Modern bottling techniques

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So another essay that I was not prepared for. But, like, seriously not prepared for. It’s been crazy busy at work (oh yea, and planning a wedding), so after staring at a blank sheet of paper for a few minutes, I pulled out my notes. Sad face.

Also? I have no examples for any of these… I am so depressed…

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Describe three techniques that are used in modern (aseptic) bottling of wine. For each example, describe the equipment and methods used, as well as the typical usage, benefits, and drawbacks of each technique. 60 minutes.

After all of the careful work in the vineyard and in the cellar, the bottling line becomes a factor that will either maintain the quality already created or destroy it. The main principles of modern bottling is to maintain the highest levels of hygiene as to not introduce any yeasts or bacteria that will negatively impact the wine trapped in the bottle. There are three major techniques used in modern (aseptic) bottling that use heat treatments and each use a different combination of temperature and time: flash pasteurization, tunnel pasteurization and thermotic bottling. While all wine bottling should be done under hygienic conditions, these bottling techniques are most important for higher-volume wines where large recalls would be disastrous, both financially and for the brand. Much of the equipment unique to these techniques may also be out of reach for the small wineries.

Flash pasteurization sends the finished wine to very high temperature for a very short period of time, typically 75°C for up to 30 seconds (before being brought back down to room temperature quickly). This heating and cooling will effectively kill any viable yeast and bacteria but the wine will risk re-infection at the filling machine, or through stale bottles and poorly stored corks. Due to the short time at a high temperature, this technique may have the least amount of damage to the more delicate flavors and aromas in a wine.

To avoid risks of re-contamination, tunnel pasteurization can be used. In this technique, already bottled wine is passed through a heat tunnel for about 15 minutes where sprays of hot water heat the bottle up to 82°C. All remaining organisms will be killed in the sealed bottle. At the end of the tunnel, the wine is passed through cold sprays to bring the temperature down as quickly as possible. While even more hygienic than flash pasteurization, there is a large amount of expensive equipment to install.

Finally, thermotic or hot bottling makes use of the lowest levels of heat with the longest cooling wine. In this technique, the finished wine is heated to about 54°C, which is below sterilizing temperatures (which is about 82°C for 20 minutes). While at this elevated temperature, the wine is bottled and corked, and then sent to the warehouse to slowly come to room temperature. While the most gentle (in terms of heat exposure), the long time at the elevated temperature will destroy any yeast and bacteria.

Any of the above techniques are best used for higher volume wines (due to the complications of a large recall) but also because some will argue that heat will damage the wine. From a scientific point of view, heat will advance many maturation reactions, so these techniques would be most appropriate for young, large volume wines, there the young wine could benefit from some slight maturation (giving a softer, rounder character). As the wine industry is dominated by global brands in high volumes, understanding the principles and choices of modern bottling techniques are important.

Glamorous sad face

Somms dealing with screwcap complaints

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So….again, a topic I was pretty sure I knew a lot about…but these practice essays reveal I don’t have a grasp on examples. I mean, there are a ton of very highly-regarded wineries (even in the old world) who almost exclusively use screwcaps but damned if I could remember one of them.

This was a 30 minute essay. I used about 5 minutes to brainstorm and 21 minutes to write. I didn’t think I would finish in time…

I see closures.

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Do you think customers still react negatively to a screwcap? If a sommelier encounters a customer who reacts negatively to a wine choice based solely on the presence of a screwcap, how should they proceed?

The original screwcaps on wines were introduced in the 1960s and were generally relegated to the cheap jug wine end of the market. Screwcaps are tamper-evident rolled on metal caps that can easily be screwed off of a wine. In the last two decades, screwcaps have stolen market share from traditional corks at all price segments due to its immunity from TCA ‘cork taint’, because of the convenience of not needing an extra tool for screwcap wines, and because of its widespread adoption from high-quality regions like New Zealand and Clare and Eden Valleys in Australia.

While the vast majority of the wine-drinking public has come to accept the screwcap, a sommelier might come up against resistance at higher price points. In any case, if a customer reacts negatively to a screwcap, a sommelier can offer to exchange the wine for something similar, allow for sampling of the wine under screwcap to educate, or if this is not possible, the sommelier can try to win the customer over by discussing the many benefits of wines under screwcap.

Replacing the wine is the first strategy, which can be easily done in areas that use both corks and screwcaps like in the basic Chablis AOC or in many parts of Germany. Other areas that are screwcap-dominant, like New Zealand, the sommelier might have to go to a different region (perhaps a Sancerre to replace a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc).

