The End of Something. Ruminations on Crush 2009

While on “lunch”, sitting under the coal black dark skies of an unusually cool September Sonoma night, a veteran lab tech took off his nicotine patch, cuffed his weathered hands close to his face and lit a short filter-less Camel. Before he could fully exhale, he wrapped his same weather beaten hands around a perspiring can of Bud Light and exclaimed, “It takes a lot of shitty beer to make good wine”.

Ed pulled hard on his cigarette and regaled us young aspiring winemakers cum cellar rats on the intricacies of the business, but mostly lambasting past and present winemakers who were also his bosses. “It sounds very sexy”, he says of wine making. “If you don’t know any better, it is easy to romanticize”. We laugh and all nod in agreement, our necks soar and stringy from carrying hoses and gamma jets around the vineyard all day. “I mean you meet a girl at the bar and you tell her you work in the wine business and it sounds mysterious and interesting. And she asks where you work and being mysterious you reply, Sonoma. And you can tell from her smile and her unforgiving gaze that she is truly interested. And she wants to know what your work actually consists of, so you tell her that you run lab tests on wine, checking ph levels, inoculating yeast strains, measuring brix, and occasionally swirling the glass and sometimes swallowing but mostly spitting. And she smiles half wittingly as you say this. And you tell her you are a Sr. Lab Tech and of course being from Northern California herself, she has a friend or an ex or a neighbor who is … was a lab tech. And as her smile fades you know that she knows that you make around 50k a year.”

Ed lights another cigarette from the butt of his Camel and passes around the beers. “I should have stayed in pharmaceuticals.” The magic ceased to be magic. Ed confirmed what I had suspected to be truth. I already knew I would not go with the rest of the guys to work the 2010 crush. I did not know too much about Ed..that he worked more harvests than most people at the vineyard, that he had two kids, that he may or may not have been divorced once…twice, that he had a small place in Santa Rosa that he may own but probably rents. I liked Ed and I liked wine but I knew I did not want to become Ed. And no one plans to become Ed but the more and more time I spend hanging around Sonoma, the more Ed’s I meet.

I looked down at my own hands, which were hard and dry and stained with juice, and felt glad I was holding a cold can of beer in one of them. I sat perched on top of the old wooden picnic table in silence taking in large breathes of Sonoma earth mixed with recycled Camel carbon and watched the bats fluttering around against a speckled mountainous backdrop that stared into oblivion and I wondered what the bats looked like in New Zealand.

My first Inoculation

My online dictionary defines “Inoculation” as: To introduce a serum, vaccine, or antigenic substance into (the body of a person or animal), especially to produce or boost immunity to a specific disease….

If we dig even deeper in the world of wine wonks, we find:

A winemaking technique of adding an active yeast culture or malolactic bacteria to juice, must, or wine. Winemakers often inoculate their must with known strains of reliable yeasts to activate the primary fermentation and achieve their desired results. Although malolactic fermentation will sometimes occur naturally, many winemakers prefer to manage this phase by inoculating with a properly prepared malolactic bacteria starter.

And so my first inoculation follows. Virtually all of the Pinot we have pressed is fermenting according to plan. However, one tank is mysteriously stuck…the sugar is high and the alcohol low…

Yesterday we took 50 gallons of the non fermenting pinot and mixed it with fifty gallons of beautiful malolactic bacteria from our estate Chardonnay. Yes, we just mixed Pinot with chardonnay. The malo from the chardonnay will work its magic and if all goes peachey will spur the fermentation in the pinot…once this culture begins, gets tested and passed via the lab folk, the 100 gallons will go back in to 3000 gallons of Pinot.

It was interesting mixing these two totally different varietals…We pulled the pinot first, then the Chard…and as the two mixed the fragrance was fruity, fresh, violet, and a tad vulgar…French in short. The blend, on the nose at least, was completely reminiscent of gamay noir, aka Beaujolais…

However, once this culture passes and gets put back into the Pinot, the taste provided from the chard ML will really be quite negligible….no gamay…

Before the Wine...or After...Fall Cocktail: Sazerac

Fall Cocktail: Sazerac

The fall is officially here…well Im not quite sure about the calendar date, but it hit 40’s at night in Nor Cal so Im calling it fall. Time to put the Campari back in the shelf and trade in the Negroni for something more weather appropriate.

