer has to fork out hard earned cash to enjoy some wine, it is up to the marketing team to convince the consumer to buy the winemaker’s wine. It is thus clear that there needs to be very good communication between the winemaker and the marketing team. All of this is old hat. What might not be that apparent, is that there exists two extreme opposite paradigms in the winemaking world.

Paradigm one: Based on extensive market research, the winemaker obtains information on existing markets and what their requirements are. Here the winemaker relies heavily on the interpretation and rendition of current markets by die marketing team. Past experience, current trends and forecasts are buzz words here. A quality level for each market segment is determined and wine is made and marketed according to the consumer preference of each segment. Forgive me, for I’m of course greatly reducing the complexity of the science that is involved in marketing and market research. If I may simplify even further, within this scenario the winemaker makes what the different markets want.

Paradigm two: The winemaker makes wine according to his taste and whims. The market is ostensibly much smaller than those described in paradigm one, seeing that consumers need to share the taste of the winemaker or need to adapt. During my stint in a big cellar in California, I met a highly eccentric winemaker who personified the second paradigm of winemaking. He was of the opinion that winemakers like him are part of a dying breed and winemakers should not be dictated by market preferences. In his own words: “If you like my wine, you buy it. If you don’t like it, *$#@* off!” I really liked this cowboy and I decided to stir the pot a little by pointing out that I’ve had excellent wines from wineries/winemakers representing both of the above mentioned paradigms. You can just imagine the earful that I got then…

Let’s revert to the opening statement: “If I was a winemaker and I made wine that tasted the same five years in a row, I would consider myself a failure.” Theoretically, an exceptional year will yield exceptional wine. This will probably change (improve?) the taste of the wine, if compared to a standard. The million dollar question is: Will your market accept the different taste or will you be met with a lynch mob?

You might want to ponder this whilst having a glass of wine. After all… “In vino veritas.”

Bernard Mocke is a technical consultant for Oenobrands

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Bernard Mocke

The Next China for Wine

admin — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 20:38:51 +0000

In 10 years, India’s wine drinkers will outnumber France’s total population. Here’s how Rajeev Samant and his Sula Vineyards helped light that fire.

Before becoming a vintner, Rajeev Samant struggled for more than three years to get a license to put down vines. Finally, he persuaded alcohol-suspicious authorities that the ability to grow vinifera in the region was “a gift from the gods.” A novice grower, he had no idea what to plant and where, and once he decided on Sauvignon Blanc, he had no idea if his grapes would ripen—no idea if they would even bear fruit.

Where he lives is hot—regularly over 100° F three months a year—so to say his cellar is temperature-controlled would be an understatement. Even pricing his product was problematic: When he started out in 1996, there was a $3 excise tax on every bottle, and none could legally be priced at more than four times that amount, the equivalent of $12. The winemaker overcame all that, but like clockwork, Mother Nature drops a new bomb on his vines every year. “The biggest challenge,” said Samant, whose Sula Vineyards now dominates 65 percent of India’s wine market, “is managing the monsoon.”

Read more…

Exploring wine with Ben O’Donnell of the Wine Spectator

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by admin

Practical Advice On Managing Wine Alcohol Levels

John Kelly — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 09:53:13 +0000

The other day I came across this fact sheet: “Reducing Alcohol Levels In Wine” published by the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI). Directed at the professional winegrower, this is the best agenda-free piece on wine alcohol levels I have read, period. It’s worth the interested reader’s time.

All of my own efforts to manage alcohol levels in our wines are mentioned here. In the vineyard every year we reduce canopy leaf area to balance crop load, and I have found that irrigating to 85% of evapotranspiration demand right up to harvest prevents runaway sugar accumulation. I have always disdained wines with over-ripe flavors, and so have always picked at the earliest date that I find the various components of the grape to be quote-unquote “ripe” – a personal definition, but one that I am happy with.

I found it amusing that the AWRI paper discusses water adds under the heading of “blending.” Adding a “reasonable” amount of water, for one reason or another, is a common practice in winemaking. We just don’t talk much about it.

I was left scratching my head over the mention of glucose oxidase to decrease the level of fermentable sugar in juice or must. I recall reading a few research papers in the 1990s about this, but didn’t think the technology ever made it out of the lab. I honestly don’t know of any winery that uses this enzyme. Nor have I ever come across a commercial preparation for use in wine. So, pace, “natural” wine aficionados.

Fermenter design does make a difference. I prefer to use fermenters with a must depth of 38″ during peak fermentation, regardless of diameter, and seek to achieve peak fermentation temperatures of around 90° F for my red wines. I have empirical evidence that this approach reduces our so-called “conversion ratio” (the percent alcohol immediately after fermentation divided by the Brix before fermentation) by up to 5%.

By contrast, I have found no consistent evidence that yeast selection has any effect on alcohol level. Whether I conduct a ferment without inoculation, or by inoculation with a selected commercial strain, the final alcohol is the same within measurement error. Incidentally, these days I start every fermentation without inoculation. If the initial Brix is high or if the ferment shows evidence of stress, I inoculate with a commercial strain I feel most suited to the variety. In effect, all our ferments are conducted by mixed strains of yeast.

