The Frugal Oenophile's Wine Terminology

Hybrid, French

2011-11-14T11:58:00.000-05:00

A grape variety that is the product of crossing European vinifera vines with North American vines (e.g. Marechal Foch, Baco Noir, Vidal, Seyval Blanc). Tend to be winter-hardy and resistant to disease and phylloxera, usually without a "foxy" taste or aroma. Sometimes incorrectly called American Hybrid, they have unfortunately fallen into disfavour in some circles.

No doubt from the earliest days of agriculture (c. 10,000 BCE) growers have used nature's proclivities to improve upon plant varieties. The produce we see on store shelves today rarely resembles the plants or fruits that existed millennia ago. (The modern carrot, for example, at one time more resembled a dandelion root.) The main tool that growers use is crossbreeding: using the pollen from one plant to fertilise another of the same or a similar species.

When Europeans "discovered" North America, they were impressed with the vigour of American grapevines. On the downside, the wines they produced were not up to the standard that existed in Europe. Attempts to grow European vines in North America failed due to the many pests and diseases against which the vines had no defences. When North American vines were planted in Europe, the wines they produced were no better than what the native soil produced.(*) So breeders began experimenting by crossing North American grapes with European grapes.

Breeding grapes is a long, painstaking and mostly disappointing process. Many breeders create hundreds of new hybrid varieties, but only see a handful that produced a decent wine. Francois Baco is a perfect example. He created more than 2000 new varieties, but only Baco Blanc and Baco Noir gained any popularity, and now Baco Blanc has all but disappeared from vineyards.

French hybrid grapes have many advantages. They are mostly immune to North American diseases, which makes them ideal for regions where diseases and phyloxerra are a problem. They tend to be cold hardy, making them ideal in marginal regions -- some parts of Canada, the middle states of the US and Great Britain, among others. They require fewer chemicals in the vineyard making them more economical and more environmentally friendly. Their rootstocks are also valuable and are used in almost every wine region where vinifera scions are grafted onto the more rugged Americanized roots. To add insult to injury, many winemakers and even wine authorities are banning hybrid grapes from vineyards, which is unfortunate. While the taste profiles of some hybrid grapes are not really mainstream, some of them create better wine and at a lower cost than many highly touted vinifera vines. And as our various climates continue to change, the lowly hybrid grape could make a comeback!
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* These experiments also introduced phyloxerra to Europe.

Green Cropping

2011-10-19T19:00:00.000-04:00

Removal of unripe grape clusters from vines to encourage better development of the remaining clusters. Some of the best growers remove up to half the crop.
An important determinant of wine quality is vineyard yield: the total amount of grapes or juice produced by the vines. Yield is normally measured in tons per acre or hectolitres per hectare. Let’s stick with tons/acre for now.

A grapevine can deliver only so much nutrients through its trunk and branches (canes). This nutrient mix is then distributed to all the grapes in all the clusters of the vine. Each cluster will be treated equally and receive a portion of the nutrients. And the more clusters and grapes there are, the less there is to go around. We can improve this distribution by cutting down on the number of clusters, giving the remaining grape more of the available nourishment.

The optimal yield for a vineyard depends on the type of grape and the eventual wine quality. Factory wines or jug wines may come from vineyards that produce 10 tons/acre and even more. But with a quality wine, we want to cut down the yield, and the simplest way to do that is to remove grapes. This is done about the time the grapes begin to change colour and texture, from rock hard green marbles to something more resembling a grape.

Ask a vineyard manager or winemaker about yield and they’ll often proudly state a low yield figure such as 2 ½ tons/acre and even less – again, depending on the type of grape. It’s not uncommon for highly desirable wines to come from vineyards that were green-cropped down to 1 ½ or even 1 ton/acre.
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Fighting Varietal

2011-09-12T11:56:00.002-04:00

A varietal wine that is thought to be a step up from jug wine. May be vintage dated or not.

We wine writers have two driving forces. First, we are consumer advocates. We strive to clear away the chaff and steer our readers toward better quality and better value wines. Secondly, and this is perhaps the more meaningful issue, we are fans. So when the industry decides to mislead the wine-buying public, we take it rather seriously. It's actually a pretty easy thing to do. For example, you can revive a dying brand by relabeling it as something else. You can even sell the same wine under several different labels or draw the public toward a mediocre wine by giving it a popular sounding name or trendy look.

Years ago, store shelves were littered with bottles labelled as chablis, "sauterne", champagne, burgundy, bordeaux, chianti, and many others -- bottles filled with low-end wines that might have come from anywhere on the planet and rarely bore even a superficial resemblance to the great European wines that rightfully owned those names.

When consumers became a little more sophisticated -- when they discovered that chablis from Grimsby was not of the same standard as chablis from Chablis -- they simply put up with it or opted for the original. As the wine market continued to change and to become somewhat more consumer friendly, we saw a surge of varietally labelled wine. This happened originally at the higher end. Varietal naming was basically a good move. A fan of Sancerre who knew that Sancerre was sauvignon blanc could now seek out other sauvignon blancs to expand their appreciation of a favourite grape.

This did not go unnoticed by the jug wine makers. Many quickly switched their marketing strategy away from "generic" Old World names and instead emblazoned their bottle, jug and bag-in-box wines with grape names. Now here's the kicker: all chardonnay is not created equal. A barely acceptable wine that had perhaps been labelled “Canadian Chablis” might actually have contained some low-end chardonnay, so why not beef up the chardonnay component to the legal minimum (perhaps add the max of allowed water as well) and then top it up with any nondescript white wine? It's then perfectly legal to call that wine chardonnay, even though it might be as little as 75% chardonnay and perhaps even less.

Varietal labelling is no guarantee whatsoever of a quality wine, but it's not surprising to see low-end wines trying to carve out some respectability by latching on to varietal names. I'm less generous than your average wine consumer, and when I see a bottle of varietally labelled wine from a producer of low-end wines, I'm inclined to pass it by. Fighting varietal or not, my assumption (and I'm almost always right on this) is that it is old wine in new bottles, or boxes, and only the name has changed.

While I'm on the topic of new labels, new names and general consumer mis-direction, I must say the latest crop of Canadian & International Blended wines coming on offer at the LCBO are a particularly bad lot. Look for brand new company names that hide the fact that the wines come from just a handful of Canada’s largest wineries. Look also for new and enticing labels and wine names, expertly designed to hide the wine's origin: it could be from anywhere. Don't let the words "Product of Canada" fool you. And here's the worst part: these wines are often made from cheap imported wine that can cost as little as 25 cents a litre! Now please explain to me how you can "cellar" such a wine to the point that it merits a $12.95 price tag? I see authentic domestic (VQA) wines at $12 and even less, and imported "classed" wines in the same price range: always better wine and better value.

So when you're looking through the much-abused Ontario section, have a look at those prices. If you're looking for quality, typicity and, indeed, fairness, you're far better off with a VQA wine from Ontario. Almost any wine from Portugal or Spain or France or Italy is also a better choice. Many New World countries do not yet have the authenticity guarantees of appellation systems, but you will find gobs of quality coming out of Chile, Argentina and South Africa. Australia and New Zealand you probably already know about.

So buyer be warry. Check the fine print and always err on the side of authenticy … just my opinion.
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Estate Bottled/Estate Wine

2011-08-18T14:49:00.003-04:00

A wine that is grown, vinted and bottled on a single estate and usually bearing the name of the estate. A sign of quality. (A.k.a. Chateau bottled, Domaine bottled)

There is an incredibly broad range to wine quality, from mass-produced jug wines of unknown origin all the way to microclimate-based, small batch cult wines. When you look closely at what makes for a quality wine, the word terroir crops up quite a lot. Simply put, terroir means location, and where the wine was grown is one of the most important factors to consider. So knowing the origin of the wine -- of the grapes -- can tell you a lot about the wine. Another popular concept is "Wine is made in the vineyard". So a critical question would be: Whose vineyard?

The best wines are made by people who are intimately acquainted with the grapes and the vineyard. If you buy wine on the open market, you have no control and have to make the best of what's on offer. A better idea would be to contract with a grower with an assurance that the grapes would be cared for according to the winemaker's goals. Best of all is to own the vineyard (and have control of the vineyard manager's salary). Invariably, the best wines -- the coveted and raved about wines -- were raised from their infancy by the vineyard's parents, and yes, I know this analogy is a stretch. That way the winemaker and the vineyard manager form a team with a single-minded vision: to produce the best grapes possible that will beget the best wine possible.

When the chateau has total control over the vines and the winemaking, it makes sense to keep it all in-house. Age the wine, finish it, bottle it on the premises, and then give it any extra bottle ageing deemed appropriate. And if you're going to go to all that trouble, why not brag about it on the label?

One minor exception to this scenario is the very small winery that perhaps doesn't own the vineyard or a bottling line. It's not uncommon for a smaller winery to rent a vineyard over which they exert total control, and then hire a bottling rig when needed, often in the form of a truck-mounted unit. These wines, too, can be considered estate bottled, which puts them on the same plain as the better-funded wineries.

So if you see the words "Estate Bottled" on a label, remember that it's a mark of both authenticity and quality, and it's a difference that makes some wines special.
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Dégourgement (Fr.)

2011-07-25T09:49:00.002-04:00

The process of removing (disgorging) sediment from traditional method sparkling wines. Results in a slight loss of volume that needs to be topped up with a dosage before final corking.

For such a simple product, wine sure can get complicated. Take, for example, the exquisite sparkling wines of Champagne and elsewhere. The two main by-products of fermentation are alcohol and carbon dioxide. Under normal circumstances, we want to keep the alcohol and get rid of the CO2, except in the case of sparkling wines. Then we want to preserve the CO2. It is, after all, the quality that makes sparkling wines both special and expensive.

The objective when making sparkling wine is to retain as much of the CO2 as possible while producing a delectable and distinctive wine. The problem is that, when sparkling wine goes through its second fermentation, everything is trapped in the bottle. As the yeast works to produce additional alcohol and carbon dioxide bubbles, it also produces sediment. Now, there’s nothing wrong with letting the sediment stay in the bottle, but it can be rather unappetizing. Better to get rid of it. But that’s not so simple a task.

Traditional or champagne method sparkling wines go through a number of interesting processes. First, a second fermentation is induced in the bottle by adding yeast and sugar to a base wine. That brew is allowed for work for up to several years. Lying peacefully on their sides, the bottles go through an almost magical transformation, with the spent yeast – the lees – giving the wine unique toasty, biscuity qualities. Finally, steps are taken to remove the lees from the bottles. The process is call riddling, and it can be performed by hand or by a machine called a gyro-palette.

