HIGHLANDERWINEBLOG.COM
PURO from Argentina
One of the remarkable characteristics of Argentina's growing conditions is the de-facto organic methods they are able to achieve. The dryness prevents mildews, fungi and rot, so treatments are unnecessary.
But that does not mean that all wines are
necessarily made any more authentically than anywhere else, and like any big business, are less frequently made so despite the ideal environment. Lunch with Daniel Caro, producer of PURO wines, at Avec Bistro in Calgary, a recent addition to the Alberta market (both the wines and the restaurant), shed a flood of light on the wine-producing approach of the average Argentinian wine grower. Daniel is from Zurich, born in New York and of Israeli descent. He is responsible for the production operations of PURO, and has projects in Portugal, Sicily, Puglia and South Africa. Despite his jet-setting life, social polish, European style and remarkable good looks, he speaks as authentically as he imparts his wines are produced. This (authenticity) is much more rare in the wine industry than most of us would care to know or admit.
PURO is the dual-custody brain-child of Daniel and Dieter
Meier. What? You don't know wine magnate Dieter Meier? If you saw Ferris Bueller's Day Off and have heard the track 'Ohhhhh Yeahhhh' in the deep baritone, you know Dieter Meier, leader of Yello and considered the 'godfather of techno'. The consummate artist, Meier is involved in projects from conceptual and performance art to music, film and restaurants, organic beef production and now wine. To hear Daniel tell it, it was one of those classic small gathering society nights where just the right group of people came together. Asking Daniel how they met, he replied "Switzerland is small".
Dieter's father began the project in the 1960s and 70s, however it did not see fruition under his watch. With Daniel's experience and Dieter's connections, the brand was re-launched in 2008 under the new name. This pursuit of Pure is central to their mandate. I have met with high-end California Pinot Noir producers who harvest their grapes at 17% potential alcohol - this means that the grape sugars are so concentrated that should the juice ferment to a fully dry wine, the label would read 17% alc/vol. The solution, of course, is to add water to the vat; most illegal in Europe, but not for a $90 bottle from California. Daniel told us that much of the Argentinian wine industry relies on the same technique, however the grapes are left to hang to a whopping 20% potential alcohol. He explained that most wine growers or wine makers do not take enough care to create the balance between phenolic ripeness (aromatic development and softening of pips) and sugar levels. It is much easier to doctor a vat, and much more cost effective to make more volume. But as Dieter believes "only sick people need medicine".
Altitude is the climatic feature that moderates temperatures enough to make grape growing possible in Argentina, and also contributes to the dryness. I asked Daniel whether such a thing as an 'ideal' altitude existed for their grape growing. His answer spelled it out like so many great wine people have before him: altitude is one piece of a place, to which many other influences contribute:.soil, drainage, aspect, season length, light, temperature all combine with altitude. This is the reason one Bordeaux property two hundred meters away from another will fetch ten times the price.
So, the wines. All of the wines come from
low yielding vineyards in the Agrelo Alto sub-region. The first two, the Malbec-Cabernet Sauvignon (55%-45%, $20ish) and the 100% Malbec ($24ish) see no oak treatment. Thus the grapes express as, ahem, purely as possible. The joy in drinking these was the freshness. The fruit was bright and vibrant with exciting acidity. This effect stands in a poignant counterpoint to some of the fleshy, soft, brooding beasts that can come from the area (read 'watered down from 20% alcohol wines'). The Corte d'Oro ($45ish), their flagship, is a blend of Malbec, Cab' Sauv', Cab' Franc & Petit Verdot (40-25-20-15) that sees twelve months in French oak. Of course it shows more complexity, depth and weight, yet maintains the freshness, and the structure made it suitable for a rich meal. Though Dieter's certified organic Argentinian beef was not available (as the entire production ends up in his
three restaurants in Zurich), Avec's duck confit more than matched it.
The lunch wound up, then down with a good chat about the cultural influences on wine producing and purchasing in different countries. Daniel was abruptly whisked away by his hosts en route to the airport after his twelve-hour stop in Calgary, no doubt headed to another small gathering of wide-eyed wine people hoping for a taste of purity. Ohhhhhh yeahhhhhh.
-Matt Browman
But that does not mean that all wines are
necessarily made any more authentically than anywhere else, and like any big business, are less frequently made so despite the ideal environment. Lunch with Daniel Caro, producer of PURO wines, at Avec Bistro in Calgary, a recent addition to the Alberta market (both the wines and the restaurant), shed a flood of light on the wine-producing approach of the average Argentinian wine grower. Daniel is from Zurich, born in New York and of Israeli descent. He is responsible for the production operations of PURO, and has projects in Portugal, Sicily, Puglia and South Africa. Despite his jet-setting life, social polish, European style and remarkable good looks, he speaks as authentically as he imparts his wines are produced. This (authenticity) is much more rare in the wine industry than most of us would care to know or admit. PURO is the dual-custody brain-child of Daniel and Dieter
Meier. What? You don't know wine magnate Dieter Meier? If you saw Ferris Bueller's Day Off and have heard the track 'Ohhhhh Yeahhhh' in the deep baritone, you know Dieter Meier, leader of Yello and considered the 'godfather of techno'. The consummate artist, Meier is involved in projects from conceptual and performance art to music, film and restaurants, organic beef production and now wine. To hear Daniel tell it, it was one of those classic small gathering society nights where just the right group of people came together. Asking Daniel how they met, he replied "Switzerland is small". Dieter's father began the project in the 1960s and 70s, however it did not see fruition under his watch. With Daniel's experience and Dieter's connections, the brand was re-launched in 2008 under the new name. This pursuit of Pure is central to their mandate. I have met with high-end California Pinot Noir producers who harvest their grapes at 17% potential alcohol - this means that the grape sugars are so concentrated that should the juice ferment to a fully dry wine, the label would read 17% alc/vol. The solution, of course, is to add water to the vat; most illegal in Europe, but not for a $90 bottle from California. Daniel told us that much of the Argentinian wine industry relies on the same technique, however the grapes are left to hang to a whopping 20% potential alcohol. He explained that most wine growers or wine makers do not take enough care to create the balance between phenolic ripeness (aromatic development and softening of pips) and sugar levels. It is much easier to doctor a vat, and much more cost effective to make more volume. But as Dieter believes "only sick people need medicine".
Altitude is the climatic feature that moderates temperatures enough to make grape growing possible in Argentina, and also contributes to the dryness. I asked Daniel whether such a thing as an 'ideal' altitude existed for their grape growing. His answer spelled it out like so many great wine people have before him: altitude is one piece of a place, to which many other influences contribute:.soil, drainage, aspect, season length, light, temperature all combine with altitude. This is the reason one Bordeaux property two hundred meters away from another will fetch ten times the price.
So, the wines. All of the wines come from
low yielding vineyards in the Agrelo Alto sub-region. The first two, the Malbec-Cabernet Sauvignon (55%-45%, $20ish) and the 100% Malbec ($24ish) see no oak treatment. Thus the grapes express as, ahem, purely as possible. The joy in drinking these was the freshness. The fruit was bright and vibrant with exciting acidity. This effect stands in a poignant counterpoint to some of the fleshy, soft, brooding beasts that can come from the area (read 'watered down from 20% alcohol wines'). The Corte d'Oro ($45ish), their flagship, is a blend of Malbec, Cab' Sauv', Cab' Franc & Petit Verdot (40-25-20-15) that sees twelve months in French oak. Of course it shows more complexity, depth and weight, yet maintains the freshness, and the structure made it suitable for a rich meal. Though Dieter's certified organic Argentinian beef was not available (as the entire production ends up in his
three restaurants in Zurich), Avec's duck confit more than matched it. The lunch wound up, then down with a good chat about the cultural influences on wine producing and purchasing in different countries. Daniel was abruptly whisked away by his hosts en route to the airport after his twelve-hour stop in Calgary, no doubt headed to another small gathering of wide-eyed wine people hoping for a taste of purity. Ohhhhhh yeahhhhhh.
-Matt Browman
ONE BOURBON, ONE SCOTCH, ONE BEER
Of course in the original song, the narrator approaches these three exalted beverages from a more utilitarian and therefore generic standpoint, with the intention to "get gassed" and "real quick". Let's take a different approach, where in we look less at the function and more at the form.
The following is less a "top choices" summation and more just some examples that are thoroughly good.
