Category Archives: Grapes and Grains

Estonian Vodka, now a Protected Geographical Indication

  By admin | October 30, 2017 - 9:28 am | ,
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Map of the Baltic States

Map of the Baltic States

Earlier this month, the Baltic country of Estonia was approved for its first protected geographical indication (PGI), as awarded by the European Union. The product of choice is Estonian vodka. Vodka has a documented history of production in the area of Estonia that dates back to the 1400s.

According to regulations, PGI-indicated Estonian Vodka must be produced entirely in Estonia using raw materials grown in Estonia and Estonian water. Estonia now joins Poland, Lithuania, Finland, and Sweden as EU countries that have PGI status for their vodka.  An application for Norwegian vodka is pending.

The Estonian city of Tallinn

The Estonian city of Tallinn

A trip to Estonia might be in order, if only to taste the vodka and experience what the Lonely Planet website considers one of the “best value” destinations for 2018. While you are there, you can visit the old town center of Tallinn—one of Europe’s most complete walled cities, the Kumu Gallery—a 7-storey limestone, glass, and copper art museum, and the Great Guild Hall—built in 410 and housing historical exhibits documenting the history of the Baltics through art, music, literature, language, stamps, and coins.

References/for more information:

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, your blog administrator

 

New York State of Whiskey: Empire Rye

  By admin | October 26, 2017 - 9:09 am | ,
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Empire Rye logo via: www.empirerye.com

Empire Rye logo via: www.empirerye.com

It all started at a craft spirits conference in late 2015, during that hour when all of the best work gets done at a conference: the late-night, after-hours drinking session.

It seems that at a particular table, a group of New York State craft distillers had gathered and the conversation turned towards the state’s nascent craft whiskey industry. According to Tom Potter, founder of New York Distilling Company, a group of them “shook hands, and decided to do something” to differentiate and protect those distillers using local products and high-quality craft production methods.

Not long after, the Empire Rye Whiskey Association was born. According to their website, the association intends to be “an homage to New York State’s pre-Prohibition rye whiskey-making heritage and a testament to the ingenuity and industriousness of its contemporary distillers.”

The standards for a whiskey to be labeled as an “Empire Rye” include the following:

  • The mash bill must include a minimum of 75% New York State-grown rye grain (which may be any combination of raw or malted)
  • It must be distilled to no higher than 160 proof
  • It must be aged for a minimum of two years in charred, new oak barrels—and placed into the barrel at no more than 115 proof
  • It must be produced entirely at a single New York State distillery—including mashing, fermentation, distillation, and barrel maturation—and made (excepting maturation time) in a single distilling season (January 1 through June 30 for the spring season, or July 1 through December 31 for the fall season)
  • Products so produced may display the “Empire Rye” logo on the bottle.
  • A product made from the Empire Rye whiskeys of more than one NY distiller may be created and labeled as “Blended Empire Rye”
Photo Credit: Empire Rye/Facebook

Photo Credit: Empire Rye/Facebook

Empire Rye is not a protected geographical indication, nor is it defined by state or federal law—for now, it remains a trademark and certification mark used by members of the Empire Rye Whiskey Association. But who knows what the future may bring? This is some tasty whiskey.

Examples of Empire Rye are widely available up and down the east coast of the USA. I was also able to locate three examples on retail shelves in central Texas (each bottle I found was priced in the $40 to $50 range). For those in other locations, online retailers or a trip to New York might be your best bet.

Members (and whiskeys) of the Empire Rye Whiskey Association (as of October 2017) include:

References/for more information:

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, your blog administrator

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Pizza Napoletana TSG (Traditional Status Guaranteed)

  By admin | March 13, 2017 - 7:36 am |
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Photo by Valerio Capello via Wikimedia Commons

Photo by Valerio Capello via Wikimedia Commons

You know you love pizza…and as a wine aficionado, you most likely have a special regard for the most authentic of all pizzas, the Pizza Napoletana (sometimes referred to the Pizza Margherita). I have been known to drive for several hours just to try an authentic-style, wood-fired, burnt-around-the-edges-but-soft-in-the-middle Neapolitan-style pizza.

