Do-it-yourself wine?

Many people I know dream of owning a vineyard, but the reality is that the land is expensive and the financial returns don’t add up. That’s where the make-your-own-wine concept comes in, and there are plenty of places that are willing to accommodate.

To name a couple, there’s Crushpad in Napa, California, City Winery in New York, The Grape Escape in New Jersey, and California WineWorks, also in New Jersey. I recently visited the latter to get more information and see what actually is involved.

While some of these operations serve solely as an investment – in which you have no control over the grapes, crushing, fermentation, or bottling – California WineWorks is a completely hands-on experience. The husband and wife team source their grapes from Chalk Hill in Healdsburg, California.  Clients have the ability to be as involved in the process as they wish and are guided by the couple, who are chemists by trade.

Once the grapes arrive after harvest, it’s time to crush, then decide upon which yeast to use. There’s also the decision as to whether to age the grapes in American or French oak. Eventually, it’s time to bottle and custom make the label.

The options are incredibly extensive, and compositions may include Riesling, Sauvignon Blan, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay, as well as red varietals Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel and Syrah, all of which may be blended.

Perhaps one of the perks of California WineWorks is that barrel tastings are permitted and you can narrow down what style wine to make. Still, there’s a price to pay for producing your own wine. After some research, California WineWorks seemed to be one of the more affordable options.

There are, of course, less expensive alternatives. After visiting California WineWorks, I spoke with my brother who informed me that he and a friend are contemplating making their own wine in the autumn. They will mail order the grapes, and ferment, crush and bottle the wine in a garage. I’m pretty certain their production costs will be cheaper than an established wine-making facility, but I guess I have to wait potentially a year to decide whether it will taste as good.

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Riesling revisited

Riesling is among the most food-friendly wines, and it’s also one of the most misunderstood varietals. As I mentioned in a previous post, The iterations of Riesling, preconceived notions often deter people from trying new things.

I recently found myself guilty of, once again, falling victim to such erroneous and ignorant thinking (i.e., all Rieslings are sweet). I had been keeping a couple of bottles of Riesling that I received complimentary in my wine cabinet – deeming them even unworthy of the EuroCave. But as the outdoor temperature started to rise, I decided I could possibly put the bottles in the kitchen refrigerator to chill should an opportunity arise that I might want to sample them.

So on a shelf below some eggs and yogurt sat a 2007 Babich from Marlborough, New Zealand alongside a 2008 Genus 4 from Eden Valley, Australia. On a recent warm night, I decided to take a chance on one of the wines. Having tasted Rieslings from the Eden Valley before and liking them, I decided to try the Babich – better to drink the worse one first and keep the better one, right?

On the contrary; the Babich was delicious. The dry juice exhibited expressions of petrol, stone fruits and fresh acidity. I should have realized that given the Marlborogh’s late summer/autumn growing season, characterized by warm days that are tempered by cool nights, the climate is ideal for Riesling.

Yet, no matter how much we try to keep an open mind, we often revert back to what we think we know. But sometimes when we free ourselves from our rigid thinking, we might allow ourselves to find pleasure where we least expected to.

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Terroir or terror?

Terroir is a French word that refers to distinctive attributes coming from a vineyard location as a result of soil, climate, slope, etc. It is believed that the terroir gives a varietal a special and unique characteristics that make the pinot noir in the Willamette Valley taste different from that in Carneros, Central Otago and Burgundy.

I often view terroir as something favorable. There’s a reason why Rieslings from the Mosel Valley in Germany taste so incredible: the soil composition, the slope of the vineyards, and the influence the Mosel River has on the grapes as they grow.

However, sometimes there may be negative influences as well that detract or change the terroir. An interesting article in Thursday’s (4/1/2010) Wall Street Journal entitle “Sipping These Wines is Like Smoking And Drinking at the Same Time” points out that as a result of the wild fires in California, many of the 2008 pinots from the Anderson Valley have a smoky quality to them. Indeed, they portray the terroir of the vintage.

It’s proving a problem, and winemakers are trying different fining practices and filtration techniques to rid the wines of the “wet ashtray” character to no avail. As a result of the smoke taint, the wines are being substantially marked down, and some vintners are choosing to release only small quantities of their wine, or none at all.