Bourbon: Blanton's Single Barrel, Kentucky $58.95
Bourbon proliferated through the mid-late 1800s around the same time the Scotch industry was in full development. Blanton's was created in 1984 as a brand that honoured Colonel Albert Blanton (a Kentucky Commonwealth Colonol a la Colonel Sanders), who served a fifty five year career beginning in 1897 at the distillery today known as Buffalo Trace. The Bourbon itself can range in character as it is a Single Barrel Bourbon, chill filtered directly from the cask in which it ages. Whatever cask I tasted, it was fabulous.
Bourbon as a style is typically sweeter than scotch, showing more caramel, vanilla and butterscotch character with some of the dried and candied fruits and spices. It can range from the savoury scotch side in one direction to an almost rum-like quality in the other. This one sits solidly in the center, much like the location of the casks in the warehouse from which it is selected. Slight orange peel, clove, caramel, vanilla with subtle burnt brown sugar flavours, it leads with a soft texture then finishes with a strong final caress from the 62.5% alcohol.
Scotch: Glenfiddich 18 Year Old, Scotland $99.95
I am a self-proclaimed seeker of the unique, rare, small, unusual, reinterpreted or newly discovered. Glenfiddich hardly hits any of those criteria. It was the original single malt on the North American market and I remember using the triangular cardboard sleeve as a protective casing for my forearm during 'light sabre' battles with my brother in the late 1970s. Since then, hundreds of scotch incarnations have graced our shelves. We cannot begrudge a company or brand its success and staying power. Often the success was borne by a pursuit of beauty (read 'quality') that was subsequently well handled by the financial and marketing departments. Glenfiddich was a pioneer into new markets, and though the basic twelve year is an easy, fine, approachable scotch, the eighteen year is a magnificent testament to a history of greatness. Its beauty lies in its lack of extremity in any direction. Perfectly complex with dried red berry fruits and citrus, a multi-specied nuttiness, vanilla and syrup aromas and a mild sherry wood complexity, it is bottled at 40%. What it lacks in power it makes up for in delicate sweetness, flavour concentration, softness and finesse.
Beer: Hitachino Nest White Ale, Kiuchi, Japan $4.75
Beer is the new pursuit amongst the flavour seeking multitudes, and comes
with the added bonus of being a little more pocket-friendly for many. Just like wine and spirits, movies or music, chip flavours or chocolate strengths, beer has different expressions to suit a multitude of moods. Tepid, low carbonated rich cask ale is hardly the choice for hot summer days on the patio, yet we crave a stout stout on cold cabin nights. Hitachino Nest is a brewery recently arrived on the Alberta market from Japan. With beginnings in sake production dating back to 1823, they have evolved into beer, and more recently, wine production as well. With a slew of styles ranging from Espresso Stout through a Red Rice Ale and on to a lighter White Ale, they have all proven excellent. The White Ale was the most recent and worthy of comment. A Witbier style, it has a generous pillowy head with classic clove, coriander and citrus peel aromas. Clean yet flavourful, it finishes with a barely perceptible, suggestive ginger flavour that adds a layer of depth while keeping it clean.
I'm not certain that Rudy Toombs ever imagined his creation would end up as a launchpad to a pursuit of the finer things in life. After all, it is a blues song about a desperate man with a missing lover in financial squalor. But it is a great song, a great work of art, and certainly earns its inspirational place for these great expressions.
-Matt Browman
The following is less a "top choices" summation and more just some examples that are thoroughly good.
Bourbon: Blanton's Single Barrel, Kentucky $58.95
Bourbon proliferated through the mid-late 1800s around the same time the Scotch industry was in full development. Blanton's was created in 1984 as a brand that honoured Colonel Albert Blanton (a Kentucky Commonwealth Colonol a la Colonel Sanders), who served a fifty five year career beginning in 1897 at the distillery today known as Buffalo Trace. The Bourbon itself can range in character as it is a Single Barrel Bourbon, chill filtered directly from the cask in which it ages. Whatever cask I tasted, it was fabulous.
Bourbon as a style is typically sweeter than scotch, showing more caramel, vanilla and butterscotch character with some of the dried and candied fruits and spices. It can range from the savoury scotch side in one direction to an almost rum-like quality in the other. This one sits solidly in the center, much like the location of the casks in the warehouse from which it is selected. Slight orange peel, clove, caramel, vanilla with subtle burnt brown sugar flavours, it leads with a soft texture then finishes with a strong final caress from the 62.5% alcohol.
Scotch: Glenfiddich 18 Year Old, Scotland $99.95
I am a self-proclaimed seeker of the unique, rare, small, unusual, reinterpreted or newly discovered. Glenfiddich hardly hits any of those criteria. It was the original single malt on the North American market and I remember using the triangular cardboard sleeve as a protective casing for my forearm during 'light sabre' battles with my brother in the late 1970s. Since then, hundreds of scotch incarnations have graced our shelves. We cannot begrudge a company or brand its success and staying power. Often the success was borne by a pursuit of beauty (read 'quality') that was subsequently well handled by the financial and marketing departments. Glenfiddich was a pioneer into new markets, and though the basic twelve year is an easy, fine, approachable scotch, the eighteen year is a magnificent testament to a history of greatness. Its beauty lies in its lack of extremity in any direction. Perfectly complex with dried red berry fruits and citrus, a multi-specied nuttiness, vanilla and syrup aromas and a mild sherry wood complexity, it is bottled at 40%. What it lacks in power it makes up for in delicate sweetness, flavour concentration, softness and finesse.
Beer: Hitachino Nest White Ale, Kiuchi, Japan $4.75
Beer is the new pursuit amongst the flavour seeking multitudes, and comes
with the added bonus of being a little more pocket-friendly for many. Just like wine and spirits, movies or music, chip flavours or chocolate strengths, beer has different expressions to suit a multitude of moods. Tepid, low carbonated rich cask ale is hardly the choice for hot summer days on the patio, yet we crave a stout stout on cold cabin nights. Hitachino Nest is a brewery recently arrived on the Alberta market from Japan. With beginnings in sake production dating back to 1823, they have evolved into beer, and more recently, wine production as well. With a slew of styles ranging from Espresso Stout through a Red Rice Ale and on to a lighter White Ale, they have all proven excellent. The White Ale was the most recent and worthy of comment. A Witbier style, it has a generous pillowy head with classic clove, coriander and citrus peel aromas. Clean yet flavourful, it finishes with a barely perceptible, suggestive ginger flavour that adds a layer of depth while keeping it clean.I'm not certain that Rudy Toombs ever imagined his creation would end up as a launchpad to a pursuit of the finer things in life. After all, it is a blues song about a desperate man with a missing lover in financial squalor. But it is a great song, a great work of art, and certainly earns its inspirational place for these great expressions.
-Matt Browman
GOOD THING I DIDN'T STEP IN IT
I was pulled over by one of Calgary's finest yesterday - apparently I 
had not registered my vehicle. Despite a twenty two year unbroken and unblemished history, two hundred and thirty dollars will ensure that I will not depend on the mail-out registration reminder I never did receive.
Various laws govern the world of wine, and I am not referring to 'Red wine with Red meat' and other such guidelines for enjoyment. Wine sales, including wholesale and retail are strictly controlled in many countries at the state or provincial level. These laws cover transportation, age of majority, licensing premises, motor vehicle/other machinery use and any other number of purchase and end-use scenarios. Wine production has its own set with different degrees of strictness in different places.
As explained in a previous post, the laws are based on
regional production and are specific to each zone. Grape growing practices such as training and trellising systems, allowable yields and density of planting, as well as wine making options such as aging vessel and time period, must adjustments and extraction techniques are regulated to a degree. Physical boundaries and grape varieties are also limited in order to make a style of wine that is true to its origins. Inspectors check production facilities and documentation to ensure regulations are being observed. Recently European Union wine law has modified the 'C' for Controlled with a 'P' for Protected. Thus AOC (Appellation d'Origine Controlle) to AOP. And though experimentation is certainly allowed, the wines produced must fall under different, broader designations and in most cases be made in a different facility than an AOP or DOP wine.
Though wine has been produced in Europe for thousands of years, comprehensive wine law did not begin until the early to mid 1900's. One of the earliest and most colourful examples of rough wine law is in Portugal's Douro Valley. In the 1700s British merchants were shipping the heavy red wines of the Douro Valley back to England while in search of replacements for their hard-to-get Bordeaux. They needed to stabilize the wine as it too often spoiled in transport. High-strength grape spirit, or aguardente, inhibits the acetobacter that turns wine to vinegar and as demand grew, they would add the spirit sooner. Accidental fortune has the spirit also kill the yeasts responsible for fermentation, the end result of which is a sweeter wine. Delicious! Port was born.
