tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2010:/grapecrafter/1 2010-06-18T00:54:06Z The Wine Technology Blog Movable Type 3.32 tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2010:/grapecrafter//1.115 2010-06-18T00:49:03Z 2010-06-18T00:54:06Z

Stuart Smith is hosting a lively discussion debunking biodynamics on his blog. My contribution:...

Clark Smith lively discussion debunking biodynamics on his blog. My contribution:]]> While my sentiments are with you in that the origins of BD are pretty shady, and as fond as I am of Stu personally, I am disappointed in the smug, self-assured tone of this blog. As someone who knows a little about science, let me play Devil’s advocate and challenge some statements here, not so much to support Steiner but more to strengthen true science by pointing out what it is not. Your arguments are largely circular: BD seems absurd, and therefore why investigate? Our inability to imagine the mechanisms of biodynamics does not by itself constitute proof of its invalidity, and neither does a smear campaign regarding its founder. Say it’s the 18th century, you’re Isaac Newton, and I tell you I’ve got a box that can pull invisible waves out of the air and show us pictures and voices from people in other parts of the world and from other times. Yeah, right. Say you can discredit my credentials: does that make the claim less accurate, or just less credible? It is this very complacency which has by its nature created alternatives to scientific progress such as the BD movement, out of shear frustration with its limitations and its lack of imagination. The only thing I can see that really distinguishes the process which established BD from science is that the latter has a well organized system of verifiable inquiry. But this is not as cut-and-dried a recommendation as one might suppose. As practiced in the last 100 years, this inquiry is based on arbitrary and often inapplicable statistical assumptions. It also is better suited to elucidating simple, linear, analytical phenomena than evaluating whole systems, particularly human responses to intricate stimuli such as a glass of wine. Science’s focus on isolated problems rather than systems thinking has led to a lot of problems. A pill for this, a pill for that, with no notion of the impact for this particular person’s body as a whole. The USDA importation of Asian ladybugs has been a disaster for the wine industry from Ohio to Niagara. Need I go on? Yet science is not fundamentally reductionist; all areas of inquiry are, in theory, fair game, even astrology, voodoo and biodynamics. In winemaking, UCDavis would do well to abandon its outdated solution chemistry paradigm and to give at least tentative credibility to phenomena such as minerality, aromatic integration and profundity. Overconfidence in science as a repository of truth, despite its inability to tackle currently vexing problems like balancing a sustainable ecosystem or turning a $30 Pinot into a $50 Pinot, has driven some very smart people such as Randall Grahm and the Benzigers to try another way. Just as Western medicine has a theory of disease but not one of wellness, scientific winemaking has stumbled badly by trying to dissect wine. It’s great for fixing defects, but has no advice for increasing wines soulfulness, harmony or even longevity. Having solved the easy problems, our current scientific practice is no longer the engine of progress in these areas – it is the caboose. It will fall to scientists in the future to evaluate the efficacy of BD systems wrought by true believers rather than to second guess now in an area where our methods have no predictive traction. tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2010:/grapecrafter//1.114 2010-06-14T18:02:07Z 2010-06-14T18:19:28Z

Clark- can you elaborate on the following text from your TONG paper? Specifically, the relationship between "active tannins and sulfides"? Also, what do you mean by "field oxidation"? "Alcohol adjustment enabled California winemakers to achieve full ripeness, but that resulted...