I’m not sure how I’d feel about smokiness in my wine. It seems the smoked flavor would be better suited for beer. And there are beers that are smoked, such as Stone Smoked Porter, Imperial Smoked Porter and Church Key Holy Smoke Scotch Ale, which taste absolutely delicious.

If prices really are reduced, then I would say don’t dismiss the 2008 vintage without trying it first. Wine is exploration is all about keeping an open mind, after all.

Of course, I’m pretty certain that if I’m in the mood for something smoked, I’ll just pick up a Rogue Smoke Ale.

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The iterations of Riesling

Many people I speak with dismiss Riesling because they believe it is too sweet, or off dry. While there are certainly expressions of the grape that have more body and sweetness with ripe fruit flavors, not all come in that style.

Riesling, whether it is from Alsace, Austria, Australia or Germany, is a very aromatic grape, and due to its high natural acidity and low alcohol – usually between 7% and 11% – it produces an ideal wine for food pairing.

The bone dry Rieslings out of Alsace, Austria, the Finger Lake region in upstate New York and Eden Valley Australia have floral characteristics and minerality that pair nicely with fish dishes, including Japanese food and sushi, as well as vegetable dishes.

Yet, Germany probably accounts for the most diverse expressions of the grape and is the most vast producer of Riesling. Here the styles are broken down and categorized by body and sweetness, beginning with Kabinett, which are lightest in body and most dry, with crisp acidity and green apple and citrus fruit. Make sure that if you are looking for a completely dry wine that “trocken” appears after the Kabinett on the label, however; otherwise there will be some residual sugar detected.

The degrees of body and sweetness in German Riesling intensify as the styles move along the trajectory of Spatlese, Auslese Beerenauslese, Eiswein and Trockenbeerenauslese. Spatlese and Auslese, while made with ripe grapes and therefore taste quite sweet, can be perfect accompaniments to Szechuan, Hunan, and Cantonese cuisine.

One of the most impressive wine lists in New York City that I’ve come across for its Riesling inclusion is Hearth. The list is extensive, with a few pages devoted to the numerous expressions of the grape.

Wine shops are also stocking their shelves with more bottles of the juice. Though aged Rieslings will command a higher price tag, many of the 2007 and 2008 vintage will fall into the under-$20 category.

Let go of any preconceived thoughts you might have had and instead associate these words with Riesling: Diverse, ubiquitous, affordable, and delicious.

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Icing on the vine

There’s something to be said about the arduous task of producing delicious wine, particularly when there’s forces beyond human powers that play a vital role. In a bad vintage, a good winemaker can create a solid expression of a particular grape, such as a Pinot Noir or a Cabernet Sauvignon. However, Icewines require supreme conditions and that’s generally all up to nature to determine.

I’m just back from a weekend up in Buffalo, during which I had the opportunity to visit Niagara-on-the-Lake and sample some of the area’s Icewines. Ironically, temperatures were in the single-digits when I arrived, and the wind coming off of the lake was so biting that drinking anything with the word “ice” in the name initially seemed off putting. After a few samples I got over it.

The region is actually one of the finest for producing the sweet, dessert wine, thanks to contrasting hot summers and cold winters. It’s also commonly produced in Germany and Austria. Vidal is the most common of the varietals for making Icewine in Canada, but many vineyards are experimenting and trying other varietals, including Riesling and Cabernet Franc.

By law, Icewine must be produced by grapes under a deep freeze, of roughly 17 degrees Fahrenheit or minus 8 degrees Celsius. There’s a fine balance, however. A freeze that does not come quickly enough may cause the grapes to rot and the crop will be lost. Conversely, if the freeze is too severe, potentially no juice can be extracted.

My friend and I hit a few vineyards, including Inniskillin, which is regarded as one of the oldest and finest. The winery has produced a Vidal Icewine for the 2010 Winter Olympics, which was pretty standard, though I preferred the Riesling Icewine. It was well balanced and fragrant, quite like the grape itself.

Perhaps my favorite of the day was the Cabernet Franc from Hillebrand, which had amazing strawberry fruit and a nice, long finish. I splurged on a 375 ml bottle, which ran about $80.

That’s the thing about Icewines; due to the labor-intense process and small production, they are generally quite expensive. Yet, when the elements align, and a winemaker and nature unite to create a truly amazing product, it seems a small price to pay for greatness.

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