The demand for Port became so great that
opportunists began to produce improvised versions. Rather than harvesting Douro Valley grapes and applying aguardente, they mixed sugar with poor quality wine for sweetness and added elderberries for colour. Complaints of inconsistent quality from the British consumers reached the Marquis de Pombal who subsequently outlawed the short-cuts and created a boundary around the production zone with stone markers. He went to the further extreme of having all of the elderberry trees in northern Portugal uprooted, all in the name of maintaining positive trade relations with the British.
Other more recent examples of wine fraud include Bordeaux varietals included in Brunello di Montalcino, blended Beaujolais labeled as single village or 'Cru', Italian box wine that was a mixture of juice, vodka and dirt, as well as bulk southern French Syrah being sold off as Pinot Noir for low end labels. One of the biggest ongoing struggles involves illegal Icewine sold in Asian markets. Penalties range from product recalls to fines, declassification of quality levels or forced distillation of an entire production. Depending on the seriousness, offenders can also see jail time.
Most wine laws exist to protect both the integrity of the producers specific to a zone as well as the end consumer. Ironically more strict controls are in place for European production but much less so for consumption. Conversely, North American purchase and consumption laws are more strict, while production techniques less so than their European counterparts. Part of the reason is that wine is so much more a part of the history and daily lives of Europeans. Furthermore, puritanical temperance, abstinence and prohibition movements have demonized alcohol consumption in our cultural unconscious. As for my unregistered motor vehicle well, I suppose two hundred and thirty fewer dollars to spend on wine is better than having my car disassembled and sent for scrap.
-Matt Browman
had not registered my vehicle. Despite a twenty two year unbroken and unblemished history, two hundred and thirty dollars will ensure that I will not depend on the mail-out registration reminder I never did receive.Various laws govern the world of wine, and I am not referring to 'Red wine with Red meat' and other such guidelines for enjoyment. Wine sales, including wholesale and retail are strictly controlled in many countries at the state or provincial level. These laws cover transportation, age of majority, licensing premises, motor vehicle/other machinery use and any other number of purchase and end-use scenarios. Wine production has its own set with different degrees of strictness in different places.
As explained in a previous post, the laws are based on
regional production and are specific to each zone. Grape growing practices such as training and trellising systems, allowable yields and density of planting, as well as wine making options such as aging vessel and time period, must adjustments and extraction techniques are regulated to a degree. Physical boundaries and grape varieties are also limited in order to make a style of wine that is true to its origins. Inspectors check production facilities and documentation to ensure regulations are being observed. Recently European Union wine law has modified the 'C' for Controlled with a 'P' for Protected. Thus AOC (Appellation d'Origine Controlle) to AOP. And though experimentation is certainly allowed, the wines produced must fall under different, broader designations and in most cases be made in a different facility than an AOP or DOP wine. Though wine has been produced in Europe for thousands of years, comprehensive wine law did not begin until the early to mid 1900's. One of the earliest and most colourful examples of rough wine law is in Portugal's Douro Valley. In the 1700s British merchants were shipping the heavy red wines of the Douro Valley back to England while in search of replacements for their hard-to-get Bordeaux. They needed to stabilize the wine as it too often spoiled in transport. High-strength grape spirit, or aguardente, inhibits the acetobacter that turns wine to vinegar and as demand grew, they would add the spirit sooner. Accidental fortune has the spirit also kill the yeasts responsible for fermentation, the end result of which is a sweeter wine. Delicious! Port was born.
The demand for Port became so great that
opportunists began to produce improvised versions. Rather than harvesting Douro Valley grapes and applying aguardente, they mixed sugar with poor quality wine for sweetness and added elderberries for colour. Complaints of inconsistent quality from the British consumers reached the Marquis de Pombal who subsequently outlawed the short-cuts and created a boundary around the production zone with stone markers. He went to the further extreme of having all of the elderberry trees in northern Portugal uprooted, all in the name of maintaining positive trade relations with the British. Other more recent examples of wine fraud include Bordeaux varietals included in Brunello di Montalcino, blended Beaujolais labeled as single village or 'Cru', Italian box wine that was a mixture of juice, vodka and dirt, as well as bulk southern French Syrah being sold off as Pinot Noir for low end labels. One of the biggest ongoing struggles involves illegal Icewine sold in Asian markets. Penalties range from product recalls to fines, declassification of quality levels or forced distillation of an entire production. Depending on the seriousness, offenders can also see jail time.
Most wine laws exist to protect both the integrity of the producers specific to a zone as well as the end consumer. Ironically more strict controls are in place for European production but much less so for consumption. Conversely, North American purchase and consumption laws are more strict, while production techniques less so than their European counterparts. Part of the reason is that wine is so much more a part of the history and daily lives of Europeans. Furthermore, puritanical temperance, abstinence and prohibition movements have demonized alcohol consumption in our cultural unconscious. As for my unregistered motor vehicle well, I suppose two hundred and thirty fewer dollars to spend on wine is better than having my car disassembled and sent for scrap.
-Matt Browman
THE GRAPES UNKNOWN
In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan exposes the survival
gene in four plants: the tulip, the potato, marijuana and the apple, and links their success to a reciprocal relationship with an aspect of the human condition.
Perhaps grape varieties have similar fates. Those that have become known as International Varieties yield wine of character across many different countries. Most of these are the big French grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Syrah.
However the reasons behind their success are owing to different historical, economic and cultural circumstances than Pollan's suggestion of basic human needs. Phylloxera, the North American vine louse that devastated European vineyards from about 1868 through the early 1900's is among the most important influences. France was the first to be affected and as the louse spread, it was these French grapes that were replanted in other countries once a remedy had been discovered. Furthermore, because French wine has always been respected and sought after, many non-French wine producers would spend time in France and return with both their technologies (e.g. cooperage) or raw material (vine stock). Cabernet Sauvignon was introduced to Ribera del Duero at Vega Sicilia in Spain as early as 1864.
Other varieties fall to obscurity, and many
European regions maintain a viticultural library or have growers who have kept unique and antique strains left in their care for generations. In many cases, these varieties were unable to successfully graft to North American rootstock post phylloxera. This meant they could not survive in European soils. In other cases, local growers did not feel certain grapes produced worthwhile wine, so had the vines grubbed up or top-grafted to more popular cultivars. Others made fine wine, but were either difficult to grow or susceptible to disease, so were abandoned as a diminishing return. And finally, without demand no reason for supply exists. When was the last time you bellied up to the bar and ordered a glass of Groppello?
So what is out there that we are missing?
Fer Servadou is a South West France variety, here coming from the lesser known area of Cabardes. It offers an earthy and leather character with dark and red fruit, supportive acidity and relatively mild tannins. This one comes from a 100% organic producer who does not oak their red wines, so we see a pure expression of the variety. Indeed the line is called 'Pure' by Chateau de Brau $22.95.
Greco or Grechetto is a southern Italian white grape that fares well on our market despite its relative obscurity. Greco is oilier than many other Italian whites and shows stronger mineral and mild tree fruit character. It is at its best about five years from vintage date. Terredora's Greco di Tufo ($24.95) came in at #87 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 this past year.
Malvar is primarily grown around Madrid in central Spain. Spain's recent revival has seen more approachable, fruity whites and reds of value come available. Situations such as these create springboards for less known varieties to find an audience. Malvar produces a fruity, medium bodied white that is both refreshing and rich at the same time. A great alternative to Chardonnay or Viognier. The Zestos is $15.95.
Sagrantino is a grape home to the Umbrian region of Montefalco. Here's the point exactly: Sagrantino, Umbria and Montefalco are rarely discussed around the water cooler. Umbria is something of the forgotten wine zone. Its most famous wine export is Orvieto, while the big producers of red are Lungarotti and Lamborghini (the wine, not the car). Yet Sagrantino offers what every big red wine lover is after. Expressive truffle, dark earth, meat, black cherry and spice, serious chewy tannins and firm but not bracing acidity. This is long lived red made for a meaty meal. Scacciadiavoli makes among the most serious around $45.
Many great wines do not make it to our market because first, not enough is produced to make an export attempt worthwhile. Second, oddities are interesting to us geeky wine folk for the very reason they are obscure, thus the export market is too small to support steady supply. Third, many scantily planted underdogs do not necessarily make the greatest wine, so are more suited for local volume and tourist consumption. Fashion is a fourth factor. Despite the acknowledged greatness of Rieslng, it continues to survive but certainly not thrive to the degree of its better traveled and more generous sister, Chardonnay. Finally, I believe language has something to do with it. The onomatopoetics of a grape are as important to its proliferation as the flavours it promises; where we love to say Malbec, Pinot, Chardonnay or Cab', the likes of Hondurrabi Beltza, Erbaluce, Scheurebe or Viosinho just do not ring as sympathetically. For this same reason, if more than 250 hectares of Sagrantino were planted, I would have high hopes for it.
