Basic Grapes: Chardonnay

Loved by many and hated by some, Chardonnay is like a blank canvas, you can do so many things with it and the results will be wonderful no matter what! But let me start by saying that Chardonnay is no sissy! 

It produces the biggest whites of all, so if you want a white with substance, lush an almost red wine... then you have arrived to the right place! I say that is a blank canvas because it can shine no matter what, if you treat it like a purist, fermenting in stainless steel and avoiding oak, it will produce lean wines with solid acidity and delicious minerality, a vehicle to express its terroir (like in Chablis). If you barrel ferment or age it oak, add malolactic fermentation and aging in lees, it will produce a round, soft and fat white with buttery and creamy flavors similar to the best wines of the Cote D’Or.

Originally from Burgundy, Chardonnay is the child from the cross of Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc. It doesn’t have a strong nose, it can grow in any climate, but does better in cool climates, since in warmer ones, losing acidity can be a problem. It buds early and is susceptible to frost, and suffer from problems with flowering and uneven fruit set (coulure and millenderage). 

Best soils for Chardonnay are limestone, chalk and clay.  Most elegant wines come from limestone and chalk. Yields, as with all wines of quality, shouldn’t go higher than 45 hl/ht, but in the New World  it could get to 60-100 hl/ht. The best clones are the Dijon (Burgundian) ones that have been planted everywhere, since Burgundy Chardonnay has been replicated like no other wine in the world...the fact that Chardonnay is a brand that sells so easy also helped.
Chardonnay’s flavor profile may change according to climate and vinification, cool climates samples will show more citrus notes: lemon, lime, pears and yellow apples, warm climates will show more tropical flavors: pineapple, mango, guava,melon, peach. Aging or fermenting in oak will add butter, vanilla, honey and caramel notes.

Best samples come from Burgundy and can age for up 30 years, (Corton Charlemagne anyone? Yes if you can afford this!
Wines from cool climates can age 8-10 years (CA: Carneros, Russian River, Australia: Yarra Valley, Chablis). Warm climates Chardonnay should be drunk early before they lose their flavor, don’t keep them for more than 5 years.
Finally, let’s not forget that Chardonnay is one of the key components in Champagne, actually Blanc de Blancs are solely made from this grape.  As if we need another reason to appreciate it even more!
 
You can find Chardonnay in every country but for me, these three places do the best job:

Chablis: Christian Moreau, Laroche, Raveneau, Jean Marc Brocard, Domaine Vincent Dampt, Patrick Piuze, Albert Bichot, Billaud Simon, William Fevre, Domaine Laroche. 

Burgundy & Pouilly Fuisse: Jadot, Domaine Leflaive, Bouchard Pere et Fils, Chateau Fuisse, Les Heritiers Du Comte Lafon, Louis Latour, Thierry & Pascale Matrot, Jean Pascal et Fils, Domaine Faiveley, Olivier Leflaive, Albert Bichot, Yves Boyer Martenot, Jean Chartron, J.A. Ferret, Alex Gambal, Vincent & Sophie Morey, Jacques Prieur.

California: Kistler, Au Bon Climat, Marcassin, Ridge, Aubert, La Crema, Oberon, Sta Barbara Winery, Arista, Kendall Jackson, Paul Hobbs, Pahlmeyer, Arista, Sonoma Cutrer. Cheers! Silvina

 

Basic Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc

Pungent, exotic, exhilarating... Sauvignon Blanc has a lot of personality! its aromas are so strong and pronounced, it’s easy to recognize/identify it when tasting blind. 
Sauvignon Blanc is also known as the “green” wine, often showing aromas of green peppers, fresh cut grass, asparagus, black currant leaves, hay, all of this due to the presence of Methoxypyrazines.

Both SW France and the Loire Valley claim to be Sauvignon Blanc's birthplace. The styles however are very different in both appellations, and there is a third style coming from the New World. In Bordeaux and SW France, Sauvignon Blanc is usually blended with Semillon and Muscadelle which give roundness to this variety and it’s aged in oak, producing both dry and sweet samples (like in Sauternes). Here the climate is maritime with mild summers and winters and no extreme temperatures. The wines will be softer than those from the Loire, with a kiss/ touch of oak.
In the Loire Valley’s top appellations of Pouilly Fumé and Sancerre, the climate is continental with cold winters and hot summers. Terroir is important here, where we find soils rich in silex, chalk and flint, that give the wines its typical mineral aromatics and traditional cat’s pee aroma. These wines are not aged in oak or blended like in Bordeaux. Loire's Sauvignon Blancs show refreshing acidity too.
The third style and for me the best, comes from Marlborough, New Zealand. The climate here is cool maritime, influenced by sea breezes, but there are Sauvignon Blanc plantings in other appellations in NZ, too.  New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is very new world, fruit forward, pure and less mineral. California, Chile and South Africa, have many plantings of Sauvignon Blanc, though it may be hotter there than in the Loire and Marlborough. Best samples will always come from cool to moderate climates, Sauvignon Blanc does not do well in warm weather, losing its acidity very fast.

