EAST COAST ENOLOGY PROGRAMS

I recently read that Cornell has the only undergraduate enology program east of the Mississippi. It apparently has been very useful to the Finger Lakes wine region. Also recently, I ran across some information about the Coastal Wine Trail, which includes nine wineries from Cape Cod through the South Coast of Massachusetts and along the Rhode Island coast, all part of the Southeastern New England appellation. A third thing happened recently. The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth has acquired what was formerly known as Southern New England Law School to form the first public law school in Massachusetts, the UMass Law School.

These three bits of information caused me to wonder that perhaps UMass Dartmouth should consider initiating an enology and viticulture program. The school lies smack in the middle of the Coastal Wine Trail and there are dozens of other vineyards in New England could probably benefit from such a program. I recognize that there are practical issues involved. First, UMass Dartmouth does not have any agricultural based programs so an enology program would be a bit off its normal path. However, such a program could be an interdisciplinary one associated with Biology, Chemistry, Biotechnology and/or others.

A public program could help promote the development of vineyards in New England and help strengthen the economic vitality of an agricultural activity where preservation of agriculture is a strong goal.

GREEN VITICULTURE

The May 31, 2010 issue of Wine Spectator reports on efforts to formalize the production of wine through sustainable methods. It reports that some vineyards are moving beyond "organic" methods into more sustainability that includes use of wind power, water conservation, employee benefits, handling of materials and even providing natural habitats for birds and predators.

Apparently, Oregon is a leader in this movement. In 2009, the Oregon Wine Board introduced a program called Oregon Certified Sustainable Wine that provides certification and unified marketing. About 150 wines from 18 wineries have been certified with another 10 wineries heading for certification of their 2009 and 2010 vintages.

California has two certification programs. These are the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission and the Central Coast Vineyard Team. The Lodi has amore than 16,000 acres (out of about 100,000) certified for sustainability. The Central Coast region 11,000 acres out of 60,000 certified. Of course, as mentioned in previous posts, I am partial to the Central Coast region since I visit relatives there, providing an opportunity to tour many of its vineyards.

In any case, it is a trend I hope continues to gain momentum. This is especially true as I am reading "The Omnivore's Dilemna" by Michael Pollan.

LATEST ON SCREW CAPS

This month's Wine Spectator has another interesting article regarding the trend toward the use of screw caps on higher quality wine bottles. Long regarded as the signature of cheap wine, screw caps have been rapidly gaining acceptance for use on bottles of higher end wines.

The Wine Spectator article reports on a 10-year study  by the Australian Wine Research Institute. The test was designed to measure the performance of different types of corks, it was not specifically a test of screw caps, but the metal closures were included in the test. Thousands of bottles of 1999 Clare Semillon were sealed with 14 different closures. Some bottles were opened each year and analyzed and tested. The article featured a photograph of a set of 14 bottles after 28 months and after 10 years. In both cases, the bottle with the screw cap appeared to be the freshest as the wine in all of the other bottles had darkened (oxidized) to varying degrees. It wasn't just appearance. Blind taste tests found that the wine in the bottles with the screw caps retained its freshness while the wine in most of the other bottles were undrinkable.

Oh well. Since removing the cork is one of the important rituals of wine drinking, I suggest that designers be asked to consider new designs for screw caps that would require some sort of ritual for removing them beyond simply twisting them open with one's hand. I don't know what that might be; however, one potential element might be to add a thin cylinder of cork to the top of the screw cap as a symbol of the age-old tradition of cork closures.

CLOS DE LOS SIETE 2007

Introduction 

The first thing to notice about this wine is the name “Clos de los Siete.” Anybody with an elementary knowledge of Spanish knows that “de los siete” means “of the seven.” My curiosity was piqued as what the seven referred to (more on that below). But what about “Clos?” It is a term that appears on many wines. It is a French word meaning “walled vineyard.” I assume that the English word “closet” derives from this word (or a common root) given that a closet is also an enclosed space. However, this is a wine from Argentina, not France. 

The second thing one notices is also from the label. It says “by Michael Rolland.” Michael Rolland is a renowned world-famous wine consultant who is featured in the film “Mondevino,” which was the inspiration for this blog.

 

Wine Impressions 

This is a very good red wine with a rich dark color and fruity taste. It was not too sweet. In fact, I think that the 2007 vintage I tasted was a bit tannic and so will likely improve as it ages in the bottle in the next year or two. It has an excellent aroma that beckons one to taste it, and the taste does not disappoint. 

The wine is a blend of Malbec (48%), Merlot (28%, Cabernet Sauvignon (12%) and Syrah (12%). It is 14.5% alcohol so a bit on the strong side. 

I would highly recommend this wine.

 

The Company: Clos de Los Siete 

With Michael Rolland the driving force, Clos de los Siete is a cooperative effort of seven French companies who have each established vineyards in the the Mendoza region of Argentina. In addition to producing their own wine, the wineries contribute a percentage of their grapes to produce the Clos de los Siete wine. 

The blog Vinography provides a great description of the Tunuyan Valley south of the City of Mendoza. The wineries are located in this valley. As might be expected of new wineries developed by some of the top French wine producers under the direction of Michael Rolland, the Vinography author describes the wineries as among the most sophisticated he has seen. He describes each of the separate wineries that he visited, and I would suggest that you check out the link.

