A Witch's Brew

Ever wonder why that YellowTail Syraz always tastes the same, year after year? Welcome to the world of wine adjuncts. Hundreds of compounds you can toss in the wine to get whatever it is you're after. Sounds yummy, eh?

I call this "Messin' with the Mother"! Growing grapes is a tricky business. When the weather is great you can get a good crop; when the weather is bad you get a so-so crop. Question is: Do you doctor up your crop to match the expectations of the market?

The saying used to be: You can't make a great wine from crappy grapes. Not anymore. If the color is a bit thin, just add concentrate. Not getting the sugar level you wanted; just add sugar. Seems to me that some of the wine out there doesn't even need grapes in the first place!

This is why I always suggest getting out to the wineries. It's within your rights as a consumer to ask what's in the wine. And it's up to you, of course, if you can live with the answer. For me, I like to believe that what I am drinking is a true interpretation of what the season was like for the grapes.

I do understand that in this competitive business the luxury of calling a certain grape's performance a loss, can make or break a wineries bottom line. If only the Fed's would subsidize the grape growers like they do the massive farm corporations, then maybe we could go back to the idea of Vintage. When only the best years are made into wine!

New Vs. Old

Having spent many a happy year in the heart of CA wine country, I like many, had a bit of adjustment to the finesse of our local wines. Let me be clear, I think both styles of wine have a place on our "American Wine List". But to some who haven't spent the required time "practicing" the art of wine tasting, the disparity between the two expressions of wine making, can be a mystery.

Simply put, our American wine journey started in Europe. Our ancestors brought the vine with them into a new environment. Vines didn't do so well "back East", so it wasn't until the CA wine industry geared up that wine in America became a viable option. But CA is a lot different than Europe for the most part. Most all of Europe is above CA longitudinally, meaning shorter cooler Summers. Here, the vines went nuts. Lots of fruit and lots of sugar, ie. alcohol. AKA, fruit bombs.

Enter the Umpqua Valley. Same latitude as Tuscany in Italy and the Rjoha in Spain. Hence our growing season matches more closely to Europe than CA. Grape berries do not have as much sugar as CA. Match this with a generally more "hands off" approach to wine making and you end up with a more balanced wine. Instead of the fruit overpowering the wine, our wines bring out more of the subtle flavors in the grape.

It takes the "Three P's" to really understand each style. That's Practice, Practice,Practice!!