Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Greenville Wine Meetup- Pinot Noir Smackdown 7.21.09

Meetups are groups formed on line that then meet and socialize based on a common interest. The Greenville Wine Meetup now has about 310 members and is a fun a and casual group that meets 1-3 times per month to taste and discuss all things wine.

Richard Peck (who is the CWO, or Chief Wine Officer of the Meetup) and I are leading a Pinot Noir Smackdown on July 21 that promises to be great fun and very educational. Richard is presenting four Pinot Noirs that are in the more elegant and restrained style often called Old World. One of the four will be Calicaro's 07 Hayley Vineyard Pinot from the Anderson Valley.

I will be presenting four New World style Pinots which are bigger, darker and richer wines. While our '07 Anderson Valley Pinot is Old World many of our Pinots including our '08 vintages for later release in the fall of '09 fit into the New World style.

Richard and I will square off mano a mano to discuss and debate the merits of each style in an Ultimate Pinot Noir Smackdown. We think it will be great fun and hope you will sign up and taste some great wines and participate in the fun.

Go to http://www.meetup.com/winemeetup/ to learn more about the Meetup and the Pinot Noir Smackdown- look under the calendar fior July and click on the program showing on July 21. Signing up as a Meetup member is free.

Cheers,

Dave
Calicaro Wine

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

A New Update From Our Director of Vineyard Management

This report came in yesterday from Mitchell Klug, our Director of Vineyard Management. The short version is that things are looking very good at this point. For those of us geeky enough to really get into viticulture, read on!

One of the most influential and uncontrollable things growers deal with is the weather. Luckily, it’s been cooperative. A result of our collective good fortune has been a significant progression of bloom from last week.

Blocks on several properties for the earlier ripening varietals are now through bloom and have completed fruit set. If the weather stays as predicted, we should have very good fruit set in 2009. Between fruit set and veraison, lay a critical period where we can affect the berry size by how we work the vines. Managing the leaf canopy and soil moisture will play key roles in the final cluster appearance and chemistry.

I am seeing good leaf color on Bordeaux varietals. Pinot Noir also looks good and we should see the Chardonnay leaves move out of the yellow phase shortly. Syrah looks very good. Overall, the shoot length is a little short for being this close to bloom, but definitely adequate for the vine to be able to complete fruit set. I suspect we will have our desired shoot length relatively soon. Because of the May rains, I see many varietals are now pushing laterals. Growers will need to manage their canopies to prevent them from closing in and causing too much shade in the vine’s interior. That would reduce fertility for next year and increase disease pressure. Additionally, on some varietals, having a canopy closed in may prolong the problem of methoxypyrazine, which produces vegetal character in wine.

Many vineyards that use a VSP or vertical shoot positioning system have moved the first set of moveable wires in place to train the vines and a few sites have even moved the second set of wires in place.

I am optimistic in what I’m seeing at the sites and the next few weeks will show us a lot about the vines.

Mitchell

Sunday, May 17, 2009

We're at Bloom: Weather and Vineyard Update

Received this report a couple of days ago from our Vineyard Manager:

Bloom is just around the corner. Even though bud break was about 5-7 days later than average, we're seeing hints bloom is about to occur. Technically, bloom is when 50% of a cluster has the calyptras dropped so you can see the stamen. The number of clusters showing this condition on a vine is a factor growers take into consideration before they declare that bloom is taking place in a vineyard block. The current heat spell will certainly speed things up. The 600 degree day mark is another indicator that bloom is surfacing. The impact of temperature can not be overlooked because the time necessary to complete bloom is directly influenced by temperature. Typically, faster bloom periods result in better fruit set.

The series of recent rain storms offered mixed blessings. While the storms certainly helped replenish the upper soil profile, the flip side is that we have seen weed pressure and the threat of powdery mildew.

Overall, shoot growth looks good. I'm still seeing quite a bit of yellowish color in areas where Chardonnay & Syrah grow. However, I suspect those soils will warm up and dry out a bit more and the leaves will color up.

Very soon, the first set of movable wires on vertical shoot positioned vineyards will get moved upward to catch the young growth. Timing this right can be tricky. If you wait too long, the tendrils begin grabbing the adjacent shoots and the canopy becomes tangled. But, if you act too soon, you don't get enough shoots above the wires. Nothing is as simple as it seems. Then again, if high-end growing was simple, vineyard managers could find themselves on a list of endangered species.

In reading this report there are a few conclusions I can make. Overall, the rain is very good news as things were looking so dry earlier. At the 600 degree days mark we are between 1/3 and 1/4 of the way there, as we typically wind up with about 2100-2400 degree days for the year. And there is more hands on care that goes into high end wine grape growing than people could ever imagine. While the growers in the Central Valley and other places may do industrialized farming, our Napa, Sonoma Coast and Santa Lucia Highlands vineyards are much smaller and more carefully tended (by hand).

Looks at this point that things are shaping up to be a good year!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The Good Glass

The glass makes a difference. A very big difference. Anyone saying otherwise simply has not had the experience of fine wine in a good glass.

Fine wine deserves a good glass. And the price of the glass is really no more than the wine in the glass. So...just do it. In effect, the glass pays for itself the first time you use it. And you will be glad you spent that small amount of money because the glass can give you enjoyment over and over again (unlike that wine equating to the cost of the glass, which is quaffed and gone).

A good glass adds much to the whole experience. A very big part of wine tasting involves the olfactory senses. More than the actual taste, the aromas make the wine. A good glass will have a fairly large bowl. The wine fills only a small part of this bowl. The big bowl thus provides the environment in which the wine aromas can develop and concentrate. You swirl the glass and the alcohol and complex chemical compounds in the wine volatize and lift the aromas above the wine.

A good Burgundy or Pinot Noir glass will have a very large bowl- often 25 ounces or so- and a relatively small opening. When the glass is lifted to the mouth and nose, these concentrated aromatics are then directed to the olfactory senses. With fine wine, the effect can be utterly captivating and intoxicating. Never mind the alcohol- the aromatics alone can make you swoon.
The big bowl also allows you to really swirl the wine and enjoy the beautiful colors and brilliant clarity of the wine. Trust me on this. Swirl that wine in the beautiful crystal with the long elegant stem and you too will feel more elegant and sophisticated, even if you're enjoying the wine at the kitchen table in your PJs.

What to buy? There are many good brands. Riedel is the popular gold standard but is on the pricey side.

Schott Zwiesel makes several lines with titanium and no lead in the crytal. We like these glasses alot for their beautiful lines, durability (you can put them in the dishwasher, unlike alot of crystal), environmental and health friendliness (i.e., no lead) and reasonable cost. I recently bought some of their Forte Claret Burgundy line for wine tastings at about $9 per stem, shipping included from BeverageFactory.com.

Other popular brands include Spiegelau and Peugeot.

Each of these brands has at least several lines at various price levels.

At the top end, for the connesieur, are hand blown crystal glasses that can run upwards of $100 per stem. I have never used these and can't speak to whether the additional expense makes that much of a difference. Some people swear by them. While I haven't made that splurge, if you are drinking first growth Bordeaux, or Premier Cru French Burgundy or cult California Pinot Noir, perhaps the cost is justified. A $100 stem does not seem so outrageous if it is filled with wine that is also worth $100 per glass.

But to sum up, the take away here is to buy stemware that is at least good enough to really enjoy fine wine. And that can be done at a very reasonable price.

Cheers,
Dave