Allowing for sampling of the wine under screwcap might just be enough to convince a customer that the wine is perfectly fine despite the customer’s negative associations with screwcaps. The other benefit here is due to screwcaps’s ability to keep the wine fresh and free from bottle variation due to different oxygen transmission rates (OTR) as found in corks. Even with more recent technology that allows a winemaker to dial in the OTR on a screwcap, many tastings have proven that wines under screwcap have less oxidation upon opening. If the wine is opened, samples, and still rejected, the fact that the wine is more fresh upon opening gives it a longer ‘shelf life’ and thus a better chance to recover profits by selling the remaining wine in the opened bottle off by the glass. Less initial oxidation means less waste in this case.

Finally there is the traditional educational route for the sommelier to engage with the guest. The benefits of the screwcap include the inherent lack of TCA, meaning less waste again. The tight seal afforded by the screwcap means that the wine is more likely to show exactly as the winemaker intended it to show. The tighter seal and slower OTR makes this the ideal closure for capturing and maintaining delicate and fresh fruit and floral aromas for higher aromatic varieties like Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc (the sommelier need only to point to the success of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to prove this point). Finally, the screwcap is completely recyclable (though, due to the water used in the creation of screwcaps, might not be the most environmentally-friendly choice).

While attitudes have changed to embrace screwcaps more thoroughly today, sommeliers have several options to proceed if a customer complains of a screwcap wine based solely on its closure. Replacing the wine, sampling the wine or having a discussion about why screwcaps are favored by winemakers could help the sommelier be sure the guests has a wonderful experience with the wine they ultimately choose.

Somms dealing with tartrate crystals

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Oh my god, this is so bad. I’m pretty certain that the following essay is a fail.

This was a tricky question too: basically asking what advice I’d give to a sommelier when dealing with tartrates in front of a customer. Ignore it?

I definitely didn’t have enough advice to fill an hour. I finished the following essay in under 25 minutes (including mind mapping) not because I’m quick, but because I had little to say on the topic.

This essay also successfully illustrated how little I know about the facts when it comes to tartrates. I totally blanked when trying to explain the origin of the crystals, how they form a a technical description of how they can be removed (and there is more than one way to remove them!) I think the structure of my essay overall is alright, but I had nothing to say on the topic and it shows!!!

**sigh** I guess that’s why we do practice essays.

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How would you advise a sommelier in dealing with naturally-occurring tartrates with a customer?

Tartrate crystals (sodium bitartrate) are natural by-products of the fermentation process and a particular issue for white wines as the tartrate crystals will build under chilled conditions. The concern is that, though completely harmless, it looks like tiny shards of broken glass. Tartrate crystals in red wines are not as noticeable (possibly at the end of the cork) and so this tends to be more of a white wine issue. Sommeliers may encounter tartrate crystals when serving wines to a guest and there could be three ways to deal with this in front of a customer: decanting, switching wines or education.

Tartrate crystals are large enough to see and, while totally harmless, can give a slight bitterness when consumed. For customers expecting a clear bottle of wine, decanting the wine off of its tartrate sediment could be an easy solution. Filtering the wine through a wetted paper coffee filter would also help to recover the most amount of wine possible.

If the customer is particularly sensitive about the crystals, gently steering the customer to a completely different winey could be another successful tactic to dealing with customer situations. As tartrate crystals are more likely to happen in smaller-production wineries (where the crystals can be explained to buyers), suggesting larger case production winery brands could help avoid this situation altogether.

Finally, a sommelier could educate the customer on what is happening in the bottle. Tartrate crystal formation is the result of less process at the winery. To remove tartrate crystals, the wine needs to be chilled to -4°C for up to a few weeks in order for the crystals to come out of suspension before the wine is then filtered off. The customer then may delight in knowing that they have a less filtered (so less manipulated) wine in their glass.

While completely harmless, some guests at a restaurant expect their wines to be crystal clear and sommeliers need strategies when encountering tartrate crystals tableside. Though the physical act of decanting (or filtering), by switching to a winery less likely to throw tartrate crystals or by education, a sommelier can successfully serve the needs of their guests.

Will micro-oxygenation render barrels obsolete?

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This wine makes me as happy as this essay. It also neatly proves that micro-oxygenation will not make barrels obsolete.

I kinda like this essay. It was a beautiful moment where all my facts and figures were easily recalled and the essay question itself provoked further questions from me (which I am now pursuing with different wineries to find out their experience). I think the structure is pretty clear too.

This is the kind of moment (and feeling) I always wish for…

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It has been said that “micro-oxygenation might render expensive barrels obsolete”. What do you think is the future of micro-oxygenation, and what impact (if any) will this have on the wine industry?

With the advent of successful micro-oxygenation over the past few decades, this practice has increased in use and importance in the wine industry, and some have even suggested that micro-oxygenation might render expensive barrels obsolete. Micro-oxygenation is a process that mimics the minute oxygen exchange that usually happens over months in barrel. A micro-oxygenation meter can be used in tank to diffuse out tiny amounts (0.1mg/liter/month) of oxygen that can help polymerize tannins and stabilize color, and if oak flavor was also necessary, this could be added in the form of oak alternatives. There are advantages and disadvantages of using micro-oxygenation and depending on the size of the winery and skill of the winemaker, this technique could be used to replace barrels in some wineries.

