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Category Archives: Wine Knowledge

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New Wines – There’s More Than Beaujolais Nouveau

by Dave Williams

I would bet most of us are familiar with “new wine” because of George DeBoeuf and Beaujolais Nouveau which appears annually on the third Thursday of November. George certainly did a marvelous job as a promoter or extraordinary marketer. To the point where it has become cause for grand, and some say crazy, celebrations; and certainly increased revenue for wineries and retailers across the globe, regardless of whether people like Beaujolais Nouveau or not. In Japan one ritual is for the consumers to bathe in giant pools of the stuff. Makes one wonder if they drink their way out of the pool. While George may have latched on to wildly successful marketing ploy he certainly has no claim of exclusivity or originality as new wine has been made in the Old World for hundreds of years.

As far back as Medieval times wine makers traditionally first tasted their “new wines” around St. Martin’s Day (November 11). In Eastern Europe the Czeck Republic and Hungary also have such celebrations around wines called Svatomartinske Vino and Marton bora or wine of St. Martin, respectively. Not all are made via carbonic maceration, although most are. (Carbonic maceration is when harvested grapes are fermented in closed vats bathed in carbon dioxide prior to crushing producing simple wines with low levels of tannins. These wines are quickly bottled and consumed with no intent for longevity.) In fact, the Czech Republic has quality standards for Svatomartinske which undergoes evaluation by the state wine making institute. In Hungary, Marton bora is strongly connected to goose dishes with goose feasts occurring throughout the country upon release.

All so called, “new wines” are produced from early harvested grape varieties, Gamay being the most well-known. However, in Central Europe Muller-Thurgau, Fruhroter Veltliner and Muskat Moravsky are used to make white, as well as rose, “new wines”. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending upon your opinion of these wines, most are unknown outside the local areas they are made. For example, the Gaillac appellation in Southwest France makes Gaillac Primeur and releases it on the same day as Beaujolais Nouveau. I would bet you have never heard of this new wine, let alone tasted it. “New wines” also appear in Austria, Italy and Spain during fall in the year of harvest although few if any are imported to the US. Released on October 30, Italy’s “vino novello” is probably the only one likely to find its way Stateside.

In summary, “new wines” bring energy and some excitement to the wine world. Celebrations occur after release for a few weeks then all is quickly forgotten, very ephemeral.

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Gifting a Birth Year Wine

by Cathy Boyd

Recently I attended a christening for my newborn nephew and instead of arriving at the christening with an age appropriate gift, I gave the parents an IOU. I would buy a bottle of wine from the child’s birth year, store the bottle for 20+ years, and then give it to the child on their 21st birthday.

What are some guidelines on choosing a wine that will be palatable in 2038, considering most wine produced is best consumed within 5 years of bottling? First, choose a varietal that is known to have potential to hold up over the 2+ decades. Reds – Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Vintage Port. Whites – Riesling, Semillon, and Champagne.

Research the vintages. Because the year is already chosen for you, review the professional’s opinion on the potential of the vintage. Look for producers who consistently make great wine no matter the seasonal difficulties. Buy the bottle when it is released. The cost of the bottle at release will be less than purchasing it several years after release at an auction, plus you will have the provenance.

Plan the purchase of the bottle. Purchasing the bottle is done long after the candles on the 1st birthday cake is blown out. Don’t forget! If available, purchase a magnum bottle (1.5L) of the wine of your choice. Magnums age more reliably and will provide the opportunity for more to share in the celebration when opening.

Finally, store the wine carefully. Proper cellaring conditions allows the wine to age rather than deteriorate.

For birth of a nephew in 2017, I purchased a Joh. Jos. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese Riesling. I consulted professional reviews – Wine Spectator 95 points, drinking from 2025 to 2039. Price $45. The bottle is tucked away in my wine refrigerator (with a tag noting the intended recipient). And of course, I bought a second bottle for my collection.

