“There is much experience and scientific understanding to verify that these wines age poorly.” Clark Smith, Grapecrafter.
I’m currently in Australia, but before I boarded the puddle-jumper from San Diego to LAX, and then QANTAS to Sydney, Miranda asked me to select some wines from the cellar that she could drink in my absence; she didn’t want to fall afoul of cellar theft! I thought that was very considerate of her so I put together a mixed group of mainly reds that will suit her palate and those of any friends that visit. In the course of searching out these wines in what is quickly becoming a very disorganized cellar I found a wine that we had not tasted for quite a while. There were three bottles. We could try one with dinner and the other two would be added to her little stash, after all it was a wine that she had purchased when we toured Napa and Sonoma 4 or 5 years ago. Besides the label said 15.5% alcohol and described the wine, when young, as “a ripe port-like wine”. And as all the experts will tell you these high alcohol wines are just rubbish, and they don’t age anyway.
The wine was to accompany a very tasty beef pie; that would send the evening even further downhill because, as all the pundits cry from the rooftops of their ivory towers, these high alcohol wines just don’t go with food. Before the pie was served I decided to decant the wine which was approaching its 10th birthday. There was not a lot of sediment, but enough to warrant the ceremony. The anti-high alcohol league will call that another waste of effort.
The color of the wine was vibrant, with a mahogany red center that faded to orange/brown at its edge. A few sniffs revealed an enticing and charming bouquet that continued to change during the evening. First caramel sweet toffee, then spices, tobacco, pepper, and licorice. And then Bonox, and then raisins: I just couldn’t keep up!
On the palate the wine was full bodied with excellent carry of flavors and the remaining drying astringency carried through to a lengthy finish that was enhanced by a note of sweet cold tea. Juicy acidity framed the package with a hint of sharpness suggesting that the wine had approached its zenith some time before. But it was still a palate pleaser, well aged, and refreshingly complex. In style it could almost be an aged Shiraz or even a Petite Syrah. Would it go with the beef pie?
I have tasted very few wines that have been so abundantly transformed by food. The markers of age, the slightly drying tannins, and the faintly piquant acidity dissolved and were replaced by a fullness and roundness that grew on the palate; it literally seemed to seduce my mouth. That sweet, spicy bouquet exploded in wave after wave of flavor. The meal became a simple process of eat a mouthful of pie, sip some wine, and then sit back and let the senses enjoy themselves. Rubbish high alcohol wine. Who could possibly enjoy this?
What was the wine? Hop Kiln Russian River Valley Zinfandel (Primitivo Vineyard) 1998. This bottling was the first from a replanted vineyard, but when I visited the winery site online to see if more recent vintages were available I could find none. That should please the anti-high alcohol league.
Showing posts with label Clark Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clark Smith. Show all posts
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Help, there is alcohol in my wine
The discussion of alcohol levels in wine rages on. It would be nice if there was unimpeachable evidence that high alcohol wines fail to please the drinking public, but I don’t see substantiation of that. If anything the reverse is true. What I do see are individuals trying to impose their personal preference on others. Darrell Corti is a good example with his statement that he will no longer sell wine with more than 14.5% alcohol. But Corti has been inconsistent, and his statement that "I made the rule, I can break it." highlights that inconsistency.
Elin McCoy, the writer of Robert Parker’s biography, has now stepped into the same fold with a piece in Bloomberg. She calls her dumping of a 15% alcohol Merlot down the drain a “personal rebellion against the latest wine-fashion craze”. I’m not sure I’d call increasing alcohol levels in wine the latest wine craze; its probably been going on for at least the last few decades. McCoy quotes the numbers herself, “In the Napa Valley, the average climbed to 14.8 percent in 2001 from 12.5 percent in 1971.” And I’ve noted a similar trend in the flagship Aussie Shiraz Penfold’s Grange over its 50+ year history.
Unlike Corti, McCoy does add to the argument in a constructive way by tasting a 2005 Amador County Syrah that Clark Smith had subjected to reverse osmosis to change the alcohol content. The resulting wines had alcohol levels of 15.4 percent (“seemed hot and super- rich”), 14.2 percent wine (“jammy, with a fresher nose and brighter flavors”), and 13.75 percent (“spicier, with fruit and leather notes, more Rhone in style”). Subjecting these wines to personal sensory evaluation is a worthwhile endeavor, and it’s a pity this was not done with a larger audience in a blinded fashion. The results would have been certain to be interesting.
