Guest Post: Field to Glass – The Re-emergence of the American Farm Distillery

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Field to Glass… The Re-emergence of the American Farm Distillery – by Elizabeth Miller, CSW, CSS

Estate-bottled.  Terroir.  In the wine world these have long been terms that evoke respect for certain bottles and fetch higher prices.  It’s significantly less typical to see an estate bottled spirit, where all the variables of production occur in the same location… until recently!  Thanks to the reemergence of the farm distillery, gazing out from the distillery tasting room on a field of grains is now a more common experience for the spirits lover.

The movement goes by many names: grain to bottle, farm to glass, field to bottle.  Whichever the term, distilleries are now embracing farming and producing real land-based products.

Every bottle starts at the beginning: the base ingredient.  If you are a distiller in the United States or a famous whiskey producing country like Scotland and Ireland, you likely do not grow your own base ingredients or even source it close to your distillery.  You say to your broker, “I need this grain, or that botanical.”  The farm distillery eliminates that degree of separation.

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However, at Coppersea Distillery in Ulster County, New York, fallow and weed-choked pastures have been reclaimed for grains that produce their corn, bourbon, rye and barley whiskey. We really shouldn’t be surprised!  The farm distillery is the natural outgrowth of the craft distilling renaissance.  It’s becoming difficult to choose from the explosion of spirits choices at your favorite bar or retailer.  Favorable state legislation plus a powerful locavore movement has produced a boom in distilling licenses throughout the country.  Of those new craft distilleries, the American Distilling Institute found over 10% now are farm distilleries that either grow their own base ingredients or source them from local farms.

While the farm distillery seems new, it’s really a return to the beginning.  Long before the first American commercial whiskey distillery was founded in 1783 in Louisville, Kentucky, farmers were finding extra profits in their grains.  European colonists had arrived to America with the practice of whiskey making, and distilling bumper crops was both profitable and efficient.  The spirits could be stored almost indefinitely and it was easier to store and transport compared to enormous bales of grain.

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Breadbasket regions became home to hundreds and hundreds of distilleries.  In New York, where more than 1 million bushels of barley were being harvested in the 19th century, over 1000 farm distilleries flourished. Prohibition, however, ended this era, and the breadbasket regions of American ran dry… until today.  The Staley Mill Farm & Distillery in New Carlisle, Ohio—family owned since 1818—ran their handmade copper still long before Prohibition.  In the next few years, their 160-acre farm will yield organic corn and rye to fully supply their resurrected distillery.

The farm distillery is not the easy street.  There are substantial time and financial investments in purchasing seeds, field conditioning and procuring equipment.  Carefully planned harvesting, drying practices, finely calibrated humidity control, storage and transportation are all crucial to the final product and the bottom line – but the risks are worth it!

A farmer distiller has complete creative control, and can introduce something previously attributed only to wine: terroir.  Dave Pickerell, formerly Master Distiller at Maker’s Mark and Whistle Pig, is currently with Hillrock Estate Distillery in the Hudson Valley Highlands where 100 estate-owned grain fields surround the craft distillery.  In the Whiskey Advocate in 2010, Pickerell wrote of the uniform expression of whiskey by most of the major distillers, who all buy commodity grain.  His vision of the future includes “new expressions of whiskey… representing a new sort of terroir, where true geographical differences in the U.S. can not only be expressed but also clearly differentiated.”

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Spirits lovers can expect a continued deeper connection to the land in their bottles, from one corner of the United States to another.  In Colorado’s North Fork Valley, the Jack Rabbit Hill and Peak Spirits farm and distillery is practicing biodynamic farming.  The Barber family celebrates six generations on their 158 year-old farm in Schoharie Valley, New York.  Their distillery turns out their 1857 Vodka from not only their own potatoes but also the property’s spring water.  Estate owned malt houses and the propagation of heirloom grains are just a few perks we should expect from the growing farm distillery movement.

The next time we open a bottle, we can expect so much more, thanks to the reemergence of farm distilleries.  We can expect the taste of history, the taste of America and true taste of fields of grain.

Elizabeth Miller is the General Manager of Vintology Wine & Spirits and the Associate Director the Westchester Wine School in Westchester County, NY.  She has very happily traveled extensively throughout New York State visiting farm and urban distilleries.  Her blog ‘Girl Meets Vine’ is found at http://www.elizabethmillerwine.com/girlmeetsvine.

 

The Numbers, in Perspective – All about that Yield

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While math might not have been your favorite subject in school, you most likely find the need to use math at least sometimes, even in the study of wine! 

