Tag Archives: Society of Wine Educators

Coda di Volpe – The Tail of the Fox

  By admin | December 14, 2013 - 2:35 am | ,
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Red FoxCoda di Volpe is a relatively obscure golden-yellow grape variety, used since ancient times to produce medium to full-bodied wines in and around Campania in southern Italy.

The name “Coda di Volpe” can be translated to “tail of the fox.” The name is believed by some people to refer to the long, pendulous shape of the bunches, which if you squint really hard and turn your head to the side, resemble a fox’s bushy tail.

Coda di Volpe is thought to be the grape variety used in the famous Falernian wine produced in Ancient Rome. Falernian, considered the finest wine of its kind at the time, cost as much as four times as much as ordinary wine and was beloved by the poets and Caesars alike.  It was most likely produced from late harvest grapes, as it was very high in alcohol – perhaps as high as 15%.  Pliny the Elder alluded to this when he described it as “the only wine that takes light when a flame is applied to it.”

In more modern times, Coda di Volpe is widely used in the white wine blends of Southern Italy, including Solopaca DOC and Vesuvio DOC.   The Vesuvio DOC is famous for its “Lacryma  Christi” wines, the white version of which may be produced from a blend that includes Coda di Volpe (a minimum of 35%), Verdecca, Falanghina, and Greco di Tufo. However, the wine is often produced from 100% Coda di Volpe.

The name of this wine, translated as “Tears of Christ,” is drawn from a legend of biblical history.  According to the legend, God cried over Lucifer’s fall from Heaven, and grapes grew where his tears fell, and the grapes came to be used to make Lacryma Christi.

Wine produced from Coda di Volpe are often described as medium to medium-full bodied, fruity (citrus, peach, pineapple) and spicy (nutmeg, cinnamon) on the nose, and with flavors of grapefruit, lemon, and almond.  The grape tends to be low in acidity, which is one reason why it does so well in the volcanic soil surrounding Mount Vesuvius, which can help impart higher levels of acid.

White Grapes Coda di VolpeBeginning in the 1980’s, wineries in Campania began making single-varietal wines from Coda di Volpa, and it has grown both more widely known and popular since that time.  100% Coda di Volpa wines are now used in the DOC wines of Irpinia and Sannio and Taburno, among others.

According to Jancis Robinson, et al, in the new tome Wine Grapes, the name of the grape is actually “Coda di Volpe Bianco;” the term “bianco” used in order to differentiate it from “Coda di Volpe Nera,” a red grape also known as Pallagrello Nero, and of no particular relation.

Accepted synonyms for Code di Volpe Bianco include Alopecis, Falerno, and Guarnaccia. Coda di Pecora, meaning “tail of the sheep” was, for a long time, thought to be the same grape, but recent DNA analysis has shown it to be a separate, unrelated variety.

Reference for quote from Pliny the Elder:  The XIIII Booke of the Historie of Nature, Containing the Treatise of Trees bearing fruit, by C. Plinivs Secvndvs

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Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE – your SWE Blog Administrator – jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

 

 

 

The Legacy of Peter Jahant

  By admin | December 8, 2013 - 2:10 am |
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Map via www.lodiwine.com

Map via www.lodiwine.com

If you are studying for the CSW Exam, you might recall that the Lodi AVA, located in northern California, has seven sub-regions:  Alta Mesa, Borden Ranch, Clements Hills, Cosumes River, Mokelumne River, Sloughhouse, and the smallest of the seven, Jahant.

I’ve always been intrigued by the interesting name of the Jahant AVA, so this morning I decided to do a bit of research. This is a small area and  information is somewhat difficult to come by, but I did find out who the area is named for, as well as quite a few interesting details about the soil and climate of the area.

The area’s namesake is a former gold prospector turned family farmer named Peter Jahant. Peter was born in France in 1827 and moved to Akron, Ohio with his parents when he was six years old. In 1850, lured by gold fever,  23-year-old Peter took off with for Sacramento with three or four friends, intending to prospect for gold. After a few years of variable success in gold mining , he bought a livery stable and settled down. He eventually married and established a family farm in the Acampo area. In 1912, Peter Jahant’s son, Charles, planted 130 acres of grapes on the original family farm and gold prospectoradditional purchased land. The Jahant name is well-entrenched in the area, with Jahant Road, Jahant Stables, and Jahant Slough (a stream) all part of the local landscape.