The AWRI paper discusses the most obvious, the most used, and the most discussed (and often reviled) method of alcohol level management: physical removal of alcohol from finished wine by reverse osmosis or vacuum distillation. I have experimented with these methods on a limited basis with mixed—mostly negative—results. My biggest concern with large-scale alcohol removal is that the wine is nearly always rendered “hotter” by the treatment. I speculate that this is due to removal of ethanol at a faster rate than alcohols of three carbons or more by the processes.

The article mentions de-alcoholizing small parcels of wine and blending back. I have had some good results with this approach and I am experimenting with this method on an ongoing basis, because of the next topic discussed in the article: loss of alcohol by evaporation during barrel aging.

In fact, during barrel aging in our cellar the alcohol level of the wine increases by up to 1.2%-1.5% over two years. During barrel aging, the wood of the barrel acts as a semi-permeable membrane. Wine components inside the barrel migrate through the wood at various rates and evaporate from the outside surface. My a priori assumption is that the rates of migration of water and alcohol are dependent on the differences in concentrations between the inside and outside of the barrel.

Let’s say I put a wine to barrel at 13% ABV; this wine is approximately 87% water. In our barrel cellar, the concentration of alcohol in the air is essentially 0%, while the relative humidity averages about 35%. Water leaves the barrel faster than alcohol because 87%-35%=52% is four times greater than 13%-0%=13% (52/13=4); therefore, the thermodynamic drive for water to leave the barrels is 4x the impetus for alcohol to escape.

The AWRI paper discusses how alcohol levels decrease over time when the average relative humidity of the barrel cellar is 70%-90%, but also discusses the negative issue of mold growth in the cellar in this wet environment. Our barrel aging area was not designed to be wet, and we also store cased goods in proximity to our barrels. Humidification of our cellar is not an option.

My intent is to experiment with vacuum distillation of the wine I use to top our barrels. If we decrease the alcohol level of the topping wine, I believe we can slow the rate of alcohol increase in our barrels over time in our dry cellar environment.

John Kelly is the owner and winemaker of Westwood Wines, Sonoma California. This blog was originally published on his blog: “notes from the winemaker” on the 19 July 2012.

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by John Kelly

Smooth Operator…

Bertus Fourie — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:12:50 +0000

It all started in the mid eighteen hundreds, when a gentleman with the name of Antonin Prandtl, invented the first dairy centrifuge in order to separate cream from milk. At that stage he was working (probably with some sort of butter addiction) for himself and not for Cadbury’s…

The principle was “refined” by Gustaf de Laval in 1879 who demonstrated the first continuous centrifugal separator, making its commercial application feasible. But what exactly is a centrifuge, and how can it add value to the wine industry?

A centrifuge is a piece of equipment which is driven by an electric motor that puts an object or liquid in rotation around a fixed axis, applying a force perpendicular to the axis. The centrifuge works using the sedimentation principle, where the centripetal acceleration causes denser substances (like yeast cells, grape particles, fining agents, etc.) to separate out along the radial direction. By the same token lighter objects (juice or wine in this case) will tend to move to the top. The net result thus, a very efficient separation of solids and wine.

Centrifugation technology has become so advanced over the years that it is considered a superior method for winery solids management and eliminates the need for unnecessary handling of wines and juices (with all its detrimental effects and risks like exposure to oxygen and consequent product losses & quality), e.g. several racking’s and pre-historic filtration actions.

I believe it is important to give compliments where it is due. A very fine piece of technology is the STS family of centrifuges. This is a superior method for optimal wine recovery from grape solids, fermentation lees and fining lees with negligible dissolved oxygen pick-up during the separation process, which was considered the major downside ages ago.

So what exactly happens? Quite simple: Dirty liquid goes in, it is separated, and crystal clear liquid comes out…and of course solid matter or sludge that has the density of peanut butter at a moisture level of 95%.

In a few conversations with winemakers who use this technology, the following advantages came up: 1) Reduced juice and wine losses, associated with racking, filter aid adsorption, or even or de-sludge actions of older or under-performing centrifuges. 2) Reduced juice and wine quality “downgrades” .This classically happens where existing lees handling processes lead to the loss of quality as a result of oxygen pick up, or contamination, or human error. This of course may lead to a loss of freshness, loss of varietal integrity and character, or even reductive taints from prolonged exposure to lees. 3) Eliminating DE (diatomaceous earth) filtration, principally the lees Filter and Rotary Drum Vacuum filter not only reduce the amount of juice and wine handlings, but is also associated with direct hard savings in reduced DE consumption which also have health and auditing benefits. Occupational Health, Safety and Environment considerations of DE and the ability to proactively demonstrate a major reduction in DE usage in the cellar is an intangible benefit. 4) A key advantage over the older centrifuges is the very low oxygen pick-up, which is as low as 0.02 mg of oxygen per litre of wine. This means the same wine can be centrifuged multiple times during its maturation cycle, without the detrimental effect oxygen may have on particularly white wines. 5) If all the technical benefits are weighed, then it is also a no-brainer to see that the application of this technology also builds a very strong business case, and the immediate effect on the bottom line.