As it turns out, the powers that be at the European Union also agree that there is something special about Pizza Napoletana, and as of 2010, approved an application from the Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani to grant Pizza Napoletana the protected product status of “Traditional Status Guaranteed” (TSG).

Unlike the well-known PDO or PGI protections, TSG protection does not necessarily link a product to a specific geographical area, but rather acknowledges that the item is of a clearly defined “specific character” and that its raw materials and/or production method is traditional. In this case, “traditional” is defined as having been used for at least 30 years, and in a way that allows for transmission between generations.

TSG designation means that the registered product name may only be used by those producers who follow the published standards for the product—in this case, the specifications will confirm that the pizza is indeed prodotta secondo la tradizione Napoletana (produced in the Neapolitan tradition).

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The specifications for Pizza Napoletana fill a nine-page document; however, the main requirements include the following:

  • The pizza is round, with a raised rim, and a diameter not exceeding 35 cm (13.74 inches)
  • It is made according to a specific dough recipe (for both ingredients and procedures)
  • It is garnished with—and only with—Mozzarella di Bufala Campana AOC or Mozzarella STG.* fresh basil, crushed and peeled San Marino tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, and salt—the layering of which is defined up to and including the “spiraling motion” used to spread the tomatoes and sprinkle the salt
  • It is baked in a wood-fired pizza oven
  • The overall pizza must be tender, elastic and easily foldable into four

This sentence, taken directly from the regulations, kind of says it all: “When the baking process is complete the pizza emits a characteristic aroma which is deliciously fragrant; the tomatoes, which have lost only their excess water, remain compact and solid; the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana AOC or the Mozzarella STG appear melted on the surface of the pizza and the basil, together with the garlic and the oregano, emits an intense aroma without appearing to be burnt.”

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I, for one, love the fact that the EU regulations remind us that “the Pizza Napoletana should preferably be consumed immediately, as soon as it comes out of the oven, in the same location as it was produced.”

Other TSG-certified products include Spain’s Jamón Serrano, Portugal’s Bacalhau, and the United Kingdom’s Bramley Apple Pie filling.

If you would like to learn more about traditional Pizza Napoletana as well as some of the fascinating wines, foods, and spirits of Naples and the surrounding area, join us for our upcoming “Taste-along SWEbinar” on the Wine and Food of Naples!

References/for more information:

*STG is a grand-fathered version of the “TSG” designation.

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CSE, CWE – your blog administrator

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

  By admin | March 31, 2016 - 1:40 pm | ,
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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.

 

Searching for the Origins of Fermented Beverages

  By admin | February 26, 2016 - 11:41 pm | , , ,
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Today we have a guest post written by David Glancy, MS, CSS, CWE. David dives into the ancient origins of wine and beer, and tells us about an upcoming event at his San Francisco Wine School. Read on!

Photo of Dr. Patrick McGovern by Alison Dunlop

Photo of Dr. Patrick McGovern by Alison Dunlop

Archaeologists have never been so cool. Dr. Pat (Patrick McGovern) is the Scientific Director of the Biomolecular Archaeology Project for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia. He is often referred to as the world’s leading archeologist of fermented beverage, a career path my high school counselor failed to mention. When he’s not in his office at the University of Pennsylvania he is often wandering the Caucasus from Russia to the Middle East, or exploring a tomb in Egypt or a new dig in some remote mountain in China. And between all of these places he has found the oldest scientifically verified fermented beverage and wine (for now). Who knows what else he might find as he keeps digging.

That beer is old! In 2004 Dr. Pat and his colleagues documented the oldest fermented beverage. They carbon dated and DNA tested scrapings from pottery shards. It turns out that China’s thirst for beer is not new (#1 beer consuming nation). This beer dated back to 7,000 BC and was found at a Neolithic Chinese site called Jiahu. It is in southwestern Henan Province, China, on the east slopes of Fuliu Mountain. It was a grog made from rice, grapes and/or hawthorn fruit, and honey. Sam Calagione, brewer/owner of Dogfish Head Brewery in Delaware has made an interpretation of this ancient brew with Dr. Pat as a consultant.

