Archive for harvest

A Chardonnay Story

{ October 28, 2009 @ 6:56 pm } · { harvest, reviews }
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One of the best nights during the harvest was when Jurij Fiore invited  all of the harvest students  into his house for dinner.  His wife cooked up a fabulous meal and we shared many stories that night.

Chardonnay_grapes_close_up

These are not Jurij's Chardonnay grapes

One story that I will never forget was the one he told us about how he acquired his Chardonnay cuttings.  One year Jurij and his family were up in the Cote de Beaune  visiting an old friend.  Jurij was explaining to his friend that he wanted to start a new  Chardonnay project, just to experiment with a French varietal.  His friend assured Jurij that he would be able to get great Chardonnay cuttings for him, so of course Jurij agreed.

So one night his friend, snuck into a Grand Cru vineyard somewhere in Cote de Beaune and took  clippings from the vines, shoved them in a bag and threw them in the trunk.  Jurij was amazed that he did this, but wasn’t convinced that the cuttings would make it back to Italy.  Jurij took the bag, put them in his trunk and drove back to Tuscany anyway.

Miraculously, the cuttings survived the hot journey home and the grafting on to his current vines went rather smoothly with little loss.  Jurij was astonished that the grafts actually took.   Not only did they work, but they now produce what I believe is one of my favorite Chardonnays and possibly one of Italy’s finest.

Another interesting fact about his Chardonnay is the grafting method.  First of course there are American rootstocks.  Sangiovese was then grafted on the American rootstock and then the Chardonnay  was grafted onto the Sangiovese.  It’s no wonder  his Chardonnay is so great, each vine is a blend of te best wine producing countries in the world!   That is probably not the answer but it is kind of cool when you think about it.  This Chardonnay is so coveted that almost all of the bottles he produces is sold to one restaurant and one restaurant only, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence.  The owner, Mr.Pinchiorri tasted this Chardonnay at Jurij’s estate and fell in love with the wine.  He loved it so much that he made a deal with Jurij and Jurij’s father, Vittorio, that all of the bottles produced would only go to his restaurant.  (of course Jurij keeps some bottles for himself) So now the only way to taste the Chardonnay named ” I Richiari” is to go to Enoteca Pinchiorri or to be friends with Jurij.

Here are some statistics:

Altitude: 370m (1,210 feet) above sea level

Exposition : South west

Soil: Sandy- silty, very rich in stony fraction

Harvest time: End of September

Fermentation process: Grapes are cold macerated for a few hours and then soft pressed.  Fermentation takes place in 228 liter french barrels-50%new- with a max temperature of 19 degrees Celsius

Refining: “Elevage sur lie”(the wine stays on the dead yeast cells) and “Battonage ” ( stirring the lees)for the first 3 months.  The wines remain in the barrels for another 9-12 months.

Bottling: July

Bottle Maturation: at least 6 months

Number of bottles produced:  2003=600… 2004= 1200…2006=1165

I have been lucky enough to try this wine on 2 occasions and it continues to blow my mind away.  I was also lucky enough to receive another bottle as a gift for completing the harvest which I am extremely thankful.  OK so heres the tasting note from the first time I tried “I Richiari”.

richiari“I Richiari” 2007 13.5%
beautiful pale golden yellow color. A delicate nose that makes your mouth water. Soft fruit and floral components backed by some nutty aromas. Subtle high quality cream comes through on the tail end,outright delicious. A rich velvety mouth feel coupled with pure elegance is the signature of this wine. Lemon peel on the back end and the ripping acidity keeps it interesting and leaves you yearning for more. A huge finish leaves you with a sense of a lemon cream pie dusted with minerals. There is no feeling of excess oak or alcohol. This Chardonnay has it all: deliciousness,balance,elegance and harmony.  What a ride!

Food Pairing: Gently grilled lobster tails served on a bed of bitter greens, sliced and sauteed fingerling potatoes, with a dollop of avacado aioli.

A Wine Maker’s Philosophy or Not

{ October 26, 2009 @ 6:07 pm } · { harvest }
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Jurij Fiore

Jurij Fiore

Every time I meet a new a wine maker, I like to ask them all the same set of questions to get a feeling for how each of them differ.  Wine makers are unique people and every one has showed me a new perspective on making wine.