Key applications include clarification of: White juice from recently pressed grapes – cold-settled juice lees – white wines after primary fermentations (including yeast lees) – white wines after bentonite finings (including bentonite lees) – bentonite lees – stuck or sluggish ferments – late harvest and botrytis wines where primary fermentation must be stopped – Red wine after primary ferment (including gross lees) – gross red lees – red wine after malolactic fermentation – wines after cold stabilization – cleaning of wine with in-line cross-flow).

Forgive me if I start to sound like a STS representative… but I am just wondering if all directors or all big cellars know how much money can be saved on the bottom-line if the “optimal” technology or equipment is being used “optimally”…

Bertus Fourie is a winemaker, turned Enology lecturer and creator of the Barista coffee Pinotage.

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Bertus Fourie

A wine obsession? Are you talkin’ to me?

admin — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 11:26:44 +0000

Finding good wine in Northern California is not a problem. It’s sold everywhere. The state’s alcohol laws are so liberal I’m waiting for Home Depot to add a wine aisle. (Near the garden section, not the power tools.)

That doesn’t mean I can get my hands on every wine I want. There are limitations even for someone who writes about wine for a living. If I could track down the Joseph Drouhin Musigny 2009 (97 points, only 28 cases imported), I couldn’t afford $594 for a bottle, unless my daughter dropped out of college.

As wine dilemmas go, two of the biggest must be 1) obtaining a rare bottle you’re desperate to taste and/or 2) paying for it once you get it. All of us have faced the first one and most of us the second.

Chinese Checkers Anyone?

Bertus Fourie — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 09:59:35 +0000

Chinese checkers is a board game that can be played by two, three, four, or six people, playing individually or with partners. The objective is to be first to race one’s pieces across the hexagram-shaped gameboard into the “home” section, which is the corner of the star opposite one’s starting corner, using single-step moves or moves which jump over other pieces. Others keep playing to establish 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and last place finishers.

Now what on earth does a board game have to do with wine, or anything remotely associated with wine, except for the fact that in some cases the two might go hand in hand… wine and games that is… Well, nothing really, except for the fact that predicting the style and quality of a wine as a result of the fruit and oenological processes, remains one of the most important and difficult parts of a viticulturist and winemaker’s job and is sometimes more luck than wisdom (This was confirmed by a very interesting sensorial lecture by Professor Heyman of UC Davis a few days ago).

Imagine having a tool in the laboratory which helps you to assess the maturity kinetics of your vineyards and its fruit profile helps you to optimize the picking date according to the desired wine profile and finally, helps you to create more consistent wine profile results, year after year, with multiple vineyards or blocks of the same cultivar.

The technology, called the Dyostem system (Berry Maturity Analyses system), to measure berry skin colour has been developed by Vivelys Society (France) and Montpellier SupAgro (France) a while ago and is currently being assessed commercially in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. According to Professor Alain Deloire of the University of Stellenbosch, the method uses the evolution of the berry colour by applying optical techniques, as an indicator of berry ripening, which of course relate to the wine’s aromatic profile. In short: The average colour of the berries “predicts” the wine style as a result of the ripeness level of the fruit.

The term “optimal ripeness” is such an important, yet complex term that not even scientists can agree fully on a definition or all the complexities that it entails. Yet, the significance of “optimal ripeness” is reflected not only in the development of technologies like the Dyostem system and formal sensory techniques (BSA or Grape Berry Assessment), but also in the jargon used by winemakers when presenting wine tastings or trying to flog a few bottles to a restaurant.

Winemakers agree to the fact that “optimal ripeness” bares direct relation to the style of the required wine, which in turn is dictated by market or by the objective to produce a wine that reflect the expression of a typical terroir related profile. The classical indicators of “ripeness level” include sugar level or potential alcohol, natural acids (particularly malic and tartaric) and pH and of course various and diverse methods of spectral analyses to give us some insight into the colour ripeness and tannin or “mouth feel” ripeness. All these parameters strongly relate to the perception of the taste of the wine.

In lectures to students, when asked the question “but when exactly do you decide when to harvest?” of course I cannot give them a straight and simple answer. I do however think back to Christopher Walken’s answer to his daughter’s question “what should I do Dad?” in the movie the “Wedding Crashers”: “The best you can do is to use all information at hand to make the best possible decision.”

Dyostem I have never had the privilege to work with, but when it reaches the point where it does exactly what it was designed for, I am getting myself one of those…or like Orange winemaker Justin Jarrett said “I can walk down the rows of my vineyard and taste fruit and get it right, or hope I get it right… but I guess if I get it wrong, I’ll get it really wrong. This way you have some science to the process of determining picking times based on the flavours you want…”

Bertus Fourie is a winemaker, turned Enology lecturer and creator of the Barista coffee Pinotage.