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The birthplace of wine made from grapes seems to be from the Caucasus. The Greater Caucasus stretch from Russia through the Georgian Republic to Armenia and Azerbaijan with stops in between. The Lesser Caucasus include Turkey and Iran, but ancient winemaking seemingly wandered from there to the Mediterranean with noted production in modern day Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

Dr. Pat and his colleagues found the oldest wine, too. Once again, they were digging, scraping and lab testing. The wine residue they found dated back to 5,400 BC and was found at another Neolithic site (Hajji Firuz) in the northwestern Zagros Mountains of Iran. Six jars of the same shape, each with a volume of about 9 liters, were found lined up and set into the floor of a “kitchen” in a square mudbrick house.

Here is an overview of several of the wine producing countries of the Caucasus and Middle East.

  • An Armenian Wine Renaissance is under way. There are over 100 grape varieties being grown today in Ararat, Armavir and other regions of Armenia but much attention is being paid to an ancient variety, Areni Noir. Grape growing and winemaking were minimal after Armenia’s independence from the former Soviet Union, but today small producers are breathing new life into the industry from Armenian nationals to flying winemakers like Paul Hobbs.
  • Georgia has over 500 grape varieties being grown today and the industry is growing. By far the most widely planted variety is Rkatsiteli, a white grape. There are also several variations of a white grape called Mtsvane. The leading red grape is Saperavi. Wine is made in Kakheti and many other regions of Georgia.
  • Lebanon has continued to make wine despite many years of warfare. Winemaking has been practiced in the Bekaa Valley for over 6,000 years. There are roughly 40 wineries and Chateau Musar is one of the most famous. Many international grape varieties are grown here along with the local Obaideh and Merwah.
The Golan Heights Winery; Katzrin, Israel

The Golan Heights Winery; Katzrin, Israel

  • Israel also has produced wine for thousands of years though most of their 100+ wineries started in the last few decades. The five official wine regions are Galilee-Golan, Shomron, Samson, Judean Hills and  Negev. Production has shifted from white to red wine from many varieties including Bordeaux and Tuscan grapes.
  • Palestine is producing wine against all odds. There is minimal production despite thousands of years of history of growing grapes here. The few vineyards are in the area around Bethlehem and Hebron in Palestinian territories between Israel and Jordan. Baladi, Dabouki, Jandali and Hamdani grapes are the main focus.
  • Turkey largely focuses on indigenous grapes. Sultaniye, Öküzgözü and Bo€azkere grapes are the most widely grown but Shiraz is also widely planted. There are over 1 million acres of vineyards in this large country but a good deal produces fresh and dried fruit, not just wine. There are over 600 unique grape varieties here and the majority of the vineyards are in the region of Thrace, along the Sea of Marmara, near Greece and Bulgaria.

All of these topics and more will be covered in depth at the upcoming Cradle of Wine Civilization Event at the San Francisco Wine School, to be held in South San Francisco on March 13. The day’s events will include 4 seminars, 14 panelists and speakers from around the world, wines from Armenia, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Turkey; a multi-cultural lunch with the winemakers, walk-around grand tasting, and an ancient brews happy hour. Click here for more information!

 

 

 

 

Amrut and the Elixir of Life

  By admin | November 15, 2015 - 1:49 pm | ,
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India is a large consumer and producer of whisky. Many of the best-selling whisky brands in the world are produced and, for the most part, consumed in India. However, the definition and regulations concerning whisky in India are not the same as those used by the United States or the European Union. As such, much of the “whisky” produced in India is at least partially made with molasses-based neutral spirits. The best-selling brands of these whiskies include Officer’s Choice, McDowell’s No. 1, Royal Stag and Imperial Blue.

However, true whisky produced from grains and following standards equal to those employed by the United States and the European Union is produced in India and exported throughout the world. The first producer to make a true grain-based whisky in India was Amrut Distilleries. The company, located in Bangalore, was founded in 1948 by Neelakanta Jagdale.

In 2004, after producing rum and other spirits for several decades, Anmut Distilleries released a single malt whisky, made from 100% barley. Known simply as Amrut, it was ceremoniously first released in Glasgow, Scotland. This was followed by releases throughout much of Europe as well as Australia, North America, South Africa, and Asia.