Clark Smith Clark- can you elaborate on the following text from your TONG paper? Specifically, the relationship between "active tannins and sulfides"? Also, what do you mean by "field oxidation"? "Alcohol adjustment enabled California winemakers to achieve full ripeness, but that resulted in new problems. Ripe musts full of well-extracted, active tannins produce stinky sulfides. These unpleasant but transitory compounds are a sign of healthy life energy, but they are disconcerting to the novice winemaker and require a new skill set. Instead, reductive behavior in highly concentrated wines like Cabernet and Syrah has prompted many winemakers to drive the life energy out of their grapes by excessive hangtime and field oxidation." Thanks, Ken Ken: Red grapes at peak ripeness have a maximum reductive strength. A typical Napa Cab Sauv will take up 60 – 80 mls of oxygen for a month. If deprived of oxygen, it will become very reductive, often producing H2S as an artifact. These sulfides have nothing to do with dusting sulfur and are an artifact of very low redox potential. Flavonoid phenols such as catechin exist in grape skins as monomeric, and also as two types of polymers. During early ripening they form enzymatically into non-oxidative polymers with 4-8 bonds and a compact macrostructure. These bonds are acid-labile, so from a functional point of view can be regarded as banked monomer, and become monomeric in must as soon as they are crushed. The second type of polymeric linkage is oxidative. These are not 4-8 linkages, but instead are initiated by oxidation of the B ring, which contains an ortho-diphenol structure, and result in random linkages which are covalent and permanent, not subject to acidic hydrolysis. For example, the epicatechin gallate polymers in seeds become oxidatively cross linked in seeds during ripening, reducing their solubility and harsh flavor, making berries more palatable to birds. The field oxidation process takes place in the late stages of ripening, resulting in permanent structures which are oxidatively inactive. Since anthocyanins are compartmentalized in skins, they are not optimally incorporated into these structures, which are prone to over polymerization and precipitation after a few years, leaving a dry, gritty impression on the palate. They are also incapable of forming copigmentation colloids. Thus field oxidation robs the wine of both anthocyanins and active tannins. A typical Napa Cabernet with three weeks of excessive ripeness will be able to consume only 30 – 40 mls of oxygen for 3 – 5 days, having lost approximately 90% of its reductive strength. Those extra three weeks on the vine steal a decade of cellaring potential. The technique of field oxidation was perfected by the Australians to soften tannins so no cellar elaboration was necessary, as an easy means to produce bottle-ready fruit bombs today’s marketplace demands. This is fine as long as it is understood that the effect is transitory. It’s all very well for production of flavorful (if shallow) wines intended for current consumption. The problem arises when the technique is used for expensive wines with ageworthy reputation, such as the modern anathemas currently perpetrated in Barolo and in Napa Cabernet. Postmodern Winemakers do their cooking in the kitchen, not the field. A trained hand will pick ripe but not overripe and utilize oxygen to convert reductive energy into structure, taking advantage of active tannins and monomeric anthocyanins in intimate contact, and producing a rich, light, stable tannin soufflé using oxygen as the wire whisk, building and balancing reductive strength in the process. The result is wines of both youthful finesse and enhanced longevity, to say nothing of the enhancement of profundity of flavor and character. tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2010:/grapecrafter//1.113 2010-06-10T17:43:11Z 2010-06-10T17:54:59Z

Apropos of nothing, I just had to repost this item off Jancis Robinson's blog commenting on her article about Canadian wines. It's among the funniest things I ever heard....

Clark Smith Jancis Robinson's blog commenting on her article about Canadian wines. It's among the funniest things I ever heard.]]> From Valerie d'E Miller, Millers Landing, Ontario: Thank you for an excellent article on the Canadian wine scene. We have a small vineyard in Canada and have found the whole situation mighty frustrating. You covered it beautifully. PS A perhaps unique problem in Prince Edward County is the raccoons. They love grapes and damage whole bunches by wrenching off their favourite grape. The answer is low electric fences six and nine inches high. While this was being installed we were told that they were repelled by the sound of human voices so we covered the field with portable radios. Activating them after dark, we found that so many of the local stations had music playing. The only guaranteed rabble rousing talk programmes were the US religious programmes. So you can imagine our satisfaction to be walking back home in the dark, hearing from all corners of the field voices telling us that 'Jesus saves - and if you have a problem, you can rely on Jesus!' tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2010:/grapecrafter//1.112 2010-05-20T15:05:35Z 2010-05-20T15:08:11Z

I'm hosting a pretty thorough discussion on minerality at wine.woot this week. Recommended reading....

Clark Smith wine.woot this week. Recommended reading.]]> tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2010:/grapecrafter//1.111 2010-05-08T22:07:53Z 2010-05-08T22:11:05Z

Interesting discussion on Snooth.com about Parker's closing his site. I like this discussion centered around costs and value. A public posting board is like a public park, and it is easier to maintain than a building with sticks and bricks...

Clark Smith discussion on Snooth.com about Parker's closing his site. I like this discussion centered around costs and value. A public posting board is like a public park, and it is easier to maintain than a building with sticks and bricks and a staff. ]]> A site like, say, Jancis Robinson’s, which generates heaps of professional content (plus a lively discussion from subscribers at least professional enough to foot the subscription bill) offers a much higher value than a public chatroom. Appellation America’s bill was over a half million dollars a year, not $250, but it also offered incredible content. This is private enterprise, folks, and if you don’t pony up, you can only hope that your click can be converted to enough cash to balance the books. All addictive drugs are marketed on a first-one’s-free basis, but ask your dealer – it doesn’t create a lifetime free entitlement. What did you think? Parker would have kept it going if it made any sense, and it doesn’t fall to us outsiders to second guess his books. I recommend either paying the piper or sending him a very nice note thanking him for the eight-year free ride, then moving on to the content-free sites, which I hope you may find worth more than you are paying. tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2010:/grapecrafter//1.110 2010-05-08T20:56:06Z 2010-05-08T21:06:24Z

Here's a link to my recent article interviewing my great friend Randall Grahm. It's not your typical RG article, and if you are a winemaker yourself, it contains much food for thought to ponder your relationship with the public and...