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Bertus Fourie

Wine Phenols : Nonflavonoids and Flavonoids

Mike Horton — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:14:54 +0000

Phenolic compounds affect several sensory components of wine, including red wine color, astringency, bitterness, and olfactory profile. Though present at low levels, their concentrations are a primary factor in the differences between wine types and styles. They are also important oxygen reservoirs and substrates for browning reactions.Their concentrations are largely due to processing considerations (for example, flavonoid content increases with increased skin contact time and temperature).

The basic phenol structure is carbolic acid (also known as hydroxybenzene; C₆H₅OH). Several hundred different phenolic compounds are naturally occurring in grapes, divided into two basic groups referred to as nonflavonoid and flavonoid phenols.

Nonflavonoid Phenols – The phenol content of grape juice is primarily nonflavonoid. For white varietals, nonflavonoids represent the overwhelming majority of finished wines’ phenol content as well. This is due to the fact that the majority of nonflavonoid phenols are sourced naturally from grape pulp: hydoxycinnamate derivatives present as free acids, ethyl esters, and tartrate-glucose esters. Nonflavonoid phenols levels are largely effected by fermentation; up to 20% of total nonflavonoids are absorbed by yeast, and many are hydrolized to free acid and ester forms including free cinnamic acids and ethyl phenols. Phenols arising from oak maturation are primarily hydrolizable nonflavonoids such as vanillin (oak influence on phenol content will be discussed in a following post).

Most nonflavonoids are present below their sensory threshold, though collectively they can have an impact on bitterness and astringency. Some nonflavonoids are also indicators of spoilage; for example, 4-ethyl phenol can be used as an indicator of Brettanomyces.

Flavonoid Phenols -Flavonoids have much more impact on a wine’s structure and color compared to nonflavonoids. They are found in skins, seeds, and stems of both white and red grapes; they represent 25% of total phenol content in white varietals made without skin contact, and represent 80-90% of total phenol content in red wines produced in a traditional manner. Flavonoids can exist in monomeric forms, or polymerized to other flavonoids, nonflavonoids, sugars, or a combination of these. Polymeric flavonoids make up the majority of total phenolics found in all stages of red winemaking; further polymerization yields flavenoid polyphenolic compounds (tannins and condensed tannins).

Catechins account for the majority of white wine flavonoid content (particularly those produced without skin contact), and up to 14% of total red wine phenol content. These are flavon-3-ols; catechins are negatively charged, while epicatechins are positively charged. Catechins and epicatechins are the precursors for browning and bitterness in both white and red wines. They polymerize to create procyanidins (condensed tannins).

Luecoanthocyanidins and luecoanthocyanins serve as precursors to larger polymeric forms (anthocyanins, which will be discussed in a following post). These compounds are very closely related to catechins; luecoanthocyanidins have an additional hydroxyl group, and luecoanythocyanins have an attached sugar molecule. These compounds have minimal effect on a wine’s bitterness, less than flavonols.

Flavonols are primarily found in grape skins, thus their concentrations in wines produced without skin contact are minimal or nonexistent. Quercitin commonly represents the majority of a wine’s flavonol content, though kaempforol and myricetin are also found in significant concentrations. These compounds have some effect on a wine’s bitterness.

Mike Horton, the surfer with a passion for winemaking. The original blog Wine Phenols : Nonflavonoids and Flavonoids was originally posted on his blog: the drifting winemaker.

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Mike Horton

Diamonds are forever…

Bertus Fourie — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 10:53:48 +0000

“Diamonds are forever,
They are all I need to please me,
They can stimulate and tease me…”

Shirley Bassey’s lyrics from the famous 1971 James Bond Movie, Diamonds are Forever. In the movie of course, he enjoys a very fine sherry. Interestingly enough, also a wine which was associated with the occurrence of “wine diamonds”, or tartrate crystals as a function of the presence of potassium, particularly in the case of sherry, calcium tartrates as a function of fermentation in traditional cement tanks or treatments with calcium sulphate to lower the pH.

Nowadays, as a result of many technologies and additives, the occurrence of this type of instability (regarded as a wine fault, mostly by consumers who may associate it with glass crystals) can be prevented.

The traditional way of course to rid the product of these crystals is to keep a still wine at -4^oC for a week, and a fortified wine at -7^oC. This would give the tartrate crystals enough time to crystallize and settle and the clear wine can be racked off the sediment. The downside of this technique though is the time it takes, energy required and other variables that may induce poor nucleation. Variation of “traditional cold stabilization” therefor exists and is known as contact stabilization. The addition of potassium bi-tartrate crystals is to increase the rate of crystallization and to decrease the energy required after which the wine is separated from the crystals.