Sauvignon Blanc buds late and ripens early,and will get all its aromatic compounds just before getting optimal ripeness (the right balance of sugar and acidity). Because of this, some producers prefer to harvest in different trips, a first trip to pick up grapes slightly unripe (keeping acidity), a second one to pick up grapes at optimal ripeness and lastly a third trip to pick up fruit with extra hang time (for extra aromatics), this way both elements are present in the final product.

Old World Sauvignon Blancs are made at a higher fermentation temperatures (16-18 ºC/ 60-64 F), which will result in wines that are more mineral with gun flint and chalky aromas. In the New World (New Zealand, Chile, South Africa), wines are made at lower temperature fermentation and with short skin contact that will guarantee a more fruitful aroma. Remember the warmer the climate, the more tropical the fruit will be and these will also have a bit more alcohol. Cold skin maceration is often used to secure fruit in the final product, batonnage and aging sur lie (with their yeasts) can give the wines extra depth and creaminess.

Bodywise, most Sauvignon Blancs are medium bodied, their alcohol will depend on climate,  it will be balanced in cool climates and higher in warmer appellations.  Aromas also vary according to climate: cool climates will give  green peppers, herbs, asparagus, kiwi, lime, grapefruit. In warmer climates, it can get tropical: peach, nectarine, pineapple and passion fruit.

Dry Sauvignon Blanc needs to be consumed young when all their freshness is in the bottle, though some good examples from Bordeaux and the Loire can age up to 10 years. New Zealand wines are best consumed young and up to 5 years. Sweet samples can age for much longer 20 or 30 years, and they will display honey, marzipan and apricot aromas.

In Bordeaux and CA, samples can be barrel fermented or aged in oak, just a touch of oak will give good results. 
By the way in CA, Sauvignon Blanc is known as Fumé Blanc, when you see this on a label know, that means you are dealing with a Sauvignon Blanc that has a touch of oak. This name came from Pouilly Fumé AOC in the Loire Valley, though the style in the Loire Valley as I explained earlier, has nothing to do with California Fumé Blanc... California producers like to confuse us!

Recommended Producers:
New Zealand: Cloudy Bay, Craggy Range, Kim Crawford, Greywacke, Matua, Babich, Nobilo,Greywacke, MT Beautiful, Dog Point, Nautilus, The Infamous Goose, Sunshine Bay.
California: Merry Edwards, Ferrari Carano, Robert Mondavi, Desparada, Quintessa, Gamble Family, Heitz, Mason.
Loire Valley: Henri Bourgeois, Didier Dagueneau, Pascal Jolivet, Domaine A Cailbourdin, Phillipe Girard, Cheteau de Tracy, Jean Marie Reverdy. Cheers! Silvina

 

Basic Grapes: Riesling

It’s time we learn about the six basic grapes! 
The first lesson that comes to mind when learning about wine, is that there are three basic white varieties: Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay and three basic red varieties: Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. 

So, today I will give you the 101 about the first white grape in the group: Riesling. 

What is so special about it? Loved by Sommeliers and Wine Critics, Consumers’ opinions vary about this grape, mostly because of Riesling’s piercing acidity, which is a key component in this wine as well as their floral and fruitful aromatics. But we learn first about Riesling because it produces the lightest of all whites and therefore of all wines in general, but don’t let this fool you, Riesling has a lot personality! and its personality appears when you smell and taste the wines: Riesling is not shy, quite the contrary, it’s  intense, fruity and floral... so much, one is tempted to wear it as a perfume behind our ears. Another reason Rieslings are overlooked, is because consumers tend to think that all Rieslings are sweet, and though many of them are (Rieslings can be from off dry to super sweet/ dessert style wines), yet there are many dry samples, actually most Riesling produced is dry. And even when it’s sweet, their crispy acidity will always be present, to balance the wines.