One of the first advantages of micro-oxygenation is the relative cost to barrels. The initial capital outlay for a micro-oxygenation diffuser is high, with ongoing costs related to O2 tanks, but these expenses can be amortized over larger amounts of wine (depending on your tank size). There is also a significant savings of labor: moving and monitoring dozens of barrels relative to programing the micro-oxygenation diffuser in a single tank. Relative to that tank of wine divided into dozens of French oak barrels (costing around €1,200 for each new one), micro-oxygenation can be an economic option for some wineries, particularly larger wineries.

There is also an advantage of speed. Whereas the traditional oak barrels will naturally have individual rates of oxygen exchange (also depending on how many times that barrel has been used), a micro-oxygenation diffuser can be dialed in precisely to the level of O2 needed for a particular wine. With all of the wine in one tank, it is relatively easy to measure a wine, determine the rate of micro-oxygenation and set the diffuser to dispense that amount. Follow up monitoring and measurement in tank is relatively easy as well, compared to measuring dozens of barrels for the same metrics.

Despite these advantages, there still needs to be considerable practice and skill applied to use a micro-oxygenation meter. The science of tannin management is not fully understood and deliberate exposing a wine to oxygen always carries a risk of oxidation. This risk is further magnified by the volume of oxidizing an entire tank of wine relative to a single barrel. Calculating the rate of oxygen metering is not a straight formula, so a winemaker would need to understand the risks and gain considerable practice before completely forgoing barrels.

Some in the industry also question whether micro-oxygenation will result in a homogenization of styles of wine. For that same disadvantage that every traditional oak barrel will result in a slightly different wine (both from micro-oxygenation and from choice of origin/toast of the barrel), those differences can be blended to create a more complex wine than if everything was dosed from one tank. Even if a tank undergoing micro-oxygenation used a variety of flavor profiles of oak alternatives, the winemaker there will not have as much control to blend the final product to something more complex. A consistent wine style might be the aim of a larger volume of branded wines, but smaller operations might want to keep the variation (and subsequent potential complexity) of using smaller barrels.

Micro-oxygenation has several advantages including economics and speed, which might render this practice ideal for larger, branded wines. Just the same, using this technique requires considerable risk, which might be easier for the larger winey to absorb, and skill, which the larger winey might be able to attract. For these reasons, there seems to be no issue to use micro-oxygenation for larger, branded wines where consistency is key to the style. On the other hand, smaller wineries might still incur the higher expenses and longer maturation of using barrels for the same effect, if only because their consumers will accept more complexity and variation in wines.

The future impact of micro-oxygenation will be the continued quality improvement for branded wines at a relatively low cost, creating consistent wines with smooth tannins and appropriate color, and raising the bar at the value end of wine industry.

Wild versus commercial yeasts

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Oh, regrets.

The following is a timed essay that I did as practice for my upcoming Certified Wine Educator exam. I was halfway through the total allotted time (60 minutes) when I realized that I should have structured it to be compare/contrast wild and commercial yeast by topic rather than the clumsy way I did it here (which was everything-about-each-yeast-separately).

Yum. Yeast.

I guess that is why I practice.

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What is your take on the cultured vs. wild yeast topic? Is the claim of “wild yeast fermentation” valid, or does cultured yeast dominate the wineries of the world to the extent that wild yeasts are subdued?

A 2013 study by the University of British Columbia found that spontaneous fermentations with so-called “wild” yeasts were quickly overtaken by commercial yeast strains from the air, and these stronger strains could complete the fermentations to dryness. There were some flaws in the study, but the subsequent reporting raised the question: do wild yeasts matter?

It is an important question as many wineries claim to use ‘wild’ or ‘native’ yeast and use this as a marketing point of differentiation, yet this study, and other anecdotal evidence around the world, found that even without inoculating, the stronger, commercial yeast strains dominate fermentations. Commercial yeasts (generally Saccharomyces cerevisiae) are available for sale from any oenology store. These yeasts have been separated out by a microbiologist for various traits, multiplied, packaged and sold ready to add to your must. Wild yeasts, on the other hand, are native to a particular cellar. They live on the equipment, in the vineyard and in the air. The wild yeast are from other strains and oddly enough, the discussion of wild versus cultured has been so significant that oenology companies are now culturing wild yeast strains for sale.

