The first hint I got was from a passing comment from Grazia, who cuts my hair. She mentioned that there seemed to be a problem with the beautiful fruit that came in before the early October rains. What would she know about grapes? Well, she does the hair for numerous winery owners at her shop in downtown Sonoma and they talk.
Since then I've lived in denial until yesterday when I saw an article in the Magazine Wines & Vines by Andrew Adams called Vintners Ask: Where Did the Tannin Go? Apparently the tannin levels in the Northern California wine grapes were about half of normal. Since tannin is a major component of wine, providing much of its structure contributing to its ability to age, wine makers seeking to create a consistent style of wine year after year are in a quandary. Do they add tannins or do they make a different style of wine? Fifty percent is a lot of tannin.
Growers blamed it on a problematic year, a wet spring and a cool growing season, but I think they forgot about last year, the coolest since 1950. Vines are living creatures that react to trends. Tannins are a sulfur compound that infuse the skin and protect them from damaging sunlight, just like in humans. That's why beauty and healing creams often include sulfur in the form of MSM.
It's well known that the way you prune a grape vine is going to affect not only next year's production, but the year after. Is it surprising that the vines react to a cooling trend by not over fortifying the skins? Plants are not machines, but part of an intelligent network and human intervention is just one component in what makes a great wine.
As I mentioned in yesterday's article, alcohol levels will be lower than average in the 2011 vintage, now the lower tannins will make the wines drinkable younger. Considering that ninety percent of wines are consumed within forty eight hours of purchase, there are certain benefits with having a faster rate of return on wine maker's money.
The biggest stumbling blocks in wine making is the glacial pace at which your investment pays off. If you are planting Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to make into a high quality wine it is seven to ten years before you will have any revenue. How long until you are in the black, that's anyone's guess.
In the midst of this recession wine auctions for ultra-expensive collector's wines are setting records. The Asian boom is going shopping at the same that cellars are being emptied out at softer prices. But those are deeply aged, prestige wines. What's a healthy wine? How fresh, how natural and how honest to its origins does a wine need to be in order to refresh the soul and body equally.
I think that a great wine speaks of the place and the year where it was produced. A great wine is a healthy wine without straining the technology and additives to fit a market signature. There is lots of room in the market for all kinds of alcohol but in my humble opinion let the wine be of its year and never forget that above all, it's just food.
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