For the vine grower's point of view, Riesling has some wonderful attributes: 
1) It likes cool climates, actually is one of the few grapes that thrive in marginal climates (meaning where any other grapes won’t ripen). Besides this, It’s early ripening, which will allow it to have a long & slow season and it has a natural resistance to cold weather and frost. 
2) It’s extremely generous, meaning it can provide great quality at high yields, in Germany, where it is said that Riesling originated (in Rheingau) it can produce excellent wines at 70 hl/ha and sometimes higher than that, which is a lot, comparing for example, with yields in Burgundy where the maximum are kept at 35 hl/ht or less. 
3) It expresses the soils where it grows more than any other grape, it’s not unusual to find minerality, smoke, wet stone flavors in Riesling wines.

Best samples come from cool to cold climates: in Germany (from the Mosel, Rheingau & Pfalz). Though Riesling is planted all over this country, appellations on the north will produce lighter and higher in acidity wines than those in the South. Alsace in France produces some of the best driest samples from hilliest sites around the Haut Rhin, where most of the Grand Crus are located. In Austria, best samples come from Wachau with its granite, gneiss or mica soils. South Styria and Vienna produce savory samples too. Since most New World locations are just too warm for Riesling, is hard to find good spots...However, some good samples come from Australia’s Clare and Eden Valleys (known to be the cool spots in a country that is super warm), the Finger Lakes in NY, Ontario Canada (known for its superb Eisweins) and the cooler spots in CA: Carneros, Russian River,  Monterrey, Santa Barbara, produce wines that tend to be fuller than any other Rieslings. 
Because Riesling grows in marginal climates it will demand the best sun orientation and vineyard expositions. In Germany, Austria, and Alsace you will find Riesling planted around rivers and in some of the steepest/hilliest vineyards in the world.

Stylistically, besides having a light body, mostly because of its low alcohol, Riesling has an edgy acidity, precision and purity of flavor.  In cool climates,  it will show flavors of flowers, peaches, green apple and citrus. In moderate climates it will show apricot, baked apple and pineapple flavors. With age: petrol kerosene, honey. Dried apricots, caramel and quince will also be present in wines affected by noble rot (Botrytis Cinerea).

Because of Riesling’s high extract and aromatics, most winemakers choose to ferment it in neutral containers, meaning, stainless steel or old wooden barrels that won’t impart any oak flavor to the wine. Most producers choose not to blend Riesling with other varieties, it is after all,  a grape that can stand on its own. Having said that, in Alsace, sometimes it is blended with Pinot Blanc, Muscat or Gewurztraminer to provide them with acidity. 
The high acidity of this wine will allow it to age for many years. (top sweet wines can last 30 + years from vintage but most dry wines can age from 4-8 years.
Rieslings can be dry or sweet, there are different levels of sweetness in Germany and Austria: Spatlese (off dry), Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) and Eiswein (sweet/ dessert styles). Samples from Germany usually have less alcohol and body than those coming from Australia and Alsace.

Recommended Riesling Producers:

Alsace: Hugel, Trimbach, Zind Humbrecht, Weimbach, Kuentz-Bas, Osterta, Josmeyer.
Germany: JJ Prum, Egon Muller,  Dr Loosen, Basserman Jordan, J Leitz, Gunderloch, Selbach Oster, Peter Lauer,Nik Weis St Urbans Hof, Stein.
Austria: Rudi Pichler,Franz Prager, Brundlmayer, Loimer, Rainer Wess, Karl Fritsch, Josef Fischer, Josef Schmid.
Australia:Henschke,Petaluma, Tim Adams.

Cheers! Silvina

Ideal for Summer: Aromatic Wines

Aromatic wines...what do all of these have in common? They are not shy, these wines have intense aromas and are very flavorful and fun to drink. If you go to any blind tasting and come across one of these, I can guarantee you that you will recognize them easily!

I decided to publish this post in the Summer, because as you may see, all of them are white, but I must recognize I do drink these all year long.

Sometimes when Winos smell these, they stir away thinking these are sweet, too floral, too fruity... and I want my wines dry… please don’t let your noses fool you, some will be a bit off dry, (with a bit of residual sugar) but most will be completely dry, so always taste with your palate before talking about sweetness.

Most of my recommendations don’t see any oak, it’s simple, oak will mask their aromas, and why ruin something so perfect? They are made in old casks that don’t impart any flavor or in stainless steel temperature controlled vats, to preserve the freshness of their fruit. Cold soaking with skins is a common practice for some of these, this is done to extract even more aromas and flavors.