During the 1950’s though, Down Under came up with even a more innovative way of preventing wine diamonds, called ion-exchange. Used both for acidification and lowering the pH, treatment of wine leads to a decrease in other cations like K⁺and Ca²⁺. The process entails a cation-exchange resin to be charged with hydrogen ions and passing wine through the resin where the hydrogen ions are released and K⁺ and Ca²⁺ are taken up by the resin.

Electrodyalysis (ED) became a sudden buzz word the past few years. ED is a powerful technique for selectively removing excess potassium and bi-tartrate ions that cause instability. The principle of ED is based on the flow of wine through a stack of alternating cation- and anion-selective membranes, in parallel with “brine” under an electrically charged field. Thinking back to science classes in school, K⁺, Ca²⁺ and Na⁺ will be attracted to the negatively charged cathode and conversely the HTa^- (bi-tartrate ions) to the anode.

Off course we live in the Fast Food era, and there is basically a quick fix for most challenges. Such a fix is MTA (Meta-Tartaric Acid) and CMC’s (Carboxy Methyl Cellulose). MTA acts as a nucleation inhibitorby sheathing the crystals of potassium bi-tartrate and calcium tartrate, thus preventing crystal growth. This unfortunately is not a permanent reaction, as it slowly rehydrates to tartaric acid over time, especially if the wine is exposed to higher temperatures. CMC is used in food science as a thickener and to stabilize emulsions in various products like ice cream. It is also a constituent of many non-food products, such as K-Y Jelly, toothpaste, laxatives, diet pills, water-based paints, detergents, textile sizing and various paper products. Although in some products it has the ability to lower freeze points and subsequent crystal forming, e.g. white wine, the results on some rose wines and particularly red wines, are not favourable.

Mannoproteins colloids in wine with a carbohydrate part of 70% and 30% part protein, occurs in wine naturally as a result of autolysis of yeasts. It was found not only to reduce a white wine’s requirement for bentonite treatment to enhance heat stability, but also increase a wine’s tartrate stability. The instability of the phenolic matter in red wines due to many variables may compromise potassium bi-tartrate stability over time. Under these conditions, the anti-nucleation effect of mannoproteins can be reduced.

So, as they say, “different strokes for different blokes”. With all additives and actions you have to take full cognizance of potential upsides and downsides… or else I suppose, diamonds may well be, forever.

Bertus Fourie is a winemaker, turned Enology lecturer and creator of the Barista coffee Pinotage.

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Bertus Fourie

How Bottle Variation Can Lead To An Evolutionary Challenged Wine (Part 2)

Bernard Mocke — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:32:52 +0000

At a recent Methode Cap Classique meeting I attended, one of the speakers spoke about very old champagne that was discovered in a shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. After further investigation, I discovered that 168 bottles of champagne were resurrected. The ship itself is thought to date back to the second quarter of the 19^th century, which makes this champagne very old indeed. I should also add that this wine was tasted by at least one wine pundit and received very positive tasting notes! I’ll come back to wine critics later, but let’s briefly dive into the technical pool first.

Part 1 of this blog gave some history and a brief overview on bottling and bottle variation. This installment will focus on factors influential to aging and bottle variation.

Air ingress is a function of all the factors which I will briefly touch on, so keep this in mind as you read on. Low cellar humidity is a powerful driving force for evaporation, from barrels to bottles. Some winemakers are proponents of humidity levels of up to 70% (if possible), as this lessens the gradient between the outside of the bottle and the ullage (100% humidity). Informed wine connoisseurs often prefer old bottles with damp damaged labels, as this means that the wine was probably stored in high humidity conditions. Sadly, old wines with perfect labels usually get higher prices than their counterparts with pristine labels. A constant optimal temperature is also very important when storing wine. This could possibly be the explanation why underground cellars and Davy Jones’s locker are good places to preserve wine. High cellar temperatures invariably speed up the rate of maturation chemical reactions, in conjunction with the wine expanding in the bottle. This is turn leads to compression of the headspace. This forces air, water and ethanol out of the bottle and upon cooling and contraction of the wine, air is sucked back into the headspace (you might remember from Part 1 of this blog that the cork is not sucked in again). Each of these expansion and contraction cycles introduces more air into the bottle, as there will always be more air entering the bottle than there will be leaving it. Quite nasty. There is also much uncertainty about ullage (fill level) of old wines, but I would like to at least quote Kevin Swersey of the Connoisseur’s Advisory Group: “Generally speaking, older Burgundies have more ullage than older Bordeaux. Why? I don’t know. And certainly, the old California wines have the least ullage of any wines I’ve ever seen,” It seems to me that the Burgundophiles and the Bordeaxphiles have disparate opinions on the effect of fill level on wine maturation in their separate regions, but I shall indeed tread very lightly here and move along quite swiftly. Another obvious cause of bottle variation can be unfiltered wine. Under optimal conditions (e.g. the presence of sugar), microbial growth could happen and the result is anybody’s guess.

Finally, there is a very interesting article on how bottle variation can affect the judging of wines. This can be found in the June 2012 issue of Wines & Vines. If you’re interested, have a look at it and let me know what you think.