Cultured yeasts have been an input to winemaking since Pasteur discovered the cause of fermentation in the 19th century. Many winemakers today will use cultured yeast for their specific properties (low foaming, low VA production or maybe tolerance to high alcohol) and it is this predictability that make cultured yeast so relevant. Being predictable means that the winemaker can control the quality and expression of the vineyard a little better. The winemaker at Smith-Madrone has said that he used wild ferments on his Pinot Noir for over 35 years before switching to cultured yeasts and cited that the cultured yeast allowed for a more pure expression of fruit.

Of course very few technical sheets or winemakers will openly cite what strain of commercial yeast they are using (but they would be open about other things like, which forest they get their barrels from) as it interferes with the consumers’ romantic notion of winemaking. There is also a fear of standardization: could wines that use the same yeasts (which impacts fermentation kinetics) start to taste the same?

Wild yeast fermentations certainly add complexity to a wine partially due to the different metabolites of these yeasts. Fermentation kinetics will also be different (might be slower to start and warm up) which will impart their own characteristics. Wild yeasts, when taken from the native environment, certainly saves money for the winery, which must be considered, and the romantic notion that wine is merely grapes carefully guided to the bottle will stay intact.

But most truly wild yeasts (non-Saccharomyces cerevisiae) have many drawbacks, mainly, that many of them die around 4-6% alcohol, implying that, even if a cellar has never had a packaged yeast brought into the area, Saccharomyces cerevisiae must finish the job anyway. This reason alone leaves the question of using a commercial yeast, which has the least amount of risk, as a no-brainer, but also that most aroma differences in wines made by wild versus natural yeasts are lost within the first 12 months, so again, why bother?

Knowing that a microbiologist can very easily separate our any yeast strains and reproduce it to use for a fermentation, it should be acknowledged that all yeast could really considered to be wild. Some have just been ‘tamed’. Also consider that the human hand is as much a part of the definition of terroir as the soil, the climate or even the grape variety. The winemakers’ job is to not destroy the individual terroir of the wine. If a wild fermentation starts to generate high amounts of volatile acidity because the yeasts are sluggish to get fermentation started, is this volatile acidity interfering with terroir or part of it?

In the end, it seems that the debate of wild yeast versus commercial yeasts is a philosophical debate. Studies have proven that wild yeasts and commercial yeasts co-exist in many fermentations and contribute their own positive and negative aspects to a finished wine, so the choice depends on the style of wine you are making and for what commercial segment of the market.

Review of the Italian Wine Professional Certification Program

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If you already have some wine knowledge under your belt and are ready to take your education of wines from Italy to the next level, I highly recommend pursuing the Italian Wine Professional certification program, proctored by Italian Wine Central.

First, be sure to check out Italian Wine Central’s amazing website. It’s really easy to navigate, it has fantastic (and consistent) maps and I can always find a quick answer to whatever I’m researching. Go bookmark it now.

On to the course!

What is the Italian Wine Professional?
The Italian Wine Professional is the second of two levels in Italian Wine Central’s education program, which is made available online several times a year (via Napa Valley Wine Academy). Once you register for the course, you’ll receive a physical textbook and join an online group where you can access eight weekly webinars and discuss the lessons with your classmates. The course is self-paced, but the weekly webinars and regular reminders will keep you on track. There is no required tasting portion (bummer, but I took the online course), but they do have flights that they recommend for each of the eight units that are commercially relevant.

The Italian Wine Professional textbook is great.

The final exam is an online 100-question test comprising a mix of multiple-choice questions, map identification questions, and a very tricky yet useful exercise in which you’ll have to correct the mistakes in an Italian wine list—wrong section, DOC versus DOCG, incorrect grape, appellation typos, etc. In addition to the exam, you have the option to put together a presentation on any topic from a given list to improve your grade (I planned to do this myself, but time is never on my side).

What does the course entail?
First, let me tell you my favorite thing about the course: instead of studying wines region by region, the lessons are laid out by wine style, which makes much more sense. After a brief introduction to Italy, reds are covered first by northern, central, and southern regions, followed by whites in the same fashion. Finally, sparkling wines are covered in a separate section as well as baller wines (or luxury wines, as they’re called in the book).

I love love love the maps in the textbook!

This is by far the most logical way to study Italian wines. I’m also impressed that the course creators combined premium wines into their own group, because that’s naturally how your potential buyer would think of them. With those out of the way, it’s easier to focus on understanding the diversity of other DOC/Gs that usually stand in the shadow of these classics.

Aside from the excellent curriculum, another plus of this course is the fact that you can check your progress with quizzes in the book. The online portion of the course basically repeats the text from the book, although quizzes are included throughout each section to ensure you retain the information and get a feel for the types of questions you’ll see in the final exam.

The only flaw I found was in the online exam provider, ProctorU: I finished my exam only to have the screen freeze, forcing me to start the exam over. The live proctor wasn’t sure if my score had been saved or not, so I had to wait a few days to find out if it had even registered my test. Needless to say, I didn’t need that kind of stress after cramming for the last few days!