I often refer to these wines as “pure”, because their aromatics come naturally from their grapes, and because they are usually made with minimum human intervention. So let’s explore some of the aromatic grapes, shall we?

Riesling:
Riesling produces the lightest of all white wines. It does best in cool and marginal climates, since it ripens early. Best places for Riesling are Germany (Mosel & Rheingau) France (Alsace), Austria (Lower Austria), NY Finger Lakes. Rieslings are usually light in body, with high acidity and enticing aromas of: flowers, peaches, green apple, pineapple, apricots and passion fruit. Some show nice minerality mostly from the soils where they grow: stony is a common descriptor of some of these wines or slatey. With age, Rieslings can smell of honey, petrol, marzipan. When buying these, always ask about their residual sugar. Germany, Austria and Alsace produce wines that go from dry to sweet (dessert styles). Best food matches will be spicy foods and Asian cuisine.

Albariño:
Best samples of these wines come from Galicia, Spain (D.O. Rias Baixas) but there are plantings of Albariño in Portugal (Vinho Verde), California and Australia. Albariño will produce wines of medium to medium plus bodies and good acidity. On the nose it is fruity with aromas of peaches and apricots, in cooler climates we can also find some citrus notes (lemon zest, grapefruit), in warmer areas more mango and nectarine.  Some of these undergo aging on lees (with its dead yeasts after fermentation is over) which will add creaminess to the wines. Albariños are a perfect match for all types of seafood cuisine, especially those from Galicia and Northern Portugal.

Gewürztraminer:
Gewürz means spicy in German, but it’s correct to say that this wine is more floral than anything else. Best places to find Gewürz are in Germany, Alsace & Trentino-Alto Adige (Italy). Most Gewürz will have medium plus to full bodies (bigger in Alsace, also alcohol levels will be higher there too, thanks to plenty of sun). As with Riesling, there are dry and sweet versions, so always ask your wine store clerk to make sure that you are buying what you want. Wines marked as SGN (Sélection de Grains Nobles) or VT (Vendange Tardive) are always sweet/ dessert styles. On the nose: Gewürz will smell or lychees, roses, bergamot, allspice, orange blossom, ginger and face cream. Best food matches: pork, chicken dishes, salads. This is a great wine to serve also as an apéritif.

Torrontés:
Torrontés is the most important white grape of Argentina, where it thrives in Salta at altitudes starting @ 1600 m or 5200 ft. It’s a very aromatic grape showing aromas of, peach, rose, geranium, citrus. Torrontés bodies are usually medium plus to big, some samples can have plenty of alcohol and up to 14.5%. Though they smell fruity and floral, most samples are  dry. Best food matches are Asian and Indian cuisine (curries).

Viognier:
Viognier is rich and flavorful with low acidity. Best places for Viognier are the Northern Rhone Valley (Condrieu and Chateau Grillet) where the grape originated, these days there’s plenty of Viognier in Australia (MacLaren Valley, Murray River) in California and the Languedoc. It needs warm weather and a long ripening season to show all of its goodness, best samples come from very old vines, this has discouraged some producers to plant more Viognier. Viognier wines usually have big bodies, high alcohol (like it is the norm in the Rhone) Some samples see some oak aging, only a  touch not enough to overcome its perfume. Viognier aromas are mostly of apricots, peaches, jasmine, spice, orange peel, lanolin.

Muscat:
It’s possible the oldest grapes of this group, since Romans and Greeks used to make wines from Muscat. There are three types of Muscat, Muscat Blanc à Petit Grain, Muscat de Alexandria and Muscat Ottonel.
Like Viognier it loves warm weather, so you will find it along the Mediterranean in places like Málaga (Spain) Southern Italy, Australia, Alsace (France). It produces all types of wines from dry to sweet, from table to fortified wines (wines with more alcohol than 14% like Muscat of Beaumes de Venise) and sparkling like Moscato d’Asti, which is very low in alcohol. Muscat is also used to make wines from raisins like in Passito di Pantelleria. Most Muscats will have medium to full bodies, some with high alcohol, acidity is usually balanced. Muscat is one of the few grapes that has aromas of fresh grapes, but also rose petals and orange blossom. Sweet dessert styles will feature caramel, honey, quince and dry apricots flavors, some of the stickies may see some oak aging.