There are no prizes for guessing that McCoy’s favorite alcohol modified Syrah was the 13.75% wine. But was she looking for the wine that gave her the most pleasure, or one that reminded her of a Rhone? Help me a little here, as an Australian who has lived in California for 20+ years I’m confused. Amador County is in California, right? That is part of the USA, correct? I thought the Rhone Valley was in France? Should Amador County Syrah be Rhonish in style? Amador County is divided into two appellations, Shenandoah Valley and Fiddletown. Amador County is Zinfandel territory, but it has been having success with Syrah. Shouldn’t they be allowed to develop their own style of Syrah?
The alcohol argument is unlikely to go away soon. We have all tasted low alcohol wines that have survived decades beautifully. But it’s a little early to be passing judgment on the longevity of high alcohol wines. I’ve got a bunch of Shiraz/Syrah from Australia and California sitting in my cellar waiting patiently for a decade or so to pass before I see if they have fallen to pieces. And therein lies the problem, I have to let them lie there rather then drink them sooner, like tonight! After all as one of the exponents of high alcohol wines Sparky Marquis of MollyDooker (and Shirvington, Parson's Flat, Henry's Drive, Marquis-Philips) says “People are always asking me, When should I drink this wine? How long should I cellar it?" "And you know what I say to them? I'm making another one next year! When should you drink it? How long will it take you to find a corkscrew?!! Or now that we're going screwcaps, How long will it take you to get a glass?!!"
Elin McCoy, the writer of Robert Parker’s biography, has now stepped into the same fold with a piece in Bloomberg. She calls her dumping of a 15% alcohol Merlot down the drain a “personal rebellion against the latest wine-fashion craze”. I’m not sure I’d call increasing alcohol levels in wine the latest wine craze; its probably been going on for at least the last few decades. McCoy quotes the numbers herself, “In the Napa Valley, the average climbed to 14.8 percent in 2001 from 12.5 percent in 1971.” And I’ve noted a similar trend in the flagship Aussie Shiraz Penfold’s Grange over its 50+ year history.
Unlike Corti, McCoy does add to the argument in a constructive way by tasting a 2005 Amador County Syrah that Clark Smith had subjected to reverse osmosis to change the alcohol content. The resulting wines had alcohol levels of 15.4 percent (“seemed hot and super- rich”), 14.2 percent wine (“jammy, with a fresher nose and brighter flavors”), and 13.75 percent (“spicier, with fruit and leather notes, more Rhone in style”). Subjecting these wines to personal sensory evaluation is a worthwhile endeavor, and it’s a pity this was not done with a larger audience in a blinded fashion. The results would have been certain to be interesting.
There are no prizes for guessing that McCoy’s favorite alcohol modified Syrah was the 13.75% wine. But was she looking for the wine that gave her the most pleasure, or one that reminded her of a Rhone? Help me a little here, as an Australian who has lived in California for 20+ years I’m confused. Amador County is in California, right? That is part of the USA, correct? I thought the Rhone Valley was in France? Should Amador County Syrah be Rhonish in style? Amador County is divided into two appellations, Shenandoah Valley and Fiddletown. Amador County is Zinfandel territory, but it has been having success with Syrah. Shouldn’t they be allowed to develop their own style of Syrah?
The alcohol argument is unlikely to go away soon. We have all tasted low alcohol wines that have survived decades beautifully. But it’s a little early to be passing judgment on the longevity of high alcohol wines. I’ve got a bunch of Shiraz/Syrah from Australia and California sitting in my cellar waiting patiently for a decade or so to pass before I see if they have fallen to pieces. And therein lies the problem, I have to let them lie there rather then drink them sooner, like tonight! After all as one of the exponents of high alcohol wines Sparky Marquis of MollyDooker (and Shirvington, Parson's Flat, Henry's Drive, Marquis-Philips) says “People are always asking me, When should I drink this wine? How long should I cellar it?" "And you know what I say to them? I'm making another one next year! When should you drink it? How long will it take you to find a corkscrew?!! Or now that we're going screwcaps, How long will it take you to get a glass?!!"
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