One question that I regularly ask is, “What is your philosophy on wine making?”  Some answers are long, some are short and don’t even make sense,  but this is the beauty of the wine world and why all wines are different.  For some reason it is also easy to spot a wine maker in crowd of people.  They seem to carry themselves differently and emit and aura that lets you know who and what they are.

Out of all the wine producers I have met, no one has answered this question of wine making philosophy better than Jurij Fiore.  His response was, ” I am not a philosopher, I am wine maker.”, he said with  a smile.  He then explained to me that when he wakes up in the morning and until he goes to sleep at night he tries to make the best wine he can.  He doesn’t daydream  and write poems about his wine or what he wants his wine to be like, he just makes it.

At the end of the harvest at Podere Poggio Scalette some friends and I conducted a 40 minute interview with Jurij Fiore.  I videotaped the whole session on my flip cam and was so excited to show the world this wonderful interview.  For some reason I had thought that the footage was on my computer and deleted the memory off  the flip cam.  When I searched my computer for the video I realized it was not there and that I had deleted it.  I am hoping it is in a hidden archive, but it looks like it is gone.

Working with Jurij Fiore: Part 3

{ October 24, 2009 @ 5:13 pm } · { harvest, Yeasts }
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Choosing specific yeasts to exalt certain characteristics in wine is much of a common practice now a days.  How much better can a specific strain of yeast really make your wine?  Reading the descriptions and characteristics that each strain could add to your wine seems they can actually make a difference, and I am sure they do to a certain extent.  From working with Jurij I learned that choosing a specific yeast is trivial  the grand scheme of things.

Eight hours of harvesting and 60 hectoliters later the stainless steel tank was filled and it was time to brew the yeast at Poggio Podere Scalette.  As Jurij began measuring certain quantities of yeast, the first question that came to my mind was, “Why don’t you stick with the natural yeasts that are already present on the grapes?”  His answer was,” So I can sleep at night.”  Like everything else that Jurij says, his responses are short and to the point.  For me, this was the best possible answer that I could have received, and it made perfect sense.  He explained to me that “you take chance” when you use natural yeasts.  Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.

After he explained to me that he doesn’t select specific yeasts for his wines either.  For instance, he uses general red wine yeast and white wine yeast  even though he makes wine from 3 different varietals: Sangiovese, Merlot and Chardonnay.  He told me a story that  one year  he ran out of the white wine yeast so he used the red wine yeast for his Chardonnay.  This made me laugh and he seemed find this amusing too.  He believes that it does not matter which yeast you choose.  “Yeasts can not bring out qualities which are not already there.”, he said to me.  Even though I am not a wine maker, I could not agree with him more.  This quote seems to apply to a number of different things, not only wine.

Jurij is also a “take it as it comes” type of guy.  He doesn’t push or stop malolactic fermentation in his wine.  “If it happens it happens, and if it doesn’t it doesn’t.”, he said.  He is the type of wine maker that lets the wine speak for itself, he is there just to see it through.

Facts About Yeast

They are single celled eukaryotes

They are part of the Fungi kindom along with mushrooms and mold

The word “yeast” comes from Old English gist, gyst, and from the Indo-European root yes-, meaning boil, foam, or bubble.

Most yeast reproduce by splitting themselves into two genetically equal parts

Yeasts have 7000-8000 genes, humans have roughly 30,000 and fruit flies have about 27,000 (genes hold the information to make an organism)

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the family of yeasts responsible for turning sugar into alcohol

Working with Jurij Fiore: Part 2

{ October 21, 2009 @ 1:09 pm } · { harvest }
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The steepness of some of some of the vineyards

The steepness of some of some of the vineyards

As I said in the last post, after returning from 8 hours of harvesting, I was suddenly invigorated with new energy upon seeing Jurij workng in the cellar.  I asked him if I could help and he put me immediately to work.

Ill admit I was a little nervous about working at first, I mean I didnt want to mess anything up, but Jurij seemed to have no qualms about letting me take part in the process.  When he explained to me the first job I had to do, I wasnt exactly sure what he expected.  I mean he didnt even show me what to do or how to do it.  He pointed to the vat of new wine and said, ” Cuando arriva il vino, fai cosi.”, as he made a shoveling motion with his hands.