-Matt Browman
gene in four plants: the tulip, the potato, marijuana and the apple, and links their success to a reciprocal relationship with an aspect of the human condition.Perhaps grape varieties have similar fates. Those that have become known as International Varieties yield wine of character across many different countries. Most of these are the big French grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Syrah.
However the reasons behind their success are owing to different historical, economic and cultural circumstances than Pollan's suggestion of basic human needs. Phylloxera, the North American vine louse that devastated European vineyards from about 1868 through the early 1900's is among the most important influences. France was the first to be affected and as the louse spread, it was these French grapes that were replanted in other countries once a remedy had been discovered. Furthermore, because French wine has always been respected and sought after, many non-French wine producers would spend time in France and return with both their technologies (e.g. cooperage) or raw material (vine stock). Cabernet Sauvignon was introduced to Ribera del Duero at Vega Sicilia in Spain as early as 1864.
Other varieties fall to obscurity, and many
European regions maintain a viticultural library or have growers who have kept unique and antique strains left in their care for generations. In many cases, these varieties were unable to successfully graft to North American rootstock post phylloxera. This meant they could not survive in European soils. In other cases, local growers did not feel certain grapes produced worthwhile wine, so had the vines grubbed up or top-grafted to more popular cultivars. Others made fine wine, but were either difficult to grow or susceptible to disease, so were abandoned as a diminishing return. And finally, without demand no reason for supply exists. When was the last time you bellied up to the bar and ordered a glass of Groppello?So what is out there that we are missing?
Fer Servadou is a South West France variety, here coming from the lesser known area of Cabardes. It offers an earthy and leather character with dark and red fruit, supportive acidity and relatively mild tannins. This one comes from a 100% organic producer who does not oak their red wines, so we see a pure expression of the variety. Indeed the line is called 'Pure' by Chateau de Brau $22.95.
Greco or Grechetto is a southern Italian white grape that fares well on our market despite its relative obscurity. Greco is oilier than many other Italian whites and shows stronger mineral and mild tree fruit character. It is at its best about five years from vintage date. Terredora's Greco di Tufo ($24.95) came in at #87 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 this past year.
Malvar is primarily grown around Madrid in central Spain. Spain's recent revival has seen more approachable, fruity whites and reds of value come available. Situations such as these create springboards for less known varieties to find an audience. Malvar produces a fruity, medium bodied white that is both refreshing and rich at the same time. A great alternative to Chardonnay or Viognier. The Zestos is $15.95.
Many great wines do not make it to our market because first, not enough is produced to make an export attempt worthwhile. Second, oddities are interesting to us geeky wine folk for the very reason they are obscure, thus the export market is too small to support steady supply. Third, many scantily planted underdogs do not necessarily make the greatest wine, so are more suited for local volume and tourist consumption. Fashion is a fourth factor. Despite the acknowledged greatness of Rieslng, it continues to survive but certainly not thrive to the degree of its better traveled and more generous sister, Chardonnay. Finally, I believe language has something to do with it. The onomatopoetics of a grape are as important to its proliferation as the flavours it promises; where we love to say Malbec, Pinot, Chardonnay or Cab', the likes of Hondurrabi Beltza, Erbaluce, Scheurebe or Viosinho just do not ring as sympathetically. For this same reason, if more than 250 hectares of Sagrantino were planted, I would have high hopes for it.
-Matt Browman
GRAPE VIEW: SANGIOVESE FOR MVP
A certain percentage of modern drinkers view the 
practice of blending grape varieties as somehow inferior or misleading. They see blending as a dilution of purity, or as a choice to produce volumes of indifferent wine. However many of the greatest wine regions blend grape varieties: Bordeaux, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Rioja, Amarone della Valpolicella or Chianti to name a few.
Different grape performers make for different wine types: Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon or Mendoza Malbec for example, can be great on their own and will provide expressive, intense and balanced wines from single sources. Others are poor blenders as their personalities are either too sensitive or too extreme to work well in a group. Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo and Sauvignon Blanc (though historically blended with Semillon to great effect in Bordeaux) are more commonly identified with single variety bottlings. Other varieties can deliver in both situations: Grenache and Syrah are classic examples, for though they work well as a team (Southern Rhone Valley or Australia), they can also produce individual wines of distinct character. In many cases, the place the grapes are grown determines their role more than the type of grape it is.
Doubtless some of the world's great wines are 100% Sangiovese, such as Villa Cafaggio San Martino. But to continue with conceits, Sangiovese puts up high numbers though gets more points in assists than goals. That Sangiovese tends to show at its best with food gets it another
vote for best supporting role.
In any given climate and vintage, different grapes will ripen and perform differently and the wine maker relies on the specific contribution of each to make a complete wine. To say that grapes should not be blended is to say that painters should work with one colour. Though some may experiment with multiple shades of a single colour for certain phases, they acknowledge a different type of practice and expression, not an inferior or superior one. And besides, we do not admire a painting for the paint itself, but for the effects the artist has created with it. No one will argue that Sangiovese is a great grape, however its greatness lies in its understatement.
-Matt Browman
practice of blending grape varieties as somehow inferior or misleading. They see blending as a dilution of purity, or as a choice to produce volumes of indifferent wine. However many of the greatest wine regions blend grape varieties: Bordeaux, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Rioja, Amarone della Valpolicella or Chianti to name a few. Different grape performers make for different wine types: Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon or Mendoza Malbec for example, can be great on their own and will provide expressive, intense and balanced wines from single sources. Others are poor blenders as their personalities are either too sensitive or too extreme to work well in a group. Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo and Sauvignon Blanc (though historically blended with Semillon to great effect in Bordeaux) are more commonly identified with single variety bottlings. Other varieties can deliver in both situations: Grenache and Syrah are classic examples, for though they work well as a team (Southern Rhone Valley or Australia), they can also produce individual wines of distinct character. In many cases, the place the grapes are grown determines their role more than the type of grape it is.
Brancaia makes some of the leading Sangiovese based blends. The Il Blu is the flagship, blending Sangiovese and Merlot with a dash of Cabernet Sauvignon. $85ish
Finally some grapes may hold center stage and are well worth watching, however they seem to be at their best when showing off others. I call these 'Ron Maclean grapes'. Sangiovese counts among the great grapes of the world with classic varietal expression from Brunello di Montalcino and more recently Chianti. However historically Sangiovese has been used as either the anchor in a blend, such as previous Chianti styles, Carmignano or Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, or as a smaller percentage with a more dominant grape such as Rosso Piceno or some of the Super Tuscans and other IGTs. Antinori Tignanello is among the most historic, recognized and sought-after Super Tuscans that blends Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvigon & Cabernet Franc. $95ish
Italian Sangiovese's classic characteristics include dried red cherry, dusty dry earth and leather aromas. On the palate they are typically high in acidity, medium high in tannins and medium to full bodied, with similar flavours as on the nose. When a wine is 5% Sangiovese and 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, the Sangiovese may contribute an elusive Tuscan whiff (which could equally be due to its growing environment), however the fruit profile, tannins and acidity of Cabernet are so much more dominant that to identify the Sangiovese component is barely possible and hardly worth it. Yet reverse the ratios and a clear Cabernet character, however subtle, will speak. Cabernet darkens. Cabernet enriches. Cabernet glows. In any given climate and vintage, different grapes will ripen and perform differently and the wine maker relies on the specific contribution of each to make a complete wine. To say that grapes should not be blended is to say that painters should work with one colour. Though some may experiment with multiple shades of a single colour for certain phases, they acknowledge a different type of practice and expression, not an inferior or superior one. And besides, we do not admire a painting for the paint itself, but for the effects the artist has created with it. No one will argue that Sangiovese is a great grape, however its greatness lies in its understatement.
-Matt Browman
GAME CHANGERS
Among the strongest factors that determine a wine's character are the location the grapes are grown (soil and climate) and the grape varieties in that location. With these two factors controlled, consistent characteristics express themselves from the many wines produced. This consistency allows us to identify a style, and guidelines on wine making and grape growing practices further define this style. Once defined, the characteristic commonalities are then turned back on the production from that zone to create a criterion for quality: that is, is it a true example of its origins?
For example, vignerons from Chablis did not predetermine
the nature of wine from that region. Instead, many vignerons from Chablis found that the concept of Chablis, or Chablis-ness, came about as a natural expression of the Chardonnay grown in that area. Certain growing and vinification technologies and traditions were then handed down and when the controlled appellation (AOC) was created, these traditions became law for the sake of protecting the identifiable style. If a wine from this area does not express certain characteristics, it is considered a poor example.
