3 August 2006
From whence came the misconception that winemakers only work during the grape harvest? I pose the question because tourists who come to the winery always seem shocked to see me hard at work at any other time than harvest.
In fact, one of the busiest times of year at any winery is mid to late summer. Wines from the previous vintage are either being prepared for longer aging, like Cabernet, or for bottling, like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay or Zinfandel. All barrels have to be tasted, evaluated and racked. Sometimes lots are blended, like Merlot with Cabernet or Petit Sirah with Zin.
The period before bottling, when all the barrels of a particular lot of wine have been racked to a tank and blended together, is the last chance for the winemaker to influence a wine’s ultimate character. For classically made wines, it’s too late to add flavor of fruit or oak. But by “fining” the wine, a final “tweaking” can significantly alter flavor and texture.
The 2005 vintage Pinot Noir was lightly fined with gelatin. This means a small amount of gelatin dissolved in water was added to the wine and stirred. Many fining materials are proteinaceous; I’ve used egg whites, milk, and (!) dried fish bladders or isinglass, to name a few. After a few days of settling, the fining material sinks to the bottom of the barrel. The clear wine is racked or separated from the solids before bottling.
I did a small trial blend of all the Pinot barrels before racking them and decided the wine was a bit astringent on the finish. That mouth drying feeling seriously detracted one’s focus away from the positive qualities of the Pinot, its full fruit and rich entry and middle mouth. I did some small trials, using a half cup of wine or so for each, to decide how much gelatin to add; enough to remove the astringency but not strip the wine of aroma or flavor. Just a touch of gelatin in each barrel had the desired effect. In fact, removing even a minor negative attribute in a wine is enormously effective. Not only did I improve the Pinot’s texture, but the interplay of oak and fruit were accentuated and showed the wine’s maturity and readiness to bottle.
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I’m sure glad I once got a taste of Screaming Eagle at a Wine Spectator event in NYC. I fought my way to the table where miniscule volumes were trickled into a sea of glasses, held by frantically waving outstretched arms, only to be chided for having rinsed my glass with tap water! I was supposed to have used mineral water! But I did get my 15 milliliters of wine, worth about $6 at the time. To put it in perspective, that’s about 2 tablespoons of wine. Now that they are charging $500 per bottle upon release, that little taste would be worth $10.
Have you ever bought an expensive bottle of wine and been disappointed? Last month I had an outstanding dinner at Chester, in Provincetown. I was vacationing with good friends who I only visit once or twice a year. As usual, I got the wine list and the task of choosing two wines. The Colin White Burgundy from Chassagne was wonderful and reasonably priced. The Central Coast Pinot, Sea Smoke’s Botella, was a bit pricey but I wanted to share it with my friends (I always pay for the wine I choose). It was much oakier than I remembered; too oaky for my lobster dish and too oaky for one of the beef dishes at the table. It was a more recent vintage that I hadn’t had before and was still a very elegant and stylish wine, but not right for me at that meal. Everyone else loved it; I kept my mouth shut and basked in their approval. After all, it’s just a matter of taste.
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