Clark Smith recent article interviewing my great friend Randall Grahm. It's not your typical RG article, and if you are a winemaker yourself, it contains much food for thought to ponder your relationship with the public and perhaps with your Marketing Department. I have been writing this column for Wines and Vines on Postmodern Winemaking since January, and the previous articles are now posted. I strongly recommend the whole series to lovers of this blog, starting with January's column, The Solution Problem: Overcoming Enology.]]> tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2010:/grapecrafter//1.109 2010-04-23T04:16:33Z 2010-04-28T19:36:50Z

Clark Smith What serendipity. Jo Diaz had cooked up on her own an idea about pairing the jazz piano and bluesy vocals of Alacia Van with a pile of Petite Sirahs, and invited me along without any notion of the work I’ve done on the subject. It was her notion that we could pair each of the 15 wines with a different selection. I told her this wasn’t likely to work. Either we would see no good pairings at all, or there would be groups of emotional modalities which would cluster around one song or another. Wine Personality Music matchTwisted Oak ’08 Feminine, romantic Heart and Soul Miro ’07 Affable American Tune (Paul Simon)? Langtry ’05 Heavy metal Fever Vina Robles Austere The Music That Makes Me Dance Diamond Ridge Vineyards ’08 Salsa swing I Feel So Smoochie, Fever Concannon Livermore ’07 Pathos PS I Love You Line 39 ’07 Lyric, lean La Vie En Rose Ursa ’05 Spicy, elegant Foxy Lady (Jimi Hendrix)? Silkwood ’07 Macho soulful Fever Artezin ’07 Mendocino Sultry, complex PS I Love You, Nearness of You EOS Estate ‘06 Bright, exotic Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings? Parducci “True Grit” ’06 Rock and Roll Fever Mettler ’04 ‘80’s Funk I Wish You Love Clayhouse ’05 lyrical, Gershwin The Very Thought of You Pedroncelli ’06 soft pop rock Hole in the World Tonight (Eagles)? Quixote ‘05 Complex, austere Carmina Burana (Carl Orff)? Lava Cap ‘’05 sweet pop rock La Vie en Rose Artezin 07 Garzini Ranch epic Needs Opera Hess Collection Big, austere PS I Love You ]]> tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2010:/grapecrafter//1.108 2010-04-21T23:14:45Z 2010-04-22T00:20:46Z

Monday was a truly remarkable day organized by Jo and Jose Diaz of PS I Love You and well recounted by Ken Paxton's Reign of Terroir. My own account has been delayed by the necessity of a redeye flight to...

Clark Smith Jo and Jose Diaz of PS I Love You and well recounted by Ken Paxton's Reign of Terroir. My own account has been delayed by the necessity of a redeye flight to Charlotte immediately thereafter and a combination of intensely working the market and being jetlagged out of my mind ever since. Still, with the others blogging, I should at least give you the link from here to my research on wine and music, with a followup report on this fascinating day promised shortly.]]> tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2010:/grapecrafter//1.107 2010-04-09T17:07:49Z 2010-04-09T17:14:43Z

Recent published papers by statistician and winery owner Robert Hodgson on judge unreliability and on the inconsistency of awards in 13 U.S. wine competitions have created a well-deserved scandal surrounding the inconsistency of wine competitions in awarding medals. To explore...

Clark Smith judge unreliability and on the inconsistency of awards in 13 U.S. wine competitions have created a well-deserved scandal surrounding the inconsistency of wine competitions in awarding medals. To explore the notion that competitions could be more effective if judges are given target profiles, this year’s Riverside International Wine Competition has agreed to allow me to conduct an experiment in the Petite Sirah category with regionally based style profiles provided to the judges. For more on this story, check out (and contribute to) Jo Diaz' blog on the subject.]]> tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2010:/grapecrafter//1.106 2010-03-23T08:40:51Z 2010-03-23T08:45:13Z

When I teach, I like to ask for responses from the class, to get them thinking actively. This doesn’t always go so well, but the one query they never have trouble with is “What’s the Prime Directive for white wine?”...