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Marty on Wine – Terroir

I have many opportunities to chat with Customers throughout the work day in my capacity as a Wine Specialist. This is undoubtedly the most pleasurable part of my job! I love the myriad of wine-related discussions upon which we touch. Of the topics that frequently arise is that pertaining to the differences in wines made from the same grape variety when it is grown in different places. As a “for instance”, consider the difference in taste between a Sauvignon Blanc from California versus the same wine from Washington. These distinctions always comes down to “place”. It matters a great deal where the grapes are grown, as the resultant wine will reflect the characteristics of that place. The French refer to the characteristics that place causes and imparts upon a wine as terroir (pronounced terˈwär).

There are no words in the English language that are analogous to terroir. The “terre” in “terroir” comes from the French word for “land”. The traditional definition of terroir is “the complete natural environmental conditions in which a particular wine is produced, including factors such as the soil, topography, and climate in which grapes are grown and that give a wine its unique flavor and aroma.” Notice that this definition refers to the “natural” environmental conditions of the place in which the grapes are grown. In other words, anything that is not a manmade characteristic is natural. Irrigation is a good example of a manmade intervention that is not included as a component of terroir. Trellising is another example of manmade influence upon the conditions under which grapes are grown. On the other hand, aspects such as soil composition, climate and weather (two separate things), degree days, annual rainfall, drainage characteristics, wind, elevation, proximity to a body of water, and exposure as it relates to the sun (both facing or orientation, as well as the degree of slope of the land) all comprise terroir. One begins to appreciate the importance of vineyard site selection after taking into account all of these natural variables!

So, when you next taste a California grown Sauvignon Blanc (and, again, depending on where the grapes were grown in California), you may taste a drier, somewhat “grassy” wine as opposed to, say, a fruitier, more aromatic Sauvignon Blanc from Washington. The same grape variety, but grown in two very distinct terroir, will result in two vastly different wines.

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Marty On Wine – “It’s Beaujolais Nouveau Time!”

by Marty Cook

Beaujolais Nouveau is the first wine of the new harvest! The third Thursday of November is traditionally observed as Beaujolais Nouveau Day and is a national holiday in France that features fireworks, music and festivals. This occasion marks the first day on which wines from the current year’s new harvest are permitted to be sold and consumed. Under French law, the wine is released at 12:01 am, just weeks after the wine’s grapes have been harvested. The slogan heard far and wide on the release date is, “It’s Beaujolais Nouveau Time!”

As part of the festivities, producers delight in trying to outdo each other with colorful wine bottle labels. An annual race used to be staged to determine which producer would be the first to deliver their Beaujolais Nouveau to Paris, and this contest would garner much media attention; but the current practice is to ship the Beaujolais Nouveau in advance of the third Thursday in November with the stipulation that the wine will not be released for sale until 12:01 am on Beaujolais Nouveau Day.

The Beaujolais Nouveau Day phenomenon has captivated the enthusiasm of the wine-drinking public around the globe. It first spread to neighboring European countries around France, then swept across the Atlantic Ocean to America, and eventually reached oenophiles in Asia. The epicenter of this phenomenon is the Beaujolais Region of France, which is a wine region located at the southern tip of the famous French Bourgogne (Burgundy) Region.

Beaujolais Nouveau is a young wine made from Gamay grapes by employing a special vilification process known as Carbonic Maceration (CM), or “whole berry fermentation”. The essence of CM is that whole, uncrushed clusters of grapes, stems and all, are placed in a fermentation tank that is then sealed and flooded with carbon dioxide. Yeast is added to the tank just prior to the addition of the grape clusters. The weight of the clusters will rupture some of the grapes on the bottom of the tank, which releases enough juice to activate the yeast, and the fermentation process begins. The whole berries then commence to ferment inside their skins. These fermenting berries are eventually pressed, and the resulting must is then allowed to complete the fermentation process.

The CM process results in a wine that is softer, fruitier, and more floral than would be the case if the Beaujolais was produced using typical winemaking means. This is because the CM technique preserves the fresh, fruity quality of the grapes without extracting bitter tannins from the grape skins. It is desirable to enjoy Beaujolais Nouveau when it is young and still portraying these characteristics to their maximum potential. This is not a wine to lay down in your wine cellar! Drink it now!

