DRY COUNTY WINE REVIEW: OPINIONS NEEDED.
There is a fascinating ongoing discussion taking place in the wine world at the moment about a specific kind of wine, but this conversation is entirely among wine professionals who would all benefit from knowing what the consumers––those actually buying the wine––have to say; what they want. I thought perhaps our readers could lend a little perspective!
Natural wine, if you're not familiar with it, is a term much of the wine world has somewhat arbitrarily pinned to a certain kind of wine. It is not something you'll usually find on a label, it's merely a genre, but it's mainly the phrasing itself that's causing the discussion. "Natural" cannot be quantified, as so many of its opponents have insisted, because nothing about raising cultivating grapes, fermenting the juice and bottling the wine is inherently natural, thus making the term misleading. Please bear with me through the technical details, and ask any questions in the comments section if there is something on which you'd like clarification. Don't be shy, there are no silly questions.Natural wines are typically made without the addition of chemicals in the bottle or in the vineyard, though there is no regulation of this so it's not necessarily a given.They are also often made without the addition of yeasts, which is to say that most of these producers let the wine ferment naturally, allowing the ambient yeasts in the air turn the grape juice into alcohol. It's a riskier practice than adding conventional yeasts which more or less guarantee a specific product. There is no guarantee with ambient yeast. Also, like chemicals, this is likewise unregulated. Some producers who have been considered "natural" such as the late, great Didier Dagueneau for example, didn't use ambient yeast, but rather a combination of cultivated yeasts. Still, most people would consider Didier natural.If there was one commonly employed phrase for natural wines, it would be "nothing added, nothing taken away," or in other words, letting the wine be as natural as possible, a preserved version of wine at its most basic.Full disclosure: The importance of this topic is that––surprise!––I want you to drink more healthy wines, wines with less additives or chemicals involved––for lack of a better expression––natural wines. Wine should not, if you are going to ingest the stuff, be treated any differently than food; if you don't like chemicals in your food, you shouldn't want them in your wine. But as the consumer, would you prefer a different term altogether? Does the term "natural wine" illicit any negative perceptions? Do you believe that if the term natural wine became regulated it could maintain its integrity, or would it wind up as meaningless as "Organic" has become? Who should regulate it? Or, would you like to leave the term as is, unregulated and somewhat vague?––trusting your local wine professionals to point you in the direction of the healthier wines. These are the kinds of wines I would love for our readers to be drinking, how would you like to find them?- Jesse.For some further reading on the discussion click here (read the comments for a glimpse at the contention)*First image is a bottle of Domaine des 2 Ânes, a natural wine brought in by predominantly natural wine importer Jenny & François, purchased at Wine + Market.
BARRELS OF CRAIGSLIST FUN.
When I read the words "Wine Barrel For Sale" I tried desperately to ignore it. And by 'tried desperately" I mean I immediately asked Hannah if I could buy it. I've looked into barrels before. Used oak barrels are not cheap––generally around $100-$150, and that's not including shipping––so $40 was a pretty enticing price tag. Once she gave me the OK, I gave the guy a call and the next thing I knew I was coming home with a beautiful, fifty- something gallon wine barrel once used.The man who owned the barrel used to work for Woodford Reserve "before the 2009 layoffs." Apparently Woodford had purchased hundreds of used barrels from "Sonoma Cutter" which I'm pretty sure means Sonoma Cutrer, the makers of a commercially popular chardonnay. Producers like that typically use these barrels for one year to suck all of the oaky flavor out of them and then they sell them or find other uses. Woodford purchased a number of these uncharred barrels to make a special batch of Sonoma Cutrer whiskey. They poured two bottles of wine into each barrel of whiskey and let it age for a year. The barrel I bought today was a leftover, thankfully never used in the batch and thus never tainted by the whiskey. He had bought it when Woodford decided they didn't need it anymore and never used it himself so he decided to get rid of it. That's when he got a call from your's truly.I have no immediate intentions for this barrel, though I've dreamt of plenty of possibilities. I've imagined it as a rain barrel in the garden with a hose running out of the bottom. Or it would make a good table, a piece of glass fixed to the top and maybe an umbrella. Even a life as a container in which to stir biodynamic preparations would be a worthy use, but nothing trumps my want for it to fulfill its destiny as a wine barrel and fill it with bubbling fruit juice. It might not be soon, and it might not be ever, but if the opportunity ever arises and fifty gallons of wine present themselves, I'll finally have a place to put them for a couple of years. No matter what, it'll make a pretty excellent addition to the farm.- Jesse.
DRY COUNTY WINE REVIEW: SPICY TOMATO WINE.
