Better with Age

Modern society, at least in the west, has been accused many times of not valuing its senior members.  Tim Atkin MW, an insightful British wine writer, was thinking along those lines recently, in his wine column for Harpers Wine & Spirit magazine.

Atkin's thoughts are reprinted here as a kind of homage to old dudes still making wine and those still writing about it. 

Tim Atkin MW

In an interview for 60 Minutes in 2004, the journalist Ed Bradley asked Bob Dylan if there was anything in his early work that surprised him. His Bobness looked pensive for a moment before quoting the beautiful opening lines of It’s Alright, Ma (I’m only bleeding). “I don’t know how I got to write those songs,” he said, “…they were almost magically written.” Did the muses still hum such poetry – the very stuff that earned Dylan the Nobel Prize for Literature – in his ear? Dylan shook his head. “You can’t do something for ever,” he replied. “I can do other things now, but I can’t do that.”

What other things can Dylan do? Well, earn money touring for a start. If you’re tempted, over the next month or so you can hear him at the Uber Eats Music Hall in Berlin, the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham or the University of Wolverhampton. Will he be playing any new material? Of course not. As the golfer Lee Trevino once said, “the older I get, the better I used to be.” Even if Dylan could write as he once did, fans want to hear the classic songs. As David Hepworth puts it in his new book Hope I Get Old Before I Die, famous musicians become “human jukeboxes.” There’s a whole industry built on ageing rock stars performing their greatest hits. Sir Mick Jagger is 81; Sir Paul McCartney 82; Dylan 83.

During my recent trip to Ribera del Duero, I caught up with Mariano García, one of Spain’s finest winemakers. Now 80, he is still at the top of his considerable powers. He looks trim; his mind is alert, his palate discriminating. García was a legendary figure at Vega Sicilia, where he made the wines between 1968 and 1998, before leaving to set up Bodegas Aalto. Today, working alongside his sons Eduardo and Alberto, he oversees family projects in Toro (San Román), Bierzo (Valeyo), Rioja (Baynos), Ribera del Duero (Garmón) and Castilla y León (Mauro). For a man whose passions in life are “travelling and gastronomy,” García is in great shape. “My dad takes care of himself,” Eduardo told me. “He doesn’t eat or drink too much and he does pilates several times a week.”

The point about García – and other elderly winemakers I admire – is that, unlike rock stars of a similar age, they aren’t just performing their greatest hits. Each vintage is different; new challenges are accepted and even welcomed. Before he retired – at 80 – from his job as CEO and winemaker at Ridge Vineyards in California, Paul Draper produced sublime reds whose style was constantly evolving. He claimed to favour “pre-industrial techniques,” but Draper was no Luddite. Indeed, he is one of the most thoughtful people I’ve ever met.

Do winemakers improve with age? Some do, some don’t. I can think of at least one global consultant who’s been prating the same shibboleths since the 1980s and still commands big fees for increasingly outmoded advice. Past a certain point, our noses and palates lose focus as the decades accumulate – an early sign of Alzheimers is loss of smell – but experience and judgment can help to compensate for that relative decline.

Successful older winemakers also have the self-assurance that comes with financial security. When Marcos Yllera went to see Jean-Claude Berrouet, the so-called poet of Pomerol who made Château Pétrus between 1964 and 2008, to ask him to get involved with his new project Vivaltus in Ribera del Duero in 2016, the great man served his Spanish guest two wines. One was inky, extracted and smudged with new oak; the other was lighter-bodied, elegant, detailed and refined. “If you want to make this,” he said, pointing at the first glass, “I’m not interested. If you prefer the second wine, I’ll consult for you.”

How long will the likes of Berrouet, now, at 81, “older than President Biden,”as he likes to say, and Mariano García go on for? They’re obviously not eternal, but I’d like to think that they’ll be with us for a while yet. The decision will be theirs, at least. In 1996, the great Burgundian winemaker Henri Jayer was told to stop making wine or forfeit his French pension. Undeterred, he transferred his vineyards to his nephew, Emmanuel Rouget, and helped him in secret for another five years. The best winemakers love what they do, you see. The rewards are much bigger, but that’s probably true of crumbly rock stars too.

And, I would add, probably to crumbly wine writers.  Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Next post:  Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Leave a comment, without signing into Google, at boydvino707@gmail.com

Making Wine Sparkle

Ever since wine first got its sparkle in the 17th century, the trend has been to sip a glass of bubbly only on special occasions.  Despite requests from producers that Champagne and sparkling wine compliment all meals and occasions, consumers still prefer to uncork a bottle of sparkling wine only to celebrate a birth, graduation or wedding. 