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The rocky soil

For those that dont know Italian this means, “When the wine arrives, go like this.”  To give you a reference he was in process of pumping the recently destemmed grapes into the stainless steel vat.  Here’s a picture of the vat and the ladder. The vat was pretty full at this point and the must coming from the hose can get clogged, so my job was to shovel away the arriving must so the pump would not not get backed up.  So I climbed on the ladder and all of a sudden the must starting to come pretty fast.  I began to shovel away some of it, but it is harder than it sounds.  First of all the instrument I was given looked like a plunger but instead of a rubber piece it was plastic, clearly not good for shoveling or scraping away semi-crushed grapes.  This was not the best instrument I could have used, but I quickly learned how to use it efficiently.  I was also not in a strategically useful position to use leverage, so this added to the difficulty.  This process of shoveling and moving the hose lasted for about 5-6 minutes, which seemed pretty long at the time.  Anyway it was a great experience for me, and from that point on I become the must shoveler.

What I found interesting about shoveling different vats was that each had their own consistency.  Some were loaded with a high ratio of pulp to juice and some were the complete opposite.  The former were more difficult to shovel while the latter pretty easy.  It was also clear that juice in the vats with the high percentage of pulp were darker in color.  All of the vats I shoveled were Sangiovese, so the discrepancy was not due to grape variety, but due to the terroir.

Working With Jurij Fiore: Part 1

{ October 19, 2009 @ 4:36 pm } · { harvest }
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After 8 hours of harvesting, I would have thought that it was time for bed.  On the 20 minute hike back to the cellar all I could think about was taking a shower, eating and relaxing.  Lo and behold, a bout of new energy coursed through my system upon first sight of Jurij working in the cellar with his new wine.  Here I learned about yeasts, pumping over, making rose wine and taking laboratory samples amongst other things.  I will go into detail about these concepts in Part 2.

Being in the cellar with one of Tuscany’s finest producers was an opportunity that I could not pass up.  Having a chance to be a part of the wine making process, especially at Podere Poggio Scalatte, is something that I could not miss.  All of the soreness and tiredness within me seemed to be replaced with interest and vigor.  I was ready to work again.

vendemmia 014 Jurij is a staunch believer in that great wine comes from the grapes, not from the technology that you have.  While technology can make your life easier, it doesn’t add anything to the grapes that isn’t already there.  For instance his crusher/destemmer was bought in 1996 and is still working like a champion to this day.  As you can see from the picture, he uses wooden wedges to keep the machine in place and he stands on some old palettes so he can pour the grapes into the destemmer. Now that’s classy.

Now this is state of the art!

Now this is state of the art!

When you walk into the wine cellar you will not be amazed by the fancy shmancy technology either.  It is rather small and looks like it could pass for an ordinary garage.  He uses both stainless steel tanks and cement tanks for fermentation.  When I asked him what he used to control the fermentation temperatures he pointed to the windows and said,”When it gets  hot I open and when it gets cold I close.”

Those were simple yet inspiring words.  It could not have been said more elegantly.  But just like in cooking, the simpler the dish the higher the quality of ingredients there has to be.  If your making spaghetti al pomodoro, and you have bad tomatoes…guess what?  Your s*** out of luck.  The same thing is true for wine.  GREAT GRAPES MAKE GREAT WINE! BASTA!

Before you leave here’s a quick little video of the cellar where the magic happens, or should I say hard work…

Vineyard Variation: Part 2

{ October 18, 2009 @ 7:06 pm } · { harvest }
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vendemmia 072

Here’s a question pertaining to “Reserve” and “Special Selection” wines.

Francesco,
Can you please comment on the subject of ranking wines specifically with regard to the use of terms like “special select” and “reserve.” Are these two classifications trustworthy and accurate? Is it always true that a “special select” version of a certain vintage is worth more/better tasting than its standard variety? Your thoughts please?

This ranking of wines is a legitimate practice, but it is also used for marketing.  This type of selection is sometimes done in the vineyard or before blending.  If you read the first post on vineyard variation you will see that not all grapes are created equal.  During the harvest the selection of the best grapes can be made and classified as a “special selection”, the second choice as their “normal” blend, and sometimes their leftovers can be sold off as bulk wine.