The name Amrut comes from a Sanskrit word which may be translated as “nectar of the gods” or, as the company translates it, “elixir of life.” The story of the name, from Indian mythology, is as good as it gets: As the gods and the Rakshasas (the demons) churned the oceans using Mount Meru as a giant churner, a golden pot emerged from the waters containing the elixir of life. This elixir was called “Amrut.”  (Western cultures would equate the “elixir of life” as the “fountain of youth” or “infinity formula.”)

Photo via: http://www.amrutdistilleries.com/

Photo via: http://www.amrutdistilleries.com/

Amrut is made from 100% barley. Most of the barley used is grown in India, however, for peated versions, some peated barley is imported from Scotland. The whisky is double-distilled in large pot stills before being diluted to 125 proof and aged in oak barrels for four years or longer. Surinder Kumar, the master blender at Amrut Distilleries, has estimated that because of climate differences, one year of barrel aging in India is equal to three years of aging in Scotland.

Amrut single malt whisky quickly became famous after being reviewed well by several well-known and respected whisky critics and publications. To name just one, Amrut Fusion Single Malt (based on a blend of Indian and Scottish barley), released in 2010, was named “World Whisky of the Year” by Malt Advocate magazine.

Amrut single malt whisky is now released in over 10 styles, including those aged in ex-Sherry barrels, those aged in ex-Bourbon barrels, peated versions, non-peated versions, cask-strength bottlings, and single barrel bottlings. There’s also a version called “Greedy Angels” (referring to the annual 10-12% “angel’s share” evaporation due to the tropical climate of the Bangalore distillery) that sounds amazing.

The distillery currently produces 4 million cases of liquor a year, including approximately 10,000 cases of Amrut single malt. Amrut is available in over 30 countries, including the UK, Canada, Japan, the US, and Australia. And for the adventurous traveler, the distillery tours look great!

References:

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles – SWE’s Director of Education and Certification –  jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

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Flash Détente: Making Red Wine Redder

  By admin | March 20, 2015 - 7:09 pm | , ,
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Brenda flash 2Today we have a guest post from Brenda Audino, CWE. Brenda tells us about her brush with Flash Détente – very interesting!

I recently tasted a modest (read inexpensive) wine that had a bright purple hue and Jolly Rancher fruit aromas.  I enquired whether the wine had undergone Carbonic Maceration as it seemed to fit that profile.  It was explained to me that although the results are similar, this particular wine was produced using Flash Détente technology.  Being ever curious, I wondered what is Flash Détente; when, why and how is it used in the wine production.

To explain Flash Détente, we need to understand that one of the principal goals in producing red wine is the extraction of color and flavor from the skins.  This extraction is usually achieved by a combination of maceration and fermentation. Here is a review of three popular means for extraction including the new (to me) Flash Détente.

Classic maceration is achieved at low temperatures of 24-32°C (75-90°F) requiring extended contact between the juice and grape skins.  The fermentation process, while producing alcohol, also extracts the polyphenols from the skins.  One of the byproducts of fermentation is the release of CO2 which raises the skins to the surface forming a floating cap.  This floating cap is subject to acetic bacteria as well as other contaminates and, if left exposed to the air, can turn the entire batch into vinegar.  A floating cap also does nothing to extract further color and flavors into the juice.  It is therefore necessary to mix the skins back into the juice by one of many processes (punch down, pump over, rack and return, etc.)

Thermo-vinification uses heat to extract color and flavors from the skins.  The crushed grapes are heated to 60-75°C (140-167°F) for 20 to 30 minutes.  The must is then cooled down to fermentation temperature.  This process gives intensely colored must because the heat weakens the cell walls of the grape skins enabling the anthocyanins to be easily extracted.  This process can result in the wine having a rather “cooked” flavor.

Brenda flash 1While I was researching these technologies, I recalled a previous visit to Château de Beaucastel where I learned that make their iconic wine using a modified process of Thermo-vinification.  At Château de Beaucastel, the grapes are de-stemmed and the uncrushed grapes are passed rapidly through a heat exchanger at 90°C (194°F) which only heats the surface of the grapes, not the juice.  The heat is sufficient to weaken the cell wall of the grape skins enabling for easier extraction of anthocyanins, since the juice is kept cool the wine is less likely to have any cooked flavors due to this modified process.