The Jahant AVA is located in the center area of the larger Lodi AVA, about 7 miles south of the city of Lodi.  The region is bordered by the Dry Creek River in the north and the Mokelumne River in the southwest.  There are currently 8,000 acres of the area’s total 28,000 acres planted to grapes.

While the Jahant sub-region has a slightly cooler, dryer, and windier climate than the surrounding areas, the main difference, and the defining factor in establishing the boundaries of the area, is the soil.  The distinctive pink soil, referred to as “Rocklin-Jahant,” is a mixture of sandy loam and clay left by river flooding within the last 20,000 years. The clay component makes the soil excellent for retaining water  to the point that dry-farming is possible, even during the summer.  These dry-farmed vines produce grapes of great concentration, deep color and firm tannins; the nearby Sacramento Delta provides enough cooling breezes to maintain a good, balancing level of acidity.

Tempranillo,  Petite Sirah, and Zinfandel are among the most widely planted grapes of the Jahant AVA.  The Viaggio Estate Winery and Michael David Vineyards both have vineyards in the area.  White grapes also do well; the Lange Twins Family Winery has a lodi grape vinevineyard in the area planted to Sauvignon Musqué, a clonal variant of Sauvignon Blanc that produces grapes with a more pronounced floral aroma – and less of the herbal/cut green grass character – of a typical Sauvignon Blanc.

For more information about the Jahant AVA, click here. 

Click here for the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission

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Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE – your SWE Blog Administrator – jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

Wine Book Review: “The Nose” by James Conaway

  By admin | December 5, 2013 - 9:30 am | ,
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the nose red wineThe Nose, a novel by James Conaway, in a nutshell:  Agatha Christie meets Sideways meets Bonfire of the Vanities in a delicious tale of  the perfect wine and a vain, self-satisfied, and extremely influential wine critic on the loose in Napa Valley.

This is a fun book:  not long after we meet Clyde Craven-Jones, aka “The Nose,” we’re invited to join him for a typical Thursday morning, consisting of blind-tasting the week’s crop of newly released vintages and grading them on his patented numbered scale.  (The lead character’s similarity to another (never named) influential wine critic with a similar such graded scale is hard to miss.)

Not long after the nose sniffs out his weekly winners, a mystery bottle of Cabernet arrives at his door.  He sniffs, he sips, he spits, and declares it to be a perfect 20 – an accolade he has never granted before.  The mystery begins as C-J tries to locate the producer of the “perfect 20.”  His quest comes to an abrupt end when our critic is found, face down, floating in a vat of newly-fermented Cabernet. The scene somehow manages to be gruesome and funny at the same time.

The NoseAfter C-J’s untimely death, his widow continues the quest to find the producer of the perfect Cab.  Along the way, we meet a bumbling cub reporter, a biodynamic farmer, a blonde bombshell, and more than a few greedy producers of cultish techno-wine.   A friendly crew of wanna-be wine writers, fashionistas, and wine lovers savant try to help solve the mystery but mostly just hang out and drink amazing wine at a seedy bar called The Wine Glass – and you just can’t help but want to join them.

James Conaway’s books on the California wine scene – including Napa: The Story of an American Eden and its sequel, The Far Side of Eden, are surely already well-known to both fans and serious students of California wine. Wine lovers, as well as those that enjoy a good mystery and perhaps even a slightly snarky comedy-of-manners, California style, will enjoy The Nose as well. (Holiday Gift Alert!)

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Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE – your SWE Blog Administrator – jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

Minervois-La Livinière

  By admin | November 25, 2013 - 7:57 pm |
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minervois windmillThe wine region of Minervois, located just north of Corbieres in France’s western Languedoc region, is named for the village of Minerve, which is itself named for Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom.