The Widow Cliquot perfected the technique of preparing a champagne bottle for dégourgement by placing the bottles in an A-frame rack. Riddlers spend their day shaking and rotating the bottles in the rack, gradually working the sediment into the neck of the bottle over several months. Eventually the bottles are standing vertically in the rack, with the neck pointing downward, ready to have the sediment removed. The bottle neck is set in a bath of iced brine. This freezes a small amount of the wine along with a plug of sediment. It’s then a small job to lift the bottle from the brine solution, pop the cap, and expel the plug. All that remains is to top up the bottle to replace the lost liquid, and then cork it. (By the way, this is the process that begat the rather large foil that is found atop champagne and sparkling wine bottles. Its original purpose was to disguised the fill line so the buyer is not aware that there could be a bit of variation here.)

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Chaptalized/Chaptalization *

2011-07-11T15:35:00.002-04:00

The addition of sugar at the start of fermentation to correct for lack of ripeness/sugar in the fruit, to soften tannins and to increase alcohol. Sometimes perceived as a candy-like quality or sugary sweetness in the finish. Acceptable in some regions but not generally talked about.
When in the early 1800s French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal advised wineries to add sugar to the juice before making wine, he was not suggesting anything new or unique. Winemakers have been adding extra fermentable sugar to grape must for hundreds if not thousands of years. Nor was Chaptal advocating shortcuts to put one over on the public. He was in fact advocating quality, which was sometimes elusive in those years when grapes did not ripen fully. There is a certain sugar content that is required to make decent wine, and Chaptal merely wanted to recommend and standardize the well-established practice.

The main goal of chaptalization is to give the wine better balance by reaching a certain degree of alcohol. Most wine regulators will specify this minimum, any wine that doesn’t meet it would be demoted. So it’s easy to see why winemakers would occasionally want to goose the sugar content a bit. The problem arises when ‘a bit’ becomes ‘a lot’. It’s possible to turn not-very-promising juice into a sellable wine by adding what’s missing, in this case enough sugar to produce sufficient alcohol.

In regions that allow chaptalization, the amounts and circumstances are very specific. For example, European Union regulations allow chaptalization, but not more than is needed to increase the ‘potential alcohol’ by 2 or 3%. This is a good solution as it allows the winemaker to make a minor adjustment that will improve the wine without compromising its overall quality. In fact it could be argued that the quality is higher because of chaptalization.

In regions that do not allow chaptalization, the practice has mostly gone underground. A juice in need of some extra sugar will quite possibly get it, provided no one is watching. Again we can argue that this would improve the wine rather than adulterate it, although there are many advocates who condemn the practice. (There are even a few ‘super palates’ who claim to able to taste chaptalization in a wine.) But in a world where additives are the norm, it seems to me that adding a modest amount of sugar to produce a better product may not be such a bad thing.
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Bottle Age/Bottle Ageing *

2011-07-04T10:59:00.003-04:00

Wine continues to develop after bottling. Some ageing, about 3 months, is needed to overcome bottle shock. After a certain point, most wines will begin to deteriorate. Varies by wine type, quality and storage conditions. Can range from 3 months to 20 years or more, although 1 to 4 years is more typical. Wines that benefit from prolonged ageing are rare.

Quite possibly the most common question I hear is “How long should you age a wine?” The answer is simple: That depends. In truth, the majority of wines are ‘ready’ when you see them on the store shelf. The exceptions to this are few – and usually expensive. Still, there are a number of things to keep in mind as you contemplate whether to open any bottle.

Bottle ageing occurs in stages. At the winery, once the wine has been bulk aged sufficiently, it is bottled and either prepared for shipping or ‘binned’ in the cellar for further ageing. Some wines are shipped immediately: light whites, early drinking reds, rosés. Others require more time to integrate. Some of the bigger, classic red wines will spend years in the cellar before release. (Have a look at the vintage dates in the Spanish wine section next time you’re shopping.) Port and Champagne also spend a lot of time in the cellar – again, a matter of years.

Another factor to consider is ‘bottle shock’.Wine doesn’t take well to being forcibly slammed into a bottle and then shut off from the world. And with good reason. These days most wineries will ‘sparge’ the bottle with nitrogen before filling, which forces out all of the air. This establishes the chemistry inside the bottle and, once corked, the wine must come to terms with its new situation. Simply put, the wine must deal with disolved oxygen and sulphur. This is a complicated chemical process (and I never did have much of a head for chemistry), but suffice it to say, through a process called ‘redox’, the wine will integrate and reintegrate these two chemicals until it reaches a point of stasis. How long does this take? Research suggests it should be accomplished in about three months. So if possible, check the bottling date and make sure that at least three months have passed. Since you likely won’t find a bottling date, or be able to decipher the code, it’s not a bad practice to lay in a wine for a couple of months before opening it. This, by the way, also gives the wine a chance to settle down after the trauma of transportation.

What about those wines that do age? Almost any red wine will show some benefit from additional cellar time. But how do you determine how much time? Just ask Clive Coates. According to this Master of Wine, a wine will remain at its optimal drinking point for the same period of time that it took to get there. Thus a wine that took three years to mature should drink nicely for the next three years. A wine that took ten years to reach drinkability will keep for another ten years. And a wine that was release one year after vintage probably should be opened by its second birthday.

The main thing to keep in mind that all wine has a limited life span, and a wine that is over the hill is a waste of money as well as a disappointment. Far better to say “I really shouldn’t be drinking this yet” while you enjoy that 8-year old barolo than to say “I really shouldn’t have opened this – it’s dead”. So always err on the side of youth.
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* from The Frugal Oenophile's Lexicon of Wine Tasting Terms

2011-06-27T20:40:00.002-04:00

Aroma Wheel *

A useful tool developed by the University of California at Davis that helps wine tasters identify aromas in wine. Get one!

It’s tempting to think that Dr. Ann C. Noble invented the Aroma Wheel. In fact, she did develop the wheel that’s now standard for coaxing aroma identities out of the wine and from your memory, but the wheel concept is a well established teaching tool for sensory evaluation. You’ll find flavour, aroma and ‘structure’ wheels for all kinds of food products, from olive oil to maple syrup. There is even a pinotage wheel!

The idea behind the sensory wheel is simple. When evaluating a food or beverage, you’re goal is to identify the characteristics inherent in the product. In wine, you look for recognizable aromas, both good and bad. Take faults, for an obvious example. You stick your nose into a glass of much anticipated wine and the first thing that hits you is a vague sherry-like smell. OMG – as the kids say these days – what is that? A quick trip to a wine wheel shows the word ‘Sherry’ on the outside circle, and the inside circle says ‘Oxydized’. So, this wine is oxydized. Thanks aromas wheel. (In this case we’ve worked from the outside toward the middle. Normally you start at the innermost wheel and work your way toward the outside.)

It gets a bit trickier when you have a quality wine that shows a lot of complexity on the nose. A riot of aromas can be hard to sort out. Aroma wheel to the rescue. Is that an herbal aroma? Could be, but which one? The wheel gives you Herbaceous/Vegetal as a starting option, followed by Fresh, Canned or Dried. Follow the path to the outer ring and you find Cut Grass, which is much desired in sauvignon blanc but not wanted at all in cabernet.

The key to the aroma wheel, or any other such tool, is to use it to develop your skills. Then, when you are reliably pulling aromas out of wine and confidently naming names, you can leave the wheel behind.

* There lots of wheels to choose from, but my own “Wine Style Trios Wheel” is the only one that can guide you toward wines you’re more likely to enjoy. Check it out at http://www.frugal-wine.com/bookstore/styltrios.htm
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2011-06-13T10:05:00.001-04:00

Weight *

Strength of alcohol, and sometimes tannin, that gives an impression of weight and volume in the mouth

When I'm teaching a group of newcomers about wine, one of the most troublesome concepts to get across is weight. Wine is complicated, and sorting out its many sensory factors takes a bit of work. One way I handle the weight issue is to present a range of wines -- from the very light to quite heavy -- so that the differences in weight are more obvious. An analogy that people often find helpful is to look at the weight of different types of milk. Whole milk is rather heavy because of its cream content, whereas 2% is noticeably lighter, 1% milk is lighter still, and skim milk is the lightest of all.

The same idea can be applied to wines, between different wines as well as beetween wines of similar style. Chardonnay is typically heavier than Sauvignon Blanc; Cabernet is heavier than Dolcetto. Then within a given style of wine, or even an individual class of wine, there are also weight differences. Cabernet is noticeable heavier than Merlot (both are what I call ‘Bold & Aristocratic’ reds), just as Chardonnay is usually heavier than Auxerrois -- a grape that was long mistaken for Chardonnay. Then within the same type of wines there are weight differences. Burgundy gives us a good comparison with its various interpretations of Chardonnay. Chablis is the lightest Chardonnay that Burgundy has to offer. Next step up the weight scale would be Burgundy proper, or Beaujolais Blanc. At the top of the ladder are the great and legendary Chardonnays: Pouilly-Fuissé, Montrachet and the like. Of course if you really want to lay it on, you have to turn to New World Chardonnay, with its extra helping of oak and butter.

Weight is actually a more important concept than you might realize. If you think of wine as a food as much as a beverage, then getting a grip on weight is required. We often think in terms of matching food and wine by flavour and/or aroma, but it's far more important to match weight. Light foods and heavy wines do not mix; nor do light wines and heavy foods. So when pairing wine and food, always look for a wine that is at least as heavy as the food, if not somewhat fuller. That way your wine will never be overpowered at the table.
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2011-05-24T14:50:00.001-04:00

Unfined *

A wine that has not been subjected to clarification by the addition of fining materials (e.g. egg whites, gelatine, diatomaceous earth, dry clay powder, and many others).

Nobody likes cloudy wine, so winemakers sometimes go to great lengths to make their wine crystal clear. During the last stages of production, a wine will “fall bright”, when the majority of grape matter and dead yeast cells drop to the bottom of the tank or barrel. For some wines, this is sufficient to make a crystal clear wine, ready for bottling; others need some help. There are also times when a little problem arises that must be taken care of. Fining is a very old technique that helps rid wine of various unwanted conditions, whether visible, olfactory or tasteable.

Fining materials do their work by attaching to unwanted matter and forcing it to drop out of the wine. The fining materials themselves do not remain in the wine but join the sludge left behind. Fining can be light or aggressive, depending on the material used and the result the winemaker is looking for. A light fining, perhaps with beaten egg whites, is rather standard with red wines. At the other extreme is a wine that went in the wrong direction and then requires a great deal of intervention to salvage it, and there is a long list of options. In either case, fining removes something from the wine, and there are those who believe the wine is the lesser for it -- that fining removes character as easily as it removes other things.

