Organic Winemaking

Over the last few months many of our restaurant guests have been asking me about organic winemaking and what the wine industry is doing to help support a healthier environment. I have been diligently researching this subject, working very hard to drink…uh I mean taste, as many of these great wines as I could find.  I decided that I should write about it this week to pay homage to Sunday’s celebration of Earth Day. First some definitions are needed.

Integrated Pest Management: Introducing natural predators in the vineyards to kill off insects and unwanted bacteria that attack the vines.

Organically Grown Grapes: All chemicals are eliminated in grape growing. This includes synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides; promotes healthy soils and healthy waters around the winery.

Dry Farming: Planting cover crops in between vines to increase the soils ability to hold moisture and eliminates the need to irrigate as well as makes healthier, disease resistant soils.

Organic Wine: Same practice as organically grown grapes in addition to the lack of chemicals used in making the wine. This includes eliminating the use of sulfur dioxide (aka Sulfites) and is very rare. The use of sulfur dioxide helps to stabilize wine so that it doesn’t spoil.

Biodynamic Winemaking: Introduced by the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, incorporates the organic methods with the additional belief that the vineyard is its own ecosystem and that all aspects are important to create harmony and balance.  Biodynamic winemaking takes into consideration the well-nurtured soil, the animals that work in the vineyards, the sun that ripens the grapes etc.  It takes a holistic approach to the well being of the vineyards.

As the world becomes increasingly conscious of our need to care for our environment, more wineries are getting involved to support natural wine making. Some ways that we are seeing this include the decrease in the amount of fertilizers in the vineyards, the use of wild yeasts in winemaking, the elimination of electrical power in the winery, the increase in unfiltered wines, the decrease in the amount of sulfites added (some are needed to preserve the wine, but not in excess amounts) and the introduction of natural pest management.

Leading these movements are wineries like Frog’s Leap in Napa Valley, Chapoutier in Rhone, Domaine de La Romanee Conti in Burgundy, Nicolas Joly in Loire, Marcel Deiss in Alsace and Sinskey in Carneros.

The jury is still out on whether organic and biodynamic processes enhance the wine’s flavor and body.  But most of the time when extra care is taken to nurture and nourish a vineyard, the end result is healthier and longer lasting vines which make for deliciously drinking wines. In the spirit of Earth Day, go out and try a wine from a winery that takes environmental stewardship seriously.  Or stop by one of our restaurants this Sunday and sample the wines on our Earth Day menus.

Stay tuned for next week, I am bringing back the virtual blind tasting for a chance to win a bottle of wine the next time you dine with us!

Back to Basics

I apologize if this blog entry seems elementary to some of my more sophisticated readers, but I enjoy revisiting the basics of wine production from time to time. After all, understanding the fundamental concepts of how wine is made is the first step to making sense of the sometimes confusing world of wine. Fear not - understanding the basic formula for fermentation will certainly take some of the mystery out of wine, but it won't strip an ounce of magic or pleasure from it.

Let's start with this simple formula:

Sugar + Yeast = Alcohol

Run this formula through your head a few times because the more you grasp it, the easier it will be for you to choose a wine without the help of a sommelier.

Sugar is naturally found in almost every fruit. If you've ever bitten into a juicy grape, you'll know that grapes are no exception. Exactly how much sugar grapes will have depends on where the grapes are grown. (Here's a hint: warmer weather, more sugar.) When yeast is introduced to the sugars (either naturally from the grape skins or artificially), the yeast consumes the sugar and creates a favorable byproduct: alcohol.

What does this mean? Well, the more sugar the yeast consume, the more alcohol you will have in the finished product.

And since sweeter grapes generally grow in warmer climates:

Warm Climate = High Alcohol
Cool Climate = Low Alcohol

Alcohol is what gives wine body, so going one step further would mean that:

• Cool climates produce wine with low alcohol and therefore would be light bodied.
• Warm climates produce wines with medium alcohol and therefore would be medium bodied.
• Hot climates produce wine with high alcohol and therefore would be full bodied.

Now take a look at your bottle's wine label and think about its country of origin. If you ordered or purchased a bottle from Australia, then it is safe to say the wine will be full bodied with a higher alcohol content. Take this knowledge and experiment with different regions of the world. If you enjoy full bodied wines, I would be willing to bet that you would prefer a Nero D'Avola from Sicily (a warm climate) as supposed to a Nebbiolo from the northwest part of Italy (a cooler climate.)

Summertime

I guess you can say I am a little behind with my summertime activities. While everyone else is preparing to close up their beach house in the Hamptons and get the kids back in school mode, I am only now making my first trips out East and starting what will end up being a bi-weekly trip to the Hamptons.

Why am I going now? I wish I could say to catch a late summer tan. Instead, I am going to learn the inner workings of winemaking and figured that instead of traveling to California I could learn close to home. In addition the quality, value and diversity of Long Island wines attracts me immensely.

This past weekend I spent time in both winemaking subzones, the North Fork and the Hamptons and after tasting over 50 different wines I came to the conclusion that Long Island wine is THE thing, baby (read: emerging fine wine region).

While all the wine I tasted was good, I did have some favorites. At Lieb Cellars in the North Fork, the Pinot Blanc was refreshingly oak starved with hints of golden apples and pears. At Wolffer Estate in Bridgehampton (my future winemaking internship) the Estate Chardonnay was as buttery as movie popcorn and had rich vanilla on the finish and the Cabernet Franc remains in my memory for its perfect herbal notes and fall wine drinking ability.

Don't buy into the myth that all great wines need to come from overseas or California. I highly recommend giving these and all Long Island wines a chance. Start with the Lieb Pinot Blanc, offered at Blue Water Grill by the glass, and you'll be kissing your California dreaming goodbye in no time.

Finding the Flaws

Does this scenario sound familiar?

You're out to dinner at your favorite restaurant, entertaining top clients when the sommelier arrives with your wine selection. It has already been a stressful experience choosing from the expansive 600 bottle wine list. To add to your anxiety the sommelier now wants you to taste the wine. "Your wine selection for the evening is Flowers Chardonnay from Sonoma 2003," and after carefully removing the cork, he places it in front of you and pours a one ounce taste of wine into your glass for inspection.

You perform all the necessary motions - swirl, sniff, sip and you nod your head - not really knowing what to say because you aren't sure what this ceremony is supposed to accomplish. The thing you are looking for when tasting wine is the absence of flaws. The most common being "cork." Corked wine is a term used when wine has been bottled with a cork contaminated with TCA (2,4,6-trichloranisole), a chemical that taints the wine. The technical side might be TMI for you. What you should know, however, is that when a wine is corked it often lacks fruit and flavor and ultimately shows itself as wet cardboard. It's the kiss of death to any bottle.

The second major flaw is if the wine has becomed oxidized. This can happen if the cork is not kept wet, or when the bottle has been left open for an extended period of time. Oxidized wine lacks freshness and acidity and sometimes reminds me of an apple that has been sitting cut on the counter for too long.

The last major fault in wine to be aware of is maderized wine. This happens when wine is exposed to very hot temperatures, which usually turns the wine unnaturally dark and gives the taste a "cooked" flavor.

If these flaws seem difficult to be able to detect, don't worry. All of our restaurants have sommeliers or beverage managers who are more than happy to taste the wine with you.