The region has a long history of wine production, dating back to early Roman, or even pre-Roman times.  In modern times, the Minervois was granted an AOC in 1985, and since that time, the wines of the area have increased in quality due to significant investments in equipment, infrastructure, and improved vineyard management.

The Minervois AOC covers dry red wines based on Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre, which together must make up at least 60% of the blend, and may be rounded out by Carignan and Cinsaut.  The region’s white wines, which may be dry or sweet, are generally made from a variable blend including Bourboulenc, Vermentino, Rousanne, Marsanne, and Grenache Blanc. A sweet version of the white wine, made from late harvest and/or dried grapes, is referred to as Minervois Noble, but does not have its own appellation.

minervois la liviniereAlmost immediately upon the granting of the 1985 Minervois AOC, the producers of La Livinière, a small corner in the northern portion of the area, began to lobby for an AOC of their own. In 1999 they were successful, and the Minervois–La Livinière AOC, for dry red wine only, was born.  The area covered by the appellation includes the village of La Livinière itself, as well as five others nearby:  Cesseras, Siran, Felines-Minervois, Azille and Azillanet.

The 30 or so producers of Minervois-La Livinière, tucked into the Petit Causse foothills of the south-facing Black Mountains, abide by a slew of standards that are quite a bit stricter than those that apply to the wines produced under the “basic” Minervois AOC.  For one, yields are 45 hectoliters per hectare (hls/ha) vs. the 50 allowed for the basic wines, and eight additional months of aging are required.

languedocAnother tough rule involves the “agrément” tasting that is done in November, the year after harvest.  Each stage of the three-stage tasting involves a producer, an enologist, and a merchant; and the final outcome is pass or fail.  If a wine passes, it can wear the title of Minervois-La Livinière, and if not, it can be bottled under the “basic” Minervois AOC.  The tasting panel, it seems, is tough; the M-LL board rejects between 30 – 40% of all wines submitted.  This is a higher rejection rate than any other appellation in France; the percentage rejected for the country as a whole is closer to 5%.

Wines that qualify as Minervois-La Livinière are authorized to use a specific label style which includes a cap with the La Livinère logo and a quality guarantee number. Minerva, and Minervois, should be proud!

For more information, see the entry on Minervois-La Liviniere wines at Languedoc.com.  http://www.languedoc-wines.com/english/aoc_liviniere.asp

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Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE – your SWE Blog Administrator – jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

“The Wine of the Crunchy, Rust-Pink Sands”

  By admin | November 21, 2013 - 6:52 pm |
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“If any Beaujolais can outlast a dog and grow in stature with the years, it is the wine grown on the crunchy, rust-pink sands which anchor this windmill, this Moulin-à-Vent.” 

          Andrew Jefford, The New France

5063906_mlWhat a great quote, from Andrew Jefford.  It’s so good that I did not even attempt to write a better introduction to today’s post,  which, by the way, is written with a tip of the hat to today’s world-famous release of Beaujolais Nouveau. But instead of focusing on the party drink of the day, I thought we’d look at Moulin-à-Vent, considered to be the most noteworthy of the ten Crus of Beaujolais.

The appellation Moulin-à-Vent, located just around the middle of the northern section of Beaujolais shared by the ten Crus, sits just south of Chenas and to the north and east of Fleurie.  As there is no actual town named Moulin-à-Vent, the vineyards themselves are located in either the commune of Romanèche-Thorins or Chénas. The name Moulin-à-Vent comes from on old windmill standing to the northwest of Romanèche-Thorins, now preserved as the last remaining specimen in the Beaujolais region.

gamay grapes beaujolaisThe richness, full-flavor, and longevity of Moulin-à-Vent can be traced, at least in part, to the unique soil of the region.  The soil here is a pink crumbly granite with a uniquely high level of the mineral manganese. This is toxic to the grape vines; not enough to kill the vines, but enough to cause chlorosis, a vine disease that reduces the ability of the plant to produce insufficient chlorophyll. This alters the vine’s metabolism enough to severely reduce yields and contributes to grapes with intense, concentrated flavors.