A wine that is unfined has had no extra elements introduced to it. This is reassuring to the vegetarian or vegan who doesn’t want a wine that has had egg, milk, blood, bone, or gelatine in it. Unfined also means that the wine was at its peak without this intervention. The final bonus is that an unfined wine has all the goodness it was born to have – nothing has been removed through fining – and in that case, you are likely to see the word “Unfined” proudly displayed on the bottle label.
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2011-05-11T13:51:00.001-04:00

Table Wine

1. Wine with no geographic designation, often considered to be the lowest quality available. (Fr: vin du table, It: vino da tavola); 2. An exceptional wine that does not conform to local wine regulations (e.g.“Super Tuscans”); 3. A non-fortified wine *
If it’s not sparkling or syrupy sweet or fortified, then it’s a table wine, according to most wine jurisdictions. In countries that have no appellation systems - the laws that govern the use of place names and set standards for growing and making wine - table wine is a broad category that includes just about everything (with the above noted exceptions). In more formal regions, France being perhaps the best example, a basic table wine is the entry point for decent wine (below that we find ‘vin ordinaire’). These can incorporate any sort of blend and can include bulk wine from other countries. In to order proclaim that a wine is a better quality, it would come entirely from a designated region using approved grapes and vinification techniques. In France, that includes vin de pays (‘wine of the country’), appellation controllée wines, cru and village wines, and the now somewhat rare VDQS. Now, all of these are technically table wines, but they’ve been lifted above the mare table wine category by reason of their pedigree.

Now, there are those who believe the local rules, while fundamentally well intentioned, are too limiting. Chianti, for example, is a great wine in all its incarnations. But the classic chianti formula calls for five different grapes. The dominant grape is sangiovese, which is a star in its own right. But the traditional chianti formula required a minimum of 15% other grapes, including, at one time, white grapes that contribute little to the mix. One could quietly forget to add the less desirable grapes, but that would invite scandal if discovered. And what if you have a goal that the local laws do not permit? Cabernet is a great grape to add to sangiovese. But if a chianti producer adds cabernet, then the wine can be disqualified as chianti. In that case, the wine would be demoted to mere table wine. For the producer, it’s a gamble and quite a big one. Chianti is a very marketable name, and having that word on the label, along with its guarantee of authenticity, is pretty helpful. But a wine that has flouted both laws and traditions must go it alone.

On the other hand, a wine trades on its uniqueness and demonstrated quality can’t be a bad thing.
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* from The Frugal Oenophile's Lexicon of Wine Tasting Terms

2011-04-25T10:35:00.002-04:00

Skin Contact

Time that grape must spends on skins and solids during maceration. For red wines, ranges from several days to several weeks. Rosé wines spend a day or two on the skins. White wines do not normally spend time on the skins, although some winemakers will allow limited skin contact. *

To produce wine is a fairly simple thing: toss together some fruit juice and some yeast and wait. Grapes are a very good way to start because their juice contains all the right ingredients, and their skins even have a layer of ready-to-use yeast. OK, that gets us wine, but how do you create a quality wine, a distinctive wine, a wine for the ages?

A cluster of grapes consists of stems, pulp, juice, skins, and seeds. White wines are made from just the juice. But red wines need more stuff than pulp and juice alone can deliver. Red wines need, first of all, colour, and that comes from the skins. Red wines also need tannin, and that too comes from the skins (some tannin also comes from the stems and seeds). So, to make a suitable red wine, we need to leave the juice – the must – in contact with the skins. And since nothing is simple when it comes to wine (itself a simple beverage) the decisions surrounding skin contact are many.

A white wine may have some skin contact, usually measured in hours. This can give the wine a subtle boost in terms of colour and aromatics. Too much skin contact, though, can extract skin tannin and that’s something we don’t want in a white wine, so the winemaker will press the juice immediately or after brief skin contact.

Red wines can macerate in contact with the skins for hours, days and even weeks, depending on the goals of the winemaker. One way to produce rosé wines, for example, is to allow a day or so of skin contact. Sometimes enough colour can be extracted simply by pressing the grapes very slowly for hours of controlled skin contact for a wee bit of colour and not much tannin.

Now let’s follow a batch of red wine. When we say skins we’re also talking about stems and seeds … it’s a package deal. We can use a mechanical destemmer to remove as much wood as possible, but most winemakers will leave in some of the stems. Stem tannin can improve a wine’s structure, and will also enhance its ageing ability. Seeds will quickly drop to the bottom of the fermentation tank where they don’t have much effect. The rest of the mass – the skin, stems and remaining pulp – has to be controlled. Fermentation produces a lot of carbon dioxide that rises to the surface, carrying the mass of stems and skins – the ‘cap’ – with it. To keep the wine in contact with the skins, and to prevent decay setting in, the cap must be pushed back down, up to several times a day.

The winemaker will assess the wine’s progress daily, and eventually gives the order to ‘rack’ the wine off of the skins. That order can come after a few days, when a lighter, less tannic wine is the objective, or maceration can continue. After about 10 days, most of the goodness has been extracted, and this is when most wines will be racked. Some winemakers will allow the process to continue well past that mark. Wine can stay on the skins for as long as a month. An interesting thing happens in that case. Instead of extracting more and more tannin from the skins and stems, the tannins can, in fact, soften. But this is ‘white knuckle’ winemaking, and is usually attempted only by the most intrepid winemakers.
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2011-04-19T08:45:00.002-04:00

Reserve *

An unregulated New World term that suggests a higher quality wine that has been “reserved” from the rest of that year’s harvest, but can just as easily be meaningless.
Not much in the way of Q words to choose from, so let’s move right to the R's. The notion of a ‘reserve’ wine is that it has been set aside as being the best of that year’s batch. Occasionally the reserve wine is created by design, with the winemaker taking extra care every step of the way on that wine, whereas the remainder of the lot is handled in a more everyday fashion.

After the wine has aged in barrels for the allotted time, it will all be blended together in one large vat to create the cuvée. While in the course of sampling the barrels, the winemaker will also be looking for exceptional barrels. These would then be set aside to go into the reserve wine. In Old World wine regions, the practice is common-place, and the terms Reserve, Reserva, and Riserva are all regulated. You cannot use these terms on the labels if your wines don’t make the grade. Nor can you call ALL your wine reserve. It must have been reserved from something.

Not so in the New World. Most of these wine regions have yet to put in place any kind of appellation systems, let alone quality tiers. With little in the way of labelling regulations, anyone can put practically anything on a wine bottle. It’s not unusual to see bottles labelled “barrel reserve” or “cellar reserve” that have seen neither a barrel nor an actual cellar. There are even wineries that label all of their wines as reserve. Makes you wonder what the non-reserve stuff must have been like.
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The bug that ate its way through Europe

2011-04-11T08:21:00.001-04:00

Phylloxera Vastatrix

A microscopic North American aphid that feeds on the roots and leaves of grapevines. Responsible for destroying most of Europe’s vineyards from about 1860-1900. North American vines and hybrids are mostly immune and are used as rootstock for virtually all grapevines today.

Before the days of quarantines and importation standards, humans trafficked freely in plants and animals, thereby transplanting a lot of invasive species that wrought destruction instead of the hoped for boon. When explorers touched down in the New World, they notice the grapes right away. Soon after came wine made from North America grapes. And what retched wine it was. So why not plant a bunch of European grapevines in Canada and the US. The foreign grapes flourished in this hospitable climate, but after a few years they all sickened and died, and for no known reason. Well, if that experiment wouldn’t work, maybe taking the prolific native vines back to Europe would bestow some of the classic European flavour to the wines. Worse than not a very good idea, the North American vines that were planted in France in the late 1850s and early 1860s carried an alien -- an alien that loved these defenseless grapevines. It took barely 20 years for the phylloxera aphid to destroy some 6 million acres of vineyards in France, Spain, Italy, and elsewhere.

North American vines had managed to co-exist semi-peacefully with the bug (it infects mainly the leaves), but the European vinifera grapevines had no such resistance. Many treatments were tried -- some of them irrational and even shocking -- with no success. Because North American vines were holding their own, vinticulturalist began to experiment with cross breeding. That resulted in a large number of “French hybrid” grapes, many of which are still in production in marginal wine-growing areas. But too often the hybrids fall short in terms of the wines they produce. Sometimes they're just rejected out of hand even when superior to comparable vinifera varieties. So the other, and final, solution was to graph European vines onto North American or hybrid rootstocks. That is how it’s now done in virtually all wine regions where phylloxera is an issue. There are some exceptions; Chile, for example, has very strict importation laws and has managed to keep the bug out. These days, research into rootstocks is as important as research in grape growing and winemaking.
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More is not always better

2011-04-04T09:25:00.002-04:00

Over-cropping

Allowing vines to produce too many grapes, resulting in wines that are hollow, watery and characterless. *

Grapevines are fussy things. Normally they just want to take over a small region of the planet and be left alone. But grape growers have other plans. They want grapes. An orderly vineyard might be nice too. So they plant in rows and prune the vines to keep down their prolific growth. Interestingly, when challenged this way, grapevines tend to produce more grapes – and that’s good for the grower. But at a certain point, the vine produces too many grapes, or at least too many to produce a quality wine.

For the grape farmer there is a trade off. Increase the yield and there will be more grapes to sell. But that lowers the grapes’ quality. In an environment where grape prices are fixed, that can be bad for the wineries that purchase grapes. If grapes are priced the same, then a ton of grapes costs the same regardless of quality. There is no incentive for the grower to increase quality since quality costs a lot to produce but would not result in a better price for the grapes. For the lowest quality of wine, this may be OK (it is far from actually a good thing) but it is impossible to make great wine from over-cropped grapes.

In an over-cropped situation, the vine has to parcel out nutrients equally. Whether the vineyard is targeting 2 tons per acre of 10 tons per acre, the vine can only deliver the same amount of nutrients. In general, you’ll find quality wine made from low yield vineyards – the 2 tons-per-acre is typical – and cheap bulk wines from the 10-tons-per-acre crops and some times more.

What constitutes low or high yield depends on a number of factors, and principally the grape variety. Some grapes can produce top quality at higher yields while others must be severely restricted. The corollary is that over-cropping is also relative, as far as the actual tonnage per acre goes, and varies from grape to grape. But whatever the ideal yield is for a given grape and terroir, over-cropping is over-cropping and the result is almost always a wine that is “character challenged”.

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Like a fine non-vintage?

2011-03-28T09:04:00.000-04:00

Non-vintage / NV

A wine that is blended from more than one harvest year and therefore cannot be given a vintage date. Meant to be consumed “immediately”.

The term Vintage comes from the harvesting of grapes and the making of wine. The notion of dating the vintage – the harvest year – has been around since Roman times, and perhaps before. In general, we look upon a vintage date as a sign of quality in a wine. But it’s just one of many factors that determine quality. Plus there are wines that do not carry a vintage date, and that throws our concept of a “vintage product” into a tizzy.

To begin with, most champagne is non-vintage, as is port. And these are among the most revered wines available. The wines achieve their unique style by being a blend of different vintages, different harvests. The convention is to omit any meeting of vintage date in this case. Even if the vintage years that went into the blend were known, who would by a bottle labelled “1995/’97/’98/’99/2001”? So we content ourselves that the product’s quality speaks for itself, and that a vintage dated port or champagne is a bit of a bonus. By the way, these wines almost always age quite well.