Should I take this course?
If you’re passionate about Italian wine, then yes! The Italian Wine Professional course offers a challenging yet logical way to learn about Italian wine, so it will certainly be worth your time should you choose to pursue it.

I’m currently enrolled in the Italian Wine Scholar program by Wine Scholar Guild, which goes into the minutia of wine on a traditional region-by-region basis, so having this solid foundation of knowledge from the Italian Wine Professional makes this one easier to follow.

I recommend this course for wine professionals or enthusiasts who already have a strong background in various wines of the world, such as those above WSET Level 2. So if you really love Italian wine, be sure to check out the Italian Wine Professional certification program today!

CWE practice essay: Biodynamics

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This is probably a terrible idea.

So I should definitely do it.

As part of my preparations for the Certified Wine Educator exams, I am going through their online course which is essentially the book club, logically organized all in one place. This course covers many books I’ve been meaning to read and includes exercises (including the essay below) and online quizzes.

I spent five mins brain-dumping and a few more making a brief outline. The red and blue words are the editor’s suggestions.

This was my first timed essay (30 minutes)…in its raw form. I actually took the essay over to fiverr.com and for a grammar check and critique (and learned that I used the word “includes” a lot). It’s no small investment ($12 for this essay), but how can you improve without getting feedback?

To be clear, this was done closed-book in timed conditions (do you also apologize before showing your unpolished work to someone?) Is this helpful?

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What do you think about biodynamic viticulture? Does it have some basis in fact, is it all just a new age fantasy, or do you believe something in between?

Biodynamic viticulture is a system of farming whereby the farm is seen as a single organism, and that organism should be taking care of itself in a holistic way including aligning activities with the gravitational pull of the moon. It is of growing importance (and receiving more press) in the wine world with some positive aspects (including connection to the vineyard and marketing) and challenges (including scientific rigor and business risk).

Biodynamics has the benefit of being something solidly achievable by having an established set of principles and protocols to follow, including a third-party certification process. Unlike other wine terms like ‘natural wine’ or ‘sustainable farming’ (without certification), there is understanding of biodynamics, although this system of farming may not be as well-known to the end wine consumer as organic farming.

Which is an opportunity for wineries that do farm biodynamically. Indeed, the farming practices that include fermenting cow manure in a cow’s horn (Prep 501) lends itself well to storytelling to consumers, and is definitely a point of differentiation from a marketing perspective.

The fact that biodynamics is used by some of the most well-known and respected wine estates around the world (including Domaine de la Romanee Conti (Burgundy) and Zind Humbrecht (Alsace)) gives credibility to the biodynamic process. These premium wineries don’t use biodynamics as a marketing point, but will instead, if asked, talk about how biodynamics beings the farmer even more in touch with the vines.

Because biodynamics uses more homeopathic prevention and remedies in the vineyard, efficacy might take longer than more studied organic or conventional targeted strategies, which means that a farmer who practices biodynamic farming needs to spend even more time carefully monitoring the vineyard for pests, diseases and other imbalances.

Spending more time in the vineyard is certainly not harmful, and may be the source of the benefit, but these biodynamic treatments have not been rigorously studied scientifically. Spraying stinging nettle tea in the vineyard might not harm the vines, but was it the tea preparation (and the dynamic stirring that made the tea) that was the benefit, or is it the extreme care the farmer is giving the vines the benefit. Many people point out, quite correctly, the the founder of biodynamics, Rudolph Steiner, was never a farmer, and so this system of farming has always been based on philosophy from other disciplines, not reality.

The fact that the definition of biodynamics implies a closed-system farm yet you can purchase the inputs to biodynamic farming (stinging nettle may not grow in your climate, or it might be tricky to secure a stag’s bladder for fermentation) also raises questions of whether the unique treatments give rise to a healthy vineyard or, again, is it the vigilance of the farmer the driver of quality.

Farming biodynamically is a risky endeavor from a business perspective, especially when converting from other farming systems. Like treating a cough with homeopathic remedies may not be as effective as taking traditional cough syrup, there can be a lag time before the vines develop their own balance and self-resistance against pests and diseases.

In the end, there are many examples of premium wines that practice biodynamics. Due to business risks, and because it seems that spending more time studying the vineyard are the only established facts of biodynamics, this farming system may only be appropriate for boutique wines that can get the return on investment for such careful farming practices. Until there is more scientific explanations, biodynamics might not be something that should be widely adopted for all wines at all price points, but it certainly does no material harm in the vineyard, may strengthen the connection between the farmer and the vines and is a unique point of differentiation from a marketing perspective.