Young Moulin-à-Vent tends to have the cherry-berry-smoky-spice aromas and flavor profile typical of Beaujolais, with a bit more tannic structure and even a hint of oak (and definitely minus the banana candy-bubbly gum profile often seen in Nouveaus).  However, with age, the finest examples can mellow…many people say that Moulin-a-Vent is best consumed at around six years old, and some can be cellared for 10 to 20 years.

As the wines age, they lose some of their fresh fruitiness, and develop more Pinot-like beaujolais vineyardscharacteristics.  You could say that as they age they start to resemble Pinot Noir. There’s even a word for this process:  Pinoter.  The definition for “Pinoter,” if you can believe it, is to “develop Pinot Noir-like characteristics with age.”

You might see the term ““fûts de chêne,” meaning “oak casks” on the label of an oak-aged Moulin-à-Vent.  In addition, the following lieu dits can be added to the label: Les Carquelins, Les Rouchaux, Champ de Cour, En Morperay, Les Burdelines, La Roche, La Delatte, Les Bois Maréchaux, La Pierre, Les Joies, Rochegrès, La Rochelle, and Les Vérillats.

I read through about 100 wine reviews (and tasted one outstanding version of Moulin-a-Vent, the Domaine Diochon 2011) while researching this post, and found the following tasting terms to be the most used:  rose aromas, touch of mineral, violets, cherries, raspberry, blackberry, well-structured, complex, elegant…and my favorite, “piercingly fragrant.”

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Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE – your SWE Blog Administrator – jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

Grape Stems into Grappa

  By admin | November 12, 2013 - 2:51 pm | ,
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Grappa GlassSome say the name “Grappa” is based on the Italian town of Bassano del Grappa, located in Italy’s Veneto Region.  Others say it is based on the fact that the word grappa literally means “grape stalk” in Italian.

We may never know exactly where the word came from, or where grappa was first made, but we do know that grappa has been produced, as a by-product of the Italian winemaking trade, since the Middle Ages. Itinerant distillers used to travel from vineyard to vineyard, distilling the fresh pomace (called vinaccia in Italian) on the spot, and providing the vineyard workers with a raw, potent spirit to ward off the cold.

The tradition of vineyard distillation is no longer practiced, as the stems present in the pomace tend to produce a small amount of methanol, which is toxic and must be carefully removed during distillation. Thus, current Italian law does not allow distillation to take place at the winery; winemakers must bring their pomace to a distiller (or run their own operations, separate from the winery premises).  This change has actually help to transition the reputation of grappa from the “moonshine” of yesterday to the artisanal spirit of today.

Modern grappa is produced via column stills, pot stills or traditional steam distillation. Grappa is generally bottled at 40 to 45% alcohol by volume and may be produced from a single variety, known as a monovitigno, or, more commonly, from a mixed batch.  After distillation, grappa may be aged for several months in glass or other inert containers before distribution as a clear, unaged spirit.  Some grappas are oak aged and may be labeled with terms such as vecchio (old) or stravecchio (extra-old).

GrappaGrappa is often served as a digestif, or, as a caffè corretto (corrected coffee), with a shot of espresso. A variation of this is the resentin (“little rinser”), where the espresso is consumed first, followed by a swirl of grappa served in the same cup.

In the European Union, the term “grappa” is restricted to use for products produced in Italy, parts of Switzerland, or San Marino. However modern craft distillers in the United States and elsewhere, such as Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery and Clear Creek Distillery, are making artisanal pomace brandies labeled with the term “grappa.”

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Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE – your SWE Blog Administrator – jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

The Real Thing: Grenadine

  By admin | November 5, 2013 - 5:45 pm |
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tequila sunriseGrenadine:  it puts the sunrise in Tequila and turns simple rum-and-pineapple juice into a glamorous Mary Pickford. It sits on every back bar in the world, gleaming with an unnatural, almost nuclear-red glow.

It glows – unnaturally red – that is, if you buy store-bought Grenadine.  Like most bar mixers, Grenadine is mass produced and widely distributed.  You can probably pick up a bottle at your local grocery store, and your corner bar most likely orders it by the case.