Clark Smith When I teach, I like to ask for responses from the class, to get them thinking actively. This doesn’t always go so well, but the one query they never have trouble with is “What’s the Prime Directive for white wine?” “Fresh.” They get it every time. Yet wine can be and often is too fresh. Even the most flowery, delicate sauvignon blanc needs a little time to emerge. And I defy anyone to show me a rosé that isn’t better in year two than in year one – I include White Zin in this. The problem is reduction, which is caused by anti-oxidative power, a sign of health and integrity. The best whites are the ones that need that extra year the most. The New Zealanders have an edge on us. They harvest in March instead of September, so they can put their 2009’s out with an extra six months of development and the consumer will still think they are brand new. Consumers, or at least sommeliers, need to get better sense. A vintage is not an expiration date. tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2010:/grapecrafter//1.105 2010-01-14T18:35:30Z 2010-01-14T19:05:20Z

Clark: What can one stand to gain by making multivintage/nonvintage blends? What are the pitfalls and drawbacks of multivintage/nonvintage blends? Arthur Z. Przebinda Founder and Publisher redwinebuzz.com Arthur: The truth? Let me get on my hobbyhorse. Removing the constraint of...

Clark Smith Clark: What can one stand to gain by making multivintage/nonvintage blends? What are the pitfalls and drawbacks of multivintage/nonvintage blends? Arthur Z. Przebinda Founder and Publisher redwinebuzz.com Arthur: The truth? Let me get on my hobbyhorse. Removing the constraint of vintage purity gives the winemaker more freedom to blend for consistency, complexity and balance. Thus non-vintage wines are without exception a superior product and a better deal for the consumer. However, Brother Timothy of Christian Brothers basically brought that winery to its knees by insisting on a non-vintage direction, because it was perceived as a commitment to mediocrity, and to advocate this simple truth is still marketing suicide today. For those of us who make wines which take longer to come around in the bottle, vintage dating has a second concern today, which is its new role as an expiration date. Any chardonnay on the market now labeled before 2006 is suspect – something must be wrong with it or it would have sold by now. We are just coming out with our 2004 because the combination of lees contact, minerality and lower alcohol (12.9) causes it to close up for five years or so. This stale goods phenomenon is worst in dry rosés. The consumer seems to think that 2008 is now over the hill, and will only buy 2009 this summer. In fact, most rosé is pretty reductive for the first year or two. Even Sutter Home White Zinfandel takes over a year to open up. The solution we’ve found to this problem is to remove the vintage date from our rosés. Everybody should do this until the American consumer wises up – not likely any time soon. In a time when consumer ignorance is at an all-time high, it should be illegal to vintage date rosé. Clark tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2010:/grapecrafter//1.104 2010-01-03T08:14:51Z 2010-01-03T08:24:35Z

Hi I'm not sure this is the right place to ask this question but ive spent weeks researching with little results; I make wine, for myself not as a business, and now i know that filtration can be looked down...

Clark Smith Hi I'm not sure this is the right place to ask this question but ive spent weeks researching with little results; I make wine, for myself not as a business, and now i know that filtration can be looked down upon, and I personally dont require it for my wine, however the woman I intend to marry has an slight intollerance to yeast and can only drink wines filtered to a kosher degree (i know its .4 something microns right?) and she Loves wine, especially my wine, so i would like to filter half of all my batches(or all if im as pleased after filtration as i was before) for her to be able to enjoy it; would you happen to know of a relatively cheap($100-150 initial investment) filtration method for home use that would produce kosher (yeast free) wine? I'd heard that forcing it through some under the sink water filters that go to the right micron size can work-having the right micron size filter-? Thanks in advance for your time, if you cant answer my entire question maybe you can tell me what exact size/micron filter im looking for to remove yeast? Enraged Poet Dear EP: Either a 0.45 micron or 0.65 micron will give you a sterile fermentation against whole cells. There may be some autolyzed yeast fragments still in the wine, but this should take out most of them as well. You will be hard pressed to buy a small pump, housing and filter of any sort for under $100. Try St. Pat’s in Texas, the number one provider of equipment to home winemakers. There is also Napa Fermentations in Napa, CA or The Beverage People in Santa Rosa, CA. There is a good chance you could rent the pump and housing from your local home winemaking shop. Since sterile filters are expensive, it might work better to use a depth filter which is cheaper, has more holding capacity and a longer life. With small amounts and proper storage (drug store ethanol), a good 10” depth cartridge such as a Pall Profile cartridge could last several years for you. I just use diatomaceous earth filtration, similar to a swimming pool filter, for clarification, which does not harm the structure of the wine. This would not absolutely remove every yeast, but it will take out over 99.9%, which might be fine. Homewinemakers often fine rather than filter to achieve clarification, because it's very cheap. It’s a black art. I’d start with Sparkaloid, which is pretty neutral. Another trick that works pretty well is to chill the wine and let the tartrates form on your yeast and drop it to the bottom. The wine needs to be left still for a few weeks to get good clarity. Sitting peacefully in a cold basement or old fridge works best. Then carefully rack off the sediment. Good luck! tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2009:/grapecrafter//1.103 2009-10-05T23:20:43Z 2009-10-05T23:34:16Z

Clark, I have a technical question about my wine list that I hope you can help me with. A winemaker says he does not spray any chemicals on his grapes and says he is "natural without compromises". But he uses...

