The Vintners Voice

     In my previous post I suggested that each winemaker has their own idea of what ripeness is and that to some extent the 'ripeness' of a wine correlates poorly with it's % ABV ( percent alcohol by volume ).  I also divided, for the sake of argument, the Community of Wine into two camps; traditionalists that prefer less 'ripe', lower alcohol wines and Big Wine lovers that like more 'ripeness' and more alcohol.  The big take home story though was that I believe that I ( and most other winemakers ) make wine with an ideal in mind, a truth if you will, and that sometimes mother nature doesn't cooperate with our efforts.

     I also must remind the reader that I make wine in Oregon and my notions of 'ripeness', style and physiological maturity are all specific to Oregon.  Oregon has traditionally been thought of as a Cool Climate.  Summers in Oregon are hot and dry but when fall rolls around it can be a real crap shoot.  Things can stay hot and dry, we can get rain, we can get down right cold and we can be various combinations of these and it can all change in a day.  Because of our winter rain fall we tend to be less dependent on irrigation and tend to do more 'dry farming'.  This makes us quite susceptible to drought, something that has become 'normal' in several of the past vintages.  We are also a small industry both in terms of the number and size of wineries.  Our size, thus far, has prevented the development of many of the adjunct businesses that tend to develop around larger wine regions.  So it is safe to say that Oregon is in terms of technology, 'behind' many larger wine regions.

    Big Wine drinkers tend to hold winemakers to a less stringent standard than Traditionalists in terms of wine production, in my experience.   Big Wine drinkers don't care if I grow organically, irrigate, use native yeasts etc.  Traditionalists not only want low alcohol wines they want us to follow traditional techniques, to express 'terrior' ( don't get me started ), and be 'minimalists' in terms of the way we craft wines. 

    Given that I believe in a point of maturation in the grape that makes the best wine and given the fact that Mother Nature feels no responsibility to cooperate with my activities I have to admit that there are times when I cannot make a wine under 14% ABV.  Or can I?  Enter Heroic Measures.

   What is a winemaker to do if drought, wind and sun conspire against them in their quest to make a wine under 14%?  What tools does the winemaker have to overcome this?  The Heroic Measures.  The first Heroic Measure that might be considered is the water addition.  Commonplace in California, and increasingly used here in Oregon the water addition is a powerful tool to control potential alcohol.  You don't hear many winemakers talk about it, it's one of our little secrets.  Why don't we talk about it?  Marketing!  The Big Wine lover would be shocked that we deprived them of the alcohol, the Traditionalists shocked that we would 'manipulate' the wine in such a way.  It harkens back to prohibition when spirits were watered back, it makes consumers feel as if they were being cheated.  Adding water is easy, cheap and requires no special equipment.  The problem is that it is only so effective.  You are not going to take grapes at 28 brix and water them back enough to make a 13% ABV wine and not seriously effect the wines balance.  In short water additions are only so 'Heroic'.

     More drastic reductions in alcohol require technology, serious technology and what amounts to the most  Heroic of Measures; Reverse Osmosis and the 'Spinning Cone'.  These technologies take advantage of physics and chemistry to reduce the alcohol in a finished wine. 

     What I am getting at is that the Traditionalists cannot have their cake and eat it too.  They want less 'ripe' wines, they asses ripeness by the %ABV and therefore encourage the use of Heroic Measures to meet that criteria.  Do grapes picked at 27 brix and 'shrunk down' to a 13.5% ABV wine really express 'terrior' any better than a wine made from the same grapes vinified into a 15%ABV one?  I tend to think not.  You might feel like your drinking an 'authentic' wine but in the end your grapes were picked at 27 brix.  You have a Big Wine trapped in a Traditional Wine's body.  To give you an idea of how widespread this is look to Clark Smith ( again ) in an article at Appellation America (http://wine.appellationamerica.com/wine-review/466/Some-Like-it-Hot.html )  " Together we ( Conetech and Vinovation ) take an average of over 1% alcohol from 45% of the California wine you buy".

      As someone trying to sell wine I would like some clarification from the Traditional camp.  Does it want low alcohol wines at any cost?  Does it care if the wines have been physically manipulated?  Please tell me how these products are more 'authentic' or better express 'terrior' than a wine over 14% ABV that has not been manipulated?  It seems to me to be quite contradictory and paradoxical.

     We have some learning to do.  These high alcohol wines were once rare with wine typically being less than 14% ABV.  Our methods of vinification and our viticultural techniques ( and maybe global warming ) have pushed wines to higher and higher alcohol levels.  There is a real world experiment being organized by Aruthur at www.redwinebuzz.com; project23 ( www.23degreeswine.com ) where vintners from various regions will pick grapes at 23.5brix.  Winemakers will share their experiences and perhaps learn to unlearn and again make wines lower in alcohol without the use of Heroic Measures.

   Until then I will continue to encourage low yields and dry farm.  I will continue to pick when the grapes taste right.  I will add water if I must.  If I can make a wine under 14% I will, if not I won't send it off for the 'treatment' I will just live with the vintage.  I will continue to pursue my truth and make wine according to my ideal.  I really cannot think of anything more traditional than that.