 

GREAT NEWS FOR WINE SHIPMENTS!

Well, while I have neglected my duties in writing on this blog, something great happened last November and I just found out about it! On November 19, 2008, in a case called Family Winemakers of California v. Jenkins, a U.S. District Court ruled that a Massachusetts law  which put volume eligibility caps on wineries who wished to ship their products directly to residents was discriminatory and designed to allow Massachusetts wineries to ship their products in this manner while preventing most wineries from California, Washington and Oregon from doing so.

As recently as last summer when I visited a couple of wineries in California, I was told that they could not ship to Massachusetts. I just a couple of them this week and found that Massachusetts is now on their list of eligible destinations. This is not just good news for Massachusetts consumers, bit is likely to have an impact on other states as well.

CONTINUING SHIFT TO SCREW CAPS

The July 31, 2008 issue of Wine Spectator includes an article by Harvey Steinman about the continued trend away from corks and to screw caps. More evidence continues to suggest that screw caps do a better job of retaining a wine's freshness. Perhaps the most startling thing in the article is the fact that Leeuwin Estate, which he calls "Australia's greatest producer of Chardonnay," is not only shifting to screw caps, but recently spent $60,000 to rebottle several vintages dating back to 1980 into new bottles with screw caps because they believed it will protect these valued vintages better, and eliminate cork taint.

The article notes that Australia was quick to use screw caps (specifically, Stelvin caps) for wines meant to be consumed soon after purchase. However, it is now using them for collectible wines, some of which approach $100 in cost.

There is also mention of other alternatives. These include Vino-Lok, a glass stopper with a plastic ring. There is also an Australian product called Pro Cork, which is a cork with a thin disk of the material used in Cryovak food storage bags on both ends of the cork to help prevent cork taint.

It is hard to imagine that the ritual of pulling a cork from a wine bottle may soon go the way of the buggy whip. However, the ritual is secondary to the quality of the wine. On the other hand, the Pro Cork may prove to be the savior of the ritual. It will be interesting to see how rapidly this trend advances.

TWO GREAT SURPRISES!

I recently had two great wine surprises. That is, bottles that I had expected to be rather ordinary turned out to be especially excellent wines! These were a Chianti by Checchi and a Sangiovese by Danzante.

I accidentally recycled the Checchi bottle, but I am pretty sure the vintage was 2005. I just picked it up for no particular reason, but when I tasted it the first time, I was very pleasantly surprised. It had a very good, strong aroma and very nice, dry taste, with just the right amount of tannins. Of course, the wine is produced in the Chianti region of Tuscany and it is a DOCG wine so I should not have been overly surprised at the quality. I checked out the company web site and found that the company was established in 1893 and began exporting wines in 1935. It has vineyards all over Tuscany and one in neighboring Umbria. One fun part of the web site: it has a map of Tuscany and Umbria along with a list of the wines they produce. You can check off the different wines and the area of the region where they are produced gets highlighted. They have several companies run by the Checchi family so not all the wines in the list are Checchi brands. I will definitely but more of this wine.

The other surprise wine is from Danzante (which means "dancing" in Italian, and, as the web site suggests, I did feel like dancing after tasting this wine!). The Sangiovese vintage is 2000. The bottle includes the names of Frescobaldi and Robert Mondavi so I assume it is part of the collaboration between these two world class wine families. However, there was no indication of their involvement on the web site so I wonder if the association remains. The bottle says the wine is soft and silky and I would second that description. It is similar to the Checchi Chianti (and, of course, Sangiovese grapes are used to make Chianti and other great Italian wines). Amazingly, I picked up this bottle in the "bargain bin" of a local liquor store -- a true bargain indeed at 3 for $21! The web site has a little fun "quiz" about Italian wines that is an inducement to get you sign up for its newsletter. The quiz is pretty much a no-brainer, but it did use a few expressions that I am not happy about because they make fun of Italian Americans. They weren't too bad and they are meant in fun, but I could have done without them. Again, I hope I am able to find this wine again as it was truly a fantastic find.

WINE, WOMEN AND SONG?

OK, this post is really only about wine and song, but I thought the above heading would be more interesting. Besides, my wife sent me the story I am going to discuss so that covers the "women" part!

There was a story on NPR on November 22, 2007, which also appeared as an article on its web site regarding the ability of music to change the taste of wine! Actually, I suppose its really the perceived taste as opposed to physically changing the taste! However, this is really no different than the effect of pairing wines with different foods, which also changes the perceived taste.

Craig Smith, a senior enologist at a wine consulting firm called Vinovation is also a co-founder of R.H. Phillips winery. He developed a theory that wine's taste is impacted by music. The story explains that Cabernet Sauvignon is best with "music of darkness" or songs of rage that can smooth out aggressive tannins in the wine. Music by the Doors is given as an example of a good choice for Cabs. On the other hand, it states that "an idyllic Mozart composition" can ruin a good Cabernet.

Some recommended pairings include Pinot Noir with romantic or sexy music such as Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik;" White Zinfandel with polkas, oaky Chardonnay with blues and sweet Chardonnay withsaccherine oldies like the Beach Boys "California Girls." On this last example, it even states that a cheap Chardonnay sipped while listening to the Beach Boys will taste superior to much more expensive wines!