I'd like to point you readers to an interesting post by Clark Smith, at his GrapeCrafter blog, about Natural Winemaking (yes, capitalized) and the role of yeasts in the winemaking process.

Clark spent some time recently at a wine industry event where panelists and the audience discussed the definition of what Natural Winemaking actually is. It comes as no surprise to me that the group couldn't achieve consensus around a concept that remains, as far as I am concerned, a broken metaphor (vinegar is natural, wine requires technological intervention).

One particular sticking point arose out of a discussion surrounding the use of commercial yeasts. Many proponents of Natural Winemaking, including those that practice Biodynamic winemaking eschew commercial yeasts in favor of the yeasts that are found on and around the grapes, citing their role in the concept of terroir. Some do not.

Smith, in particular, seems to favor commercial yeasts for all the reasons that winemakers usually do: they prevent stuck fermentations, they allow the winemaker more choices in how, where, and at what temperature the fermentation process takes place, and finally they avoid the sometimes nasty odors and flavors that can be byproducts of some natural yeasts.

Smith goes on to make quite an interesting argument, however. He alleges that those concerned with the expression of terroir are actually better served by commercial yeasts than by so called "wild yeast" or "native yeast" fermentations. By virtue of eliminating or reducing the aromas and flavors that are merely byproducts of the yeast itself, Smith argues, the terroir is more likely to shine through. The implication being that native yeasts actually obscure terroir more than they create it.

I'm entirely ambivalent about commercial yeasts in winemaking. I've had phenomenal wines made both ways. Frankly, most of the time I (and I would venture, most wine lovers) don't know what kind of yeasts were used in the wine I'm drinking. I recognize that 50 years ago, there were no commercial yeasts on the market, but I also accept that there were an awful lot of wines full of Brettanomyces and other uglies that made for unpleasant drinking.

What do you think? Yeast as terroir or yeast as tool?

Read Clark's post.

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I wrote this post in advance, knowing that I'd probably have to throw it up here at the last minute and sprint. Things might be a little erratic around here for the next couple of weeks, thanks to a new addition to the Vinography family.

See what happens when you drink wine? Let this be a lesson to you. A few good nights with a few good bottles, and nine months later? Pop. Just like a cork.

So we're off to the hospital with a bottle of Krug, and you probably won't see a post here for a few days while we get to know our daughter, Sparrow Lieu. I know it will be tough, but you'll just have to hang in there without your daily dose. Perhaps you can wait in anticipation that my tasting notes will go off the deep end as I'm making them in a state of complete sleep deprivation when I resurface. Lord knows I'll need a good glass of wine.

Cheers!

Alder

Visit BusinessWeek.com for an interesting article on wine web sites, including Bottletalk.  There is also a slideshow walking you through seven different wine web sites, explaining how they work and who is behind them.

The Award-Winning Wine:

Ventana Vineyards 2005 Syrah

Reason for Reviewing:

Ventana Vineyards 2005 Syrah is one of...

Pink is hot this year! There are blogs dedicated to hot pink dresses, pink dog jerseys for your prancing little toy poodle, brilliant pink hair, pink party squares, and of course, pink wine. Pink is so cool, that even our emotional unbalanced and slightly obsessive swine, Ms. Piggy, has made her comeback on backpacks and t-shirts. I’m not sure that’s a good thing, but at least you can rest assured if you’ve got a few bottles of rosé hanging out in your fridge that you’re officially in the “cool crowd”. And you’re not alone, as Croft has also gotten in the Pink bandwagon by launching the first ever, pink port.

So, where did this crazy and insane idea come from? According to Nick Heath, the Marketing Director for The Fladgate Partnership, it came from the head honcho and CEO, Adrian Bridge, “He set the task to our winemaking team - led by David Guimaraens - of producing a premium quality ‘pink’ port. The team subsequently developed a technique to extract fresh, fruity flavours and a delicate pink colour from limited contact with the skins of the classic Port grape varieties.”

Adrian goes on to say that, “The port industry needs innovation to raise awareness of port as a contemporary product which is why, three years ago, I came up with the idea of producing a lighter style of port. This will attract new consumers to the port category and at the same time de-seasonalise consumption. It has been a lot of work for the winemaking team but they have now produced this outstanding new wine.”

Is this a good idea? Should port be made into a rose or have we already reached the pinnacle of port’s expression?