But once in awhile a game-changer comes along. A wine grower (usually an established and respected one) takes a chance on a non-traditional grape or technique, or pioneers a region. Such an endeavour often comes with ridicule from peers, scrutiny from authorities and a significant amount of doubt. The 'outside the barrel' thinking often poses a threat to established traditions, and causes hard questioning of existing practices as well as the wisdom or efficacy of stringent laws.
The most famous example is Sassicaia from the Bolgheri region in Tuscany where Sangiovese is king. The short version tells of Mario Rochetta who decided to plant and grow Cabernet Sauvignon at his Tenuta San Guido estate in the 1940's. Because Italian wine law did not allow Cabernet Sauvignon into their highest ranked Tuscan wines, his 1960s market launch was given the lowest designation: Vino da Tavola. However the winery released its wine at the high end of the price scale and the quality of the wine (despite the fact that it expressed a markedly different character than other wines of the zone) could not be ignored. This act served to turn the entire Italian DOC system on its head, and eventually a new DOC zone was created to account for this specific wine. This progression opened the doors to a whole new pursuit and style in Tuscany. The Super Tuscan was born, and some of the greatest names in Italian wine fall into this category.
Such events require a shift in the definition of a region and wine style, and thereby a re-definition and identification of what constitutes a 'quality' wine from that region. Often it has to do with pioneering a grape variety in an established zone, exploring potential in a new zone, or applying a new technology.
Some examples of wine making that have caused a rethinking of the definition of 'classic' from any given zone include:
Priorat - Much of Spain has seen a revival since the early 1990's. In the Priorat region 100+ year old Grenache and Carignan vines were discovered by a group of seven visionary wine makers. They re-envisioned the old, dried-out style and it quickly became counted among Spain's top two quality wines. Around the same time, phylloxera infested the Mediterranean coastal area called the Levante. An entire overhaul of the region's wine making has created some of the most accessible, inexpensive wines in the world.
Carmenere is an old Bordeaux variety that has all but disappeared in Bordeaux itself. Heavy European immigration to South America in the mid-late 1800's saw plant material transported and propagated. Chile has now made it their own.
In Scotland, single malt scotch has been made according to traditional aging techniques for centuries, with standard age designations most commonly found on the shelves. One of the main aging vessels was the Sherry Butt, as Victorian England's unquenchable thirst for Sherry meant barrels were coming available constantly. Since 2002, Bruichladdich Distillery and Murray McDavid Independent Bottlers have produced hundreds of different cask, vintage and age designated single malts and blends, causing an explosion of style for all tastes. Many distilleries and companies have since followed suit, but none so thoroughly and inventively than the original cavaliers.
Bruichladdich Octomore is on the extreme end of the spectrum being the peatiest scotch on the planet. The current release is 167 ppm's, while a regular bottling of Laphroaig or Lagavulin is about 40. This five year old Scotch comes in around $160.00.
In
much of Europe, the AOP/DOP etc. (Appellation or Denomination of
Protected Origin) have more strict regulations in terms of grapes
allowed, growing and wine making techniques, as well as aging
requirements for certain wines than in non-European growing regions. The
laws are meant to protect provenance first and indicate a general quality level second.
The implication is that the more specific the protected zone, the more
distinct character it should have and therefore the higher quality it
should be. This loose netting is overly facile as quality so often comes
down to individual skill of the producer, as physical boundaries are
only as good as the people inside them. Where a more accurate summation should
indicate that specific zones promise the potential for more distinct
wines, we still look forward to these game-changers to adeptly reinterpret their resources and keep wine moving forward.
-Matt Browman
For example, vignerons from Chablis did not predetermine
the nature of wine from that region. Instead, many vignerons from Chablis found that the concept of Chablis, or Chablis-ness, came about as a natural expression of the Chardonnay grown in that area. Certain growing and vinification technologies and traditions were then handed down and when the controlled appellation (AOC) was created, these traditions became law for the sake of protecting the identifiable style. If a wine from this area does not express certain characteristics, it is considered a poor example. But once in awhile a game-changer comes along. A wine grower (usually an established and respected one) takes a chance on a non-traditional grape or technique, or pioneers a region. Such an endeavour often comes with ridicule from peers, scrutiny from authorities and a significant amount of doubt. The 'outside the barrel' thinking often poses a threat to established traditions, and causes hard questioning of existing practices as well as the wisdom or efficacy of stringent laws.
The most famous example is Sassicaia from the Bolgheri region in Tuscany where Sangiovese is king. The short version tells of Mario Rochetta who decided to plant and grow Cabernet Sauvignon at his Tenuta San Guido estate in the 1940's. Because Italian wine law did not allow Cabernet Sauvignon into their highest ranked Tuscan wines, his 1960s market launch was given the lowest designation: Vino da Tavola. However the winery released its wine at the high end of the price scale and the quality of the wine (despite the fact that it expressed a markedly different character than other wines of the zone) could not be ignored. This act served to turn the entire Italian DOC system on its head, and eventually a new DOC zone was created to account for this specific wine. This progression opened the doors to a whole new pursuit and style in Tuscany. The Super Tuscan was born, and some of the greatest names in Italian wine fall into this category.
Such events require a shift in the definition of a region and wine style, and thereby a re-definition and identification of what constitutes a 'quality' wine from that region. Often it has to do with pioneering a grape variety in an established zone, exploring potential in a new zone, or applying a new technology.
Some examples of wine making that have caused a rethinking of the definition of 'classic' from any given zone include:
Priorat - Much of Spain has seen a revival since the early 1990's. In the Priorat region 100+ year old Grenache and Carignan vines were discovered by a group of seven visionary wine makers. They re-envisioned the old, dried-out style and it quickly became counted among Spain's top two quality wines. Around the same time, phylloxera infested the Mediterranean coastal area called the Levante. An entire overhaul of the region's wine making has created some of the most accessible, inexpensive wines in the world.
Carmenere is an old Bordeaux variety that has all but disappeared in Bordeaux itself. Heavy European immigration to South America in the mid-late 1800's saw plant material transported and propagated. Chile has now made it their own.
Casa Silva Gran Reserva Carmenere represents one of the top values at $24.
In Scotland, single malt scotch has been made according to traditional aging techniques for centuries, with standard age designations most commonly found on the shelves. One of the main aging vessels was the Sherry Butt, as Victorian England's unquenchable thirst for Sherry meant barrels were coming available constantly. Since 2002, Bruichladdich Distillery and Murray McDavid Independent Bottlers have produced hundreds of different cask, vintage and age designated single malts and blends, causing an explosion of style for all tastes. Many distilleries and companies have since followed suit, but none so thoroughly and inventively than the original cavaliers.
Bruichladdich Octomore is on the extreme end of the spectrum being the peatiest scotch on the planet. The current release is 167 ppm's, while a regular bottling of Laphroaig or Lagavulin is about 40. This five year old Scotch comes in around $160.00.
-Matt Browman
WHAT'S IT TASTE LIKE?
Simple question, right? At least it should be. My tasting note for Chateau de Beaucastel 2008 Chateauneuf-du-Pape, for example, went something like this:
An immediate assault of game meat, cured meat, dried flower petals, fleur de sel, dark cherry and dark plum, stone and minerals as well as wet leaf aromas demonstrated what an impressive wine was promised. On the palate is was supple, gritty, rich and warm with more dark plum and ripe red berry confiture, tea leaf and twig flavours, with a medium-long finish.
While Robert Parker Jr. said:
a healthy dark plum/ruby color, notes of licorice, meat juices, smoked game, black currants and garrigue, medium to full body, silky tannins, good freshness, surprising depth for the vintage and a long finish.
and Stephen Tanzer says:
Vivid ruby. Enticing aromas of raspberry, dried flowers and spice cake. Sweet and penetrating, offering sappy flavors of red and dark berries, candied flowers and chewing tobacco. Combines depth and juiciness smoothly, finishing with gentle grip and persistent florality.
To ask who is 'right' is to miss the point, and though some family traits amongst the descriptors cross-over, the bigger question should challenge the absoluteness of a wine's character. The argument here is that there is no single, absolute character to a wine as the wine, the individual and the individual's interpretation change with the circumstances.
Let's examine some of the situations that cause our experience of a wine to be different (an admittedly clumsy way of expressing the concept).
Scenario one: The Second Sip
The first sip of any wine creates an immediate re-set of our perceptive faculties. Up until that moment, whatever was occupying the soft tissue inside our mouths determined our impression of that wine. The second sip (and ensuing sips) cause
that wine to taste much different.
