Winter Wonderland
In case anyone has or hasn't noticed, Southern Oregon has certainly gotten its fair share of fluffy white stuff this winter. I've only lived in Oregon since 2002, but this is without doubt the whitest winter I've endured. Snowy peaks and mountain passes have made travel somewhat sketchy. Fortunately, the temperatures have not been too cold, so the ice issue has remained at least somewhat absent.
Snow and cold notwithstanding, things continue to move along outside and inside. The crews are busy in the vineyard pruning the vines in preparation for the coming season. This activity is the first time the vines are touched during the year and paramount to creating balanced vines and thus balanced wines. The task requires organization of immense amounts of data collected from previous vintages to build a format for the job as well as detailed logistical planning and constant supervision in the field. It's time consuming for certain, but the proof is in the pudding.
Winter in the winery is dominated by tasting. Barrel after barrel after barrel of tasting. Lot after lot after lot of tasting. Oh, the pain, the agony!! What a way to spend a day!! This is one of the most enjoyable activities, but requires the greatest amount of discipline. After all, it's TASTING, not drinking, and I've heard too many horror stories about winemakers who do more of the latter and less of the former. I appreciate headlines, but not in the legal section. Anyway, bottling is pushing its way to the front of the line in the winery and we'll start with the 2007 whites and Rosado then move on to the 2006 reds. I can't wait!!
Snow and cold notwithstanding, things continue to move along outside and inside. The crews are busy in the vineyard pruning the vines in preparation for the coming season. This activity is the first time the vines are touched during the year and paramount to creating balanced vines and thus balanced wines. The task requires organization of immense amounts of data collected from previous vintages to build a format for the job as well as detailed logistical planning and constant supervision in the field. It's time consuming for certain, but the proof is in the pudding.
Winter in the winery is dominated by tasting. Barrel after barrel after barrel of tasting. Lot after lot after lot of tasting. Oh, the pain, the agony!! What a way to spend a day!! This is one of the most enjoyable activities, but requires the greatest amount of discipline. After all, it's TASTING, not drinking, and I've heard too many horror stories about winemakers who do more of the latter and less of the former. I appreciate headlines, but not in the legal section. Anyway, bottling is pushing its way to the front of the line in the winery and we'll start with the 2007 whites and Rosado then move on to the 2006 reds. I can't wait!!
Labels: pruning, vineyard, wine, wine tasting, winery
posted by Kiley at 12:51 PM
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4 Comments:
great post...its neat to read this stuff...I just so happen to be thinking about my next post and I decided to pull up your blog...glad i did. So how does balanced vines make balanced wine?
That is a great question and one I should probably explain in its own post. Balance in winespeak means one thing to the liquid and another thing entirely to the vineyard. For the liquid I think it has to do with the ratios of acid/alcohol/tannin/oak. The main source for three of these four items is the fruit, so balance in the "source" is of utmost importance. For the vineyard it has to do with the ratios of buds or growth points/leaf area/fruit or more generically, the balance of vegetative growth to reproductive growth. The balance of these items in the plant greatly influences the balance of the "stuff" in the fruit.
ok so if the fruit buds were not balanced would the vines not distribute nutrients evenly thus a single vine could have an "off" bunch affecting the flavor of the wine?
Sort of. The nutrients within the plant are dispersed equally to the buds. What we have to divine is what the growing season will be like (impossible!!) and try to balance the plants for what we want vs. what we expect. We want to balance the number of buds to the anticipated or desired crop level.
Another way to look at it is a balance of leaves (vegetative growth) to fruit (reproductive growth). Too many leaves or not enough fruit typically means the fruit can ripen too quickly. We get sugar accumulation but without desired flavor development or aromatic potential.
Too few leaves or too much fruit means slower ripening and the desired level of ripeness may not be attainable for the conditions unique to the growing season. This "overcropping" can also lead to abnormal vine stress which can impact how the vine performs the next vintage and can produce wines that are underripe, green, astringent on the palate, and generally not as pleasing.
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