A second type of non-vintage wine is a quality blend that spans more than one harvest. I’ve often seen non-vintage wines from respected producers where the specifics of the harvests were declared on the label. What the winemaker is saying is that the blending decision needed to span multiple vintages to achieve the desired quality. This really is standard procedure for all wines: if something will improve the wine, then it perhaps should be added. But if it’s from a different harvest year, you have to forgo the vintage date. It’s a bit of a risk, but if the producer has a strong reputation, then these wines can rival the vintage dated ones. They may even age well; just be sure to record the purchase date, which is as close to a vintage date as you’ll get.

The final category is wines that don’t deserve a vintage date. In most cases, these are factory wines that are cobbled together from cheap bulk wine from different sources, and likely from different vintages. Given a wine that has no known origin, it’s entirely appropriate that a vintage date be withheld. How would you go about declaring the pedigree of a wine blended from Chilean, Californian and ‘other’ wines? The date(s) would be meaningless. But likely it’s not the lack of a vintage date that makes most of us steer clear of these products.

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Somewhereness, up close

2011-03-22T08:03:00.001-04:00

Microclimate

Often incorrectly used to refer to the climate of a sub-region or vineyard, microclimate refers more accurately to a single row or a few vines.
The best examples I’ve seen of true microclimates abound during late August. The next time you pass a growing cornfield, look for a small area that hasn’t kept up with the rest of the crop. You can often see an area of stunted corn near a tree or in a small indent or gully. This is a microclimate ... at most perhaps 200 - 300 square feet total. On the other hand, an area the size of a vineyard is a mesoclimate.

Many of the subtle and not so subtle differences we see between the same style of wine from different regions can be attributed to location or terroir. That’s why sauvignon blanc from New Zealand is so different from sauv blanc from Ontario or South Africa. And even within a region, you can also find significant differences between different vineyards.

Some wineries have gone as far as to analyse their vineyards to identify both meso- and microclimates. We can compare this to the Cru system in place in Burgundy and Bordeaux. If you look at an elevation diagram of an appellation, you’ll see the simple AOC vineyards are mainly the low-lying plains. The higher quality vineyards lie further up the slope. And in a small section near the top of the slope you’ll see a tiny portion designated as Grand Cru.

So whether it’s a mesoclimate or a microclimate, it’s invariably the piece of land that gives birth to the wine. And if you are buying by location, always look for the most precise name possible. Single vineyard wines are more expensive than regional wines for some very good reasons.
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* from The Frugal Oenophile's Lexicon of Wine Tasting Terms

Sedimentary Journey

2011-03-14T08:29:00.003-04:00

Lees *

Grape solids and dead yeast cells that have precipitated to the bottom of the tank or barrel during ageing. Can contribute to complexity, and facilitates malolactic fermentation.During the first few days of fermentation, the new wine will throw off quite a bit of grape material as well as spent yeast cells – the gross lees. After racking, the wine will contain very few grape solids, and the fermentation will then produce mainly yeast cells. Lees contact is an important component to the wine’s character and in some cases is absolutely essential. For example, a ‘sur lie’ chardonnay may have spent months in the barrel, with the cellar master frequently stirring the lees into the wine (see Battonage, Jan 10/11). This gives the wine a unique biscuity character that only comes about through careful ageing on the lees. Champagne also gets much of its character from lees. The wine ferments in a closed bottle for months and perhaps years in close contact with the lees. If a wine has a creamy, yeasty or toasty character, it’s likely attributable to the lees.

Properly managed, lees add unique and desirable character, but if the winemaker is not careful, the yeast cells can begin to deteriorate, a condition called autolysis. An autolytic wine can show a number of undesirable odours including ‘beery’, ‘bready’, hydrogen sulphide, and a group of nasties called mercaptans.

You may come across a bottle that says ‘bottled on lees’. This means that the wine was transferred directly from the barrel to the bottle, without filtering. The wine may even show a trace of cloudiness, which in this case is a bonus.
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* from The Frugal Oenophile's Lexicon of Wine Tasting Terms

It's all in the tastebuds

2011-03-07T09:15:00.001-05:00

Jammy

Ripe, heavy, concentrated red wine flavours that take on the character of jam. Sweetish, possibly cloying. Good if not over-done.

I was recently challenged to explain ‘jammy’ and was at a loss to go much beyond what you find in my . Truth be told, I haven’t come across that many truly jammy wines. I do remember one occasion, at a small wine fair, when a respected sommelier came up to me and excitedly told me I HAD to try this wine – a robust Portuguese red. I found the wine a bit too jammy for my tastes. But before I could say anything, the sommelier blurted out “and it’s not the least bit jammy!” Hmmm…

So I decided to do a bit of research to see if anyone else was confused by this term. Here’s what I found, gleaned from about a dozen different sources:

Opinion A, Jammy is good: “sweetish”, “concentrated”, “superb extract”, “forward”, “approachable”, “fruity, tasty and pleasing”, “jumps out of the glass”, “open”;

Opinion B, Jammy is not so good: “cooked”, “flavors of jam rather than fresh fruit”, “hot climate”, “overripe fruit”, “low in acid”, “not necessarily complex”, “overripe character”, “high alcohol”, “negative tasting term”, “baked, cooked or stewed fruit”, “unappealing”, “lacking in tannins.”

For a time, big juicy wines were the rage – Aussie shiraz in particular. And if a little is good, then a lot should be better, so some of these wines just got bigger and bigger, evolving into “sweetish”, in-your-face fruit bombs with port-like alcohol. Thankfully the wines became as tiresome to the consumer as they were to the palate, and many of us began to look for a bit of subtlety and finesse instead.

You can still find overly jammy wines, but the market is definitely shifting away from them.

Best Bets in Fruit Bombs

Argentina: Malbec
Australia: Shiraz, “GSM” (grenache, syrah, mourvedre)
California: Zinfandel (not the pink stuff), Petite Sirah
Chile: Carmenere, Mourvedre
Eastern Europe: Plavac Mali
France: Cahors (Malbec)
Italy: Negroamaro, Nero d’Avola, Primitivo

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The Proof is in the Glass

2011-02-28T14:24:00.005-05:00

ISO Tasting Glass

The International Organization for Standardization has designed and recommended a smallish (7-1/2 oz., 220 mL) tulip-shaped glass to be used for international taste testing. An excellent all-around wineglass, often sold at wineries.I have a small tasting exercise* that I put together for a wine course I was teaching, and I try to force-fit it into tastings I’m leading. It involves pouring a sample into an ISO glass, tasting it, and then pouring the sample into other styles of wineglass. (I’m a devotee of quality wineglasses and firmly believe that the glass is an important factor.) This little comparative test proves – in a highly dramatic manner – that wineglass shape is critical.

Size, shape and material are all important in wineglass design. All three factors have to work. It’s possible for seemingly identical glasses to perform quite differently because of a small difference in any one of these element. Crystal is nice but not necessary, mostly because it tends to have thinner walls than plain glass. Size is strongly influenced by the type of wine: bigger wines tend to work better in larger glasses. However, the most important factor appears to be shape, and the tulip shape is the one to look for.

Tulip-shaped refers to the size and profile of the wineglass’s bowl. The bowl will be taller than it is wide, and the top will be narrower than the rest of the glass … picture a tulip that is just beginning to open. If you’re shopping for glasses spend a few dollars more and get a quality, name-brand glass -- preferably crystal --, that has a nice tulip shape. When dining out, also look for this shape, and if you have trouble finding a restaurant that provides decent glasses, consider taking along your own. Many people do.
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* We pit the ISO glass against four of the most commonly used restaurant wineglasses. All the glasses fared poorly compared to the ISO glass.

* from The Frugal Oenophile's Lexicon of Wine Tasting Terms

Wine/Life Balance

2011-02-21T09:34:00.003-05:00

Harmonious

A wine with a well-balanced nose.

I was doing a book signing at a winery one afternoon when the owner came over to me to introduce me to a friend who had stopped by. Naturally we soon began to discuss the wines, and the guest asked me if I could recommend anything. I asked her if she liked riesling. She said yes, then turned to the owner and asked him what his riesling was like. He said it was “harmonious and well balanced”. I could see from the look on the woman’s face that this was not the sort of answer she was looking for. So I said “It’s really yummy.” With a broad smile she headed off to the tasting room with the winery owner in tow.

Harmonious is one of those wine words that gets used a lot but fails to convey any real information. As well, ‘harmonious and well balanced’ is redundant, since harmonious means well balanced! A wine can in fact be harmonious but not very good, or perhaps not even enjoyable. Balance and harmony are good, but are they a useful description of what we find in the bottle?

If we set the bar a bit higher, the situation worsens. According to the Oxford Canadian Dictionary, harmonious means “forming a pleasing or consistent whole.” Would anyone rush out to buy a wine that was described as ‘consistent’?

I prefer to write this one off as bafflegab and suggest instead that we look for more meaningful terms -- terms that will give people a sense of what the wine is actually like, words such as ‘yummy’ for example.

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A Name Game

2011-02-14T10:20:00.000-05:00

Generic Name

A ‘jug wine’ bearing the name of one of the classic Old World wine regions.
For decades Canada and a few other new world wine regions have been producing and selling huge quantities of low-end wines that infringed on traditional and legally protected European wine names. In 2003 Canada and Europe signed an agreement that would see the end of generic wine names in Canada. What’s bothersome about this agreement is the 10-year horizon. Generic wines are made predominantly by huge wine conglomerates that regularly churn out new names and new labels for their low-end wines. So why do they need 10 years to switch the few names that are applied to some of the worst wines available?

You can still find these wines on store shelves, principally in Ontario, the US and Australia. Borrowed names include champagne, port, sherry, chablis, burgundy, ‘sauterne’, chianti, and a few others. Usually the only resemblance these wines have to their namesakes is colour. For example, California chablis is usually made from a very cheap grape whereas true chablis is 100% chardonnay. Canadian sauterne is an interesting interpretation. It’s a dry white wine whereas Bordeaux’s sauternes is a prized sweet wine. And aside from being low end, the wines are banged into shape using any winemaking technique that is legal -- including additives – and are the vinus equivalent of no-name bologna.

The one problem with phasing out the European wine names is that it leaves port- and sherry-style wines out in the cold. The name port, for example, is well understood and has been used to describe these wines for decades. Once it becomes illegal to use these names, fortified wine makers will have to get creative to find a new way to refer to these wines generally. (I know of a wine called ‘Starboard’ but that’s perhaps too esoteric.)
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The Long & Short of It

2011-02-07T10:35:00.000-05:00

Finish

A complex sequence of flavours and aromas after swallowing or spitting. Wines are judged in part on the quality and duration of the finish. Sometimes called the farewell.

