Much to learn in the cuverie
While in California, I had one of friends topping up my barrels. Due to some residual gas from primary, the barrels gave off the impression of malolactic fermentation starting up. This was last month. I made a post about it, glad that things were moving along. My preference was for a slow malolactic, but with so many other’s wines taking off, I believed mine were following suit.
2009 is proving to be an interesting year. Sure, I’ve read the hype from what people are tasting of the vintage. One of the generalities of the vintage are rapid malos, a good of them complete at present.
Tasting my own wines, I was fooled. Residual gas was present when pulling the bung off, and the taste seemed right.
Knowing the importance of wine health, I decided to get a analysis to be sure. Results in hand, I can say that not only has the malolactic fermentation not finished, it has yet to begin! While being correct in thinking the malo was comete would mean that I could rest easy knowing that all was finished, it is actually my preference to have this result that I was in fact wrong. A longer fermentation is my preference. And as it turns out many other who took samples in for analysis were also met with this great news after thinking there wines were following in the lines of the others having the malo finished.
What I take from this is to never hesitate in confirming your instincts with facts, never assume about your wines based on what others are reporting and when in doubt…ask.
I will stick with my decision to let the wine take it’s time. From looking at the analysis provided by the guys at Bouchard Analysis in Beaune, the wine is looking healthy while it sleeps.
That’s all for now…
Cheers
Patience in the cuverie
Out of all the traits which I aspire to, patience has been the most difficult for me to achieve. I’m naturally impatient, enjoying the thrill of tinkering and seeing results in real time. Slowly but surely, I’m being forced to come to grips with the truth of it all. I simply have to be more patient and trust what is in the barrel.
I have to confess that after taking in the grapes this year and working through the vinifications, I have felt a bit, well, left out. Seeing the appellations on the barrels, I keep thinking about how they ‘should’ and may taste when the elevage is finished. It’s a tortuous feeling. And all you can do is wait.
Since early on, the profile of the fermenting juice tasted different each day. The same was true after the primary fermentation was finished. All too often, having tasted the wine every other day, sometimes feeling unsure one moment and the next confident. Once in barrel, I’ve tried to lay off, backing away and letting the wines be what they will be.
That’s all for tonight…
Cheers
Back to the roots
Following up to some ideas I had before arriving in Burgundy, I will be back in the vineyards in 2010, during Our winery’s down time. There is a great benefit to being a negociant in Burgundy. Less intensive capital needs, ability to pick and choose fruit, etc. However, I believe that there is a connection to the vines when you work within them that somehow aligns both fruit and man that can be somehow lost by simply staying within the walls of a cuverie without stepping out and getting your hands in the soil.
A few days ago I posed the question to my source in Morey Saint Denis if I could spend some time in the Les Chaffots 1er Cru vineyard and others to experience first hand what this vineyard feels like on a more intimate level. I’m not talking about a one hour photo op here. I will be just another hand working the vines. As connected as I feel with my wines, I know there is a benefit to be found in knowing your sources personally. Hopefully this will prove to be valuable experience for when I have my own vineyards here as well…
Cheers
An outside view to the Hospice de Beaune
People were in the streets watching the auction until quite late at night. I had no idea what to expect. But this is really an important time of celebration for a good many people. The streets were filled with carnival food like fare…French style of course. Cheeses, sausage, chicken, pizzas, tarts, hot dogs, kebabs, and pretty much all the food that is there during the Saturday market. The covered market was filled with auction goers and the crowd looking into the large windows was massive.
I did not visit inside as I had no intention of purchasing lots, and also arriving in Beaune just yesterday at noon. Peeking into the large windows to view the auction was easy if you didn’t mind being huddled in with the growing collection of onlookers scrambling to look over one another to get the best views of the lot monitor, the aution caller or the bid board. Meanwhile, at the foot of the Hotel Dieu, and throughout Place Carnot speakers were positioned in a way that all points around the area centre could hear the lot names and the bids as they were announced by the host.
The food was great. I spent more time going vendor to vendor sampling everything I could get my hands on while bumping into many friends caught taking in the local fare as well. The light shows were a hit as well. The church was lit up with a light show accenting each detail and curve while the walls of te Hotel Dieu played lightshows with angels with harps and other designs. From the outside walls of the centre, huge shows were plays with wine themes displaying views of cellars and ancient designs unique to Burgundy. It was a site seeing everyone there, frozen in interest, fighting the cold to experience the sights, sounds and tastes of this event. It was much more an inviting event than I expected.
Beaune us such a beautiful city, especially by night. From coming to the city, fresh from the train, (before that the 3 airplanes I took) it was well refreshing to just relax while just taking everything in.
I also did a bit of work. Well, I went to the winery to check in on the wines, which are moving right along. What a way to end my first night back.
Cheers!
Off to Burgundy
After being back in California for just 3 weeks I am leaving to go back to Burgundy tomorrow. I have a 7:45a flight into Paris.
Things have been nice being back in California. Seeing my family, playing with my daughter. Its unexplainable how much I missed my wife and daughter. The thing is, the winemaking isn’t quite over and it’s time to get back to business.
I’ve had a good friend, one of my grape brokers topping up my barrels since I was away. The wines were located in a temporary above ground facility in Saint Aubin while I set up my own facility. This upcoming week, I will be moving the wines to my facility in the center of Nuits Saint Georges. No more winery partners sharing space, just Maison Ilan. The facility also has a nice house attached where we will live starting next year.
Being so far from the wines has made me a bit nervous, impatient and now quite excited to get back to see them.
For now, it’s back to packing. I should make it to Burgundy just in time for the Hospice de Beaune vente de vin this Sunday.
Thanks for stopping by.
Cheers
Malos starting to take off
Before harvest, I had an idea on some of the details of the winemaking process figured out. Sure, picking early in the day, hoping to get nice acids, as little intervention as possible, natural primary and malolactic fermentation, etc. The reality is that sure, it’s excellent to have an idea of what you are planning to do, what your preferences are. When reality hits, and your back is to the wall, your decisions can make themselves.
This is what I prepared for. The bad surprise. I heard this all harvest by countless locals. I planned to have things not go my way at some point. I had backups.
One thing that is worth mentioning is the primary and secondary fermentations. Innoculating the wine with commercial yeasts can help a winemaker sleep better at night as there is much more control in the fermentation process. There are arguments that something is lost when using non-indigenous yeasts. I decided early on that I would use the native yeasts for the primary fermentation. What if the fermentation stuck? Well, I would warm up the tank and wait? If that didn’t work? Well…I was mentally prepared to act fast if things got pear shaped. This was a real fear of mine.
Thankfully, the fermentation went well. More possible downsides of native yeast fermentations are terribly fast and hot fermentations, odd aromatic notes and stuck fermentations. None of the above happened. The fermentation was steady, and did not exceed 29*C. No odd notes aside from the whole cluster in the Morey Saint Denis being reduced.
Looking forward at this point my thoughts went to the secondary fermentation. In Burgundy, this process can take around a year to get underway when the malos are native. I’ve tasted countless wines that have been produced this nerve racking way of just letting the wine ‘do it’s thing’ so I figured, why not?
This vintage, many have reported on having low malo numbers while others shot through malo fermentation in record time. My native numbers looked low when I last checked, however, they just took off. There is still a good amount of time left for the process to be complete. But this is very good news as the timing is much earlier than I expected.
Thanks again for stopping by…
Cheers!