Scenario two: As it opens
As oxygen infiltrates the wine, its aromas and textures change. So too does our impression of that wine. Though this common knowledge is seemingly irrelevant, it serves to strengthen the argument that the attempt to reduce a wine to a static state is misguided.
Scenario three: With/without food and what kind of food
We all know that the flavour of wine changes with the food or type of food we are eating. Consider this when responding to wine. I have observed countless situations in which a certain wine at a focused tasting event is panned by the group. Once food is introduced it becomes the runaway favourite.
Scenario four: Returning to the first wine in a flight
When we assesse, say, six wines in a flight, our impression upon return to the first wine can be dramatically altered after completing the flight. Varying intensities and complexities of expression from other wines will affect our perception and memory of that first one.
Scenario four: Serving temperature
A mere couple of degrees difference in any given wine will noticeably change our experience of it. Coolness tends to emphasize freshness and acidity while dumbing down aromatic expression. Warmth typically emphasizes alcohol and can increase the aromatic intensity. Regardless of what is considered 'ideal service temperature' for any given wine style, our experience is still affected by it.
Scenario five: Vessel
Dixie or Riedel? Styrofoam or clay? The shape and size of the vessel and its rim will direct both the aromas and liquid to your nose and through your mouth causing a noticeable difference in your perceptions. The material can allow breathing or not, can take flavours or not, and can affect the mood. Riedel conducts comparative tasting exercises in which a group tastes the same wine from a standard cup and then from a specially designed glass.
Scenario six: Bottle Variation
Most wine is bottled from either a large tank in which the wine was made, or from a number of barrels that were then blended together in a large tank. This ensures a certain homogeneity amongst all bottles of a specific wine. How that wine behaves once inside the bottle is a function of its travel, storage conditions and closure attributes.
Scenario seven: Moving Targets
As a wine ages its physical attributes change. Solids can precipitate, acids can soften, fruit aromas can morph. The wine, then, presents differently over time. Combine this with the changes in the person approaching it. As my experience in wine tasting/drinking grows, and as my physical attributes, likes and tolerances evolve (or devolve) my experience of that same wine also changes. Let's even say "what if the wine itself does not change?". Still, my interpretation will. The first time I tried Laphroaig 10 year Single Malt Scotch I thought I'd been punched in the nose with a Peat-fist. It was another fifteen years until I tried it again, but found the integration of the peat into the other characters of the scotch much better. Likely, my tolerance and vantage point changed while the character of the scotch changed marginally, if at all. For an exhaustive, thorough and dizzying justification for this idea, click here.
The answer to the question 'Which is the 'true' expression of the wine?' can somewhat be answered by John Keats from 'Ode on a Grecian Urn', the most famous lines of which come at the very end: "Beauty is truth, truth beauty-". The truest expression, then, is when we perceive the wine at its best - slightly cool, or with a steak, or by yourself, or accompanied by a piece of music. The rabbit hole here is that this 'best' is personal, and my grandfather used to keep his Concha Y Toro Casillero del Diablo on top of the fridge. If it was a new bottle, he would just microwave it. In the bigger picture, when a certain accompaniment or condition is recommended, it is speaking to the common experiences agreed upon by the collective palate. Humans operate in a range of parameters with different individual sensitivities, and we depend on language to operate amongst the imprecision of individual sensitivity to arrive at some agreement.
We return to familiar bottles for the anticipation and promise of a positive memory of that wine while at the same time, drinking the wine can act as a memory trigger of the moments we enjoyed it. This trigger-action is the reason we love wine from regions we have visited. The beauty of wine is in the multitude of experiences it can provide, thus to ask which is the 'true' or 'correct' expression of any given wine, or to attempt to create unchanging, controlled circumstances to approach it is to miss the purpose of its existence.
-Matt Browman
An immediate assault of game meat, cured meat, dried flower petals, fleur de sel, dark cherry and dark plum, stone and minerals as well as wet leaf aromas demonstrated what an impressive wine was promised. On the palate is was supple, gritty, rich and warm with more dark plum and ripe red berry confiture, tea leaf and twig flavours, with a medium-long finish.
While Robert Parker Jr. said:
a healthy dark plum/ruby color, notes of licorice, meat juices, smoked game, black currants and garrigue, medium to full body, silky tannins, good freshness, surprising depth for the vintage and a long finish.
and Stephen Tanzer says:
Vivid ruby. Enticing aromas of raspberry, dried flowers and spice cake. Sweet and penetrating, offering sappy flavors of red and dark berries, candied flowers and chewing tobacco. Combines depth and juiciness smoothly, finishing with gentle grip and persistent florality.
To ask who is 'right' is to miss the point, and though some family traits amongst the descriptors cross-over, the bigger question should challenge the absoluteness of a wine's character. The argument here is that there is no single, absolute character to a wine as the wine, the individual and the individual's interpretation change with the circumstances.
Let's examine some of the situations that cause our experience of a wine to be different (an admittedly clumsy way of expressing the concept).
Scenario one: The Second Sip
The first sip of any wine creates an immediate re-set of our perceptive faculties. Up until that moment, whatever was occupying the soft tissue inside our mouths determined our impression of that wine. The second sip (and ensuing sips) cause
that wine to taste much different.Scenario two: As it opens
As oxygen infiltrates the wine, its aromas and textures change. So too does our impression of that wine. Though this common knowledge is seemingly irrelevant, it serves to strengthen the argument that the attempt to reduce a wine to a static state is misguided.
Scenario three: With/without food and what kind of food
We all know that the flavour of wine changes with the food or type of food we are eating. Consider this when responding to wine. I have observed countless situations in which a certain wine at a focused tasting event is panned by the group. Once food is introduced it becomes the runaway favourite.
Scenario four: Returning to the first wine in a flight
When we assesse, say, six wines in a flight, our impression upon return to the first wine can be dramatically altered after completing the flight. Varying intensities and complexities of expression from other wines will affect our perception and memory of that first one.
Scenario four: Serving temperature
A mere couple of degrees difference in any given wine will noticeably change our experience of it. Coolness tends to emphasize freshness and acidity while dumbing down aromatic expression. Warmth typically emphasizes alcohol and can increase the aromatic intensity. Regardless of what is considered 'ideal service temperature' for any given wine style, our experience is still affected by it.
Scenario five: Vessel
Dixie or Riedel? Styrofoam or clay? The shape and size of the vessel and its rim will direct both the aromas and liquid to your nose and through your mouth causing a noticeable difference in your perceptions. The material can allow breathing or not, can take flavours or not, and can affect the mood. Riedel conducts comparative tasting exercises in which a group tastes the same wine from a standard cup and then from a specially designed glass.
Scenario six: Bottle Variation
Most wine is bottled from either a large tank in which the wine was made, or from a number of barrels that were then blended together in a large tank. This ensures a certain homogeneity amongst all bottles of a specific wine. How that wine behaves once inside the bottle is a function of its travel, storage conditions and closure attributes.
Scenario seven: Moving Targets
As a wine ages its physical attributes change. Solids can precipitate, acids can soften, fruit aromas can morph. The wine, then, presents differently over time. Combine this with the changes in the person approaching it. As my experience in wine tasting/drinking grows, and as my physical attributes, likes and tolerances evolve (or devolve) my experience of that same wine also changes. Let's even say "what if the wine itself does not change?". Still, my interpretation will. The first time I tried Laphroaig 10 year Single Malt Scotch I thought I'd been punched in the nose with a Peat-fist. It was another fifteen years until I tried it again, but found the integration of the peat into the other characters of the scotch much better. Likely, my tolerance and vantage point changed while the character of the scotch changed marginally, if at all. For an exhaustive, thorough and dizzying justification for this idea, click here.
The answer to the question 'Which is the 'true' expression of the wine?' can somewhat be answered by John Keats from 'Ode on a Grecian Urn', the most famous lines of which come at the very end: "Beauty is truth, truth beauty-". The truest expression, then, is when we perceive the wine at its best - slightly cool, or with a steak, or by yourself, or accompanied by a piece of music. The rabbit hole here is that this 'best' is personal, and my grandfather used to keep his Concha Y Toro Casillero del Diablo on top of the fridge. If it was a new bottle, he would just microwave it. In the bigger picture, when a certain accompaniment or condition is recommended, it is speaking to the common experiences agreed upon by the collective palate. Humans operate in a range of parameters with different individual sensitivities, and we depend on language to operate amongst the imprecision of individual sensitivity to arrive at some agreement.
