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Wine Judging Part IV - "Comparisons & Book Reviews"

W.C. Paetz / HRT333 / Wine Judging / October 7, 2002

Introduction:

In the book; Windows On The World Complete Wine Course, Kevin Zraly says, “If you talk to any producers of Burgundy wines, They’ll tell you the most important element in making their quality wines is the soil in which the grapes are grown. This together with the slope of the land and climatic conditions, determines whether a wine is a Village wine, a Premier Cru, or a Grand Cru. This concept of soil, slope, and climatic conditions in French is known as terroir.”

Discussion:

Terroir according to Joanna Simon in her book, Wine An Introduction; “Terroir means the complete package of growing conditions that are specific to a vineyard.”

Wine literature frequently mentions the phrase growing wine. This term states a truth regarding terroir and it’s impact on flavor and aroma of great wines. It is all but impossible to make a great wine from mediocre grapes. The fundamental elements must already be in the berries at the time they are harvested.

Many new world viticulturalist have attempted to plant Burgundy’s great white grape, chardonnay next to Bordeaux’s world famous red grape cabernet sauvignon and included rows of riesling and sauvignon blanc. They reasoned they have a warm sunny climate, the crop would be irrigated, they could fertilize. Soil was dirt and it really didn’t matter. Although the vines flourished and produced prolific crop levels, the wines did not have the complex desirable wine characteristics they aspired to. Since then scientific approaches have isolated factors such as having the vine struggle for water and nutrients, pushing through layers of rock, as well as temperatures and harvest conditions all seem to have an influence on desirable flavor and aroma characteristics.

Conclusion:

Terroir is inextricably linked to the enologist’s potential to vinify a wine that has favorable aroma and flavor characteristics. Although it may be possible to vinify acceptable wines from grapes grown in any viticultural conditions, the best wines have balance, depth, complexity and typicity all derived from the terroir of the vineyard from which the grapes were harvested.

Introduction:

Appellation, Viticultural Area, Denomination all are words that represent delimited regions where common geographical or climatic attributes contribute to a unique and definable character in the wine. In the book; Wineries of Michigan, D.L. Tadevich states; “American Viticultural Areas(AVAs) are approved by the federal government. In Europe, appellations and denominations may also mandate grape varieties, ripeness levels, crop levels and more.”

Discussion:

The location of a vineyard is dependent upon the goals and aspirations of the viticulturalist. If the desire is to harvest grapes from which a great wine can be made, the history of wine making has brought us to the point where there is a fundamental agreement that certain climates with specific soils and topography when planted with ideally suited varieties of grape will favor the enologist. A perfect example of this marriage is the most famous appellation of Champagne in France. According to the Hand Book of Enology Vol I, Rib’ereau –Gayon, “Champagne is produced according to regulations of its appellation, in a limited region, with certain varieties and rigorously defined wine making methods.”

The appellation from which the specific variety of grapes comes from may be the most important determinant when considering all of the factors of production. That being said it should be noted that the European wine making community places much more emphasis on the appellation as the source of a wine’s identity then many of the new world wine makers who emphasize variety

Chardonnay / Riesling tasting comparison of warmer and cooler producing regions.

According to The University Wine Course, by M.W. Baldy, “ Premium wine grapes produce more intense pigments and flavors if they ripen under cool fall temperatures rather than warm, late summer conditions.”

Warm climates produce higher sugars, lower acids, less color, weaker flavors and higher yields than cool climates which produce lower sugar levels, higher acid levels, strong colors, intense flavors and lower yields.

How do these facts figure with respect to what we experienced in tasting warm and cold climate offerings of chardonnay and riesling?

The cool climate chardonnay’s were made with an emphasis on fruit. One could detect green apple the wines were crisp and elegant. The warm climate Chardonnays had more body and structure, they were viscous and oak was emphasized in the wines.

The cool climate rieslings were very refreshing and light. They went from semi dry to very sweet. The flavors that came through included green apple as well as fruity and floral bouquets.

The warm climate riesling was noted to have citrus as well as honey on the nose. This wine came from the Columbia Crest Winery of Columbia Valley , Wa.

Zinfandel Red or White?

White Zinfandel is such a popular wine that many of it’s passionate advocates would no doubt suggest that of course zinfandel is a white grape.

Those in the know understand the impact of timing of the fermentation phase of these two wine varieties. To make a white wine from any grape all that is required is the immediate pressing of the grape clusters followed by fermentation.

To make a red wine requires of course a red, blue or black skinned grape the pressing of which takes place after the grapes have fermented with the skins so as to extract as much color and flavor as possible. Another factor, which contributes to the favorable extraction of color in red zinfandel, is the punching down or pumping over of the cap. This cap consists of the grape skins and pulp which float to the top of the fermentation vat. By pushing down this cap the wine maker ensures that color leaches out of the skins into the liquid wine This also extracts tannins which give the wine the capacity to age.

A red zinfandel will have the capacity to be stored and may even improve with age in the bottle. A white zinfandel is purposefully made to be enjoyed as a young wine. It should be noted that white zinfandel is actually a pink or blush wine.

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