The full sensory impact of wine comes in three stages: attack, development and finish. We sip the wine and have our first impression. The wine then reveals more of its character on the ‘mid palate’, the development. Finally there is the finish -- those last few moments before the flavour and aroma impression fades completely.

The finish (close, farewell, etc.) is an important part of what a wine has to offer. A “short” wine has a finish that lasts a mere second or two. Beyond that, there’s nothing to savour. A great wine, on the other hand, can last for much longer: a minute or more. The French have a word for the length of the finish: caudalie, where one caudalie is equal to one second of length.

The finish consists of both length: how long it lasts, and after taste: the quality of the impression. Sometimes a wine’s character is only fully revealed in the aftertaste. Bitterness and ‘corkiness’, for example, can sometimes be sensed in the finish even though it was not evident in the mid-palate. But we much prefer the other scenario, when the aftertastes is as good or better than what came before. And if it lasts a long time, well that’s about as good as it gets. One caudalie, two caudalie, three caudalie...
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* from The Frugal Oenophile's Lexicon of Wine Tasting Terms

A Fountain of Youth?

2011-01-31T08:11:00.004-05:00

Égrappage *

Partial or complete removal of grape stalks prior to fermentation, usually by machine. Results in reduced tannins, making for softer, earlier maturing, fruitier red wines. Always done for white wines. Some stems may be left in to keep the ‘marc’ loose during pressing.

The long-held belief that all wine should be aged for long periods hearkens back to when winegrapes were pressed in whole bunches -- stems, seeds and all. The classic image of Oporto’s “black feet” stomping grapes doesn’t show that the stems are being stomped just as aggressively as the grapes. And the same with primitive pressing technology: the stems were included with the grape mash. Often the result was wines that had very high tannin content. In fact, many old style wines were so tannic that they were hard to tolerate until some of the tannins had softened from cellar ageing -- possibly for many years.

A fairly modern improvement in grape processing is the crusher/destemmer. This machine crushes the grape bunches to release the juice, and then strips away the stems, leaving fermentable juice that is relatively stem free. As a red wine macerates and ferments, it extracts tannin from the stems and skins, and from the pits to some degree (although these too are often removed). When the stems are removed before fermentation, the wines emerge less tannic, softer, and earlier maturing. A classic example is Brunello. Traditionally these wines took 10 to 20 years to soften to drinkability, but with more modern techniques -- including égrappage -- the wines can be ready to open well before their tenth birthday. (I have had Brunello as young as 5 years that was perfectly balanced and drinkable.)

Égrappage gives the winemaker another area of control over the wine: Remove all the stems for an early-drinking, fruit forward wine; leave in a small percentage of stems for added structure and longevity; or maximize stem content to create a traditional cellar monster.

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* from The Frugal Oenophile's Lexicon of Wine Tasting Terms

All That Sparkles

2011-01-24T10:24:00.001-05:00

Diamonds/Gravel *

Harmless tartrate crystals from tartaric acid that precipitate out of finished wine, especially when chilled. Can be a good sign, showing that the wine has not been over processed.
Acids are an important component of all wines. They provide structure (backbone), contribute to a wine’s impression of freshness, and help make wine food friendly. There are roughly a half dozen different acids to be found in wine, but tartaric acid is by far the most plentiful.

Winemakers put a lot of effort into managing acid, beginning in the vineyard where getting the sugar/acid balance just right is a primary goal. Depending on local rules, the winemaker may ‘adjust’ acid before starting fermentation. All through its stay at the winery, the wine’s acid will be monitored. One trick winemakers use to lower acidity is to ‘cold stabilize’ the wine prior to bottling. This entails refrigerating the wine to just above freezing for up to a week, which forces the tartaric acid to form crystals, softening the wine. (Incidentally, the crystals are later scraped from the tank and sold as a basic ingredient in baking powder.)

You may have seen these tartrate crystals in a bottle or glass, or on the cork. (These can look like bits of glass.) This actually is a good sign. It means the winemaker has not processed the dickens out of the wine and that it had ample acidity when bottled. Diamonds, like all sediment, is a good thing, although getting a mouthful of it is rather off-putting. If you see a lot of crystals in the bottle, pour very gently or -- better -- decant the wine off the sediment and enjoy!
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* from The Frugal Oenophile's Lexicon of Wine Tasting Terms

A Vine Distinction

2011-01-17T11:17:00.000-05:00

Clone *

Winegrape vines are propagated from cuttings; therefore, each plant is a “clone” of its parent. Varieties can also mutate into a number of clonal variations over time. Most vineyards are planted with a selected variety of clones of the same grape.
There are an estimated 10,000 varieties of winegrape, with roughly 6,000 varieties currently used to make wine. Yet despite this wealth of choice, there are relatively few winegrapes in widespread use.

The winegrape vine is somewhat prone to mutation. One theory is that all grapevines (at least in Europe) are descended from a distant relative of the Muscat grape, which proliferated in the region of the Black Sea. Once humans decided to farm rather than roam, they began to cultivate. It was natural to save the seeds from the best examples to plant for next year. And as with carrots or wheat, this also applied to winegrapes. The grape’s propensity to mutate was both good news and bad news. A new version of the plant might create an even better wine than its parent plant. But if you can’t predict what the plant’s seed will produce, how do you recreate that special variety? The answer is to plant parts of the original plant rather than the seeds. In effect, you simply clone the desired plant.

There you have plant husbandry in a nutshell. Plant the sticks, not the seeds. That way you know that the resulting vine will produce exactly the same grapes as the parent plant ... mostly. There is still the issue of spontaneous mutation. That too has a silver lining. Take that interesting stick (mutations quite often show up as a single cane on a parent vine) and plant it. So when your pinot noir vine produces a cane filled with light blue grapes, plant that cane and call it “pinot gris”.

Sometimes a mutation will be almost the same as the original plant, but with some characteristic that is worth preserving. That cane, too, can be isolated and cloned. Pinot noir has an estimated 1000 clones, all of which produce a wine recognizable as pinot noir. In Ontario, winemakers are crazy about a clone called chardonnay musqué. The wine is chardonnay in every way, but it has a wonderful muscat element not found in typical chardonnays.
Part of the art and science of planting a vineyard is choosing which grapes and which clones of those grapes to plant. Often the vineyard will be planted with a few carefully selected clones of the basic vine, partly for some genetic diversity but more to achieve a certain type of wine.
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* from The Frugal Oenophile's Lexicon of Wine Tasting Terms

A Stirring Tale

2011-01-10T07:59:00.003-05:00

Battonage

The act of stirring the lees in vat or barrel. Helps avoid production of hydrogen sulphide and facilitates absorption of wood tannins and lees flavoursThere are two schools of thought on stirring wine. One is to stir often; the other is to not stir at all. The decision to stir or not stir a ‘working’ wine will encourage the development of certain characteristics. In the case of a red wine, the wine will be vigorously manipulated during its first week or so of fermentation to keep the skins and grape solids in contact with the juice. A white wine might also be stirred during this primary stage of fermentation to help distribute the growing yeast cells and to make sure they are exposed to the nutrients in the juice. Some winemakers will stir a working wine up to three times a day.

Once fermentation has pretty much finished, stirring takes on a different mission. The majority of wines are racked into clean vessels and left alone to mature in peace. Some purists even insist that disturbing the wine during this stage can bruise it (whatever that means). If a wine is undergoing malolactic fermentation, which is frequently done with red wines and with chardonnay, then stirring the lees will help foster the malolactic bacteria and bring out the desired soft ‘sur lie’ quality.

Lees are dead yeast cells, and mixing them into the wine helps integrate toasty and biscuity qualities into the wine. You’ll find this character in sur lie chardonnay, vinho verde, and quality sparkling wines, especially champagne. Sometimes the wine is bottled directly from the barrel, in which case the label may say “Bottled on lees”or “Unfiltered” and the wine may show a trace of fine sediment. The resulting wines generally show more character than those that have not undergone lee stirring.
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The Trouble with Angel’s

2011-01-03T10:18:00.000-05:00

Angel’s Share

A quaint term that refers to the wine that goes missing from the barrel during ageing. Real world cause is evaporation through the pores and seams of the barrel. Can amount to a loss of 5% or more over a year of barrel ageing, which must be periodically topped up. Contributes to a wine’s concentration

For centuries, winemakers have turned to wooden barrels for the final ageing of their best wines. Usually made from oak, wine barrels are held together with nothing more than a few reinforcing rings -- no glue, no nails. Even the heads are sealed with simple strips of bulrush. The result is a barrel that is water-tight and very nearly air-tight. And it’s that “very nearly” part that’s important here. Microscopic spaces between the staves and the heads and around the bung hole allow a minute amount of evaporation. Over time, which ranges from a few months to several years, liquid evaporates through the various gaps in the barrel, to be replaced by air. This condenses the wine, making it richer while adding subtle amounts of oxygen. The loss -- the angel’s share -- can range from 5% of the volume to as much as 20% before the wine is ready to offer to the market. On the down side, that loss in volume must be regularly made up. While the ‘micro-oxygenation’ that barrels add is beneficial, too much will often yield an oxidized wine, so winemakers routinely top up the barrels with the same (or similar) wine kept in reserve. In the case of older or large barrels, it’s principally the angel’s share at work, since these barrels contribute little in the way of oak character. Either way, the finished wine is softer, more complex and more concentrated than its younger self.

"It's so easy when you know the language" - Martin Mull

2010-12-27T19:11:00.006-05:00

̍
Elaboration

The act or process of producing, refining or improvement.
Also a term used to describe the entire winemaking process, from grape to bottle.

After a rather impressive start some 7-8 years ago, my newsletter went from a somewhat reliable publication to something that appeared with roughly the frequency of Halley’s Comet. To be honest, I simply ran out of things to write about. I don’t mind confessing that because I am not a work-a-day journalist with a gift for pulling topics out of thin air whatever the weather.

No, my newsletter was not journalism. It was a chronicling of my journey of discovery. Can we then conclude that I’ve discovered all there is to know about wine? Far from it. But I have run out of topics that require the all-consuming research that I’m inclined to do. Plus I am loath to fall into that habit of seasoned journalists of recycling old topics -- that does not interest me, and does not do my audience justice.

Thankfully I have hit upon an idea that I think I can warm up to. It appears that I am the definitive keeper of wine language (at least, in North America). My is still the most complete collection of wine terms available, so I’m going to run with that. My goal with the Lexicon was to provide dictionary-length definitions of the most common wine terms. Of course there’s more to any story, so what I’d like to do here is to occasionally pull out one of those wine terms and then elaborate on it. With nearly 650 terms in the Lexicon, I figure I’m good for about 12 years before I have to roll out a Volume II of the Lexicon. (Just kidding: Volume II is in the works.)

-TFO

A New Direction for America’s Largest Wine Maker?