Every Wine is a Blend

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Blending is the process of combining one or more wines, in order to increase production quantity, achieve a particular price point, obtain the best balance and complexity or obtain a standardized style (from vintage to vintage). Even a single vineyard wine is likely a blend of grapes that were picked days or weeks apart to introduce complexity. Blends can be made quantitatively (accounting for levels of acids or alcohols) or organoleptically (blending by aromas and flavors), and are one of the most commonly used tools in the winemakers’ kit.

Blending is routinely employed for high volume wines with price points that are more sensitive than source, as in the case of California White Zinfandel. Here, the blending strategy has two aims: standardized style (by blending from a larger area) and the ability to purchase grapes on the spot market to allow winemakers to respond quickly to changes in demand. High volume wines can also benefit from the more liberal AVAs like “California”, adding small amounts of other grapes to smooth vintage variation (like Petit Sirah for spice, or Barbera for acidity).

Blends are also commonly used by smaller scale boutique operations, especially as a way to induce complexity. For instance, Merlot is often used to soften austerity and fill in the mid-palate of Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux-style blends. Château Rauzan-Gassies speak of Cabernet Sauvignon’s elegant expression and precision of fruit, but even in ripe years (like 2009 in Bordeaux), adding Merlot gives you a broader spectrum of flavors, even if by doing so you lose some of the precision of Cabernet Sauvignon.

In some older wine regions, blending defines the style of wine, as in the fortified wines of Jerez in Spain. Historically, Sherry was sold as a vintage-dated wine, but the region started adopting the now widely-used solera fractionalized blending system in the mid-19th century. The benefits are continuity and consistency, with the added bonus of refreshing nutrients for wines that are under the flor yeast (to maintain the health of the flor). As this is also a region and wine that is more about the house style, rather than the absolute terroir (a concept still largely seen in Port as well), blending here can help maintain a consistent house style.

Wine blends

Other reasons for blending include hitting a particular price point, as witnessed by Mommy’s Time Out Pinot Grigio, which is actually blended with the less expensive Garganega, and can sit on the retail shelf for around $8.

Before our current climate of wine regulations and testing, blending of wines was seen as a dubious and fraudulent practice. However, today’s blending (when legal) is one of the most important tools in the winemakers’ kit at all price points, and can help with achieving an intended volume and standard style, as well as inducing complexity, whilst hitting a sensitive price point and maintaining continuity and consistency of a house style.

Frost Risk in Grape Production

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Springtime in the northern hemisphere means beautiful, clear, sunny spring days, but these same cloudless days can lead to the perfect conditions for significant frost risk at night. Overall, frost negatively impacts quantity more than quality and can be an annual event in cool regions like Champagne and Niagara, but it can also impact warmer regions like Bordeaux and Napa. A frost that gripped France in April of 2017 caused losses of 20-50% in Champagne, and its impact reached all the way down to Languedoc and Roussillon. Understanding frost and its prevention are important to the economic survival of many vineyards around the world.

What is frost?

Frost is a deposit of ice crystals when temperatures fall below freezing (0°C). Frost damage occurs in a vineyard after the green tissue has started to swell with moisture after budburst as this moisture is subject to freeze. There are two types of frost in the vineyard: advection frost and radiation frost.

Advection is less common as it is a large mass of cold air that settles on a large area. This type of frost is more common in the winter season where it can occur both during the day and night. This is a difficult kind of frost to protect against since there is no warm air to be circulated.

Radiation frost is more common and occurs on cold, still, cloudless nights. Note that soil generally absorbs heat from the sun during the day and releases it at night, helping to warm vines. Also note that warmer air rises while colder air will sink toward the ground, and clouds can stop warm air from rising higher, helping moderate night temperatures. Therefore, on cold, still, cloudless nights, warmer air will continually rise through the atmosphere, and ground air will become colder and colder.

When does frost occur?

Frost damage occurs most commonly in the spring after budburst when green tissues (including leaves and embryonic flowers) have started to grow. This tender tissue is swollen with water that will freeze. Dormant vines and older growth have less moisture and are thus more naturally protected. Spring frosts can kill off this young growth and cause a loss of quantity and damage the forming buds of next year’s growing season. Quality is generally not impacted by spring frost except that ripeness may be less uniform and canopy management more complicated.

Frost damage can occur before harvest in the autumn as well. While a less common occurrence if the variety is well-matched to the site, freezing grapes can rupture (reducing weight/quantity) and provide an entry point for disease development and fungus (decreasing quality). An early autumn frost can also cause leaves to drop faster, impacting carbohydrate accumulation, which will have a negative impact on the winter hardiness of the vine.

Frost prevention

There are passive and active strategies that can be used to help mitigate the risk of frost in a vineyard. Passive strategies that start before the frost season include site selection, ground cover management, cordon height, and delaying budburst. Active strategies include using water sprinklers, wind machines, and heat when frost is about to strike.

