BRAMBLES: Unlike Any Other

On a cool, clear drive thru the meandering hillsides of the newest Sonoma County appellation, Fountaingrove District AVA, you can find fire-scared vacant lots, a scattering of homes under construction, and swaths of vineyards left with unpicked fruit.  In rear view, it has been a devastating wildfire season across the West Coast, and in Australia. Once hopeful expectations of an average harvest here, have been devalued significantly by these seasonal, unannounced forces of nature.

 With the pervasive risk of 'smoke-taint' on harvested grapes, and the widespread cancellation of grape contracts by producers is expected to yield a sales loss of more than $400 million to California's small winegrape growers.  As a global impact, it has also been a year of broad temperature extremes from a changing climate, reflected in part by the earliest recorded grape harvest in Burgundy, France, ever.

  An on-going trans-Atlantic trade war between the U.S. and the European Union wine industry continues to result in higher tariffs, higher prices for domestic consumers and our Old World counterparts. Here typically, these imported wines from France, Spain and Germany were among the great authentic values for many global wine lovers to seek out. In the war's early days wine importers and distributors took the cost hit, but without any certainty in the market future, this is changing to be passed on to consumers. 

 With the recent FTC approval of the Gallo-Constellation Brands buyout, the behemoth Modesto empire now controls an even greater sway in the lower end brand marketplace(bottom shelves).  As consumers increasingly buy 'down' in grocery stores, there is a trend for more modest wines to increase sales volume at the expense of more premium brands.  Coupled with the broad on-premise demise, where more than an estimated 100,000 restaurants across the country have permanently closed, small producers who opt for supermarket space now get to fight the wine beast. Well positioned, multi-faceted Gallo also dominates the domestic glass bottle market.

 And, yet, retail wine sales grow. There are more brands, more alternative packaging in our marketplace than ever before.  Western states lead the nation in responsible, sustainable winegrape growing practices, with 1800+ custodians of our Sonoma County vineyards leading the way.  Newly improvised 'virtual tastings' are also gaining traction with consumers, as the shroud of mystery surrounding limited bottlings finds a growing marketplace accessible from a home screen or mobile device.

 A wineries federal excise tax(currently around $1/gallon) now benefits from the permanent reduced tax rates and tax credits via the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act, recently signed into law.  It marks the needed updated reforms to decades old tax legislation that impacts so many small wine producers who had been burdened by its antiquated structure.

 At the end of another wine day, so many of us continue to have relatively easy access to a social vehicle that is to be enjoyed and shared.  We can safely visit a local retail merchant, join an on-line club, or invest in a growing number of virtual retail wine sites.  Harmlessly in our shelter-in-place domiciles, wine can be an escape in a glass, a delicious and intriguing indulgence that may lift us away from the mundane, the ordinary. Even if ordinare, wine can be that facilitator of an intimate dinner conversation, and the inspiration for dreams that lead us to possibilities while enhancing the sustaining bounty before us.

  As we close another chronicle and look to a brighter future,  we can still access good wine throughout the marketplace, we can still find wonder in a distinctive and authentic quaff that excites, and we can still share the joy with those close to us. For us wine lovers, the more bottles we explore the more we can taste that this has been a year of wine unlike any other.

Salute! and Happy, Healthy New Year!!

WineLinks:

  http://fountaingroveava.com/

  https://sonomawinegrape.org/scw/sustainability/

  https://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataId=212102

  https://www.gallo.com/portfolio/

BRAMBLES: If...A Good Food Wine

Carravaggio's Bacchus knew a good food wine

A promising harvest now interrupted, contributes to a challenging year unlike any other in our lifetimes. More than six months into 'shelter in place' with its unique social distancing, an economic decline previously unseen, and tens of thousands of small businesses having closed(many permanently) that include hundreds of family run boutique wineries, we search for 'normal'.  Following the early start of grape harvest for sparkling wine producers, our North Coast has been blanketed with a record setting August heat wave, and now a complex of massive wildfires ignited by lightning to create a heavy, smoke-filled air quality across the grape growing region.

Stories these dazes seem then to write themselves.  In the current global pandemic environment the health of populations and their diverse economies becomes paramount, dominating headlines and reporting. Tens of millions are without pay checks, their food costs steadily increasing, and a strained health care system only seems to magnify the weight of our amplified social isolation.  Hospitality and the wine industry have had to again reinvent how they now do business, as the stream of consumers tightens to a trickle willing to take-out, or pick-up or ship, thus minimizing human contact.  Prior to statewide station in place orders, the early wine stories were about punitive import tariffs, and a surplus wine grape supply, even with a steady, continuing consumer growth forecast.  But, that was just a few short months ago. Now the wine stories here are about who among the thousands of small producers will survive to see the return of the 'new normal'.