Reserve wines are a little different.    Reserve wines like Chianti Classico Riserva, Brunello Riserva and Barolo Riserva, just to name a few, are aged for additional years in bottle or in wood before being released compared to the “normal” wines of that vintage. Italy, and most Old World wine regions,  must meet government regulation for the aging criteria.  In the New World, Reserve means something more along the lines of a “Special Selection”, although you will see some wines labeled as Reserve.  These simply denote a different treatment, whether extra maturation in wood, a special selection of grapes, or longer aging in bottle before being released.  There are no government regulations, it is up to the producer.

At Podere Poggio Scalette, Jurij (the wine maker) has no “special selection” or “reserve” wines.  His vineyards are first vinified separately as to better express the terrior of each.  He then samples each vat after the fermentation.  The best vats are classified for his  Sangiovese based wine “Il Carbonaione.”  The vats that do not meet his criteria are sold to bottlers as Chianti Classico.

Jurij does not believe in having “tiered wines” from his estate.  He produces the best and settles for nothing less.  He does not agree with second or third bottling.  When you taste his wines you will know what I mean.  Jurij’s two wines were featured in the new edition of Wine Spectator, the 100% Sangiovese called “Il Carbonaione” and the 100% Merlot named “La Piantonaia.”  In the tasting note from the magazine, there was an unfortunate error.  La Piontonaia was labeled as Sangiovese, it is of course 100% Merlot.

Back to the question.  You will usually have to pay more for the reserve or special selection wines.  Are they better?  I mean its hard to say, we would like to think so, but sometimes the difference is marginal and not worth the extra dollars.  It is really up to your taste.  A lot of times the higher classified wines have a longer potential for aging, so the extra costs can pay off 10-15 years down the line.  My suggestion would be to buy their normal wine and their special selection from the same year, do a blind tasting and see which you like better.  Cheers!

Old Vines vs. New Vines

{ October 14, 2009 @ 8:45 pm } · { harvest }
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Instead of me reciting the harvest day by day, I decided to write about the things I learned during the week long harvest.  After all, this site is about wine and not me.

I’m sure most people browsing wine shop shelves have come across labels mentioning  old vines or new vines at some point.  In French they would be termed “Villes Vines” or in Italian “Vigneto Vecchio.”    The old vine wines are probably more expensive, but what does an old vine contribute to the resulting wine?  In the preceding videos you will see the old “gnarly” character of the trunk and get a glimpse of the differences of each type.

Here’s a little video of a vine that is about 40 years old.  When I started taking this video I had just eaten some dirt from the ground to get a sense of the terrior.  You can hear some comments in the background.

During the harvest I was able to see both of these types of vines in action.  These are concepts that I have only read in textbooks and magazines up until this point. Seeing the difference, feeling the textures, and plucking the clusters from these types of vines almost makes literature seem like fiction.  You REALLY learn what this “wine stuff” is about when you get your hands dirty, your back sore, fingers cut, and skin stung.

This is a video that I made in April on a class trip to Podere Poggio Scalette (PPS).  Instead of me writing this time, I though I would hand it over to the professional Jurij Fiore on explaining his view of old and new vines.

One of the downsides of having an old vineyard is not that the vines get too old and don’t produce quality fruit, but the soils get worn out.  They become compacted and the drainage is limited.  Compacted soils suffocate the roots, they can’t breathe and  sometimes they will start to rot due to the excess water that can not drain.  When this happens the vines must be uprooted and new vines planted.

A Look Back at the 2009 Vintage

{ October 13, 2009 @ 3:59 pm } · { harvest }
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This is not a vintage that will go down as one of the best in Tuscany, or at least in Greve in Chianti.  Having arrived in Florence in mid January, Ive been able to track the progress of this vintage by living it and speaking to the winemakers.  So lets get it goin…

The winter was fairly mild with no extremes in either direction.  There was quite a bit of rain from what I can remember, but nothing too harmful.  In May, I got to speak with some wine makers and they all agreed that budding was on time and normal.  Spring produced average temperatures and rainfall. So far so good.  Everything seemed to be going well until August…

Every second the sun produces the same energy as about a trillion 1 megaton bombs! In one second, our sun produces enough energy for almost 500,000 years of the current needs of our civilization.