Tomatoes are technically a fruit, but more-often used like a vegetable: tomato cake, tomato pie... these words do not frequent our dessert menus. So despite their status as a fruit, tomatoes are typically used like a vegetable, and typically taste like a vegetable. That is, however, with a few exceptions: most notably the labor-intensive yet sweet and refreshing Sun Gold cherry tomato. And, if it tastes like a fruit I say use it like a fruit. Since I am no baker, when we had a glut of these tasty gems this summer I didn't turn them into dessert––they went straight into the fermentation vat like so many fruits before them.The first time I marinated a lamb roast in kimchi brine (to great, flavorful success I might add), I started working on the idea of savory wines for cooking. I pondered the idea of cucumber wines for fish, herbal wines for sauces, and the most versatile of all, tomato wine for everything. Anything. With an opportunity to make tomato wine for the first time this summer, I was taking a chance by making a cooking wine, knowingly forfeiting any chance I had for a truly interesting drinking wine. Since I had prepared the wine with cooking in mind, in with the tomatoes went habanero peppers and garlic––exactly why I feared it would not be a great drinking wine. In a sense, I was trying to make a spicy salsa wine––all I was missing was cilantro. Immediately after active fermentation but before I put it into the carboy, what I had tasted was like a fresh, sparkling bloody mary. It was surprisingly tasty, and why wouldn't it be?––tomatoes are a fruit and fruits make wines. No bother, I didn't let it become a distraction––my goal was to make cooking wine, so I shoved a few more habaneros in the carboy. If you could drink it after that, I would consider it a bonus. Yesterday, four months after bottling, was my first chance to test the results. With a few pork chops we'd acquired from Bugtussle Farm (and from the pigs we'd raised this summer), I set them to marinade for six hours before searing them (though I would have preferred twelve hours). After searing, I deglazed the pan with the wine for a sauce and mashed some sweet potatoes, topping it all off with sautéed swiss chard. I was beyond pleased with the outcome, the pork was juicy and spicy from the inside out, but now feel compelled to go further. The wine was drinkable but not exactly pleasurable (akin to the pawpaw wine). Beyond turning the rest of the bottle into spicy tomato wine vinegar, I see a lot of other savory wines in my future. And not just for cooking. With a little honey for chapitlzation this could have been a perfectly drinkable wine. The thing about wine is that it simply needs a certain sugar level (or brix) to become palatable, and with a mixture of honey and fruit, vegetable or tomato it can be made out of anything. Cucumber mint, hot pepper basil, sweet pepper curry––winemaking is the new cooking.- Jesse.
THE DRY COUNTY WINE REVIEW: DECANTING CHAMPAGNE.
As a wine nerd, I love this time of the year, when inspired article after inspired article hit all of my favorite publications about the greatest drink in the world: champagne. Obviously, this is because it's the holiday season and we associate champagne with celebration. But my excitement for the time isn't solely because I like the drink, but because wine writers and wine loves alike pour so much love and work into talking about champagne that everyone is incapable of writing a slouchy piece on the subject. I imagine if the wine writers of the world had their druthers, every other article throughout the year would be on champagne or similar sparkling wines. They are the single most versatile food pairings, the single most complex aromatic experiences, the single greatest conversation starters and the single most memorable punctuations to an evening. Oscar Wilde once said "Only the unimaginative can fail to find a reason to drink champagne." Not wanting to be called unimaginative by Oscar Wilde, Hannah and I decided to elope last Wednesday. With us I brought a bottle of 2006 Jerôme Prévost "La Closerie" champagne which we promptly opened after dinner, breaking two rules I have with good champagne: 1) don't drink it without food, and 2) decant it. Drinking wine with food isn't always a necessity and sometimes, with NV (or non-vintage) champagne especially, it can actually be quite enjoyable. However, not having a great champagne with food is to deny the poor beverage of it's full potential. Forgivable offense, so long as you follow rule number two: decant.My friend and oft-mentor Alex and I once agreed that champagne was without a doubt the best drink in the world, and although it requires the bubbles to be so, they get in the way of its genius. If you do not own a decanter, don't sweat it, simply open your bottle of champagne a few hours before consuming. The oxygen will invigorate the wine and compel it to open up and become more balanced, more expressive. Put it on ice to keep it slightly chilled, but you don't want to drink it too cold––or nearly any other wine for that matter, if you want it at its best. Cold temperatures subdue the expression of wine, I like my champagne somewhere between fifty and sixty degrees––a good handful of degrees below room temp, but well above refrigeration.Good wine, notably, should stay good for days, be it champagne or otherwise. In fact, for me, it should only get better. When we opened the bottle on Wednesday it wasn't drinking well, it was too young, too acidic, too tight and needed time and air. But when we opened it again last night––five nights later!––the wine was wonderful. It was fully expressing itself and although it still maintained some of its effervescence, it was greatly calmed. The palate was, ahem, married. The aromatics were caramelized and earthy. And although I don't necessarily recommend waiting an entire five days between opening and drinking, the experience decidedly did not punish me for it. No time of the year do more people drink or write about champagne quite like New Year's. Don't worry about decanting Veuve or Moet––the only thing that makes those wines better is fresh orange juice––but if you decided to venture off into the world of vintage or grower champagnes you will not regret letting it open up before ringing in the new year. But most importantly, if you're drinking champagne, don't regret anything. That should be rule number three.- Jesse/