So, this is my annual plea to enjoy sparkling wine with the family meal, whenever friends and family gather around the table, or just any time.  And to better inform the next time you lift a glass of bubbly, here is a quick guide to sparkling wine.  

Sparkling wine made by the Champagne method is usually referred to as méthode traditionnelle, méthode classique or traditional method. To simplify things, "sparkling wine" will be used here, except where it is appropriate to identify the wine as "Champagne."

Pinot Noir

Sparkling Wine from the Vineyard 

"Great wine starts in the vineyard" is a time-worn cliche.  While the adage is true, there is a  more meaningful one: "While you can make mediocre wine from great grapes, you cannot make great wine from mediocre grapes." 

Traditionally, the standard grapes for making Champagne and the best sparkling wines are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.  Worldwide, though, bubbly is made from many different varieties, such as Glera, in the wildly popular Prosecco from northern Italy.  

A base wine for making sparkling wine requires healthy high-acid grapes with low levels of varietal flavor, since what is important in a base wine is flawless balance, not varietal character.  And a flaw in the base wine will be magnified later in the wine making process. 

Sparkling Wine in the Cellar

Making a bottle of sparkling wine can involve as many as 300 individual steps.  The number  varies according to the various styles of sparkling wine.  Champagne and those wines made by the traditional method require the most hands-on steps. 

For traditional method fizz, the multi-step process starts with the assemblage, or blending of the grapes and the primary fermentation.  Next is the second fermentation and  development of pin-point bubbles, created by the addition of a dose of sugar and yeast, called  liqueur de tirage. The new sparkling wine ages on the lees as the yeast and other particulates are then riddled, manually or by machine, in a step known as remauge.  Removal of the dead yeast cells happens thru a deft procedure called dégorgement.  The dosage, or liqueur d'expedition, to adjust style, is added, a cork rammed home and held in place by a wire cage, and the bottle dressed with a hood.

Now on to labeling

Alternatives to the traditional method include the transfer method, where following a short period of aging on the lees, the sparkling wine is transferred to a tank, dosage added and the wine is re-bottled.  Charmat is another common way to make wine sparkle.  Following tirage, the wine enters a pressurized tank for the second fermentation, then dosage is added and on to bottling. 

Dosage is the essential step that determines sweetness of Champagne and sparkling wine made by the traditional method.  Dosage comes near the end of the multi-step sparkling wine process.

Sparkling wine is naturally high-acid, and without some residual sweetness, it is bone dry.  So dry, in fact, that the acidity is raw and unpleasant.  To get a handle on the range of dry to sweet,  these are dosage levels for Champagne, in percent of residual sugar: brut nature, zero dosage; extra brut, .6%; brut, .6 - 1.2%; extra dry, 1.2 - 1.7; sec, 1.7 - 3.2; demi-sec, 3.2 - 5; doux, 5% and up.  

Dosage designations on sparkling wines may vary and except for brut and extra dry, the other styles of Champagne and sparkling wine made by the traditional method, are rarely seen in the U.S. market.

Styles of sparkling wine include Non-Vintage, Vintage, Blanc de Blancs (only white grapes), Blanc de Noirs (only red grapes), Rosé, Cremant (Cremant d'Alsace), Non-Dosage (Extra Brut), Prestige Cuvee (top of the line and most expensive).  Not all styles are made by every sparkling wine maker. 

Sparkling Wine on the Table 

When planning a sparkling wine to have with food, first decide if you prefer a lighter brut or one of the  fuller rosés.  Rosé Champagne, made mainly from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier  are good choices with more deeply flavored dishes, such as grilled white meats and cheese souffle. 

Drier styles like brut nature, extra brut and brut, are best with savory appetizers and lightly salted popcorn.  It may sound like an odd choice, but the lightness of the corn and a light sprinkle of salt are a near perfect match with bubbly.  Popcorn not your nosh?  Try potato chips with sparkling wine.

Sweeter sparkling wines, like extra dry thru doux are better on their own, with a simple pound cake or fresh fruit.  Demi-sec and doux are very sweet and should be enjoyed as dessert rather than with dessert.

