Posts Tagged ‘jurij fiore’

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 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…

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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