Clark Smith Clark, I have a technical question about my wine list that I hope you can help me with. A winemaker says he does not spray any chemicals on his grapes and says he is "natural without compromises". But he uses copper and sulphur, as well as treatments based on propolis. So I'm not sure if he would be organic or natural or sustainable. Can you give me some guidance? He's in Italy, not the US by the way. Thanks, Michael Bordeaux mixture are acceptable for organic certification although both are toxic to workers and copper has been found to be harmful to fish, livestock and—due to potential build up of copper in the soil—earthworms. Any substance is made of chemicals. Water is a chemical. If he sprays anything on his grapes, it's made from chemicals. The pop definition implies “bad chemicals; harmful, industrial, synthetic chemicals.” Water, of course, can be synthesized and can be harmful, but I’m mostly in favor of it. How can you tell bad chemicals? Either you ask a certification board or you trust the grower. Or ask what he does use. This I could research for you. “Sustainable” at least implies some sort of neutral carbon footprint, and has the potential for validation organizations to spring up eventually. I am convinced that “Natural” is the most worthless of these terms because the factions involved will never agree on what it means. See my article on AppellationAmerica.com. I believe the best way to tell if something is natural is just to ask Alice Feiring. It’s her personal word, and like pornography, she knows it when she sees it, even if nobody else does. The nearest I can slice your guy is that he isn’t using anything banned from the organic certification but isn’t certified (he would say so) for some obscure reason. Perhaps he hasn’t made it through the three year waiting period, or the local certifier has a feud with his uncle. Maybe he hates paperwork. Or maybe, like most farmers, he is doing what he thinks is right; following the rules that make sense to him and ignoring the idiotic. That sounds uncompromising to me. ]]> tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2009:/grapecrafter//1.102 2009-09-03T23:12:49Z 2009-09-03T23:46:07Z

Here at last is a two minute video which captures the essence of wine's distribution network in the U.S. as it malfunctions in a down economy. Also the funniest video I ever saw. The simple truth of this situation explains...

Clark Smith two minute video which captures the essence of wine's distribution network in the U.S. as it malfunctions in a down economy. Also the funniest video I ever saw. The simple truth of this situation explains why the channels of access for the 150,000+ wines on the market need to go beyond the 2,000 shelf positions in even a very large store. The system is choked with crap. No wonder pundits complain about sameness. But the enemy isn't technology -- it's the distribution system. These people simply aren't tasting what's out there. There are more great, distinctive American wines available to day than ever before in history; literally a hundred times as many as in 1975, But the internet is your only access to them. To provide guidance through that fascinating but daunting maze is why I started charting the AVA's at AppellationAmerica.com. Despite its problems, the Best-Of-Appellation process continues, now self-sustaining. Yours for a buck a week.]]> tag:www.grapecrafter.com,2009:/grapecrafter//1.101 2009-08-09T23:45:26Z 2009-08-10T00:01:26Z

Dude, the smoke in that Faux Chablis just sends me. You say it's yeast autolysis. I've stirred a lot of yeast, but I never got THAT! Is there a secret combination of elements? Or maybe I didn't stir often enough...

Clark Smith Faux Chablis just sends me. You say it's yeast autolysis. I've stirred a lot of yeast, but I never got THAT! Is there a secret combination of elements? Or maybe I didn't stir often enough long enough? Mark: Thanks for the nice comments on the Faux. We're trying to show two things in this wine. One is that California Chardonnay doesn't need to be an oaky, toasty butterbomb -- blame the winemaker, not the terroir. This wine shows the distinctive lemon oil character because the alcohol isn't very high (12.9%), lowered from 14.8% original at dryness to a sweet spot. A high degree of ripeness is essential, just in Chablis, to get this character, but in CA wines it hides beneath the alcohol, and we have to adjust it. In Chablis, this isn't necessary. Instead they adjust the alcohol UP with beet sugar to make up for the dilution from rain.]]> maillard reaction products. I’ve never seen them in batonage wines until at least three years later. These wines are quite steely when they're young, and only open up after four or five years in the bottle. Worth the wait, though.]]>