2010-05-06T09:42:00.001-04:00

Recently, a prominent US wine producer was scolded by international authorities for receiving and distributing varietal wines that were not actually the varietal named on the bottle. Also fingered in the scandal was the French distributor who supplied the wine. It seems that what the US company thought they were buying was not what the distributors were selling. At some level there was a switch (and, given the complexity of the French wine labelling and marketing system, no surprise there). Consumers subsequently purchased a wine which they thought was one sort of wine but turned out to be something else.

What’s really interesting about this kafuffle is that no one caught on. No one! The buyers at the US company couldn’t tell that wine X was in fact wine Y. The cellar people, quality control people, bottlers, etc. didn’t spot it either. And so on until the wine was in the customers’ hands. And guess what: The customers couldn’t tell that wine X was in fact wine Y either.

Given that no one in the supply chain could spot the flaw, and that no customer complained that they didn’t get what they thought they’d bought, it seems to me that an effective marketing program could come out of all this. Why not just suggest to the consumer that this wine might be what they’re looking for? At the low end of the wine scale, where this wine resides, dreck is dreck. I’ve tasted bag-in-box Pinot that resembled bad Merlot, and a mass-produced Shiraz that seemed like ... well, let’s not go there. So here’s a simple solution. Just obfuscate. Give the consumer what they think they want in terms of labels, and then just put something reasonable into the bottle or “cask”. Here are a few suggestions to get started:

Might Be Merlot

Could Be Cabernet

Possibly Pinot Noir

Seems Like Sauvignon Blanc

Should Be Chardonnay

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Holiday 2009 Edition

2009-12-15T10:05:00.007-05:00

Wine Secrets, by Marnie Old

My favourite wine books are the ones that step outside the rather narrow established mould and approach the topic in a manner that is both interesting and useful. Here Ms Old uses the standard Q&A framework to gather lots of field-tested advice from a variety of wine experts. This certainly lends the book ample authority, but the real treasure is having wine truisms either confirmed or denied by those who have been there.

There are six chapters, each dealing with a different aspect of living with wine. The chapters feature brief discussions on each topic by six or seven writers drawn from several sectors of the industry. You will find advice from sommeliers, winemakers, wine writers, wine educators, and wine agents. There are quite a few master sommeliers and wine masters in this crowd.
You can work your way through the book from start to finish or just pick and choose. The individual entries are short enough to be read in just a few minutes, and each essay is followed by a “Marnie's Corner” wrapup of the topic.

Wine Secrets - Advice from Winemakers, Sommeliers and Connoisseurs
Marnie Old
Quirk Books, 2009
184 pages,Hard cover
ISBN: 978-1-59474-261-3
$19.95 US

Yet Another Update on Closures

We've seen a lot of change in the area of wine closures and containers over the past few years. I was about to say “progress”, but it seems the issue needs a harder look.

Beaujolais has announced that they will not be putting their wine in plastic bottles; elsewhere in France wineries are shipping wine in cans and even in drinking bags complete with straw. But that movement is at the low end. How about mid-market and above? Screwcaps, plastic corks and the like are starting to show their limitations. Oxidation is not as dire an ailment as cork taint, but it is an ailment and it can be avoided with closures that work. And it seems the answer is ... cork?

The onslaught of the screwcap movement cost the cork makers dearly. But rather than whine and gripe, they put all their efforts into solving cork's fundamental problem: TCA contamination. Now it looks like cork is poised for a dramatic and perhaps decisive comeback. If you’re looking for real quality wine, the new slogan may soon be “Insist on natural cork”. Since I've had more failed screwcaps than corked wines, it's a move I can applaud.

Want to help?
I saw a wonderful program recently on the wildlife of Portugal’s cork groves. The groves themselves are splendid enough to warrant protection, but the range of wildlife that is being nurtured by the cork growers is astounding. You can help fund cork grove preservation by adopting a cork tree through the World Wildlife Fund. You can find out more -- and get started on your personal cork grove -- by visiting www.panda.org/how_you_can_help/gifts/products/cork/index.cfm.

From US Navy's 1986 "Mess Night Manual" as quoted on thewinehistorian.blogspot.com
“A toast is a social formality in which wine or liquor is drunk in honor of an individual or organization. The custom of toasting is very old, dating from the pre-Christian era. Today it is practiced throughout the world with slight variations in different localities.

“The term ‘toast’ has its origin in sixteenth century England, where it was fashionable to add a small piece of toasted bread to drinks. The toast was a delicacy, somewhat like the olive in a martini. It thus became customary for the term "toast" to be applied to a drink proposed in honor of a person during a meal or at its conclusion. Although the bit of toast is no longer used, the term has survived to the present day.”

-tfo

What's this I keep hearing about Cellared in Canada Wine?

2009-11-07T10:01:00.002-05:00

For some time (since 1973 in fact), Ontario wineries have been allowed to import juice or wine from other countries and then bottle it as their own. Bottles containing mostly foreign wine were originally labeled Product of Canada. Then in 1993 Product of Canada was replaced by Cellared in Canada (CIC). So, what you've been reading and hearing about lately is that people don't get it, and that in an effort to support the local wine industry, they've been buying CIC wines and unknowingly underwriting wine factories in California, Chile and elsewhere.

Why Did This Come About
In the beginning, Niagara had thousands of hectares of north American Labrusca grapes the likes of Concord and Niagara and even one called President (“President Champagne” anyone?) When better grapes came along, the Ontario government encouraged growers to grub up their Labrusca vines and replant with French-American hybrids, mostly Vidal, Seyval Blanc, Marechal Foch, and Baco Noir. Then in 1989 the government launched another grubbing up program when some die-hard wineries started planting European Vinifera grapes: Chardonnay, the Cabernets, and especially Riesling. (It's interesting to note that government experts insisted for decades that Vinifera vines could never succeed in Ontario.)

So, what do you do when you've ripped out your vineyard and now must wait 3-5 years to harvest grapes? The simplest solution is to allow wineries to import even more wine with which to “extend” their remaining harvest. Now, the original plan was to phase out the imported wine, with a “sunset” in the year 2000. But by then a few large wineries had shifted their business plan from Canadian fine wine to cheap and cheerful jug wines (but without the jug, at least). It's pretty hard to change a law that has allowed a few companies to grow rich and dominate the market, so the plan was carved in stone ... soapstone, as it turns out.
In 1993, when Canada signed the Free Trade Agreement, Ontario put a cap on the entire wine business. Only wineries establish before NAFTA would be allowed to import wine for blending. Moreover, only these wineries could own multiple site licenses. So we now have a two-tiered system: wineries that can do pretty much what they want, and those that can do little more than pay the bills.

Setting the Standard
VQA (see below) goes back to 1989, when a number of Ontario’s better winemakers decided that an “appellation” system would help give Ontario wines credibility in the world marketplace. Most Old World wine-producing countries have a system of controls that determine which wines meet their standards, including how to communicate that standard to the buyer. In France, for example, Grand Cru is one such a standard. To use the term Grand Cru on the label, the wine must have been grown entirely in the designated area – the appellation – using only approved grapes and methods. Vinification must also be up to snuff, and the wines are bottled on site to further guarantee authenticity. VQA wines follow similar standards, and the VQA symbol is a guarantee that the wine is from the named region. But not all home-grown wines get to be VQA.

Do You VQA? Perhaps Not
Ontario has four distinct classes of wines, three of which are 100% Canadian.
VQA: The Vintners’ Quality Alliance of Ontario is Ontario’s appellation system. Wines that carry the VQA symbol have been grown in designated vinicultural regions using approved grapes and vinified using approved methods. VQA wines must be 100% Ontario-produced and must also pass muster with a tasting panel. VQA’s standards are among the highest in the world. Ontario's VQA wine regions are Niagara, Lake Erie North Shore/Pelee Island, Prince Edward County, and Ontario if the grapes came from more than one region (e.g. Niagara and Prince Edward County).

Cellared in Canada: A limited number of Ontario’s wineries (25 out of more than 160) are allowed to produce wines made from imported wine blended with a portion of Ontario wine. The ratio has been modified from its original 50/50 a number of times, and now stands at 30% Ontario wine to 70% imported wine. These wines can also contain up to 25% water! The required Ontario content has been regularly lowered to accommodate a small harvest (even as low as 1%), but it has never been increased in the event of a larger than anticipated harvest. CIC wines currently make up about 80% of so-called Ontario wine sales.

Fruit Wines: Fruit Wines of Ontario oversees the Quality Certified (QC) system for wines made from something other than grapes: fruits, berries, honey, and such. The standards are similar to VQA and specify that all produce used in these wines is Ontario grown and that the wines adhere to rigorous standards. Fruit wineries may not join the Wine Council of Ontario if they don't grow wine grapes, may not use the word Ontario on their labels, and face certain restrictions in their access to Ontario markets.

Orphan Wines: Many Ontario-grown and produced wines have no certification – no birthright – for one reason or another, and therefore are not even recognized as products of Ontario. These wines may not use the word Ontario anywhere on their labels and packaging. Both grape- and fruit-wines can appear in this group. Of all the reasons cited for not applying for VQA or QC status, the cost of certification is the most common. The wines are taxed differently and market opportunities are limited.

What it all means
Only you can decide what your wine buying priorities are. If your main objective is to buy as cheaply as possible and still support the local wine industry, then you're likely forced to stick with CIC wines, although I have seen prices on these wines that approach abusive: $13.95 for a wine that is 70% of unknown origin and may even contain water? No thanks! Moreover, I have purchased many wonderful VQA wines for under $10 and even as low as $6.95.

If you want to support real Ontario wine and don't mind paying a bit more on occasion, then VQA is an easy choice. If you shop only at the LCBO, then go straight to the VQA display, but watch out. CIC wines occasionally get mixed in, which the store is not supposed to do. (Check out the VQA wines on my Wine of the Week blog.)

For the full local wine (loca-vin?) experience, head for the wineries. That's where you'll find the best selection. The LCBO carries just a few labels from fewer than half Ontario's wineries, although the Vintages offerings are getting better at including VQA wines. If, while at a winery, you try a wine that you like but it isn't VQA, ask why. Certification is expensive; it's also unforgiving. It may add unreasonably to the price of a small lot wine to have it certified. Or the wine may be made from an orphan grape, one that the governing bodies don't approve of. Too bad. I've had some excellent Ontario wines that were made from non-approved grapes. VQA wines also go through a stringent chemical analysis, and you may be told that the wine’s acidity was off by .5% and it cost too much to resubmit.

If your goal is to experience Ontario's many terroirs, then stick with VQA or visit the winery. There is no "sense of place" in a blended wine most of which came halfway round the globe.
Now for the bad news. I am one of the few tasters in our little wine writers group that always tastes the CIC wines. I think it's important that I have a baseline on what's being offered in this price and style category. My expectations are not high, but frankly it's become a lesson in how low the bar can be set. I can recall only two CIC wines that I'd consider drinkable, and I've tried pretty much all of them. It's also the category that contains the most atrocities. It baffles me that someone will produce and knowingly release a terrible wine. One the positive side, there's sure to be lots of it!