Flash Détente is essentially an evolution of the traditional thermo-vinification method.  The process involves a combination of heating the grapes to about 82°C (180°F) and then sending them into a huge vacuum chamber where they are cooled.  During this cooling process the cells of the grape skins burst from the inside making a distinct popping noise.   Similar to traditional thermo-vinification, this process enables better extraction of anthocyanins and flavor compounds.

The Flash Détente process creates a steam that is diverted to a condenser.  This steam is loaded with aromatic compounds including pyrazines (vegetal, green pepper and asparagus).  Because vapor is removed, the sugar level increases in the remaining must.  The winemaker can choose to work with the higher sugar levels or dilute back down by adding water.  Most winemakers discard the condensation or “Flash Water” as the aromatics are usually highly disagreeable.   The winemaker now has multiple choices.  The flashed grapes can be pressed and fermented similar to white wine, the must can be fermented with the skins in the more traditional red wine production manner, or the flashed grapes can be added to non-flashed must that underwent classic maceration and then co-fermented.

Flash technology differs from traditional thermo-vinification because the traditional method does not involve a vacuum and there is no flash water waste produced.  Winemakers who are familiar with both methods have noted that the tannin extraction with thermo-vinification is less than Flash Détente.  Winemakers also note that Flash technology is better for removing pyrazine aromas.

Brenda flash 3In Europe during the early years of flash technology, it was mainly used for lower quality grapes or difficult vintages that had problems needing fixed.  Now the use of this technology is expanding its application to all quality levels of the wine industry.

According to Linda Bisson, a professor of viticulture and enology at UC Davis and one of the researchers working on the project, enologists are looking at what characteristics are lost or retained per grape variety.  They are also looking at the character and structure of tannins in flashed wines.  Bisson states that turning flashed grapes into a standalone wine is possible, but most winemakers see it as a tool for creating blends.  “It’s something on your spice rack to blend back in.”

The use of Flash Détente can be surmised as “It’s an addition to traditional winemaking, not a replacement.”

What are your thoughts on technology in the wine industry?  Does technology improve the wine or make it more homogenous?  

Photos and post by Brenda Audino, CWE. After a long career as a wine buyer with win Liquors in Austin, Texas, Brenda has recently moved to Napa, California (lucky!) where she runs the Spirited Grape wine consultancy business. Brenda is a long-time member of SWE and has attended many conferences – be sure to say “hi” at this year’s conference in NOLA!

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

Have You Heard About Furmint?

  By admin | March 10, 2015 - 6:25 pm | , ,
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Today we have a guest post from renowned Wine and Spirits Educator Harriet Lembeck. Read on to hear Harriet’s take on Furmint!

If you haven’t already heard about Furmint – Furmint is the grape that makes the famed sweet wine Toakaji.

Aszu (‘dried up’ or ‘dried out’) grapes

Aszu (‘dried up’ or ‘dried out’) grapes

When Samuel Tinon, a sweet-wine maker in Bordeaux, decided to move to the Tokaji region of Hungary, he was ready to make wine from its Aszu (‘dried up’ or ‘dried out’) Furmint grapes — grapes attacked by the desirable botrytis cinerea, or noble rot. These grapes are so concentrated that they have to soak in vats of young wine to dissolve their flavors. But when Tinon moved to Tokaji, botrytis was decreasing in his newly chosen region.

Expecting to make Aszu wines at least three times in a decade, the number of opportunities dropped to a little more than two times in a decade, and sometimes less than that. Due to climate change, a great deal of rain meant either no crop at all (as happened in 2010), or harvesting all of the Furmint grapes earlier — not waiting in the hopes of harvesting Aszu grapes — and therefore making dry white wines from earlier-picked grapes instead.

Asked about an apparent climate change, Tinon says: “We can’t see warming. What we see are erratic vintages with severe or extreme conditions — hot or cold, wet or dry. In the past, Tokaji Aszu was harvested at the end of October and the beginning of November, with botrytis and high sugars. This is still happening, but more often we have to change our production to dry Furmint wines without botrytis with an earlier September harvest, bigger crop, more security, more reliability and with a chance to get your money back.”

