In my previous post I touched briefly about disappointing experiences drinking wines from Santa Barbara County which are crafted from grapes grown in biodynamic vineyards. My research over the last year and a half for this little project has involved extensive tasting across the Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Ynez Valley, and the Santa Maria Valley AVA's. Within those AVA's there are three vineyards that have been certified biodynamic. These three are Presidio, Purisma Mountain (Beckmen), and Ampelos respectively. I have had the opportunity to taste the majority of their offerings and as stated in my previous post have been dissapointed. There is so much potential, but it is hidden under all the alcohol. If biodynamic farming is the true path to discovering terrior as Nicolas Joly and most of his followers believe than they must somehow address the sugar levels at harvest among these wines.
I know that sugar levels and ripeness do not mean the same thing, but I am not talking about ripeness at this point in time. I will address that another day. Right now I am talking about sugar levels exclusively as they relate to alcohol levels in wine. I believe the decision when to pick the grapes is the most crucial decision made in the course of the wines life. After the grapes are picked and crushed the yeasts and bacteria that are present on the skins and in the air begin to do the beautiful work they were created to do; convert the natural sugar already present in the grapes into alcohol. This is the essence of wine. The decision to pick is based on many things. Taste in the vineyard is what most vintner's who are trying to craft fine wine generally make their decision based on, but I believe other indicators such as brix levels, which indicate sugar levels and allude to what the finished alcohol level of the wine will be, are just as, if not more important. Acid levels should also be evaluated to find the perfect balance between potential alcohol and acid which will help the wine age more gracefully and also give it structure.
As the sugar levels increase in the grape on the vine the acid decreases and the flavor profile of the potential wine begins to change. When I highlighted Channin Wine Company I made a comment that I believe I can ascertain the quality of a wine without tasting it based on several factors. Having a previous knowledge of the vineyard it came from, the brix levels at harvest along with how the wine was handled in the winery give a picture of what the finished wine will taste like. Each vintage will be a little different, but just as children of the same parent carry inherent traits so do grapes. (As they say the apple does not fall far from the tree). If you pick red wine at 24 brix and lower you will get bright red fruit flavors along with more earth and herbal driven complexities. Wait to harvest past 24 brix and you begin to enter into the dark fruit spectrum and soon enter the jammy fruit zone which has been shown to stand out in blind tastings. The mouthfeel and color also increase as does the glycerin affect of the wine. This may be appealing on the first sip, but if you spend time with the bottle it turns into a gooey kirsh liquor that I can not palate.
In my personal experience of tasting wines over the years I have discovered that something happens when a wine is high in alcohol and the three wineries I mentioned above are perfect examples. Nuances are lost and the wine is dominated by heat, overripe fruit flavors, and a lack of acidity to hold the wine together. I can rarely drink more than a glass of wine that is over 14.5% alcohol and it is not because of the alcohol levels. The wine is spoofulated and can not be enjoyed. Mr. Parker and Wine Speculator may enjoy jammy, overly hot, monstrosities, but I do not. As Kermit Lynch wrote to me in an email..."don't settle for anything you would not drink down to the last drop yourself."
The wine is much better if thew alcohol content of it is little.
-mj-
Posted by: teen addiction treatment | June 25, 2009 at 01:34 AM