Last week, Mark Rashap, CWE gave us some excellent explanations of some wine-related mathematical conversions as they pertain to area, volume, and weight. In this second installment of “The Numbers, in Perspective,” Mark will tell explain the mathematical calculation behind yields. Hold on, this won’t hurt a bit….

All about that yield: how much wine can that vineyard produce? Sometimes, it is all about yield. As every good wine student knows, yield is where we start getting into a factor of quality.  There is some evidence that the lower the yield, the higher the quality, within a certain range—and that’s a great debate for another time and place. As for the math, pure and simple, in the United States, we most often refer to vineyard yield in terms of tons per acre. In Europe, it is most often expressed as hectoliters per hectare.  As tons=weight and hectoliters=volume, it is not possible to come up with an exact conversion. However, we can find an equivalency to give us a way of comparing the two systems.

Consider this: Cornell teaches that 1 ton of grapes will yield 150 gallons of wine, or 5.67 hl.  If we consider that is per acre and convert to hectares, we have our factor: 1 ton/acre = 14 hl/ha

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Using this factor, we can have some fun comparing yields per region.  I always think of 4 tons/acre as entry into the quality realm of wine. According to Robert Craig, this is the approximate yield of the valley floor AVAs of Napa. Using our conversion factor, we can calculate that 4 tons/acre = 56 hl/ha. Considering that 55 hl/ha  is the maximum  yield for Bordeaux AOC, and the maximum for Bordeaux Superior AOC is 50 hl/ha, we can see that the two areas have very similar yields.

In the mountainous vineyards of Napa, yield is closer to 2.5 tons/ acre, an equivalent of 35 hl/ha.  On the extremes, I’ve seen yields as high as 10 tons/acre (140 hl/ha) in the Central Valleys of California and Chile, and yields as low as 5 hl/ha in the Priorat which equates to 1/3 of a ton per acre!

Here are a few more permitted yields, just for fun:

  • Bourgogne AOC (white): 68 hl/ha
  • Bourgogne AOC (red): 60 hl/ha
  • Corton-Charlemagne (Burgundy Grand Cru) AOC (white): 58 hl/ha
  • Montrachet (Burgundy Grand Cru) AOC (white): 48 hl/ha
  • Corton (Burgundy Grand Cru) AOC (white): 48 hl/ha
  • La Romanée (Burgundy Grand Cru) AOC (red): 38 hl/ha
  • Corton (Burgundy Grand Cru) AOC (red): 35 hl/ha
  • Alsace AOC (white): 80 hl/ha
  • Alsace AOC (red): 60 hl/ha
  • Sommerberg (Alsace Grand Cru) AOC (white): 55 hl/ha
  • Beaujolais AOC (red) 60 hl/ha
  • Morgon (Beaujolais Cru) AOC (red) 56 hl/ha

Sometimes, it truly is…all about that yield!

MarkPost authored by Mark Rashap, CWE. Mark has, over the past ten years, been in the wine world in a number of capacities including studying wine management in Buenos Aires, being an assistant winemaker at Nota Bene Cellars in Washington State, founding his own wine brokerage, and working for Texas-based retail giant Spec’s as an educator for the staff and public.

In August of 2015, Mark joined the team of the Society of Wine Educators as Marketing Coordinator to foster wine education across the country.

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Arizona Wines are gaining recognition—Imbibe and take notice!

Today we have a guest post from Darla Hoffmann, CSW. Darla tells us about a pointed conversation she had with two gentlemen in a wine shop. Well, a conversation she might have had…

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While browsing the aisles of a local wine shop, I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation between two overly confident men.  I heard one of them say “Arizona must be proud of their wines because they are awfully expensive.  Do they even think they compare to California?”

Being a lover of Arizona wine, I had to be sure they had the facts. So, I said “Excuse me gentlemen, allow me to enlighten you on the wines of this beautiful State…

First, you should understand that from Prohibition until the 1980s it was illegal to make wine in Arizona.   The young industry has sparked so much interest that supply fell somewhat below our demand.  After all, youth can be exciting and innovative, but it still has its struggles.

Second, Arizona needs more fruit!  Status-driven wine, winemakers’ experience, and newer equipment all take time to build, and the funding isn’t as prevalent as it is in many other regions.   However, the growing recognition, along with the incredible agricultural base and culture, is driving an enormous amount of support and investment in Arizona vineyards.  Maynard Keenan, vocalist for a Grammy Award-winning progressive metal band, has invested heavily in providing Arizona with the tools it needs to become a serious wine producing region. The University of Arizona and Yavapai College have teamed up and are quickly spearheading a strategic plan for our emerging wine industry. Wine is even playing an intricate role in Arizona’s tourism and economic development too!