Bernard Mocke is a technical consultant for Oenobrands

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Bernard Mocke

In Response to Mr. Gray on Wine Lists and Mr. Dawson on Corkage

Erika Szymanski — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 10:43:37 +0000

I somewhat belatedly read my fellow Palate Press columnist Evan Dawson’s article on corkage and then, also somewhat belatedly, The Gray Report post in which W. Blake Gray (also a fellow Palate Press columnist) responded to Dawson. When I realized that I had more to say about the topic than was going to fit tidily into a comment on either piece, I thought that I’d continue the chain by responding here. Please don’t think that I’m trying to steal either Evan or Blake’s thunder. Everything I’ve seen tells me that both Evan and Blake are great guys and even better writers, and I couldn’t steal their thunder even if I wanted to.

Blake asks the pertinent and (characteristically) punchy question: should a wine list educate or is the wine list just a price list? His question is prompted by realizing that he (an experienced wine writer, no less) doesn’t recognize most of the offerings on the wine list Jeremy Parzen has compiled at Sotto, which Dawson used as an example of a particularly thoughtful and interesting list. Since Blake can’t order based on familiarity and is given only the most general information about the wine – name, vintage, red or white, “bold” or light, and a very general idea of place (it’s an Italian restaurant; most of the wines are also Italian) – he has three options.

a) Be tempted to rudely bury my nose in the wine list rather than attending to my dining companion, should I have one;

b) Take 75 minutes to place my order because it took me that long to read the list and I forgot to look at the menu; and

c) Still order wine based primarily on price.

The fourth option, which Blake didn’t mention, is to pull his smart phone out of his pocket and use his favorite wine app to look up tasting notes on the list’s mystery wines, but I’m going to give Blake the benefit of the doubt and guess that he’s too much the polite diner to unholster a cell phone at table.

Both Evan’s and Blake’s articles caused me to reflect on how narrow an audience they’re really addressing. We’re all addressing a narrow audience when we write about wine; most people don’t care enough about wine to read about it for fun, and that’s especially true of the geeky stuff I prefer. But Evan and Blake are writing to people who, additionally, live in sizable cities with significant fine dining restaurants AND who eat out at such establishments often enough to think about bringing their own bottles from home. I suspect that this does, in fact, describe most of the readership of Palate Press and The Gray Report, but it definitely doesn’t describe me. Blake lives in the San Francisco area. ‘Nuff said. Evan lives in Rochester, NY where I also once lived and so which I can attest is definitely not San Francisco, but it still has some reasonable restaurants. It unquestionably has restaurants whose wine lists surpass the boundaries of my wine knowledge.

I live in Pullman, Washington, a town the size of which is overstated by its 30,000-somethingish population estimate. Pullman is a small town on the Washington-Idaho border, smack-dab in the middle of wheat- and lentil-farming country, that just happens to have a sizeable university (Washington State) stuck in the middle of it. It is, therefore, a peculiar blend of redneck farm community and partying college town. I love it. I love living in a town where I have a field ten minutes from my door and where I can’t go to the grocery store without seeing someone I know, but which has the critical mass necessary for cultural events. And a decent library. But what we don’t have are restaurants of the caliber that Evan and Blake assume are the norm. Pullman restaurants are largely designed to feed college students, which means neither fine dining nor notable wine lists. I’d qualify one restaurant in town (the lovely Black Cypress) as “fine dining” – two if I include the nearby Idaho town of Moscow – and its short but satisfactory wine list favors Washington and Oregon enough that I can reliably identify every glass and bottle. I’ll guess that at least some other readers can relate. We don’t all live in San Francisco or New York or even Rochester.

Back to Blake’s question about whether the wine list should educate or can be just a price list. As much as I enjoy the former, I’m honestly okay with the latter, which brings me to my second point about narrow audiences. On the rare occasions when I find myself within range of a good restaurant, I don’t have a lot of money to spend there. I know that more expensive bottles generally carry a proportionally lower markup and are therefore a better deal. I often know that some of the more expensive bottles are hard-to-find treasures, and sometimes I know that they’re really yummy. But none of that matters when you’re a grad student who’s functionally living below the poverty level. I DO use the wine list as a price list. I don’t make a selection based on price alone – there are usually a few options around the lowest price point and I can rule out bottles that I know I don’t like or that are inappropriate for what I’m eating or that are horribly overpriced – but price still ranks as the most important factor in my decision. Hand me Jeremy Parzen’s beautiful wine list at Sotto and I’ll have no trouble making a decision even though I’m woefully incompetent at Italian wines. I want something red, and I want something bold – because I’m eating a braised oxtail dish, let’s say – so I go to that section of the list. The least expensive bottle is something called a syrache, which sounds a lot like syrah and I know that I’m hit-or-miss on liking syrahs, so I move to the second least expensive bottle. This one says “di Sardegna” which I’m pretty sure means “from Sardinia” and I’ve heard a lot of interesting things about Sardinian wine. Sold.