My first experience with this oddity occurred last January at the II International Climate and Wine Conference, and at the time, I enjoyed it. It was an easy drinking wine with plenty of candy cherry aromas and a dense, lush mouthfeel. I walked away suggesting the wine to friends as a fun summer drink you could spritz up with a little soda and lime. But after trying it again today, it definitely didn’t hit the mark. Although I still appreciate the bold cherry aromas, the alcohol takes center stage, and I find my nose cringing at first sniff.

So if this isn’t a great wine, should we be supporting Croft’s efforts? In the February 1st edition of Harpers Magazine, British wine writer, Charles Metcalfe voiced his support of Croft’s willingness to break the mold, “I think it’s a brilliant idea. I’ve never been a fan of white port, unless you dilute it with tonic water and lemon. It lacks finesse and elegance and there’s a lot of forgettable red stuff too. This is much more in tune with the times. I don’t know why no one has thought of it before? Port desperately needs to appeal to a younger generation.”

What Charles brings up is a point I think we all need to consider. Regardless of whether this style of port is fantastic, or rather mediocre, it’s a first try. Croft did a little experimentation to promote something new and different. No one ever says that the first trial will be the best trial, but at least they gave it a shot, which has unfortunately led to some rather controversial feedback.

When asked if Taylor’s received any negative criticism from the market since Croft Pink’s release, Nick Heath’s response was, the “reaction to Croft Pink has been very positive, both from trade, consumers and also from our colleagues in the port sector. We certainly haven’t seen any backlash.” Unfortunately, you can’t Google Croft Pink without coming up with a series of negative commentary. It’s impossible to ignore the wide range criticism from its lack of integration to its perceived targeting to women (many of whom are not pleased). On the flip side, their sales are increasing not only in Portugal, but abroad, as Pink Port is finding its niche market among the younger generation.

So what does this mean? Is this a good idea? Honestly, I don’t know? I give Taylor’s a lot of credit for being the first, as it takes a hell of a lot of gumption to market a pink port in an old school and traditional arena. For centuries, Port has been seen as an upper-class drink only stodgy men enjoy, and to create a style of port that flies in the face of this tradition shows a little chutzpa. Therefore, I love the idea. But on the other hand, it doesn’t make up for the wine needing better integration. Maybe in the future there will be a great example of a well made pink port, but for now, I can only cheer Croft on to keep inventing and experimenting with new ideas.

Have you tried Croft Pink? Do you feel that it’s a mockery of port wine or is it an ingenious invention?

Cheers,

Gabriella

Gabriella’s Tasting Note

Ryan’s Tasting Note

All content protected by a Creative Commons License2005-2008. Catavino.net.

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Today, I have a treat for myself. I need a treat. It’s been one of those weeks that leaves you wondering why you even bother going to bed, since you’ll be up at back at work the minute you wake up again. Recently, my days have started to feel drawn out and full of ups and downs, and to be honest, I really didn’t want to participate in this month’s Wine Blog Wednesday even though the theme, Old World Reisling, is something I truly adore. I just don’t have the energy, but then I decided to change my attitude to become a little more relaxed and calm.

The reason I love Old World Reisling is for one simple reason, or rather one particular man, Terry Theise. If you’re not familiar with his name, please stop reading and go to his page at Skurnik Wines. Download all of his wine catalogs and start reading veraciously. I can wait. In fact, if you don’t make it back here, I excuse you, because these catalogs are too good to be true.

To be honest, I’m not much of a writer, nor am I much of a reader. And because I love them both, we call this a conundrum. I write here, and I read there, and I sometimes find myself feeling a little empty. Maybe it’s the content, the subjects or both. I’m not really sure, but when I went looking for information on one of my Reislings today, I found Terry.

Mind you, if it weren’t for this man, I wouldn’t be appreciating these bottles of wine right now. It would be equivalent to using the 100 point system and not knowing who Robert Parker is. So, I quickly downloaded his catalog where I thought I might find reference to my German Reisling, but suddenly, I was lost. Lost in his words, wit and wisdom. Terry’s catalogs, whether you like wine or not, are a must read for his frankness, honesty, word play, and humor. If you don’t love German Reisling, well, you may change your mind when you read Terry’s words.

To start his report, he always places his manifesto at the top, before you get to the meat of the report.
Theise Mannifesto

• Beauty is more important than impact.
• Harmony is more important than intensity.
• The whole of any wine must always be more than the sum of
  its parts.
• Distinctiveness is more important than conventional
  prettiness.
• Soul is more important than any thing, and soul is expressed as
  a trinity of family, soil and artisanality.