My recommendations for you to try:
Dr. Loosen Red Slate Dry Riesling 2017 $16
Trimbach Riesling 2017 $20
Martin Codax Burgans Albariño 2018 $15 
Chateau St Michelle Gewurztraminer 2017 $12
Michel Torino Torrontes 2018 $16
Bartenura Muscat 2018 $15
Paolo Saracco Moscato d’ Asti NV $13

Cheers! Silvina

Elements in Wine: Alcohol

This is lesson 2 about wine elements, so today I will focus on something you like the most about drinking wine: Alcohol.

Alcohol is a byproduct of wine fermentation,  the boozy feeling you get after a second glass of wine, you know what I’m talking about, the one that takes all inhibitions away and makes you relax. But how does this magic happen? Everything starts in the vineyard, as grapes mature their sugar levels increase and their acidity level decrease, when the grapes ripen, i.e reach the perfect balance between sugar and acid, it will be time for the winegrower to harvest. Sometimes choosing the best date is excruciating and quite a dilemma, should we leave the fruit a bit longer to reach even more ripeness? or should we move fast since rains are in the horizon?  that could be catastrophic for any wine, since rains will dilute our precious juice to be.

So, after harvest (sometimes by using machines or by hand), and after a pre-selection of the best grapes, it's fermentation time, the chemical process in which yeasts known as Saccharomyces Cerevisiae will eat all the sugar and convert our grape juice, in wine. These yeasts will be a blend of two, a)Natural yeasts that are already present in the grapes’ skins and b)Lab created yeasts. Winemakers do this to obtain special aromas in wines and to make sure the fermentation takes place without problems. Natural yeasts will produce the first 4% of the alcohol and the rest will be produced with the help of the Lab yeasts.

It requires in general, 17 grams of sugar to produce 1 liter of alcohol for a white wine and 19 grams of sugar to produce the same for a red wine.
What happens in cool climates where grapes don’t usually reach the minimum sugar levels? How do we get alcohol?  Many appellations allowed what is called Chaptalization and this is the addition of beet sugar to the must to increase the alcohol level in any wine. This is a practice used in Germany and Austria, for example. Now in a moderate and warm climates, alcohol levels will be reached easily and naturally.

By the way, when I talk about wines with low, medium and high alcohol, I’m talking about wines that have between 8.5 to 11,5% in the first case, 12 to 13% in the second case and everything above 13% will be considered high alcohol. I will add one more category to this list, which is the fortified wines, such as sherry or port, here extra alcohol is added during wine production and alcohol levels can go high up from 15 up to 22 %.

So, how do we feel/detect alcohol in our palates? easy, after you swirl the wine in your mouth, you will feel a burning/ warm sensation on your throat, that is the alcohol (especially when it’s high this is more noticeable). You will feel alcohol as body/ wine texture,  as weight on your palate. Light wines will be felt similar to skim milk, medium body wines will be felt similar to regular milk  and heavy body wines will be felt as heavy cream.
Personally, I feel alcohol in my stomach, I feel it as a huge blow, even though I spit my wines (when tasting professionally), a tiny bit always go down my stomach and it hits you like a burning bomb, that is how I always can tell when they lie about alcohol levels on labels, 13% and up will make the blow even bigger. 
When you are dealing with fortified wines, it will be much easier because with one sniff you will be able to smell the alcohol coming from your glass.

Of all the wine elements, alcohol is also noticeable before you even drink a sip, just by looking at the wine. Do this, swirl your wine in your glass and look at the drops and how they fall down, these are called legs, the thicker and denser these are, the higher the alcohol in the wine and the bigger the body of the wine. 

Certain grape varieties reach high alcohol levels easier than others, some of these are: Syrah, Grenache, Malbec, Zinfandel, Cabernet. In whites, big alcohol can be found in Chardonnay of warm climates. But more important than the grapes, are the locations where these are grown, high alcohol can only come from warm and hot climates, so south of everything it will be: South of France appellations, South Italian appellations, most of Spain (Priorat, Alicante, Jumilla) and Portugal (Douro), California, Australia (almost all appellations), Argentina (Mendoza and Salta).

So are you ready to taste alcohol in wine?  Here are my recommendations, let me know which ones you prefer the best. Remember that according to the TTB, producers can lie 1 % of alcohol in their labels, and most of them lie down so these wines listed below may have these alcohols or 1% more.

Recommended Wines:
Po de Poeira, Douro 2017 $25  14% AVB
Piatelli Malbec 2016 $16 14.9 % AVB
Bedrock Zinfandel Old Vines 2017 $22 14.3% AVB


Cheers! Silvina