But you might want to think twice before you pick up your next bottle of Trader Vic’s or Rose’s Grenadine.  A popular brand of commercial grenadine – let’s just say it represents just about all commercial grenadine products – lists the following ingredients on the label: high fructose corn syrup, water, citric acid, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate (preservative), RED 40, natural and artificial flavors, BLUE 1.

GrenadineGrenadine was originally made from pomegranate juice, sugar, and water, although black currants are just as likely to flavor today’s commercial versions. The name “Grenadine” originates from “grenade” – the French word for pomegranate.

Pomegranate syrup, which can be found in most Middle Eastern grocery stores (as well as Whole Foods Market), is made with pomegranate concentrate and sugar, and can serve as a decent substitute.

However, like many things to be found on the back bar, Grenadine is simple to make, and house made products are far superior to the mass-produced versions.   I’ve tried several recipes over the last few weeks, and have come up with my favorite version.

Try it for yourself – and let us know what you think!

Grenadine (The “Real Deal”)

Ingredients:

  • Pomegranate Juice1 cup Pomegranate Juice – fresh squeezed is best, but a good brand like “Pom” will work as well
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon fresh Lemon Juice
  • 4 drops Orange Flower Water
  • Optional:  1 tablespoon Pomegranate Molasses

Technique:

  1. Heat the pomegranate juice until steam rises from the surface; do not heat beyond this point – you want to turn the heat off before (of as soon as) you see any bubbles start to form.  Remove the pan from the heat.
  2. Add the sugar and stir.  Let the mixture sit for a few minutes, then stir again until the sugar dissolves.
  3. Add the lemon juice, orange flower water and optional pomegranate molasses.  Let the syrup cool to room temperature (about an hour) and transfer to a glass container with a tight-fitting lid.
  4. Stored in the refrigerator, your homemade grenadine will stay fresh for about a month.  If you would like to extend the life of your grenadine, try freezing a portion of it, or adding a few tablespoons of vodka to the cooled syrup.

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Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE – your SWE Blog Administrator – jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

 

Meet the SWE Board: Gary Spadafore, CWE, CSS

  By admin | October 22, 2013 - 1:18 am | ,
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Gary Spadafore, CWE, Educational Liasion

Gary Spadafore, CWE, CSS –  Educational Liasion

At our October meeting, I asked the members of SWE’s Board of Directors if they could each write up a brief “introduction” to themselves in order to allow us – friends and members of SWE – to get to know each of them.  I received quite a number of generous responses, so as the first in our new series of “Meet the Board” – I would like to introduce you to our new Educational Liasion – Gary Spadafore, CWE, CSS.  I’ve known Gary quite a while, and am therefore not at all surprised that his bio is all about “Wine and Motorcycles.” Enjoy the read!

Dreaming of Motorcycles and Wine – An Odd Combination

by Gary Spadafore CSS, CWE 

Besides my family, the two passions in my life are wine and motorcycles (not at the same time of course). My passion for motorcycles goes back even further than my passion for wine, despite the fact that one of my earliest childhood memories involved wine.

As a very young child I remember going to a farmers’ market in Detroit with my Italian grandfather to buy Zinfandel grapes. I could never understand why the finished product tasted so nasty when so much sugar was added during the winemaking process – (understanding the principles of fermentation came much later.   After that first impression, wine really wasn’t much on my radar at all – untill I “accidently” got into the hospitality industry after college when I moved from Michigan to Arizona in 1972 with the intention of becoming a high school teacher (and motorcycle rider).

DIGITAL CAMERAWhile literally starving substitute teaching, I took a job in the hospitality industry as a bouncer. One thing led to another and I ended up working for Alliance Beverage Distributing Company, the largest wholesaler of wine and spirits in Arizona (30+ years ago). Over the years I’ve had every position possible, most relating to fine wine. Just over a decade ago, I proposed creating a position called Director of Education and had the perfect candidate in mind…….myself. I combined my teaching experience, restaurant and hotel career, wine sales/management and my CWE credential to offer a strong list of attributes for the position.