The first drink I like to open the fall with is a Sazerac (a Final Word in a close second). Way back when… the first time I had a Sazerac was in Boston at Eastern Standard. I asked the bartender to make me drink, I told her some basic likes and dislikes…maybe even my favorite wine varietal, amazingly she put it all together and out came this tasty little number.She hit it on the head…I hung the sidecar up as the official fall drink and got in touch with my southern side.

The Sazerac is truly an American classic- think Elvis, mixed with Springsteen, topped off with a hint of James Brown; Incarnated in New Orleans by Antoine Amédée Peychaud in the 1830’s and duly named by John Schiller in 1859.

Funny thing is, shortly after trying the Sazerac , and not knowing the history, I told someone its like “a Manhattan from New Orleans”…good guess I suppose.

As most classic cocktails go, the recipe is pretty simple, but the art is in the execution (ie: sugar cube vs. simple syrup, absinthe vs. pernod vs. chartruese )...one note of importance, most bartenders put "a long twist" or a small piece of lemon peel as the garnish...the lemon should be cut in 1/4 and that whole 1/4 peel should go into your sazerac- as the rind soakes up the rye it is also realeasing aromatics that noticably change the drink from first sip to last.

The Sazerac is typically made with 1.5 oz of Sazarac Rye Whiskey, ¼ oz Absenthe, 1 sugar cube, three dashes of peychaud’s bitters, 1 lemon peel…Simple, sweet, with some warmth and distinction courtesy of the Absenthe swirl.

Its late, I’m rambling, in short its good, even better in the fall…it also makes an excellent nightcap. And with that, I bid you adieu, my bed is calling…

TASTING NOTES: ENKIDU

It was my 13th day in a row working, it was Sunday, a few of us came in for pumpovers. No pep talk, no stretching, just hop on the pumps and get er' done.

We finished in 2 hours-which means its 5pm and I have about 1 hour to go tasting in Kenwood.

Eric, a CSJ vet, stopped in to show his sister and girlfriend the winery- they had already been tasting and suggested Enkidu.

I followed Eric’s advice, as I had little option otherwise, being in Kenwood at 5pm on Sunday.

I was the only one at the small tasting room, which is just lovely when the beauty pouring wines was young full of smiles and ready to talk wine.

We went through about 8 wines, some neat Syrah’s, nothing terribly noteworthy.However, all were quaff worthy.

I bought 2007 Humbaba Rhone Blend. The grapes are from Sonoma County, Lake County, and Napa County. 70% Syrah 30% Petite Syrah.

I tasted each of the Syrah’s from these three areas and each has a different style; Combined, it is even more interesting.

A Rhone Blend..? Im not so sure Syrah and Petite syrah qualifies as a true blend…The AOC in France would probably label this Cornas ( A northern Rhone region that produces only syrah)…in any event…the Humbaba is valiant California effort.

Smooth nose, with notes of blueberry, oak, tar, and grey poupon. The tannins are on the heavier side, as is the chewiness, the body is semi complex (pulling from the three different regions), the alcohol and sugar are well balanced. The syrah has a characteristically California feel with its larger body and heavier tannins…the balance is there, however compared to a true Rhone, the humbaba seems a little top heavy and not as tight…Think one night stand compared to a long relationship.

Humbaba is quick and easy and it is guaranteed to tickle and please, your lips will be stained the next day, just be sure wash before you go home!

Tasting Notes: 2007 Ridge Zinfandel East Bench

Tasting in Russian River is much like your first time in a toy store, which aisle to choose? Video games or squirt guns? I naturally went with squirt guns, besides the older kids had a safe lock on the Sega and I am not one to wait in lines. Thus, we made Ridge our last stop by way of Simi (not impressive).

Five o’ clock..We beat the limos and the busses and hoards of tourists who help stimulate the wine region this time of year…no obnoxious “aficionados” in plaid shorts and sperry topsiders…just tasting room folk , wine, and us…

Ridge is situated on top of a beautiful vista with mountains reminiscent of Italy or southern France. Many of the Ridge sites are located north of Healdsburg and are known for making up the vineyards of their singles designation wines.