What CIC Really Means

There's no way to discover the motives behind the switch from Product of Canada to Cellared in Canada. It may have been a response to consumers' confusion and anger over products labeled Canadian when they in fact were not. Many products bear the Product of Canada label. The official criterion here is that the majority of production costs must be incurred in Canada, not necessarily the product itself. CIC easily wines fall into this category, as just the cost of a bottle often exceeds the cost of the cheap imported wine that goes into that bottle.

The word “cellared” is supposed to help the buyer understand that there's more to wine than bottling and labeling. There's, uh, cellaring for instance. That means that the wines were parked in a humongous tank for a period of time. Hmmm... It's a bit like parking a Lada in your garage for a month or two, perhaps adding some seat covers and a bit of chrome, and then claiming it's somehow become a Product of Canada.

When the term Cellared in Canada was first announced, I thought it was a brilliant move. How better to continue to produce offshore product, package it as Canadian, and continue to lead the public to believe that it's domestic wine? Cellared in Canada has been a huge success. Consumers flock to Vincor (Wine Rack) and Peller (Vineyards) stores and the LCBO to scoop up millions of bottles of CIC wine in the belief they are buying local. CIC wines do help the industry. They provide a market for our grapes and employment for our neighbours. And they drive more money into Ontario's economy than does a bottle of imported wine. But no one – at least no one at the top – had been paying attention to the ancillary damage. Canadian wines still suffer from a dismal view on our own shores. That's not a result of us being too modest to brag about the 100s of VQA wines that have brought home international awards. It's caused by the cheap plonk that floods the LCBO's Ontario sections.

What Cellared in Canada really means is this: Blended and Bottled in Canada (I like to call them BBC wines). That's the terminology that wine jurisdictions around the globe use, because they, too, produce that type of wine. Canada could have gone the same route but chose not to. Instead we continued with the shady obfuscation. It's interesting to note how quickly Ontario's decision makers have changed course. When it became general knowledge that the labels were at best confusing, and at worst deceptive or even fraudulent, sales suffered. And when that happens, the big players scream loudly. My read is that if the public and the press had not reacted to the Vincor Olympics fiasco, then we would likely never see any change to the content, labels or wine store shelves.

The Mountain Moved

Sorry, not a sexual reference. While we were all busy whining about CIC wines and the state of the Ontario Wine Industry, the government was doing something useful. Yes, the people spoke and the public servants actually listened. On Oct 14, 2009, the Government of Ontario announced significant changes to the wine laws. Certain important issues were completely ignored, but some of the rules that were keeping the industry needlessly unhealthy are going to change.

Beginning with the 2010 harvest, Cellared in Canada wines will be required to have 40% Ontario wine inside, up from 30%. Even better, the content must be per bottle, not the previous “per all the bottles we make and whatever else, more or less”. Under the old rule, a bottle of CIC wine could be 100% imported, as long as the winery produced enough VQA wine to offset the imported content. Another improvement is that the wineries will no longer be allowed to add water to stre-e-e-etch CIC wines. That means the wines will truly be 40% Canadian.

CIC domestic content will then increase by 10% each year until 2014, at which time the requirement will drop to zero. Huh? The rationale here is to save Ontario grapes for making Ontario wines. That will result in more emphasis on producing local wine while putting CIC wines firmly in the import category. (It will be interesting to see if the Chilean section fills up with Jackson-Triggs white label wines.)

Labeling is another issue that's being looked at, but at this point no one seems to know what an honest label looks like. Interestingly, the Wine Council of Ontario has retained a polling company to interview folks and come up with a means of clearly labeling CIC wines. It's interesting that when the goal is to simply be honest, the industry's main players have to get outside help to learn how to do that. There are some tax issues as well, all favouring VQA wines while softly penalizing CIC wines.

But don't start celebrating just yet. This new plan does nothing to help the 50 or so wineries and grape-growers who have no market this year, and who may end up in receivership. One winery has already closed its doors – foreclosure for an amount that, according to the winery's owner, could have been realized by just one season of farmers market wine sales. I'll keep you posted on any new developments.
- tfo

A Response to Hilary Dawson’s letter of Aug 19/09 in Niagara This Week

2009-08-28T10:45:00.007-04:00

I was disheartened to read, once again, Ms Dawson’s defense of Cellared in Canada (CIC) wines. As the president of the Wine Council of Ontario, she must be painfully familiar with the struggles that Ontario wineries must endure. To have an important representative claiming that CIC wines are good for Ontario’s wineries, I believe, shows a lack of insight or disregard for the problems that CIC wines create.

The CIC program was instigated to provide a stop-gap solution while growers and wineries upgraded their vineyards. The program, which originally required a minimum 50% Ontario wine, was to “sunset” in 2000. Unfortunately, the CIC producers soon discovered they had a wind-fall business and the program continues to this day. We now have the situation of the “tail wagging the dog”: the Ontario content requirement is routinely adjusted to accommodate the needs of CIC producers and not the grape growers. Yet in a good year like 2008, grapes are left to rot when simply increasing the domestic portion of CIC wines could have benefited everyone.

Yes, CIC wines do provide a market for roughly half of Ontario’s winegrape crop. But to sustain the current high volume of CIC wines, Ontario’s CIC producing wineries get to import far more cheap wine from off-shore. The current CIC formula calls for 30% domestic content and 70% foreign content. Interestingly CIC wines can even contain up to 25% water!

The CIC laws allow only a few wineries to produce these wines. Ms Dawson says that CIC wines benefit the wine industry. How can it when only a handful of wineries can make CIC wines? As it now stands, three or four mega-wineries -- one of them not even Canadian owned -- control all CIC wine. No other wineries benefit, dollar-wise, from these wines. While the industry’s high-rollers are building designer wineries, many of Ontario’s wineries are wondering whether they will survive into next year. My advice to anyone going into the wine business in Ontario is “Don’t quit your day job.”

I do not buy the argument that CIC is the only way Ontario wines can compete on price, or even that CIC wines necessarily deliver a price advantage. I have seen CIC wines selling for as much as $13.95 -- fully into the premium price range. How can a premium price be justified for a bulk product that lacks a pedigree, that is essentially a mongrel? I’ve also seen (and am glad to purchase) VQA wines for as little as $7.95.

My own purchasing is driven by pricing, and at every VQA price point I can find quality and value plus the typicity we wine folk look for in “wines of origin”. I buy imported wines nearly as often as I buy VQA because I value what terroir and heritage bring to wine. Whether a Nero d’Avola from Sicily or and Old Vines Foch from Niagara, I want to experience the “sense of place” that these wines offer. I’m also much happier to direct my money to the wine makers that promote regionality, authenticity and honesty in wine. CIC provides none of this.

Above all, what I find most distressing is the effect CIC wines have on the public’s perception of Ontario wine. Most of the CIC wines I’ve tried over the years have been, at best, disappointing. Many are even an insult to wine drinkers. The fallout from this is that the average person thinks Ontario wines are mediocre, cheap, and at best lack-luster. Worse, the international wine press are shaking their heads tying to figure out why Ontario is so firmly committed to a course that makes us a laughing stock among international wine regions.
-TFO

Creative Fusion, July 1, 2009

2009-07-05T11:17:00.003-04:00

Anne Ptasznik of Creative Fusion did a wee interview with me and posted it on Facebook. Anne has graciously permitted me to reproduce the text here. Please do visit Anne’s online material. And if you would like to improve your communication, PR, etc., drop by Anne’s pages for some of her great communication tips.

Richard Best is a best-selling author and a self-described frugal wine expert. His latest book "The Frugal Oenophile’s Winegrape Primer," available from http://www.frugalwinebooks.com, is great for people who like to explore new wines but don't know exactly which one they'll most enjoy. I did this quick Q and A with Richard yesterday.
Creative Fusion: First of all, I just need to ask: What is a frugal wine expert?
Richard Best: Usually we assume the word frugal means inexpensive, or at least price conscious. That certainly is appropriate with today’s economy. But in its broader sense, frugal means careful. I like to think in terms of value. Value maximizes quality and enjoyment at any given price point. No matter what your wine budget may be, a frugal wine is the best one you can get for the price.
Creative Fusion: Are there any specific wines that you would recommend for Canada Day?
Richard Best: I would never hesitate to recommend a Canadian wine for Canada Day or any other day. We make great wine. And again, it’s something that most of us are likely thinking about right now, both economically and environmentally. I could list a few wines that I like, but that would penalize the ones I haven’t tried yet. In general, the VQA wines you’ll find on LCBO store shelves are high quality. VQA is how you can tell the wine was actually grown in Ontario. However, my best advice is to do what I am going to do. I’m heading for wine country (Niagara) where I’ll enjoy the sights and the hospitality of the wineries. I’ll also try the wines, and I’ll buy a few bottles of the ones I like. (Did you know that we have about 150 wineries in Ontario?)
Creative Fusion: Would there be wines better for a BBQ? How about a picnic lunch?
Richard Best: For many of us, summer means it’s time to put away the big reds. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have character-filled red wines on a hot day. Just stick with lower tannin, fruit-forward reds such as Shiraz, Zinfandel (the red one), and good ol’ Ontario Baco Noir. Most white wines work well in warm weather, especially the fruitier ones such as Pinot Gris, Riesling, or Grüner Veltliner. It’s also pink wine season, but look for quality dry or off-dry rosé. A word about serving temperature: We often serve red wines too warm and white wines too cold. Put a bottle of red wine in the fridge or on ice for about 1/2 hour before serving. White and rosé wines can take about 2 hours to come to a suitable temperature.
Creative Fusion: Sometimes when I go to a party, I don't know what to buy the host. Would your book help me and, if so, how?
Richard Best: I wrote my latest book mainly for my own use. I can’t keep the details of 200+ grapes in memory, so I compiled a lot of notes. These eventually became the book and, frankly, I refer to it all the time. It gives thumbnail portraits of all the grape names you’re likely to see on wine bottles, along with the grape’s history, what sort of wine it produces, and a list of foods that will go with it. If you’re looking for a new wine to try or if you see an unfamiliar name on a label, you can look it up in a matter of seconds and get just enough information to help you make an informed decision.
Creative Fusion: What is so important about knowing about the grape when you are purchasing wine?
Richard Best: Let me compare it to selecting from a restaurant menu. No matter where you are or how the dish has been prepared, chicken is still chicken and beef is still beef. In a quality wine, the grape variety, or combination of grapes, is the single most important factor. Terroir (i.e. where the wine was grown) and winemaking techniques are important, but their proper role is to capture the quality of the grapes. If you understand what sort of wine a certain grape produces, then you have a better chance of discovering wines you’ll like. And if you have a good cross-reference to different grapes and wine styles – such as my Winegrape Primer -- you can more easily branch out to new wines.
Now it's up to you folks. If you have any other questions, I'll be sure to pass them along to Richard, so he can try and answer them here www.facebook.com/anne.ptasznik.
And please let me know what you think of my new feature.
Please ask your friends to join us here at Creative Fusion.