Site selection would be the first way to help prevent frost risk. While not always possible, an ideal scenario would be to plant in an area with low frost risk like Sardinia, Italy or Worcester, South Africa. If that’s not possible, planting near large bodies of water will help temper the local climate and mitigate frost risk. For example, the vineyards in the Finger Lakes grow on a narrow band along the shores of these lakes to benefit from their tempering effect.

Within a site, planting on a slope can mitigate frost risk as cold air moves to lower ground like water. One vineyard in the Finger Lakes had a small depression in a vineyard that pooled cold air and was planted to Pinot Noir. Due to the freezing of the vines in that small dip every year, that patch is now planted to Riesling, which buds later.

Vineyard floor management can help mitigate frost risk. A flat and clear vineyard floor will absorb and release more heat than one covered with an insulating layer of cover crops or mulch. Soil moisture will also absorb more of the sun’s heat than dry soils.

Since cold air stays close the ground, the cordon height is another way to mitigate frost risk by planting higher as is done in the Alto Adige in the northeast alpine region of Italy.

See? Apical buds (the ones at the ends) burst before the basal buds (the ones closest to the trunk).

Delaying budburst—keeping the vine closer to the dormant stage until frost risk has passed—is another strategy. A vineyard manager can start by planting a late-budding grape like Riesling (relative to Pinot Noir in the example above). That said, the vine still needs to be matched to the growing season of the area. Cabernet Sauvignon is also a late-budding variety but needs a long growing season and will not sufficiently ripen in a cool climate like the Finger Lakes.

Pushing back winter pruning while the vine is still dormant will generally not delay budburst, but double pruning can help. This strategy uses winter pruning to remove excess growth and leave this year’s fruiting wood with a full complement of buds (30+). Since buds on the tips of canes will burst first (and basal buds last), leaving the full amount of buds during the frost season will make those buds subject to damage before the basal buds have started to swell. After frost risk has passed, the canes (with the useless buds on the ends) will be pruned away, and the basal buds will then burst without risk of frost damage. This double pruning method is very labor intensive but has been shown not to delay harvest dates.

Strategies that can be used after vineyard establishment include using overhead sprinklers as frozen water will not drop below 0°C, thus protecting the tender shoots in a “blanket” of frozen water.

Wind machines are common in many vineyards around the world and work by mixing the warmer air above with the colder air below, moderating the overall temperature of the vineyard. Some parts of the world use helicopters to mix air on the same principle. While wind machines are more common where frost in an annual event, helicopters can be used when needed and can target the areas that are most at risk.

Heating a vineyard via smudge pots, burning winter pruning, or bougie candles warm the air via convection. This method needs multiple sources of heat throughout the vineyard and would work best if there was an inversion layer to trap the heat being generated (which is often not present).

Less conventional methods to help with frost risk include heated wires wrapped around the cordons and canes. This has been shown to be reasonably effective, though it does not cover and protect the whole canopy.

Artificial fogging can also create that needed inversion layer to trap cold air, but a vineyard would need a very clean source of water and a fine emitter to produce this result. There is also a risk of public liability if the artificial fog were to spill into roadways.

Conclusion

With frost damage making the headlines more often in more grape growing regions, understanding how frost is created and employing the right mix of prevention and mitigation strategies are more important than ever to help bring in a complete, uniformly ripe grape crop.

Happy World Malbec Day!

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April 17th, 1853 marks the day that President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento of Argentina officially made it his mission to transform Argentina’s wine industry. Malbec has gone from the replacement for Merlot (early to pronounce, attractively fruit-forward, including a good shellac of vanilla-scented oak, produced on a massive scale and value-priced) to examples that are more focused, more site-specific, and well-crafted to show their terroir.

In honor of this holiday, I pulled a few bottles to refresh my markers. The two Malbecs I tasted were from the homeland of Malbec (Cahors, France) and the homeland in the New World (Mendoza, Argentina).

Malbec markers:
Overall, the wines are deep garnet with a distinctly pink (sometimes neon) rim and staining tears. In both examples, dark fruits lead the way with medium+ body and balanced alcohol (13.0-13.5%), and what stood out to me was the elevated levels of bright acidity that lifted the mid-palate.

Cahors markers:
Cahors is upriver from Bordeaux on the River Lot, and Malbec is a minor blending partner in Bordeaux, but otherwise, this region has nothing to do with them. Cahors has to be a minimum of 70% Malbec (called Cot here), and the rest can be Merlot and/or Tannat. I love that they “soften” Malbec here with Tannat. My example here was 80% Malbec and 20% Merlot.

Compared to the Mendoza example, the character of the dark fruits was pure, and the aromas were all about savory things: leather, bloody, bitter chocolate, and organic earth. It had bright acidity , but the tannins were more dried herbal/edgy/savory. It is definitely a wine for lovers of old world styles and would show best with food (especially something gamey).