The worst thing that can now happen is that I don’t like the wine which, at a restaurant of Sotto’s caliber, is more likely to mean that I simply don’t care for it than that it’s poorly made. (If the bottle is clearly flawed I would send it back, but I’d also say that I’m more confident than the average consumer about my ability to identify wine faults.) Whether I like it or not I’ve probably learned something. It’s possible that the wine isn’t a good representative of it’s type and that I’ve therefore not learned anything that I can generalize beyond this specific wine, but that also seems unlikely in a restaurant like this with Jeremy Parzen running the wine show.

Actually, I’m much more likely to order a beer or stick with water regardless. Obscene markups on restaurant wine lists bother me so much that I rarely drink wine in restaurants even when I’m not the one paying. At less schmancy places with little or no wine on offer I feel fine bringing a modest but interesting bottle of my own. I won’t bring a bottle to someplace like Sotto unless the bottle ranks comfortably in price with their own list AND rocks, and since I have no such bottles in my cellar I won’t bring one. So I’ll drink water or, if the beverage manager has been thoughtful enough to put together an interesting beer list with a few curiosities, I’ll order one of those. Beer is usually an obviously better deal and, if I’m lucky, I’ll find keg- or cask-only offerings that I couldn’t try at home, all for less than the least expensive glass of wine on the menu, and almost universally more interesting.

I would be overjoyed to find a wine list full of things I’ve never seen before with clear, accurate, and interesting descriptions of its contents. But, if I did find such a list, I would:

a) Ask the sommelier for advice. Blake dismisses this option as impractical because the somm isn’t always there and takes a long time to arrive table-side when he or she is. And while some servers are reliable sources of knowledge about the wine list, most are not.

b).Choose a wine based on price.

c) Bring his own bottle from home (which is the original connection with Evan’s article on corkage).

So, in the end, perhaps it’s better that the wine list act as a price list rather than an educational tool. When I go out to eat, I want to enjoy the meal and, hopefully, the pleasure of good company. I might not do either of those things very well should my attention be caught by an educational wine list. I can learn about wine at home, and that’s probably the best place for it.

I know that most people reading Evan’s and Blake’s articles aren’t like me but, if there are any who are, know that you’re not alone. To Evan and Blake, thanks for the thought-provoking reads. And I envy you getting to eat in those restaurants.

Erika Szymanski is an independent contributor to this blog. She is in no way affiliated with the sponsoring company. This blog was originally posted on her blog: The Wine-o-scope.

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Erika Szymanski

You can’t always get what you want

Bertus Fourie — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 18:14:42 +0000

One of my favourite songs by the Rolling Stones a decade or few ago. It actually has nothing to do with wine, except for the second verse, but do create a slight bitterness on my palate I guess when it comes to general service levels in some countries, and certainly some products.

Have we grown used to the fact that we are expecting too much from service and product suppliers? Or are we a bit gullible in the sense that when it comes to winemaking, we assume that grapes, juice and wine can just about absorb all abuse, bad product, misfits and misfortunes that come its way? Do we get payback from some suppliers because their products are mediocre and do not speak for themselves?

Is this perhaps too much controversial a topic?

In a market over supplied by universities and colleges, is this not the perfect time to demand products and service that not only “works” for a specific purpose, but also delivers on what it is promoted to do? It seems like everyone but producers are benefitting profusely and consistently from the wine industry, yet if you talk to winemakers there are always interesting stories to listen to…

Like the time Jack had to stop the bottling line because the corks gave off such a residue that it might drop into the wine. Like the time Pete ordered a large quantity of barrels from a cooperage and he then received barrels that caused his only batch of Shiraz to taste green…apparently not green oak, but green fruit (at over 15% alcohol…). Or the time Steve called upon the barrel cleaners who opened up the barrels and the only thing consistent about the cooperage was the amount of blisters in the barrel. Or Jack’s wine who’s calsium content in press wines dropped when he used a different supplier of diatomaceous earth and bentonite. Or Steven’s red wine which had significant problems with colour instability, but it changed when he used different extraction enzymes. Or Marie’s alcohol was supposed to be reduced with 0.5%, and she ended up with a wine of which the alcohol was reduced by 1.2%. Or sweetened wine was cross flowed the morning and transported to William’s cellar and ended up in a tank with a clarity of 1.6 NTU’s and 2 million yeast cells per millilitre.

Like John…

And Bartho…

Or I had a conversation with a person a while ago who promised me TCA free corks because they hand select their corks…

I am sure there are wonderful stories to be told by many winemakers. Perhaps a few thoughts from my side in preventing disasters in your wine:

It is sometimes better to know what not to do then what to do.

- Trial the product several times before you make a decision.

- Go back to oenological basics – we have to commit science sometimes.

- Never trust cocktails or quick fix solutions (how did you end up here anyway?)