Tokaji vineyardWith winters becoming a bit warmer like in 2014, the fruit-fly population is able to ‘over-winter,’ and begin reproducing very early in the season, causing the spread of bad rot. This was told to me by Ronn Wiegand, MW, MS and Publisher of ‘Restaurant Wine,’ who is making wine with his father-in-law in Tokaji.

Ironically, Comte  Alexandre de Lur Saluces, owner of Château de Fargues and former co-owner of the fabled Château d’Yquem, said that although his area is getting warmer and drier, he feels that “global warming could be a help for Sauternes, and enable any of those who chaptalize these wines to avoid the practice.” He continues, “Many people in Sauternes are  producing dry white wines. Their production is increasing, and even Château d’Yquem is producing more dry wine.”

Hungarian winemakers from Tokaji are increasing dry white wine production as well. A new website, www.FurmintUSA.com, was created by 12 member wineries that presented a Furmint tasting in Sonoma, CA in November 2014. The Blue Danube Wine Company, which imports many wines from all over Hungary, has six producers from Tokaji that are producing dry Furmint wines (many from single vineyards). Martin Scott Wines imports Royal Tokaji’s dry Furmint wine, coming from the company co-founded by Hugh Johnson and Ben Howkins, in London. These wines are all delicious, showcasing the minerality of volcanic soil.

Considering that in 2014, Hungary abolished the categories of Tokaji Aszu 3 and 4 Puttonyos (baskets of Aszu grapes), leaving only the sweeter 5 and 6 Puttonyos examples, the door has been opened for Dry Szamorodni. This rich, dry white (amber colored) wine produced from Furmint grapes has a portion of grapes which have some botrytis co-fermented to dryness, and also uses some flor yeast, giving the wine some fino or amontillado Sherry-like flavors.

This wine is very laborious and time consuming to produce. The 2007 Tinon Dry Szamorodni is the current vintage in the market, released after a minimum of 5 years of aging. This is a unique wine, a keeper, and is important to the history of Tokaji, linking the modern dry wines to the traditional Aszu wines.

If you haven’t tried it – you should!

HarrietHARRIET LEMBECK, CWE, CSS, is a prominent wine and spirits educator. She is president of the renowned Wine & Spirits Program, and revised and updated the textbook Grossman’s Guide to Wines, Beers and Spirits. She was the Director of the Wine Department for The New School University for 18 years. She may be contacted at hlembeck@mindspring.com.

This article was originally published in the article was originally published in
Beverage Dynamics Magazine – reprinted with permission!

The EU Vodka War

  By admin | March 4, 2015 - 1:40 am | , ,
3 Comments

Vodka and red caviarPlease don’t throw sour grapes at me for saying this: it is merely a quote. But here goes, “Would the French like Champagne to be distilled from plums, and would the British accept whisky from apricots?”

The answer is “obviously not” – but the question was asked in earnest by Richard Henry Czarnecki, a member of the European Parliament representing Poland. The time was 2007, and the occasion was the end of a heated debate in what is now known as “The Vodka War.”

Vodka has, for centuries, been produced and consumed by the countries of the “vodka belt” – Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia; the Baltic States of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania; and the Nordic states of Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland – many of whom are now members of the EU. These vodkas are traditionally made from grains or potatoes, with the majority made from a mix of grains; and some of the finest examples are made from potatoes – particularly Poland’s unique, high-starch Stobrawa  variety.

Then along came Cîroc – a unique French beverage distilled from grapes, produced in a neutral style, and branded as vodka. In response, the European Union proposed to revise their regulations on distilled spirits, and split the vodka product group into several categories based on raw materials and in some cases, flavor.

European ParliamentThis did not go over well with some members, and on February 20, 2006, Poland – with the backing of the EU vodka belt countries and Germany – demanded that the EU definition of “vodka” be restricted to those spirits produced from grains, potatoes, or sugar beets.  Vodka, they claimed, was entitled to the same protections as to base ingredients and manufacturing processes as those awarded whiskies and brandies, and as such, should be granted the same assurances as to the quality and originality of the product.

