When it comes to harvest, taste buds still reign
We read a lot of articles about how science is making wines (particularly California wines) better. It is all probably true, but I think it is important to remember that the grower and/or winemakers taste buds remain an integral part of the process and why one should not always rely on test tubes and gauges when making wine. Two articles that I ran across this morning brought this to life. The Spectator's web page has a "Napa Harvest report" from Cathy Corison, one of those down to earth/non 15% alcohol winemakers who we have discussed previously. After the usual discussion about Brix, etc. she says:
"The tannins in the skins mature over time, so we're looking at the way we chew on the skins and the quality of the tannins. When a grape gets ripe, when you squeeze it the skin begins to slip off the pulp in a way it doesn't do before it's ripe. You look at the uniformity of the color. A completely black berry that is black all the way to the pedicel [is ideal]. And then, of course, flavors. And very important, I do all my own sampling because I've got to be out in the vineyard to see how the vines are doing. I'm in the vineyard every single week and, as we get close to ripening, I'm in there every couple days, watching the vines."
There is just no substitute for chewing the skins and tasting the grapes to find the best time to pick.
This is further supported by another article in today's papers. Corie Brown of the LA Times is one of this blogs favorite writers as she writes good stories about interesting people in the wine industry. Today she profiles Moraga Vineyards, LA's only bonded winery. I can't afford their wines, but was inspired by the following description of their decision-making process for harvest.
"On the first Saturday of this month, Jones, Rich and vineyard manager Carlos Contreras sat down to taste Sauvignon Blanc grapes at the vineyard picnic table, a reconditioned slab of the old Santa Monica Pier. Rich, Moraga's winemaker since 1996, spends the harvest months jetting back and forth between Moraga and his winery in Napa Valley, Talisman Cellars.
After crushing the grapes in six sandwich bags, Rich poured the juice out into six plastic bowls. Each bag of grapes represented a separate vineyard section. Each tasted dramatically different as the men took sips from the various bowls. Only one block delivered the nectarine and ripe banana flavors they were looking for. Several grape samples had the pepper scratch at the back of the throat that signals under-ripe grapes."
In a world where we highlight traveling oenologists and high-priced consultants who try to calculate the chemistry of a 100-point wine, it is wonderful to be reminded that -- whether the wine is from the New World or the Old World -- quality requires human interpretation and involvement. Kudos to those winemakers who take the time to do this as, I think, it is one of those unquantifiable factors that influences the final product.
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