I now have a dream job that looks like I’d been planning for it my entire career. If I had a dollar for everyone who has told me they wanted my job, I wouldn’t have to work at my dream job.

And what about motorcycles? While attending Northern Michigan University in the upper peninsula of Michigan, I met a bunch of guys that all had motorcycles. I managed to finagle one myself in my second year of college. We arranged our classes so we could ride in the woods surrounding the campus every day. In the harsh winter of northern Michigan we would drink beer (Spanada on occasion) and talk about places you could ride year round.

So of course after graduation I took my teaching certificate and moved to Arizona. I am now the proud owner of the best three motorcycles in the world! For the desert I ride a KTM 300XC, for the great twisty roads in the southwest, I have a BMW K1300S. And for my newest form of motorcycling called adventure riding I have a KTM 690 Enduro R. If those numbers and letters sound strange and weird, you know how most folks feel when wine geeks start waxing on about wine.

Gary Motorcyle PoppieMost folks reading this will understand the passion involved regarding wine, but maybe not motorcycles. Yet some of the same emotions are stirred with motorcycles. A rich history, innovative ideas turned into reality, taking raw materials from the earth and transforming into something unique and different. NOt to mention the very hard-to-describe emotion of the freedom experienced whether dodging cacti and rocks in the desert, or carving a perfect turn on a mountain switchback road.

Suffice it to say that I love life. A dream job, three dream motorcycles and a dream family. I look forward to my new role with SWE as Education Liaison and welcome comments, concerns and recommendations.

Click here for more details  and contact information for the SWE Board of Directors.

 

A Bitter Battle over Sweet Wine in the Loire

  By admin | October 18, 2013 - 2:12 pm | ,
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Quarts-de-Chaume is just one of the famous sweet wine appellations in the Loire.  A slightly larger region, surrounding Quarts-de-Chaume and somewaht less prestigious, is known as the Coteaux du Layon. The Coteaux du Layon includes the area of Quarts-de-Chaume as well as the equally famous AOC of Bonnezeaux. A third, larger area, encompassing the entire commune of Rochefort-sur-Loire, is known as the Coteaux du Layon Rochefort-sur-Loire AOC.

Quarts-de-Chaume, with its long history stretching back to the Middle Ages, was expected to be the wine that led the wines of the Loire into the future. Despite the fact that the Loire is one of the largest quality wine producing areas of France, the fame and fortune of the Loire lags far behind the other large wine producing areas in France.  One possible reason for this was determined to be that the vineyards of the Loire do not have an official ranking system such as those in Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Champagne, and a plan for ranking the vineyards was created.

Photo Credit: Jim Budd of the "Jim's Loire" Blog

Photo Credit: Jim Budd of the “Jim’s Loire” Blog

The ranking of the Loire’s vineyards got off to a rocky start in 2003, when the Coteaux du Layon AOC was granted the Loire’s first Premier Cru designation, to be known as Chaume Premier Cru des Coteaux du Layon.  The designation did not last for long, however, as the committee for the Quarts de Chaume appellation felt that this title caused confusion with their own name and created an unfair advantage for the new designation. Thus, the Premier Cru title was suspended.

The Premier Cru title for Coteaux du Layon-Chaume was ultimately reinstated in November 2011, after the Quarts-de-Chaume appellation was awarded the first Grand Cru title in the Loire.  Even this has not been without controversy, as one of the largest producers of Quarts-de-Chaume, Domaine des Baumard, has filed a lawsuit with the Conseil d’État challenging the new law.

According to many sources, the Baumards’ main issue with the new AOC is the revised, more stringent regulations that accompany the “Grand Cru” ranking, which would prohibit certain vine-growing and winemaking practices long employed by the estate. One such practice, for example, is cryoextraction (freezing the grapes before they are pressed). Under the new laws, cryoextraction would be banned in the Quarts-de-Chaume Grand Cru as of 2020.

Other producers in the Loire are upset that the Grand Cru and Premier Cru status applies only to sweet wines and excludes the dry wines of the region.