Beaujolais Nouveau wine is an excellent pairing befitting of any Thanksgiving table and will compliment all of your festive foods throughout the ensuing holiday season. Enjoy!

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Size Matters!

by Dave Williams
As they rise to a crescendo of delight, the quality of champagne has often been measured by the size of the bubbles. A steady stream of tiny bubbles has long been recognized as the indicator of quality. Recently, Professor Gérard Liger-Belair, a chemical physicist at the University of Reims, spent time measuring bubbles size and impact on sparkling wines, in particular Champagne. Once a bottle is opened, some one million bubbles form in the average glass of Champagne. These escaping little spheres of dissolved CO2 range from 0.4-4.0mm (.016-.160”) in diameter. Viscosity and the glass can influence bubble size to a degree. Ultimately, his findings indicated that bubbles 3.4mm (.136”) across were optimum at delivering the aroma and flavor of the wine.

Using high speed photography he examined what happened to the bubbles as they form a raft at the top of the wine. Bubbles form a hexagonal pattern on the surface, much like petals of a flower. When a bubble collapses it creates a cavity that strains the adjacent bubbles increasing the likelihood of their collapsing. When bubbles collapse they explode tiny aromatic droplets into the air. The more bubbles that collapse the greater the aroma and flavor impact. Prof. Liger-Belair previously discovered that chilling a Champagne to 39⁰F. reduces the amount of alcohol carried by each bubble which can overpower the expression of more delicate flavors. He also claims that that flutes enhance the flavor of Champagne over wider coupe glasses. However, personal experience with glass size and Champagne would cause me to disagree with this statement. Sounds like more empirical testing is in order!

We encourage you to join us and experience bubbles at our upcoming Champagne event in December!

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Marty on Wine – How Rose Wines Are Made

 

Well before the arrival of the Summer Solstice, wine palates begin to shift their seasonal preferences from heavier full-bodied red wines to lighter wines, i.e. those “summer sippers” that we all love! Prominent among these delightful, refreshing offerings are many wonderful Rosé wines. But, beyond the enjoyment of a cool, thirst-quenching glass of delicious Rosé, have you ever given thought to how that Rosé wine was made?

Many Customers in the Fine Wine & Good Spirits store where I work have asked me how one makes a Rosé wine. Some Customers intuitively think that Rosé wines are simply a blend of red and white wines combined in the proportions necessary to reach a Rosé-like color. While it is true that this type of blending is one way in which Rosé wines can be made (although the use of this method to make a Rosé wine is prohibited in some countries, most notably France), it may come as a surprise that there are two other approaches to making Rosé wines! I have also heard Customers speculate that Rosé wines (and, particularly, wines made by blending) are lesser wines. Nothing could be further from the truth!

As for the sometimes-maligned general practice of blending wines, it is axiomatic among winemakers that blending a good wine with a lesser wine will only produce an inferior wine. That is why the true art of blending good wines is an effort (indeed, a skill) to combine two or more good wines and blend them in such a fashion as to produce a very good wine that reflects the finest qualities of every constituent wine that went into its final blend!

Aside from blending, the two other approaches to making Rosé wine are: skin contact and saignée (from French for “bleeding”). Skin contact refers to the length of time before fermentation during which the crushed grape clusters (or, the must, which includes grape pulp, skins, seeds, and possibly stems) stay in contact with the juice. The length of time can be as brief as a scant few or as long as 24 hours. The juice, once separated from the skins, retains a pink color and that varies in intensity according to the length of time during which the must was in contact with the juice. Saignée, on the other hand, refers to a method in which grapes are lightly pressed and the initial resultant juice that “bleeds” off from the light pressing retains a pink color from its brief exposure to the grapes during this light pressing.

Rosé wines may be made in various shades of pink, owing to the technique employed during their production. They may also be “still” or “sparkling”. The amount of residual sugar can also vary across the spectrum of sweetness to dryness, although my favorite Rosé wines are in the medium-dry to dry range and come from Provence, France. In addition, all Rosé wines are generally served chilled and are meant to be consumed while they are young and at their freshest. And, best of all, Rosé wine pairs well with virtually any food! So, enjoy a wonderful Rosé “summer sipper” soon!