This is a manifesto that I can get behind! Drinking Iberian wine everyday, I often forget how much I love the world of wine and not anyone region. These words are timeless, and in my opinion, great advice for anyone just getting into wine. Live by these words and you can’t go wrong.

But this post is not about Terry Theise, but rather Old World Reisling. Today, we have 2 wines in front of us, one from the heralded 2003 vintage in Germany, an Auslese from one of the premier wine makers in Terry’s collection. I bought this wine as a future at a tasting in Minneapolis back when I still sold wine. A guided tasting with one of the sharpest palates I’ve ever been with, Terry showed us that despite “Crazy-ass heat” one could still make a Reisling full of nuance and character. In truth, I can’t tell you why I bought this one versus the many others that were in my price range at the time. I was relatively new to German wines, and excited to explore a region that seems totally frightening when you look at the complicated labels. But on this particular night, I learned that I had to at least try and dig through the odd characters, strange accents, and unpronounceable names to get at the heart of these treats. And consequently, I fell in love.

Today I sit in a Reisling wasteland. I’ve tried Reisling from around Spain, and I believe that I’ve even had a Portuguese Reisling once. But I wouldn’t recommend them. Nonetheless, I’m here to taste, so you don’t have to. Therefore, to balance the pie a bit, I’m also about to open a 2007 dry Reisling from down the road, a Penedes treat that has never offended me, though that is not much of an endorsement either.

From the moment I open the Sumarroca 2007 from the Penedes, I’m instantly happy and sad. Happy that it’s still fresh and lively. Sad, because there is not much to it. Reisling, I’m afraid, is not meant for Iberia. It loses its soul. The land of the Toro, and the feisty Spanish persona, is not a home for something with a delicate nature. Spain is land of bold wines with bright flavors and complex traits, and for me, I want something more subtle when I drink Reisling. The Sumarroca is easy to drink, simple and a great example of muscat, or a simple summer white blend. From their site (annoying flash, don’t bother visiting it):

Entirely produced from grapes grown in the Sumarroca Estate, only the best 50% from the first juice (free-run) of these carefully selected Muscat varieties has been used for this wine. Fermentation took place during 3 weeks under strict temperature control at 15º C in stainless steel tanks. It has been gently filtered and stabilized at a low temperature before bottling.

Reisling was never meant to be 100% dry, or at least not very often. Alsace is an exception, however, and the sugar makes a big difference. Now I know that some of you are saying, “I don’t like sweet wines”! To you, I say, “give me a break”! Put down your dry Coca-Cola and listen. Sweet is good. Sweet is nice. And just like in dry wines, if the wine is NOT balanced, than it will taste bad. Mogan David tastes horrid, because it’s like drinking syrup! Good Reisling doesn’t have this problem, due to its high acidity. I’ve served very sweet Reislings to friends who have quickly responded, “what a nice dry wine this is”. 50 grams of sugar dry! The acidity balanced the wine, whereby keeping your tongue from becoming a syrup slick. Ok rant done…Now on to what has made my afternoon pleasant.

Joh.Jos. Christoffel, 2003 ÜRZIGER WÜRZGARTEN Auslese***, that’s a mouthfull! Let me preface the next few lines with this, I love Spanish and Portuguese wine, but I needed this. This is a pure stroke of bright light through my Tempranillo stained tongue. New flavors, aromas and textures, dance though my mind, and I feel handicapped describing the wine before me. Because I am so tied up in Iberia, I almost forgot why I loved wine, diversity. In my glass sits some of the most gorgeous honey flavors with minerals, petrol, fruits and flowers, exotic and rare. Here are Terry’s own notes from his report on this wine.

2003 Ürziger Würzgarten Reisling Auslese*** ++
“This is always from the same parcel, and it cannot produce more than forty hectoliters per hectare,” says Hans-Leo. “We’ve had at least Spätlese from this site in every vintage except 1991. I could make these wines heavier, but it goes against my philosophies. The day I can’t make wines like these any more is the day I’ll pack it in.” It’s down below, to the right of the sundial, in case you want to locate it. This 2003 has the extra note, the Grand Cru flavor, now glazed with the finest botrytis maltiness. As always what amazes here is the density and delicacy, and here, in 2003, the siren-song of minerality.
SOS: 3 (between ten and thirty years)

I’m glad I wrote this!! I’m glad I opened this treasure before it’s time (I wanted to wait 5 more years), and I’m glad I still have 2/3’s of a bottle left for dinner tonight. Although, I’m not sure I want to drink this with the meal. It is perfect for some many dishes, as its balance would complement more treats than you might expect. But no, I think I’ll grab the bottle, sit up on my roof, watch the sun set over Montserrat, and let my mind drift. That’s what wine is for. Thanks Terry!