Maynard James Keenan - Don't mess with Arizona Winemakers. photo by deep_schismic

Maynard James Keenan – Don’t mess with Arizona Winemakers. photo by deep_schismic

There are three main wine growing regions, all lying in the majestic hills of the northern and southern parts of Arizona at elevations of 3,800-6,000 feet.  Sonoita-Elgin is the oldest producing area and the only official AVA. These vineyards produce white, blush, and some of the spiciest, full-bodied robust reds in all of Arizona!  The high desert mountain plateau enjoys a climate and growing season similar to Rioja, Spain.  Furthermore, expert vintners have compared the soil to that of Burgundy, France.

The Willcox region produces reds, whites, sweet wines and dessert wines. Syrah and Sangiovese are popular varietals cultivated in the soil rich with ash from ancient volcanoes. The soils and the climate resemble the viticultural areas of both the Rhone Valley in France and Mendoza, Argentina.

Finally, the Verde Valley, north of Phoenix, is bursting with vineyard growth, fine restaurants, tasting rooms, and hotels.  The volcanic past of the Verde Valley and the drainage of the Verde River has created a mineralized, slightly alkaline soil just challenging enough to produce distinctive flavors in grapes.  Italian varietals like Malvasia, and Nebbiolo are just some of the grapes that experience excellence here.  Long warm summers, cool nights and an old world style of winemaking make some of the finest rich full bodied wines.   Similar to the South of France, Spain and Italy, the growing season temperatures can reach 100 degrees during the day but drop substantially at night.

With 942 acres under vine, growers use altitude to exploit the benefits of these sizeable diurnal temperature changes.  It’s equally interesting to know that Arizona shares a similar latitude and range of microclimate, as that of Israel and Syria, which are growing tremendously as some of the most exciting wine producing countries in the world!

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Arizona now enjoys 83 bonded wineries some of which are gaining national recognition.  Some recent accomplishments include 2 wines earning 90 points by Wine Spectator: 2010 Page Springs Cellar’s Colibri Syrah Clone 174, and 2010 “The Burning Tree” Syrah from Colibri Vineyards. Both of these wineries are located in Southern Arizona.

Arizona Stronghold was also awarded the Class Champion Double Gold at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™ 2013 Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition for its 2010 Mangus, a Sangiovese blend.

So yes, Arizona is quite proud of their wines!  However, like I said the industry does need more support.  My hubbie and I adopted our own little Grenache vine at the Southwest Wine Teaching School to show our support.  Go to southwestwinecenter.org to check it out.   Lastly, since Arizona wines are quite young, we are not for certain how the wines will mature.  This is a project for us all!   I recently purchased 2 bottles each of Rancho Rossa Grenache 2008, Dos Cabezas El Norte 2011, Fire Mountain Erath 2011 and Pillsbury Diva 2013. My plan is to drink one bottle of each this year, and wait 5 years to drink the second bottle.  Well, I’ll probably drink the 2008 in 2 years! Having shared that, I urge you to taste Arizona wines now, lay some down for later and explore all of the possible changes the future might bring to these wines!”

Darla Hoffman, CSW

Darla Hoffmann, CSW

Whew. Ok, so I never really said any of this to the gentlemen in the wine shop.  But thank you for letting me get it off of my chest!

Darla S. Hoffmann, CSW is the Sole Proprietor of About Wine in Phoenix, AZ.  The focus of her business is wine education and marketing, i.e. tastings, classes and promotions. Darla is a Certified Specialist of Wine, Hospitality Beverage Specialist, and Professional Member of the Society of Wine Educators. She is a member of The Wine Century Club where membership requires having tasted 100 grapes. She is Basic Title 4 Certified under the Liquor Law Training of ABC.

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Little Leaps and Tiny Bounds: Expansion of the Willamette Valley AVA

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Oregon’s Willamette Valley AVA, first established in 1983, just got a little bit bigger. Actually, it just got a teeny-tiny bit bigger, having been expanded by 29 square miles—from approximately 5,360 square miles to approximately 5,389 square miles (even the TTB calls this an approximation). This represents an increase of 0.5%. The TTB approved the rule expanding the AVA on March 3, 2016, and it will become official on April 4th.

The expansion area is located at is southern end of the established AVA. The newly designated areas fill in some of the viticultural “no-man’s-land” located between the southern end of the Willamette Valley AVA and the north/northeast boundary of the Umpqua Valley AVA.

While 29 square miles out of a total 5,389 might not sound very significant, it is highly significant to two wineries that own vineyards in newest section of the AVA. These two wineries, King Estate and Iris Vineyards, can now bottle a good deal of their wine under the Willamette Valley AVA—an obvious benefit to the reputation (and likely price point) of the wine.