About Anne Ptasznik

Head thinker, writer and communications strategist with Creative Fusion, a writing and communications company serving companies and organizations that take social responsibility seriously.
http://morethanprofit.ca/http://twitter.com/CreativeFusion
http://www.facebook.com/anne.ptasznik
http://bit.ly/ora2C

Inspirational Quote
Penicillin cures, but wine makes people happy - Alexander Fleming

Welcome to The New Blog

2009-06-25T09:40:00.003-04:00

Well I've been waffling about my newsletter for over six months now, trying to decide whether I still have the wherewithal to continue doing it. Yes, I know I've been through this dilemma before, and I can't say I won't go through it again. I'm busier now, and I have fewer things that I’m researching about wine -- hence the rapid decline in "educational" features. But am I done with the whole newsletter concept? I don't think so.

Recently I got lured into wine-related social networking (Facebook, Twitter) but those arenas are often too limiting. So I'm proposing a compromise, if you're still with me. I am starting yet another blog where I can post the articles I have written, without any pretext of creating an "issue". Indeed, I have quite a few articles drafted or at least started, so I'm not really out of material yet.
People often asked me why I never charged a fee for my newsletter. Well, on the one hand there are a lot of good wine publications available at no cost, so the competition is just too fierce. But mostly I didn’t want revenue and deadlines to drive things. I much prefer my freewheeling approach.

So to kick things off, I'm going to offer only my second reprint. This article appeared a little over a year ago, but in Ontario the information has suddenly become more relevant. So where do you buy wine if the LCBO is not an option? The looming strike may have been averted, but alternatives may be just the thing given much of what is going on in the world, and especially Ontario, these days.

Wine Buying Alternatives
(originally appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of The Frugal Oenophile newsletter)

One piece of advice I hand out without reservation is to find a good wine store. That's a good policy for most of the world, but unfortunately here in Ontario there really is no such thing as an independent wine store. There's the government's company store, but if you don't want what they got, then what options do you have?
Well, you do have options, although it can take a bit of work to take advantage of them.

LCBO Consignment Program
If someone imports it into Ontario, there is a good chance you can buy it. The LCBO runs a program whereby you can purchase wine -- by the case only -- from any wine agent, and then have your wine shipped to an LCBO store of your choice. This is a good option if you find a wine you like at a restaurant or a wine show. Find out who represents the wine (the OIWBSA website is a good place to start) and then contact the agent. They will take it from there and see that the wine gets into your hands. (You can buy from local wineries this way too, but why bother? See below.)

Vintages Classics Catalog
In addition to the Vintages stores and “corners” at LCBO stores, the monolith also has a catalogue store, known as the Classics Collection. As described on their website: “Whether it is the wines of the top châteaux of Bordeaux or Grand Crus from Burgundy, Super Tuscans from Italy or top-flight Shiraz from Australia, you will find variety, quality and prestige in The Classics Collection.” They’ve even been known to include an occasional Canadian wine!

The wines on offer tend to be high end, and sometimes in limited quantities. You order through the website or by phone and your order will be delivered to an LCBO outlet of your choice.

Shop the Winery
With more than 100 wineries in Ontario, there’s bound to be one near you. But if a personal visit is not an option, most wineries now offer shipping. As long as the shipment is within the province, there should be no problem. The advantage here is that the winery's entire book will be available, from newest releases to bin ends to library items. You may be required to purchase a case, but often you can buy just a bottle or two. Some outlets will absorb the shipping fee if you purchase a certain number of bottles or a certain dollar value. A number of wineries have what they call a wine club. For a fixed “membership” fee, they will send you a selection of wine. You can sign up for a set number of bottles and the offerings are usually monthly.

A good way to locate wineries in your area is to drop by a regional wine producers association, and I've collected a lot of these on my website. For example, to find Ontario member wineries, visit the Wine Counsel of Ontario. And in North Carolina, for example (yes, they make wine there), you can visit the North Carolina Winegrowers Association. There's also a website for Fruit Wines of Ontario. You should be able to find a winery association for just about every state in the US and every province in Canada.

Company Stores
Company stores can be very handy, provided the parent company makes wine that you like at a price you’re willing to pay. In Ontario we have a small number of stores that serve as outlets for brands from Vincor (Wine Rack), Peller/Hillebrand (Vineyards), Colio Estates and Magnotta.

The wines in the stores are a mixed bag. Because these are large, well-established wineries, most are able to offer Cellared in Canada wines. So far only Magnotta makes an effort to tell consumers which of these wines are not from Ontario -- or even from Canada. Elsewhere in the stores you’ll find a good assortment of VQA wines, most of which can’t be had from the LCBO.

Buying On-line
The internet wine store saga would make a good novel -- it’s filled with intrigue, plot twists, power manoeuvres, and a fair amount of cloak and dagger. Mostly the business is slowed by the cross border issue. First, check to see if the online seller can ship wine to your location, then start looking for those online bargains (remember that internet stores are supposed to pass on the savings from not having store-fronts and showrooms to maintain).

There are two retailers active in Ontario, and their reach is rather telling. Winery to Home specializes in the wines of Ontario. It's a great way to discover Ontario VQA wines without making the trek to Niagara, Erie North Shore and now Prince Edward County. The company’s wine picks are run past veteran wine writers Tony Aspler and David Lawrason. It’s possible to buy small lots and mixed cases, which is a nice feature given the restrictions on other buying methods.

Wine Online also runs an online wine store in Ontario. They handle imported as well as Ontario wines, and you can purchase small lots and mixed cases.

The main problem here is shipping. Winery to Home ships only within Ontario, and Wine Online ships to Ontario and Nova Scotia. As this form of business becomes more popular -- and if governments can manage to become less paranoid -- we may yet see more options rolled out.

Cross Border Shopping
Nowhere is the prohibition mindset so obvious as in the area of cross-border wine sales and delivery. There is a valid argument in that wine could be unknowingly sold and delivered to a minor, but in reality under-age drinkers rarely go through legit channels where a lot of personal information and credit cards are involved.

Most of the resistance comes from the dominant players. Every state or province has at least one monster winery or distillery that has the market somewhat tied up. These companies lobby long and hard to keep outsiders away from what they see as their market. In Ontario the situation is especially bad, with the government’s liquor outlet taking the lead in protectionist practices. You will find wine sellers around the globe who will gladly ship anywhere, but they tend to blanch when you ask them to deliver into Ontario. This will change, but, as we are seeing in the US, it will likely take a decision from the Supreme Court to get any action.

Currently cross-border delivery is a hot topic, and wine publications carry a story on developments practically daily. A website and action group called Free the Grapes has been attentively watching the issue of cross-border wine shipping in the US.

Wine Clubs/Tasting Clubs
Some wine clubs, in addition to organizing tastings and wine junkets, make special wine purchases available to their club members. The best known of these is the Opimian Society, named after the Roman consul Lucius Opimius (c. 125 BCE), who was a man who truly appreciated his wine. The club sources quality wines, announces the offer in its newsletter, and then take orders from its members. In Ontario, the wines are delivered to an LCBO outlet, where members can pick up their purchases -- in case lots only, as per local regulations. The wines are usually good value, though not necessarily cheap, and may not be available any other way. A club can be a great way to socialize and learn more about wine as well as to make unique additions to your cellar.

Only in BC, you say
An interesting development in British Columbia is the appearance of VQA stores. These outlets carry brands from different Canadian wineries, the only qualification being that the wine must be VQA certified. This is something I’d like to see happen in Ontario, but I'm not holding my breath.

Wine Auctions
Charity wine auctions are big business these days. Both the Toronto and Kingston Symphonies do a large part of their fund-raising through annual wine auctions, as does the Canadian Opera Company. The LCBO's Vintages group also does an auction each fall, and it usually features a good number of cult and collector wines. The best auctions will put out a detailed catalog well before the event so you can scout out items and lots you may be interested in.

When the industry is controlled by a state or province liquor commission, there is generally no means for an individual to sell wine. Auctions give you an opportunity to hand off your surplus wine (they won't accept junk) and exchange it for a tax receipt. While this may limit the potential of wine as an "investment", it at least gives you a way to turn over those extra bottles.

Farmers’ Markets
Some jurisdictions allow farms that make fruit wine to include their wines as part of their farm market selections. Once again, it's a well-established tradition throughout the world ... but not in Ontario.

Try, don't buy
An interesting initiative that blossomed recently in Quebec is a wine store where you can’t buy wine. The stores are tasting outlets where you can sample locally produced wine. The idea is that you'll stop by, taste the wines, and be blown away by their quality. Then, when you find out that you can't actually buy anything, you’ll be appalled at the government’s lack of support for the local wine industry. The move hopes to draw attention to the way the government retail chain -- the SAQ -- has shut out Quebec-produced wine in favour of off-shore imports. So far the reception has been much what the organizers were hoping for -- a good thing.

The Frugal Oenophile's Wine Terminology

Hybrid, French

Green Cropping

Fighting Varietal

Estate Bottled/Estate Wine

Dégourgement (Fr.)

Chaptalized/Chaptalization *

Bottle Age/Bottle Ageing *

Aroma Wheel *

Weight *

Unfined *

Skin Contact

The bug that ate its way through Europe

Phylloxera Vastatrix

More is not always better

Over-cropping

Like a fine non-vintage?

Non-vintage / NV

Somewhereness, up close

Sedimentary Journey

It's all in the tastebuds

Jammy

Best Bets in Fruit Bombs

The Proof is in the Glass

Wine/Life Balance

A Name Game

The Long & Short of It

Finish

A Fountain of Youth?

All That Sparkles

A Vine Distinction

A Stirring Tale

The Trouble with Angel’s

"It's so easy when you know the language" - Martin Mull

A New Direction for America’s Largest Wine Maker?

Holiday 2009 Edition

What's this I keep hearing about Cellared in Canada Wine?

What CIC Really Means

The Mountain Moved

A Response to Hilary Dawson’s letter of Aug 19/09 in Niagara This Week

Creative Fusion, July 1, 2009

About Anne Ptasznik

Inspirational QuotePenicillin cures, but wine makes people happy - Alexander Fleming

Inspirational Quote

Welcome to The New Blog

Wine Buying Alternatives (originally appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of The Frugal Oenophile newsletter)

Inspirational Quote
Penicillin cures, but wine makes people happy - Alexander Fleming

Wine Buying Alternatives
(originally appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of The Frugal Oenophile newsletter)