Cheers,

Ryan Opaz

Ryan

Gabriella

Ryan

Gabriella

2007 Sumarroca Reisling Penedès - Spain, Catalunya, Penedès (5/7/2008)
Light golden in color with a slightly green tinge, showing a lovely and expressive white floral bouquet, bolstered by aromas of white peaches, honey, lychee and a slight barnyard aromas. In the mouth, the wine is slightly off balanced, as the racy acidity shows shows a tartness that is quite frankly, a little unpleasant. Full and round in the mouth with a medium body and a nice gentle finish. Candy mandarin and honey on palate, with hints of orange peach and gravel. Paired with a fresh pasta salad with garden picked cherry tomatoes, however, I think this would be a nice wine. 3.5/5

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It?s been a very busy week, but after my nice catching up session with Google Reader, here are some treasures worth noting from the RSS pileup:

1) Catavino?s Rioja Report and EWBC 2008: Gabriella and Ryan over at Catavino have made a labor of love?an ambitious sort of compendium that is all things Rioja. From regional gastronomy to what else? Los vinos! You can find maps, profiles of wineries, beautiful photography and even a comprehensive explanation of Rioja labeling practices. I also found their buying guide particularly valuable and look forward to bringing it along on some shopping trips in the near future. This kind of stuff is a privilege to be able to look at when you consider other ?regional reports? published by people with a sense of entitlement to wine travel and $60+ annual subscription fees. Ryan and Gabriella are accountable for their material, actively and genuinely elicit and value readers? opinions, suggestions and evince passion for this stuff, so go ahead and bookmark them.

2) Speaking of La Rioja, check out the page for this summer?s inaugural European Wine Bloggers Conference.

3) Remember Mr. Show?s Worthington Law applied to wine? Looks like the research findings from that CalTech/Stanford study published earlier in the year have been further validated. Working Paper No, 16, published by the American Association of Wine Economists details a new study in which people generally preferred less expensive wines, unless told by researchers of course, that a wine was particularly expensive.

4) If you read Spanish and want to stay up on the latest happenings in the Mendoza wine industry, you may want to bookmark El Blog de Vinos de Argentina. I have been reading their blog for some time now and have found it more and more valuable in terms of getting an inside track on what they?re thinking in Mendoza. As an Argentine, I?ve become a bit tired of receiving my Argentine wine industry news solely from the perspective of English-language consumer magazines. In the Argentine wine-sense, I?m approaching the sort of frustration many over here are feeling with news sources like CNN and FOX?it?s unfortunately limited for my needs. I may not be alone in wanting something like this?I really feel that things would get interesting if insiders from many wine regions only generally covered by shiny-cover magazines began communicating their perspectives directly to readers in a couple of other languages.

5) I would like to issue a preliminary warning before checking out this final note...it is cringe-inducing. I caught this on an Argentine website related to wine news. You'll click on the link and notice the article is written in Spanish, but that won't deter you from making the appropriate inference...Madonna will be contracting some local producer to lovingly craft her own label of Malbec. My comments? Oh hell no. Truthfully though, the nausea actually set in when I read that the label will reportedly be named after "Evita." Whether you are a foreigner and think Evita was a great person or an Argentine who may have the courage to speak up and express a more balanced perspective for the legacy of this famous political figure, one thing's for sure, Madonna could have chosen ANY OTHER variety cultivated in ANY OTHER country. Why us, oh God why us?

Only 24 wines (out of more than 2,000 entries) earned Best of Varietal honors at the recently completed 2008 New World...

Many of us have no idea what Vinotherapy is. I for one, imagined myself sprawled out on a chez lounge in the middle of a dimly lit cellar. While my therapist listened attentively to my emotional rollercoaster ride of the day, she would compassionately nod her head while pouring my glass full of Gran Reserva held firmly in my own hand, a tissue to wipe away my tears held firm in the other. I then wondered if vinotherapy described a new magical wine that can cure all of my fears and frustrations. A wine so astounding that with little sip, I’d be healed, spending my newfound days with happy grin pasted on my face. Unfortunately, neither of my theories were accurate, however, I wasn’t far from the mark either.

Although there is no one agreed upon definition of vinotherapy, Robert McIntosh of The Wine Conversation has a fabulous definition in