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Interestingly enough, the application for the expansion of the AVA detailed the features of the expansion zone that are similar to the original AVA (whereas most AVA applications only try to differentiate themselves from the surrounding areas). Here is what the author of the petition, Steve Thomson (Executive Vice President of King Estate Winery) had to say about the area:

Topography:  The expansion area is, like the established AVA, composed of rolling hills between the Coast Range Mountains (to the west) and the Cascade Mountains (to the east) at elevations ranging from 500 feet to 1,200 feet. By contrast, the region outside the expanded AVA is much more rugged, mountainous, and at higher elevations.

Watershed: The expansion area is located within the watershed of the Willamette and Siuslaw Rivers, as is the established AVA. The region to the south of the expansion area is located in the watershed of the Umpqua River (as is the Umpqua Valley AVA).

Soils: The soils in the expansion area are mainly comprised of the same types of soils found in the established Willamette Valley AVA, including Willakenzie, Dupee, Jory, Bellpine, and Peavine. The area outside of the new boundaries of the AVA is mainly comprised of different soil types (although it does contain some Peavine soils).

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Climate: The climate of the expansion area in terms of annual mean temperature, precipitation, and degree days—while slightly cooler than the average of the established Willamette Valley AVA—is much closer to the overall climate of the Willamette Valley AVA than it is to the climate data of the Umpqua Valley AVA or its surrounding  areas.

This is a minor adjustment to the boundaries of an existing AVA—even the TTB, in its calculated legalese admits that it is “not a significant regulatory action” and “will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.” However, we are guessing that Iris Vineyards and King Estate will be doing some serious celebrating, and it is always good to have a reason for cheer.

So…we’d like to say “Welcome to the brotherhood of AVAs” to the new 29 square-mile region of the Willamette Valley AVA!

Click here to access the original documents concerning the Expansion of the Willamette Valley AVA Ruling  via the Federal Register of March 3, 2016

post authored by Jane A. Nickles…your blog administrator

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The Numbers, in Perspective

Today we have a guest post by Mark Rashap, CWE. Read on as Mark gives us some advice about the numbers…

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One of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of being a wine professional is that we must master a multitude of academic fields.  Often, in addition to “wine expert,” educator, and salesperson, we play the role of chemist, biologist, linguist, geologist, and historian. Other roles that we have to assume on a fairly regular basis include mathematician and statistician—and this does not sit well with many people!

In light of this situation, I thought it would be fun and handy to compile some of the more useful conversions that every wine professional should know and understand.  What follows includes some strict mathematical conversions, some industry averages, and some hints for their interpretation.

How big is that vineyard? One of the first steps in understanding a wine producer, estate or region is to understand just how big the vineyards are, and how they compare with others. In order to do this, it is imperative to know the following: 1 Hectare = 2.5 acre (it’s actually 2.47, but we can’t do that in our head).  To convert hectares to acres, the quick math is to double the number, then add half of the original number.  Paulliac, at an average of 1,200 Ha equates to about 3,000 acres.

  • Try it yourself: If there are 800 ha in Pomerol, and 2,000 acres in Walla Walla, which is bigger?  (The answer: they are about the same!)
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How much wine is in that container? Thankfully, most people are used to measuring wine in liters…particularly 750 ml. However, sometimes we need to deal with larger numbers, especially in terms of barrels, shipments, or tax reports! Wine professionals should keep in mind that that 1 gallon = 3.785 L, and the traditional European wine barrel (barrique) is 60 Gal or about 225 L. This equates to 300 bottles of the standard 750 ml size.

How much do those grapes weigh? In the US, we still use pounds to measure the weight of grapes coming from the vineyard.  Much of the rest of the world uses kilograms, so we should know that 1 Kilogram = 2.2 pounds (and 1 pound = 0.45 kg). If we are talking about a truckload, it will be useful to know that there are 2,000 pounds to the ton. A metric ton is 1,000 kilograms, which equals 2,200 pounds—otherwise known as a metric ton or tonne.

I am sure that is enough calculation for now. However, keep an eye on the blog – we’ll follow up with a look at calculating yield, temperature, and rainfall—in perspective.

MarkPost authored by Mark Rashap, CWE. Mark has, over the past ten years, been in the wine world in a number of capacities including studying wine management in Buenos Aires, being an assistant winemaker at Nota Bene Cellars in Washington State, founding his own wine brokerage, and working for Texas-based retail giant Spec’s as an educator for the staff and public.

In August of 2015, Mark joined the team of the Society of Wine Educators as Marketing Coordinator to foster wine education across the country.

Are you interested in being a guest blogger or a guest SWEbinar presenter for SWE?  Click here for more information!