Sparkling Wine in the Store

There are hundreds of Champagne houses, including G.H. Mumm, Möet & Chandon and Veuve Cliquot.  Top California traditional method bubbly brands are Schramsberg, Roederer Estate, J and Domaine Carneros.  Argyle is a good choice from Oregon. 

Popular Italian sparkling wines made by the Charmat method include Prosecco,  Asti-Spumante and Lambrusco.  Other Charmat-made wines are German Sekt and economy bubbles from California.

Finally, a sparkling exit with this anecdote about Nicole Barbe Ponsardin, who became famous after the death of her husband, Francois Clicquot.  The widow (veuve in French) took over running the Champagne firm, renaming it Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin. La Grande Dame, named for the widow, is Clicquot's Prestige Cuvee.  

Cheers!

Next post: Better with Age

Leave a comment, without signing in to Google, at boydvino707@gmail.com

It's Time for Gamay

 

Every year, as the holiday season approaches, I make a pitch for Gamay as a good wine choice with the holiday turkey (aka, "The Bird").  

Mostly, my plea falls on deaf ears.  But,  I'm determined.  So, let's give it another go.

Gamay, of course, means Gamay Noir (officially Gamay Noir a Jus Blanc).  And the pitch should include Napa Gamay, which is actually, Valdiguié.  In the same neighborhood is Pinot Noir , but more on that favorite later.

One more thing before we begin.  The traditional American Thanksgiving feast is a cornucopia of different dishes with an array of seasonings and flavors.  So, save your aged red wine, like Bordeaux/Cabernet Sauvignon, Rhone/Syrah/Shiraz, for a meal planned around red meat. 

Why serve a treasured wine, when Gamay fits the holiday wine needs.  Gamay is the go-with-everything red wine, which means you'll have no worries and you  can relax and enjoy the meal, with family and friends gathered around the table.

The Meal

Holiday family meals often include obligatory dishes, like the ubiquitous three-bean casserole and sweet potato pie.  Menus for the Thanksgiving feast are highly personal, often containing ethnic and geographic preferences, such as a spicy Southwest dish or briny shellfish.  

The Boyd family holiday meal is not complete without the Creamy Onion Bake, a rich side that has been a welcome dish at our table for years.  My son, who took over preparing the Creamy Onion Bake from his mother,  once took the dish to an employee holiday buffet where he worked, prompting one person to exclaim, "It's the orgasmic casserole!"

Side dishes are essential holiday fare, and none more important than dressing, or is it stuffing?  In eastern Pennsylvania, where I spent my early years, it's called stuffing, because it goes in the bird.  I didn't hear stuffing referred to as dressing, cooked outside the turkey, until I left home.  

Another consideration for what goes into or alongside the bird is the use of poultry seasoning, that is usually heavy on sage.   My mother's recipe for stuffing: small torn pieces of slightly stale  white bread, celery, onion, salt and pepper and plenty of butter.  No poultry seasoning, oysters, cornbread or whatever.   Add carrot to that classic combo and you have what the French call mirepoix, although my mother never knew that.

In my youth, the smell of celery and onions simmering in butter, wafting from the kitchen, was the tantalizing promise of the future meal.  Many years later, I still looked forward to that sensory pleasure. 

                                                                                               IStock image

The Wines

The challenge is to select a wine that goes with all of those  multi-flavored dishes.   Chardonnay would be overpowered, Cabernet Sauvignon would lose the battle with sweet potato pie.  And Syrah should've been the wine you picked for roast beef and not turkey.

So, it's back to Gamay Noir, which I find stands up nicely to all but the spiciest dishes, and for those, you're probably better off with beer.  Gamay Noir is the grape of Beaujolais, so a simple Beaujolais, or if your budget will stretch, one of the 10 Cru Beaujolais.  The Beaujolais Crus are not that far from a lighter Burgundy, made from Pinot Noir, in the Cote de Beaune, such as Santenay or Volnay. 

At one time, Gamay Noir had a respectable place in U.S. vineyards, although there's not much planted now.  In the late 1980s, Napa Gamay was doing business in the Napa Valley until a visiting French ampelographer told vintners they had the ancient French variety, Valdiguié, in their vineyards.  Valdiguié looked like Gamay Noir, tasted like Gamay Noir, but some growers reasoned, who's going to buy a wine labeled Valdiguié?

If you like your red wine with more juicy fruit, grab a bottle or two of Beaujolais Nouveau, a ready-to-drink red wine that will be in the U.S. market in time for Thanksgiving, and a week earlier in the bistros of Paris.  