We return to familiar bottles for the anticipation and promise of a positive memory of that wine while at the same time, drinking the wine can act as a memory trigger of the moments we enjoyed it. This trigger-action is the reason we love wine from regions we have visited. The beauty of wine is in the multitude of experiences it can provide, thus to ask which is the 'true' or 'correct' expression of any given wine, or to attempt to create unchanging, controlled circumstances to approach it is to miss the purpose of its existence.
-Matt Browman
TIME IN A BOTTLE
I had a strong dislike for the subject of history in junior high. My marks reflected that aversion and on one occasion I actually had to write out the definition of Time from the dictionary. Not suprisingly the punishment did not improve my grade.
On my way through university I began to discover a beautiful interdependency amongst art, philosophy, religion, history, geography, politics and commerce. When I started to learn about wine the transformation completed into a full appreciation and keen thirst for the same subject.
Though not mutually exclusive, the two paradigms of cyclical and linear time define history and our relationship to it. In the cyclical view history repeats itself. Ancient Egyptian burial practices, art and religious ceremonies demonstrate that emperors and kings were believed to have been reborn. This cyclical thinking revolved around notions of female power, moon worship and polytheism. In the linear model time moves forward, and insofar as humans record it we can always look back to see who did what and when. A shift took place when Plato compared the form of the Good with the Sun, and the metaphor that carried forward to Western religious schools and politics included sun worship, monotheism, and light and illumination of a single truth. This further served the propagandist purpose of referring to lunar cycles and female power as 'dark arts'.
We can approach the world of wine with both paradigms. Though cycles do not guarantee precise repetitions, certain patterns
conform to certain parameters. The life of the vine follows an annual cycle from winter dormancy through spring flowering and fruit set. Then through summer ripening to full ripeness in the fall, and back to dormancy in the winter. Ignore the cycle and it will not be wine that you are making. Biodynamic winemaking is an holistic system that uses lunar cycles to track good days to taste, rack or bottle. Furthermore, when a plant is overly manipulated, its internal mechanics react and affect the following season's activity. Thus pruning and green harvesting decisions are considered differently than in more conventional methods.
On the other hand, the linear time paradigm influences quality comparisons. Without linear time it would be moot to discuss great vintages like 1945 or 1961. Regardless of how we
measure time those growing seasons would have been outstanding, however longevity is a key factor in assessing a wine's relative quality. That is, the longer a wine's aromas and textures continue to improve, the better it is considered to be. Thus wine itself becomes a measuring stick of history. No assessment of this potential would exist without time moving forward, yet a wine will not go past its drinkability only to come back around like a young wine again.
The real tension begins with technology, as technology improves with time where wisdom in its application is cyclical. Direct control over wine growing and wine
making has increased more in the last fifty years than in the previous five hundred. Herbicides and pesticides, stainless steel and temperature control, general hygiene, irrigation, processing equipment such as presses, micro-oxegenaters, bottling techniques, mechanical harvesters, refractometers etc. were not available to winemakers in days gone by. These methods have raised wine quality especially at the lower to middle price points, and have increased consistency across all levels.
Yet the wheel turns. The pendulum swings back. Technology can cause too narrow a focus on a specific aspect of grape growing or handling, and remove the human feel or distract one from the bigger picture. Though wine cannot be made according to a formula, it all too often is. If we rely solely on the refractometer rather than tasting the grapes, handling the seeds and applying experience, then wine becomes just any other beverage. Technology is best used as a hedge and guide rather than as an oracle. Furthermore, technological advancement is often used for short-term commercial gain versus long-term sustainability. A technology is only as good as the people applying it, and when abused it will damage the environment and ultimately the guilty parties.
Winegrowers are reverting back to more environmentally sustainable practices for many reasons. Some want to make wines that are truer expressions of their environment. For others it is a pursuit beyond the acquisition of dollars and cents. Finally, the selfish gene must compel that grower to hedge his bet on the chance that he be re-incarnated. After all, who would want to come into a world where generations of linear time destroyed the vineyards through irresponsible agriculture?
-Matt Browman
On my way through university I began to discover a beautiful interdependency amongst art, philosophy, religion, history, geography, politics and commerce. When I started to learn about wine the transformation completed into a full appreciation and keen thirst for the same subject.
Though not mutually exclusive, the two paradigms of cyclical and linear time define history and our relationship to it. In the cyclical view history repeats itself. Ancient Egyptian burial practices, art and religious ceremonies demonstrate that emperors and kings were believed to have been reborn. This cyclical thinking revolved around notions of female power, moon worship and polytheism. In the linear model time moves forward, and insofar as humans record it we can always look back to see who did what and when. A shift took place when Plato compared the form of the Good with the Sun, and the metaphor that carried forward to Western religious schools and politics included sun worship, monotheism, and light and illumination of a single truth. This further served the propagandist purpose of referring to lunar cycles and female power as 'dark arts'.
We can approach the world of wine with both paradigms. Though cycles do not guarantee precise repetitions, certain patterns
conform to certain parameters. The life of the vine follows an annual cycle from winter dormancy through spring flowering and fruit set. Then through summer ripening to full ripeness in the fall, and back to dormancy in the winter. Ignore the cycle and it will not be wine that you are making. Biodynamic winemaking is an holistic system that uses lunar cycles to track good days to taste, rack or bottle. Furthermore, when a plant is overly manipulated, its internal mechanics react and affect the following season's activity. Thus pruning and green harvesting decisions are considered differently than in more conventional methods.On the other hand, the linear time paradigm influences quality comparisons. Without linear time it would be moot to discuss great vintages like 1945 or 1961. Regardless of how we
measure time those growing seasons would have been outstanding, however longevity is a key factor in assessing a wine's relative quality. That is, the longer a wine's aromas and textures continue to improve, the better it is considered to be. Thus wine itself becomes a measuring stick of history. No assessment of this potential would exist without time moving forward, yet a wine will not go past its drinkability only to come back around like a young wine again.The real tension begins with technology, as technology improves with time where wisdom in its application is cyclical. Direct control over wine growing and wine
making has increased more in the last fifty years than in the previous five hundred. Herbicides and pesticides, stainless steel and temperature control, general hygiene, irrigation, processing equipment such as presses, micro-oxegenaters, bottling techniques, mechanical harvesters, refractometers etc. were not available to winemakers in days gone by. These methods have raised wine quality especially at the lower to middle price points, and have increased consistency across all levels. Yet the wheel turns. The pendulum swings back. Technology can cause too narrow a focus on a specific aspect of grape growing or handling, and remove the human feel or distract one from the bigger picture. Though wine cannot be made according to a formula, it all too often is. If we rely solely on the refractometer rather than tasting the grapes, handling the seeds and applying experience, then wine becomes just any other beverage. Technology is best used as a hedge and guide rather than as an oracle. Furthermore, technological advancement is often used for short-term commercial gain versus long-term sustainability. A technology is only as good as the people applying it, and when abused it will damage the environment and ultimately the guilty parties.
Winegrowers are reverting back to more environmentally sustainable practices for many reasons. Some want to make wines that are truer expressions of their environment. For others it is a pursuit beyond the acquisition of dollars and cents. Finally, the selfish gene must compel that grower to hedge his bet on the chance that he be re-incarnated. After all, who would want to come into a world where generations of linear time destroyed the vineyards through irresponsible agriculture?
-Matt Browman
GRAPE VIEW: PINOT IS THE GLASS
The glass of Pinot Noir is a two-step magnifying glass. The shape and size 
of the glass amplify the subtle aromas the way a magnifying glass enlarges an object. The wine itself is responsible for the next level of magnification, as more than any other grape variety Pinot Noir exposes its specific growing conditions and handling. A more broad yet less deep definition of what constitutes 'good' exists for Pinot Noir, as subtle differences in climate, weather and site (including soils and exposure) from one year to another can make similarly enjoyable yet obviously different expressions. But tip too far in either direction and quality will compromise quickly.
of the glass amplify the subtle aromas the way a magnifying glass enlarges an object. The wine itself is responsible for the next level of magnification, as more than any other grape variety Pinot Noir exposes its specific growing conditions and handling. A more broad yet less deep definition of what constitutes 'good' exists for Pinot Noir, as subtle differences in climate, weather and site (including soils and exposure) from one year to another can make similarly enjoyable yet obviously different expressions. But tip too far in either direction and quality will compromise quickly. Pinot Noir is grown around the world, and though many make good, perfectly likeable examples, only a handful of regions can count as classic: Burgundy in France, Oregon, Sonoma (including Carneros & Russian River) in California and more recently Central Otago in New Zealand. Some of the up-and-comers, or the great-but-irrelevant (due to size of production and distribution) include Santa Barbara (also California), Ontario and Germany.