Mendoza markers:
This region is too large to make sweeping generalizations about the climate or soils, and this is might be one of the reasons why Malbec has become a consistently successful brand it is today. With so many micro-terroirs to blend from, you can be assured that you will have a clean, varietally correct glass of wine. I have seen more of a focus on these micro-terroirs lately.

Very fruit forward (to let you know that this is from the New World), the dark fruits of plums and blueberries were cooked (almost candied) and framed by chocolate notes, violet florals, and a hint of mint (or alcohol? The label said 13.0%). But compared to Cahors, this was all about generous and attractive fruits. Again, bright acidity lifted the soft dark fruits, and tannins were more ripe/resolved tannins. Very easy to drink.

Laterals: Syrah, Merlot, and Dão
When I miss Malbec, I usually have Syrah or Merlot. I can also throw a red from the Dão in there. My tasting partner threw in Greanche, but the color and the acidity was off.

Malbec Versus Syrah: Similar color, including pink (though more purple on the Syrah) rim and staining tears. Dark fruits on the nose were also similar, but there were a lot of savory elements in the Syrah that I think are unique to it. For instance, the Cahors shows a lot of savory notes (leather/meaty), and Syrah typically shows meaty/smoky notes. But there’s an olive and mint/eucalyptus that I associate strongly with Syrah. Also, while the Syrah was leading with dark plums, there were also red fruits here.

Malbec has some tannins, but Syrah has massive tannins. The chunky tannins on the Syrah carried the fruit through to the finish while the Malbecs were more balanced between the fruits and the texture of the tannins.

In a blind situation, I would consider Syrah for the color, cooked dark fruits, savory elements, and medium+ acidity. But the tannins here are massive, and the aromas include very distinctive Syrah markers like the olive, smoke, and mint. By comparison, the Mendoza Malbec was all about fruits and spice, and the Cahors was all about savory notes and savory tannins.

Malbec Versus Merlot: The color on the Merlot, while deep, was not as inky as the Malbecs and did not have any pink or staining tears. I always get in trouble using color as an absolute funnel though. Merlot has intense dark fruits but a lot of red fruits as well. Like I said above, I don’t typically get a lot of red fruits out of Malbec but more dark plum and blueberry. That said, there was a sweetness to the Merlot fruit that harkens to Malbec, but it was not candied as in the Mendoza example. The elevated amount of tannins was similar to Malbec but had only moderate acidity in this example of Merlot.

I have often mistaken Merlot for Malbec, and I’m updating my funnel to point out that Merlot has dark and red fruits. Really pay attention to the mid-palate. Malbec has a bright acid lift across your tongue while Merlot has a plump coating of fruit across the tongue (with acidity framing that fruit on the sides). Tell me if you agree.

Malbec Versus Dão: This wine shares the deep ruby color of the Malbec, but the rim is also ruby (nothing pink about it). Like the Cahors, there is a strong savory and meaty note dominating the nose of the Dão, but instead of that organic earth, it was more of a stony minerality. (I typically find a lot of granite notes in all wines from Portugal.)

The Dão had the dark fruits that both Malbecs show but none of the chocolate, and I did find red fruits as well for the Dão (more dried strawberries and cherries) where there were not a lot of red fruits in any of the Malbecs. The palate on the Dão was distinctive with pronounced acidity (even higher than the Malbecs) with massive, coarse tannins. Even the Cahors with its more rustic/savory tannins were finer in texture by comparison.

My funnel will now say that there are more red fruits, pronounced acidity, and massive tannins of native Portuguese grapes in the Dão that make it different from the Malbec.

Other laterals I have written down over the years include Tannat and Petit Verdot for the inky color and massive tannins, but I am finding that Malbecs today show more resolved tannins than I had originally thought. I also have Bonarda as a possible lateral for the acidity, but Bonarda doesn’t show the purple tints of Malbec nor the candied fruit (actually, my Bonarda note reads more like Barbera!). These kinds of laterals are going down the rabbit hole… Go for the obvious.

Malbec Rosé:
No need to adjust your screen. That is the correct color. Bright pink, almost cotton candy in color (White Zinfandel is a lateral on color alone). This makes sense when you remember that the two Malbecs above both had a neon pink meniscus. The rosé here had generous dark fruits, especially blueberry, and a touch of earth (though not mineral). Tried as I did, I did not get any red fruits at all. That’s a marker. Similar medium+ amount of juicy acidity found in the still red versions with a bit of dissolved CO2 to help lift the fruits. It was full-bodied for a rose and not quite bone dry. The tech sheet said 13% abv, and the bottle was printed at 14.5% (I thought it was something in between).

So, those are my markers and laterals. I hope you found it useful. Crack a bottle (or several) of Malbec tonight, and tell me what your markers and laterals are.