Alas, this was not met without resistance, and the other EU producers of vodka, such as France and the UK, not to mention the non-traditional vodka producers of the rest of the world, countered with an argument that said that such restrictions would dissuade innovation and competition, and could be seen as an attempt to monopolize the vodka market by the Vodka Belt countries. The United States even threatened a trade war via the World Trade Organization.

Horst Schnelhardt, MEP from Germany, suggested a compromise: the EU definition of vodka could be written so as to include those products distilled from (1) cereals and/or potatoes, and/or those produced from (2) “other agricultural raw materials.” Those vodkas produced from “other agricultural raw materials” – such as grapes, carrots, or onions – must be labeled with a statement “produced from grapes” (or whatever the raw material may be). This proposal, referred to as the “The Schnelhardt Compromise,” passed, and is the law of the European Union today.

The Vodka Belt

The Vodka Belt

Poland, however, is not appeased and has responded by forming the Polish Vodka Association. The PVA, under the leadership of President Andrzej Szumowski, vows to protect the legacy of Polish Vodka. As of January 13th, 2013, a Polish law was passed defining Polish vodka as a product made exclusively in Poland, from Polish-grown grains or potatoes. Bottles meeting these criteria will be able to display a “Polska Wódka/Polish Vodka” symbol on their labels, as well as the official PGI for Polish Vodka.

References/for more information:

  • https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32008R0110&from=EN
  • https://www.beveragedaily.com/Article/2006/06/28/Vodka-war-splits-EU

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE, CSS – your blog administrator.

 

 

 

 

 

The Goddess and the Roasted Grape

  By admin | December 13, 2014 - 5:29 pm | ,
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ErbaluceThe goddess Albaluce – the love child of the Sun and the Dawn – was not happy. It seemed many of her followers in the enchanted land of Caluso were desserting her in favor of a new religion known as Christianity. As she sat down and shed her tears, a grapevine grew and brought forth sweet grapes with a bright copper hue. Eventually, these grapes became known as Erbaluce in her honor.

Great story, isn’t it?  Or perhaps we should simply refer to it as what it is – a legend, that, while surely fiction, does at least let us know that Erbaluce is an ancient grape. We also know – somewhat for sure – that the grape is native to Piedmont, which has written records of the grape dating back to 1606. These days, it rarely ventures far from home, and is an allowed variety in just a handful of DOC/DOCGs – all of them in Piedmont.

Erbaluce’s unique copper color – sometimes accompanied by pink highlights as the grape ripens – has given rise to the nickname Uva Arrostita, or “roasted grape.”  Modern science, through DNA profiling, has revealed that Erbaluce is closely related to another Piedmont native, Cascarolo Bianco, although who exactly begat whom is not clear.

Erbaluce is cultivated in a variety of provinces in and around Turin, but is most associated with the town of Caluso. Even here, however, it is a rarity – at last count, there were less than 800 acres – and its wines are seldom seen out of the region.

erbaluce 2Erbaluce di Caluso was granted DOC status in 1967, and was promoted to DOCG in 2011. The disciplinare allows for dry white wines, sparkling wines, and sweet wines – all produced with 100% Erbaluce grapes. The dry white wines go by the name Erbaluce di Caluso, while the sparkling wines, appreciated for the fresh fruit character and mineral aromas – are known as Caluso Spumante.

But the real star is Caluso Passito – a sweet, dried grape wine with a minimum of 7% residual sugar, 12.5% alcohol, and 36 months of aging (48 for the Riserva).  Caluso Passito is known for its aromas of apple, vanilla, citrus, honey, and almonds –and while I’ve only had it once  – I’m betting it would make an excellent match with a simple dessert of gorgonzola, dried fruit, and hazelnuts.

Note: Erbaluce is an allowed (majority) grape variety in the following wines, all produced in Piedmont:  Canavese DOC, Colline Novaresi DOC, Coste della Sesia DOC, Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG, Piedmont DOC

The website of Azienda Vitivinicola Giacometto Bruno has a lovely description of their Caluso Passito.