- Always ask for scientific trials on the product (here it also helps a lot if the article provide insight into repeatability, statistics that make sense, i.e. where figures are not manipulated so that insignificant statistical differences may be interpreted otherwise, and ultimately accredited journals, and not The Horse and Hound…).

- Always ask for a reference list of people who use the product or service.

- Always ask them how much money the mother company spend on research and development.

In the end I wonder how many of the suppliers will guarantee money back if their product does not work. I have grown to realise the product is never wrong, only the conditions were.

It is time we get what we want, and certainly what we pay for!

Bertus Fourie is a winemaker, turned Enology lecturer and creator of the Barista coffee Pinotage.

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Bertus Fourie

Icewine: Why this tradition might slowly be melting away

Bernard Mocke — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 17:23:37 +0000

The recent cold weather in large parts of our country (South Africa) made me remember a tasting I had with a winemaker. As far was icewine was concerned, he got the concept of minimum and maximum temperatures all mixed up and insisted that he harvested his frozen grapes at a minimum temperature of -7˚C. After realising that his mind was frozen from all the alcohol he had consumed during our tasting, I accepted the futility of trying to explain to him that he was actually referring to the maximum temperature requirement.

It is believed that frozen grapes were already harvested in the Roman times. Other reports indicate icewine production in Germany as far back as 1794. Another documented case stated that German vintners anticipated a very harsh fall in 1829. Grapes were left hanging on the vines for later use as animal feed. After discovery that these grapes yielded very sweet must, icewine was born! Austria, Canada and certain states in the USA also produce icewine, with China, USA, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore being the top markets for icewine.

In Canada, all icewine must have at least a part of it made from grapes that have been frozen naturally on the vine and then pressed whilst still frozen and without any intervention (no artificial freezing allowed after harvesting). Several challenges daunt the winemaker here. The grapes must survive animal, insect and bird activity, whilst combating mould and raisining. Only healthy, frozen grapes are thus harvested, which considerably limits the amount of grapes that can be processed. The cost of icewine it thus high, which is illustrated in an extreme case by Canadian producer, Royal DeMaria. Five cases of Chardonnay icewine was released in 2006, with a price tag of C$ 30,000 per half bottle!

On the technical side (my favourite side), I’ve just read a very interesting article about yeast adaptation concerning Riesling icewine juice fermentation. Juice with concentrations of up to 46 degrees Brix were fermented. This is quite challenging for many yeasts and it should come as no surprise that juice concentrations higher than 42 degrees Brix would not be able to be fermented to 10% v/v ethanol. Also, acetic acid produced as a function of sugar consumed was positively correlated to the glycerol produced. Glycerol and acetic acid are well-known markers for yeast stress, where acetic acid can represent up to 20% of wine TA (in icewine). Those of you familiar with icewine will know what I’m talking about when I say that it has a ‘slight’ bite to it…

A new threat to the chilly tradition that is icewine making is however gaining ground. Charles-Henri de Coussergues, Quebec icewine maker, says: “The danger now is that other wine regions start using the name ‘icewine’ for a product made the artificial way.” He is of course referring to a technique called ‘cryoextraction’. In essence, grapes are artificially frozen (-7˚C or lower) and the rest of the process is similar to traditional icewine making. The benefits here are larger production at less cost and better control over grape quality. Also, one doesn’t have to wait around for winter to do its work. But then the old-schoolers insist that traditional icewine just tastes better and more complex, possibly because of the extended hang time under harsh conditions.

The frosty debate between the ‘naturals’ and the ‘cryo-extractors’ continues. What do you think? Is there room for both these schools of thought in the already crowded wine market?

Bernard Mocke is a technical consultant for Oenobrands.

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by Bernard Mocke

To oak or not to oak…

admin — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:11:07 +0000

Oak: Its contribution to wine aroma and overall quality

Wine odor is one of the key markers of wine quality and, as a part of my series on wine quality, I have set myself the task of identifying and characterizing the sources of wine odor and showing how the interactions of these odor components aid in the perception of wine quality.

Wine is aged in wooden barrels to: (i) enhance its flavor, aroma, and complexity through transfer of substances from the wood to the wine; and (ii) allow gradual oxidation to occur. As a result of its “strength, resilience, workability, and lack of undesirable flavor,” oak is the wood of choice for most wine cooperage applications.

The oak used in the maturation of alcoholic beverages fall into one of three species: Quercus alba, Quercus robur, and Quercus sessilis. Q. robur and Q. sessilis, and their respective subspecies, are European white oaks while Q. alba is the source of 45% of the white oak lumber produced in the US. American oak used in barrel production is sourced from Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, and Michigan but there is no apparent regional distinction. European oak, on the other hand, may have designations which reach all the way to the forest from which the oak originated. For example, French oak from the department of Alliers may be sourced from a forest named Tronçais.

For full blog…

http://mowse.blogspot.com/2012/07/oak-its-contribution-to-wine-aromas-and.html

Blog sourced from Wine — Mise en Abyme

This NewWorldWinemakerBlog.com post was written by admin