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It seems vineyards classification in France, with so much prestige and money on the line, is a tricky business. I seem to recall reading that the same sort of bickering plagued the 1855 Classification of Bordeaux—and more recently, the 2012 classification of St. Émilion.

As of now, the Quarts-de-Chaume Grand Cru along with Coteaux du Layon Premier Cru Chaume AOCs still stand…and we’ll have to wait and see what the future holds.

References/for more information:

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Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE – your SWE Blog Administrator – jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

 

 

 

 

A New AVA for Santa Barbara

  By admin | October 14, 2013 - 3:33 am | ,
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14956727_lThere’s a new AVA in Santa Barbara County! Officially approved on October 1, 2013, the new Ballard Canyon AVA is located within the existing Santa Ynez AVA.  With this new addition, there are now a total of five AVAs located within Santa Barbara County:  Santa Ynez Valley, Sta. Rita Hills, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara, Santa Maria Valley, and the newest member, Ballard Canyon.

Santa Barbara County, located a 90-minute drive north of Los Angeles, sits on the Southern California coast between San Luis Obispo County to the north and Ventura County to the south. The area is geologically unique in that it is one of the few places on the California Coast where both the coastline and the mountain ranges – including the Santa Ynez Mountain Range (located near the coast) and the San Rafael Mountain Range (further inland) run east-west as opposed to north-south.

The transverse nature of the region creates an east-west flow of ocean breezes off of the Pacific Ocean, as well as a diversity of soils from diatomaceous earth near the shore and chert and limestone further inland.  With such diverse terroir, it makes sense for the region to host five AVAs.

santa barbara vineyardsSanta Maria Valley – The Santa Maria Valley, 35 miles north of Santa Ynez, is the northernmost of Santa Barbara’s five AVAs, and was the first area to be officially recognized as an AVA.  The often foggy and windswept region has complex soil conditions and is known for cool weather grapes including Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The oldest commercial vineyard in Santa Barbara County, the Nielson Vineyard, was planted in 1964 in Santa Maria Valley.

Santa Ynez Valley – The region’s largest AVA, Santa Ynez Valley, is a long, east-west corridor with a diversity of climates; the cool temperatures near the coast become progressively warmer inland. Many types of grapes and wine are produced in this region, from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and botrytis-affected wines in the west to Bordeaux and Rhône varieties in the west.

Sta. Rita Hills – The Sta. Rita Hills AVA sits mostly within the larger Santa Ynez Valley AVA, on its western border, and therefore much cooler than the inland areas. Located just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean, the area generally sits under marine layer clouds and fogs in the morning.  By 10 am, the fogs burns off and gives way to a few hours of calm sunshine.  In the afternoon, the on-shore breezes pick up, giving this region an overall maritime climate well-suited to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Located between the towns of Buellton and Lompoc, the area is intersected by the Santa Ynez River.

Ballard-Canyon-IdentityBallard Canyon – Located in the center of Santa Ynez Valley, with Sta. Rita Hills to the west and Happy Canyon to the east, the area’s newest AVA enjoys the hot, sunny days of its relatively inland position, and the cool nights brought in by post-sunset ocean breezes.  At 7,800 acres (560 of which are planted), Ballard Canyon is by far the smallest AVA in Santa Barbara County.  (By comparison, Sta. Rita Hills is 64,000 acres.) Ballard Canyon is planted heavily towards the Rhône varieties of Syrah, Grenache, Roussanne, and Viognier, as well as Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, and other international varieties.

Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara – First recognized as an AVA in 2009, Happy Canyon is located to the east of the Santa Ynez Valley, making this one of the warmest areas in Santa Barbara County.  Summertime temperatures often reach the low to mid-nineties.  The region specializes in Bordeaux and Rhône varietals.  Local lore suggests that the name of the region comes from the time of Prohibition when bootleg alcohol was produced in the region, prompting folks to “take a trip to Happy Canyon.”

Some beautiful maps of the AVAs of Santa Barbara can be found on the website of the Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Association: http://sbcountywines.com/vineyards/map.html.

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Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE – your SWE Blog Administrator – jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org