A Ridge flight goes down fast and easy…but one bottle in particular embodied smoothness. The 07 East Bench Zin is like drinking velvet sprinkled with dirt and topped with blueberry. Nicely layered, not too complex, medium-large tannins. American oak provides subtle flavor that is characteristically California. The alcohol rings in at a surprising 15.4% considering the soft nose and how bloody easily this goes down. Ridge uses natural yeast on all their wines which is impressive and adds to the earthiness…Some Zins can taste rather chemically-and yeast has a hand in the matter.

For $25, The 07 East Bench is an appropriate buy. It has characteristics of Turley without the complexity, is layered nicely with generous flavor and alcohol. A good daily drinker, if you are looking for more than a quick fling, try the 06 Lytton Springs, the older vines add complexity and will command your taste buds’ attention.

SIDENOTE: All Bets Are Off. Tasting Rooms May Do You Harm…

I’ve worked in restaurants , in myriad bars and clubs and lounges,…I’ve had some followers, some dedicated imbibers that I hope were such for the service and a good chat…

However, the average Bartender typically does not take the time to give you production methods on your Hendricks gin or give you the history behind your Chartreuse.
Wine tasting is a whole different game…because the pourer has to take you through a whole flight of wines… No “Here is your sidecar, $12….thanks”

Now you get appellations, case productions, barrel type, and stories about local mountain men producing award winning wines…Today as I was stepping out of my favorite winery I finally realized why there are no “bars” in Sonoma…there is no need.

In a restaurant, if you happen to find a good tender or sommelier you may be persuaded to opt for the Salon over the Veuve…in the Valley you are opting for a half case of cult cabs over a bottle of the estate syrah…

Macguyvering a Venturi & Heating Wine?

Macguyvering a Venturi & Heating Wine?

Today I made my way to the pinot tanks for pumpovers expecting the usual, only to be surprised yet again by the wine making team at CSJ. To speed up fermentation and/or get the juice to a desired temperature faster…we are using a glycol heater during pumpovers. First off, all of CSJ tanks are temperature controlled…as easy as going from 60-65 on a chilly fall morning…however this apparently doesn’t happen fast enough…thus heating the wine with glycol…yes I said heat.
To conceptualize, the setup looks something like this. Wine out of tank into cart, out of cart into glycol tubes (which is hooked up to a portable heater), out of glycol tubes into pump, juice out of sprinkler back into top of tank.

Now I am not a winemaker, nor a scientist, but I have taken a few chemistry and physics classes in my day…enough to know a sliver of thermodynamics…well I suppose probably less than a sliver, but enough to know that heat rises and the correct way to heat something is from the bottom. Pumping a few hundred gallons on top of 6000 gallons to warm it “faster” seems unnecessary…I guess this is where you could get into the whole art vs. science fiasco…

Needless to say, the juice was heated from 81 to 83 after the glycol heated pumpover. This 2 degree change could easily be attributed to the fermentation itself and the endothermic process of sugar turning to alcohol and water with heat being released. But you never know…
Another device used to help speed up fermentation is called a venturi. This is not to be mistaken with the newest oenophilic rage of using a venturi like glass pourer to superficially aerate wine…whats wrong with a good old fashioned decanter?

In all fairness, this consumer venturi acts in much the same way as the venturi we use during selected pumpovers.
The name venturi comes from a physics effect apt dubbed…you guessed it, “The Venturi effect”. This is basically a complicated equation to show the how gain in velocity, drop in pressure, and gain in energy, occur in a tube or cylinder..yeah yeah yeah…

In winemaking we use a venturi to hook up to the sprinkler in pumpovers. The juice comes through the hose, passes through the venturi, then into the sprinkler. The venturi adds oxygen to the juice and yeast thus speeding up fermentation. Quasi interesting…it was more fun trying to build one from materials laying around the winery…

In a massive effort to complete pumpovers, we had 5 teams knocking em down side be side and not a venturi to be spared…I thought I had an idea on how to quickly mimick the venturi out of a T bar with a fire hose lever slightly opened on top…
The cellar approved, I gave it quick test…when it gave the same choking gurgle and spit some wine from the top, I knew I was in business…