Here we turn the magnifying glass on itself, and examine a handful of expressions.Casa Viva Pinot Noir, the entry-level wines from the more up-market Casas del Bosque, comes variously from the Casablanca or Central Valleys in Chile. Chile is known as a grape-growing Eden, as consistent warm, dry weather with cooling breezes from the eastern Andes and the western Pacific moderate the temperature to encourage ideal ripeness. These conditions combined with the former river-bed soils make Chile better known as a source of well-made, cheerful and inexpensive volumes with a handful of higher-end curiosities. Casa Viva shows us just that. It is expressive and cheerful. It neither re-invents the concept of Pinot Noir nor tries to re-tell the story. It's good and it's $18ish and it should be. Contrast with Vina Casa Marin whose Lo Abarca Hills vineyard sits in view of the Pacific Ocean on calcareous slopes descending, while the sea-level Litoral Vineyard is planted on sandier loams. In both cases, Pacific air batters the vines keeping yields low and super-concentrating flavour development. However where the Lo Abarca Hills wines show darker fruit, firmer tannins and more bracing acidity, the Litoral offers typically brighter red fruit with firm-but-softer structure. These wines typically retail for $60ish, and we are paying for the precision and magnification of a unique and extreme growing environment.
Dinner one night and lunch the next day with winemaker Steve Doerner and eight different Cristom Vineyards Oregon Pinot Noirs went some way toward reinforcing the Pinot Noir propensity for precision amplification. Steve's philosophy is minimal intervention for the purpose of allowing each grape source to express itself. He paradoxically explains that he treats all of his single-vineyard wines the same, which is to say he does as little as possible, and means it with genuine modesty. One of the practices that
sets Cristom apart is the old-school approach of whole-cluster
fermentation, which contributes firmness, grip and some aromatic complexity to the wines. His extensively
sourced yet subtly applied barrel program also enhances rather than dominates the fruit expression. Steve explains that the Eileen vineyard, the highest and coolest of the lot, originally produced the most questionably ripe grapes. Two decades later he and his team find that Eileen can now offer the most exciting fruit, whereas the lower lying vineyards need to be monitored to avoid quicker ripening. Regardless, amongst Eileen, Jessie, Marjorie and Louise (named after four of the matriarchs of owner Paul Gerrie) the kinship stood while the individuals spoke. Eileen was spicy sandalwood and mesomorph to Jessie's slightly reticent floral ectomorph, while Marjorie's clean, lighter elegance contrasted Louise's creamy depth of aroma and serious strong-boned structure. Outstanding 'old school' examples, the single vineyards retail around $70ish, about the same as top quality village level and good quality premier cru Burgundy.
We have not even addressed the further dimensions of vintage variation and aging, nor explored the choices and influences of the wine makers and growers. Suffice to say the beauty, and challenge, of producing Pinot Noir is that it shows the bad with the good. That magnifying glass will expose chinks in the ink, imperfections in the paper and even unwanted flecks of stain. Depending on the degree of imperfection, these can add charming and rustic character or become major flaws. Lots of wines taste great, excite and challenge the grower, producer and drinker, but none more intensely, consistently and thoroughly than site-specific Pinot Noir in good hands.
-Matt Browman
Others well worth seeking out: Brewer Clifton Santa Rita Hills, Santa Barbara, California ($45ish) for pure expression of cool-climate growing, and Lailey Vineyard 2006, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario ($30ish) for confounding complexity and development.
PACKAGING MATTERS
Transportation is a hot topic. Living in Oil City creates a paradoxical relationship with gas: when it is high, our economy hums and the money flows back into our hands to create jobs and opportunity. The opposite side of the coin is that no one likes to pay so much to fill up at the pump, whether car, truck, boat, motorcycle or airplane. And the sense that the whole thing will bust at some point ever looms.
Wine has been shipped around the world for thousands of years. It was sent to supply the expanding Phoenician, Greek and Roman empires, as well as to trade with the local populations. These imperial powers realized that they could also domesticate the vine in their expanding territories which catalyzed the propagation and improvement of viticulture throughout the European continent.
At this point, reasons for shipping wine changed as it no longer needed to be sent as a necessary staple but rather as a quality commodity. This purpose has remained, however the packaging choices have evolved.
Picture that comic strip in which a cave man purchases a mammoth.
He wheels in a massive, coin-shaped slab of rock. The clay amphora in which wine was shipped exemplifies this depiction. Though different shapes and sizes existed, the simplest version is a clay jug with two handles on the neck. It stands about three feet high and would often have a pointed bottom for nestling into sand or soft ground. They were used to store and transport wine, olive oil, grain and other goods for both supply and trade. First appearing around the 15th Century BC, they spread throughout the ancient world.
Produced on an industrial scale by the Greeks, they were nonetheless a poor method of transport. Heavy, cumbersome and easily broken, they did a further disservice as their porous nature did not allow wine to keep over long travel times. They were often lined with pine resin to prevent oxidation, which gave rise to the famous Greek white wine Retsina.
When the Romans arrived in Gaul (France) they found several centuries worth of barrel-making history amongst the natives. The Romans adopted the technology and have made its use widespread since the 3rd Century AD. The barrel became the default storage and shipping vessel for almost two thousand years, though today it is used less for transportation of wine than for storage and improvement. Though pallet-based logistics and containerization changed the way goods were moved in the twentieth century, the main unit of measurement for the number one commodity (oil), is still the barrel.
Barrel use evolved further to glass. Glass-making can be traced back to 3500 BC in Syria with the bottle itself another two thousand years later from the Romans. However the type, style and strength were not suitable for wine storage or distribution. Wine bottles for storage and shipping did not become prevalent until the sixteenth Century AD in England. The British owned half of the world at the time, and with cellars in Porto (Portugal), Sherry (Spain) and Marsala (Sicily), their own Gin production and the Caribbean rum trade, as well as fluctuating trade relations with the French, the demand was high. It was the British glass blowers who perfected the bottle, employing wooden molds to regulate capacity, as well as techniques to make stronger, heavier and darker glass. Up until this point bottles were used, washed and re-used by the owners rather than shipped with their contents.
Today, wine is still shipped in barrel and tanker-truck for volume purchases of non-local wine. Most of us are comfortable with the glass bottle, as the quality-minded producers began estate-bottling to prevent fraud. This has given rise to an entire market study of consumer response to bottle size and shape as well as label design. A similarly strong counter-movement questions these choices based on weight and subsequent shipping costs, fuel consumption and environmental footprint. The catch-22 of course being that part of the reason Albertans can afford great wine is that it requires oil and gas to ship. No solving this one.
-Matt Browman
At this point, reasons for shipping wine changed as it no longer needed to be sent as a necessary staple but rather as a quality commodity. This purpose has remained, however the packaging choices have evolved.
Picture that comic strip in which a cave man purchases a mammoth.
He wheels in a massive, coin-shaped slab of rock. The clay amphora in which wine was shipped exemplifies this depiction. Though different shapes and sizes existed, the simplest version is a clay jug with two handles on the neck. It stands about three feet high and would often have a pointed bottom for nestling into sand or soft ground. They were used to store and transport wine, olive oil, grain and other goods for both supply and trade. First appearing around the 15th Century BC, they spread throughout the ancient world.Produced on an industrial scale by the Greeks, they were nonetheless a poor method of transport. Heavy, cumbersome and easily broken, they did a further disservice as their porous nature did not allow wine to keep over long travel times. They were often lined with pine resin to prevent oxidation, which gave rise to the famous Greek white wine Retsina.
When the Romans arrived in Gaul (France) they found several centuries worth of barrel-making history amongst the natives. The Romans adopted the technology and have made its use widespread since the 3rd Century AD. The barrel became the default storage and shipping vessel for almost two thousand years, though today it is used less for transportation of wine than for storage and improvement. Though pallet-based logistics and containerization changed the way goods were moved in the twentieth century, the main unit of measurement for the number one commodity (oil), is still the barrel.
Barrel use evolved further to glass. Glass-making can be traced back to 3500 BC in Syria with the bottle itself another two thousand years later from the Romans. However the type, style and strength were not suitable for wine storage or distribution. Wine bottles for storage and shipping did not become prevalent until the sixteenth Century AD in England. The British owned half of the world at the time, and with cellars in Porto (Portugal), Sherry (Spain) and Marsala (Sicily), their own Gin production and the Caribbean rum trade, as well as fluctuating trade relations with the French, the demand was high. It was the British glass blowers who perfected the bottle, employing wooden molds to regulate capacity, as well as techniques to make stronger, heavier and darker glass. Up until this point bottles were used, washed and re-used by the owners rather than shipped with their contents.
-Matt Browman
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