Every second the sun produces the same energy as about a trillion 1 megaton bombs! In one second, our sun produces enough energy for almost 500,000 years of the current needs of our civilization.

Scorching temperatures in August with no rain for 30 days  hurt the vines.  The older vines at Podere Poggio Scalette were able to produce good quality grapes, but the young vines were hit hard. The absence of rain coupled with the rocky, sandy, and well draining soils of the vineyards spelled disaster for some crops of vines.

Finally there was  rain in September, which brought some vines back to life, but the rains continued up until harvest.  A bout of hail tarnished some of the grapes at Poggio Scalette, but most were untouched.  Excess rain was swallowed by the vines and some of the concentration was lost.   During harvest, quite a few of the Merlot and Sangiovese vines were littered with mold, so strict selection was a must.

The sun heats up the ocean's surface and water evaporates into the air. When enough moisture is formed clouds appear. Finally, when temperatues get cool, the moisture condenses and precipitation forms.

The sun heats up the ocean's surface and water evaporates into the air. When enough moisture is formed clouds appear. Finally, when temperatues get cool enough, the moisture condenses and precipitates in the form of rain. Mountains block the movement of clouds and force them up into the cooler regions of the atmosphere. This is why there is usually arid climate on one side of a range and rainy weather on the other .

Overall, it wasn’t the worst or the best vintage according  to Jurij.  Due to a large percentage of old vine Sangiovese, there seemed to be enough quality grapes to offset some of the poor.  “We will see…”, says Jurij when I asked him how the harvest went.  When we took a sample to check the sugar levels from a vat of Sangiovese, the specific gravity tube measured 21 brix which translated to a 13-13.5 abv after fermentation if everything goes right.  A sigh of relief echoed through the cellar and sweat was wiped from our face.

Anyone(well maybe not everyone) can make great wine in a great vintage.  Great wines made in bad vintages are a testament to the skill of the winemaker and to the quality of terroir.  Most people won’t buy wines from bad vintages, but I say go for it.   Drinking wines from less than stellar vintages will make you appreciate and pay homage to the fact that nothing can be perfect all the time.  I think to truly understand a great wine one must taste the ones which aren’t so great.

Up next: Old Vines vs. New Vines

The Harvest

{ October 12, 2009 @ 2:25 pm } · { harvest }
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vendemmia 010

old vines

October is a very special time of year in Tuscany.    For the past week I  have been  at the Podere Poggio Scalette estate located in the Ruffoli Hills of Greve in Chianti.  This is the renowned estate owned by the famous “Mr. Sangiovese” Vittorio Fiore.  Vittorio is one of the most famous enologists in Italy having essentially created the consulting enologist position.  He is responsible for turning Sangiovese from the quaffable  jug wines into the rich, high quality Sangiovese’s we see drink today.  Through vineyard manipulation and cellar management Sangiovese now has a place as one of the worlds best grapes.

However, the story here s not Vittorio, it is his son and winemaker, Jurij.  Jurij  is the most vendemmia 013humble, passionate, gentle, funny and sincere person I have ever met.  Just being in his presence made me a better and smarter person.   He is the type of guy that would just explain what he is doing without you having to ask.  As long as he sees that you care and are passionate he will go to extraordinary lengths to give you everything he can.

17 years ago Jurij graduated from a viticulture and enology school in   Burgundy.  He is now a qualified Technicien Superieur en Vitocolture and Oenologie a Beaune.  The Podere Poggio Scalette estate was purchased by his father in 1991 and the first vintge was bottled in 1992.  From this point on Jurij has overseen the workings of this phenomenal estate. His talent and passion are evident in the quality of wine that he produces.  These are “true” wines that are made in the vineyard not in the cellar.

Harvesting and helping Jurij  in the cellar leaves me an overabundance of topics to talk about.  I am dedicating the next week to the 2009 harvest.  I want to talk about the cultural experience of working with people from different nations, the soils, vineyard management, vineyard variation, old vines vs. new vines, wine making techniques and philosophy, dinner, the wines of Poggio Scalette, and the 2009 vintage in general. Oh and I cant forget, the amazing video interview with Jurij.  I will do my best to communicate to my readers everything I have learned during this past week.  I hope you all will join me on this fabulous ride.

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