Nouveau's major distinction is a technique called carbonic maceration, where fermentation takes place in individual grapes, so long as the skins are unbroken.  Each grape becomes a mini-fermenter. Not all grapes at the bottom of the tank remain intact, as the weight of the clusters above break some of the skins.  Important to the texture and flavors of the wine is a small increase in ethanol and flavorful compounds. The high degree of fruitiness, and relatively low tannin, is what attracts consumers to nouveau (new) wines. 

And carbonic maceration marries effortlessly with a variety of foods.  Some people believe  that a special meal deserves a special wine.  Others, myself included, think a special meal, like the American Thanksgiving feast, is a time of communion, when friends and family gather for a meal with wine, but not a gathering where wine is the centerpiece. 

Next blog:  Making Wine Sparkle 

Leave a comment, without signing into Google, at boydvino707@gmail.com

Armagnac

  

                                                                                                      Image: European Waterways

Armagnac, the great Gascon brandy, was first distilled in the 17th century, although the origin of the storied eau de vie dates back to the 13th century, making Armagnac the world's oldest brandy.  

The popularity of Armagnac spread quickly throughout Gascony and by 1841, the French author Alexandre Dumas wrote that his roguish Musketeer, d'Artagnan, had been inspired to heroic exploits by Armagnac, or so the legend goes. 

Gascony, in southwestern France, is famous for truffles, the delicacy paté de foie gras, the Three Musketeers and Armagnac. The Gascon spirit is one of two famous French brandies, the other being Cognac,  distilled north of Bordeaux. 

Grapes and distillation are the two main differences that distinguish Armagnac from Cognac.  A blend of Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle Blanche and Ugni Blanc gives Armagnac the distinct aromatics of dried fruits, vanilla, roasted nuts and alcohol.  Ugni Blanc, the grape of Cognac, produces a more refined, delicate brandy, marked by floral notes.

The base wine for Armagnac is distilled in a continuous or column still and Cognac is the product of single batch pot still. 

                                                           Armagnac Facts

* Annual production of Armagnac is about 3 million bottles, while Cognac tops out at 220 million bottles.

* The latest addition to Armagnac is Blanche d'Armagnac, a clear un-aged "white" brandy.

* The "angel's share," or part des anges, is the amount of Armagnac in a barrel that evaporates and is visible as black mold on distillery buildings. 

* Though opinions differ, mature Armagnac does not age in wood beyond 15-20 years and should be racked into glass demi-johns or carboys that range in capacity from one to 16 gallons.

* Rancio is the smell of ripe cheese, overripe fruit,  sometimes metallic that develops from spirits that spend an extended time aging in wood. Rancio is common in wood aged brandy, such as Armagnac. 

Pot stills, of one design or another, have been in use for centuries; the Moors used a pot still to make alcohol for perfumes and medicines.  Today's modern pot stills, so-called because the bulbous shape is like a cooking pot, is in use throughout the Cognac region, as well as Scotland, for the distilling of single malt Scotch whisky.   Following the completion of a distillation, pot stills must be re-charged for the next round.

In 1830, Aeneas Coffey, an Irish inventor and distiller, revolutionized distilling with the invention of the continuous or column still.  The Coffey still is more efficient than a pot still, produces a higher concentration of alcohol, is easier to operate, and because it uses steam for distilling, there is no danger of burning the distillate, like in a wood-fired pot still.  The Coffey still runs continuously and does not need re-loading after each distillation.

Raw Armagnac must be matured in oak barrels and the alcohol level adjusted before bottling.  Armagnac is aged in oak mainly from the Limousin forest, but also Allier and Vosges forests.  Traditional Armagnac was once aged in Gascon Black Oak.

Armagnac is sold at these levels of maturity: 

3 Star or VS is a blend with at least one year of aging in oak

VSOP is aged in barrel for at least four years

XO and Hors d'Age, aged for a minimum of 10 years

Vintage or Single Year, 10 years minimum

Armagnac is traditionally enjoyed at room temperature, from a balloon or tulip glass, as an aperitif or at the end of a meal.  A bottle of VS Armagnac costs about $50.00, with prices climbing to $200-$300 for older Vintage bottlings.   

These are a few popular brands of Armagnac: Chateau de Laubade VS, $47; De Montal VSOP, $56; Janneau VSOP, $58; Delord Napoleon Bas Armagnac, $48; Delord 25-Year Bas Armagnac, $198 and 1984 Bas-Armagnac, $265.

Temperatures are falling outside, but you can ignore the chill with a glass of warming Armagnac. 

 

Next post: It's Time for Gamay 

Leave a comment, without signing in to Google, at boydvino707@gmail.com

Re-send of "Recycled Wine Buying Advice"

NOTE: Since I'm not sure if the following blog was received by everyone, I', sending it again.  I hope to have the problems sorted out by my next post, November 8, 2024.

 

The following is a piece on wine buying from a magazine article I wrote in 2013.  A few changes have been made to bring it up to date, but the suggestions are still relevant, especially as we enter the holiday entertaining season.

If you haven’t been wine shopping lately, you may be in for a bewildering surprise.  Whether you’re buying a bottle to have with tonight’s dinner or one to lay away for a special occasion,  you’ll find that even the most modest wine shop is stocked with a wide range of wines from most of the major wine regions at prices to fit all budgets.

Don’t panic! 

Before you head out to shop, decide if the purchase is a wine for casual drinking or for a meal, and how much you can spend.  Wandering aimlessly up and down the aisles staring at bottle after bottle of wine will get you nowhere.  

A good approach, for all budgets, is to find a wine shop where you can get some quality one-on-one advice on buying a wine that you’re going to like and that won’t break the budget.  Supermarket wine sections are convenient but not likely to have a clerk to help you select the right wine. So if the market is where you shop for wine, be prepared to do some searching on your own.

Buying a bottle of wine is like shopping for any other food product; you want to know how it tastes and how much it costs.  Read as much as you can before going wine shopping.  Numerous wine magazines (Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, to name two) and wine newsletters (Robert Parker's Wine Advocate) are helpful for the novice wine consumer as well as the hard-core wine collector.   

For immediate and up-to-date advice and recommendations, go online and click on any of the many wine sites and blogs devoted to wine, such as "Wine Review Online," and "Gerald D Boyd On Wine."

Now that you have a bottle of wine, the next step is finding a good food to have with it?  Matching wine with food can be involved, but there are a few simple rules that make the choice easier.  The pairing can be very specific, even scientific, but using commonsense will  result in a pleasing wine and food match.  

The old adage of white wine with fish, red wine with meat, still has merit, but even more important is how the dish is seasoned and what sauce or garnishes are used.  Commonsense says that a heavy Zinfandel, with its full tannin, is not a good match with a lightly sautéed lemon sole, nor will an off-dry Riesling please the taste buds when paired with roast beef.

Generally, white wine is lighter in body and weight than red wine, so Sauvignon Blanc, with its crisp acidity and lighter body will not be as heavy as Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah.    There are, of course, exceptions that have been proven time and again to be as close to perfect as you can get in wine and food pairing, such as Pinot Noir and grilled fresh salmon and Sauvignon Blanc with goat cheese.

If you're adventurous and want to make a pairing outside the box, then ignore the rules and drink whatever wine you like with any food.  Food and wine pairing suggestions are only guidelines, not gospel.

Wine availability and price vary from market to market.  Here are six wines, all priced at $20 or less, that should be in stock where you buy wine or with a little searching: La Crema Monterey California Chardonnay; Barnard Griffin Columbia Valley Washington Sauvignon Blanc; Elk Cove Willamette Valley Oregon Pinot Gris; Kenwood Vineyards San Joaquin County/Sonoma Count Pinot Noir; Mettler Family Lodi California Zinfandel; Francis Ford Coppola Diamond Collection California Cabernet Sauvignon.

Wine shopping is personal.  If the store where you shop doesn't carry the wine you want, ask the clerk for a special order, or try a recommended substitute.

Next post: Armagnac

Leave a comment, without signing on to Google, at boydvino707@gmail.com

 

 

 

Status Announcement

Dear Faithful Readers, 

For the last few weeks, I have been having problems with Blogger.com, the service I use to write and post "Gerald D Boyd On Wine."  

Blogger is a service from Google.  However, it is not clear to if Google continues to fully support Blogger, so I am not able to give you assurance that my blog will continue to appear in your inbox every Friday. 

I have heard from some readers that the "Test" posted recently was received.  It seems, then, that some readers are receiving the posts and others are not.  I can assure you that the weekly postings  will continue. 

Finally, if you are reading this post but did not get "Recycled Wine Buying Advice," posted October 25, and "Test," posted Oct 31, please email me at boydvino707@gmail.com.

Thank you, 

Gerald D. Boyd