As may have been expected(using the Great Depression as a model), consumers are consuming more; more budget-friendly wines.  Food wines, especially rose', remain strong, as direct-to-consumer wine retailing grows currently at historic rates. And, local restaurants, struggling to survive, are also getting creative with their cellars' liquid assets(discounts and available with ordered meals), as we mainly drink safely at home.  Beneficially, out of doors finds less congested roadways, quieter streets, with more congested bicycle routes.  Before the fires there was even cleaner air quality with fewer gross carbon emissions, and far fewer auto fatalities. Talk about a reason to drink!

Things have not changed much for many bottle a day at home consumers, except that routine sourcing has now become more of an exercise. Local wineries here offer pick up services, bottle retailers may do the same, and local supermarkets are seeing a spike in broadly available, off the shelf budget friendly selections.  But even in this environment, the challenge remains the same for wine livers. How do we find a good food wine to enjoy with our stay at home meal?  And, how can we support those important small production wineries when their normal and profitable distribution channels have evaporated?

Chardonnay grapes before August heat spike and  fires

As always, wine remains an enjoyable, delicious part of our lives.  We may realize that the wines we love get their flavors from the fruit variety and its growing site.  The more general the site and varietal description, the more generic the product(generally).  Those heady, enticing aromas are enhanced by the fermentation process, and those earthy notes are typically the result of the wines aging. All of this is held together by the wines complex of acids, and tannins, and alcohol.  Widely available wines from industrial producers tend to manipulate and craft their wines to consistency(regardless of vintage) using many cellar and laboratory tricks to create the wines so many love in those modest price points.

Ultimately, we try to find wines we trust, from producers we know or from suggestive marketing.  It certainly helps if the wine is in our wallet comfort zone, and we typically get what we are prepared to spend on a bottle of vino.  But, there are exceptions, and that's where wine education for consumers comes in.  We may recognize that the alcohol declaration on the label will indicate how adaptable the wine will be with food(lower alcohol wines seem to work best).  Or that the personality of the grape selection may be over matched with our richly flavorful dish.  Perhaps the marketing descriptions on the products back label can more precisely direct us to the kinds of table fare best suited to complement that particular wine.

We know that excess alcohol consumption can deepen depression, so moderation for general health and well-being is always recommended.  But, the satisfaction and lifting spirit found in a wonderful glass of wine to enhance a fine meal seems to be a reasonable balance.  Like so much in nature, balance is the key.  On the palate, a wine should offer a good balance in all of its building blocks, and promote the satisfaction that comes with a wine that over delivers on our expectations.  As such, wine remains a vehicle that allows us to explore the pleasure of the earth's bounty, the satisfaction of sharing in good company, and the beauty that is offered in the manifestation of art and delicious science.

Ultimately, a good food wine will entice the experience of sharing, and contribute to the delight that comes from a good meal.  It will heighten anticipation and benefit digestion. A wine that displays the truth that can be found in natures bounty, in its art and in its humanity, can truly be a good food wine.  In times like these there are few things that may be as important as finding truth in fellowship, in supporting our communities, and in finding beauty that remains in us and around us.

Stay safe, good cheer, and Salute!

WineLinks:

Resourceful drinking: Vinepair.com
 https://vinepair.com/articles/10-best-supermarket-wines-2019-grocery/

Harvest update: Sonoma County Winegrowers.org

https://sonomawinegrape.org/

BRAMBLES: Storied Wine

"Wine for lunch?"  It was just a simple, Cal-Provencal chicken breast and salad with feta, but the early summer day quietly demanded a lazy, unpretentious quaff.  "But, we have nothing chilled", she may have said.  No problem.  Just grab a bottle of light bodied, high acid juice from the dark, cool space below and prepare it for the quick chill.  Ten minutes is all that it will take, because we are going to crisp-change the temperature of a cellar-ed bottle, a cool survivor that is still found in the 60+/- degree range even on this summer day.  A Portuguese vino verde gets wrapped in wet paper towel, slipped into a plastic bag(so it doesn't attach to anything else), and laid in the freezer.  As the wet paper quickly chills, it directly transfers cold to the bottles liquid, and within a few minutes it's near perfection for this particular lazy day dejeuner.  It could have been any bottle(sparkling demands even cooler temps), but chilling improved the presentation, focused the physical properties and the bright character of this particular modest bottle of imported white wine.  We could almost imagine the warm and gentile breezes of  a Lisbon seaside cafe.

A sea of familiar brands or a wine adventure?

 Current domestic commercial reports indicate a slow down of overall wine sales, but that is not the case with wines produced in the golden state of California.  Even with import selections increasing daily, this nation's top wine producing state still dominates from a position of strength, with wine shipments increasing by 3% over the previous year. More direct to consumer markets are open in more states than ever before, and wine trends in restaurants continue to bolster the national sales. Another constant that remains is that the most widely popular brands, those comfortably priced, widely available selections, are still mostly produced by large, industrial beverage corporations.  Fans of venerable Louis M. Martini, or MacMurray Estate or J Vineyards may be surprised to learn that these labels are owned and operated by the largest wine company on the planet, E & J Gallo, of Modesto.  Perhaps your 'go-to' is great value ne'gociant  Cameron Hughes, or a Girard, or Tamarack Cellars; they are all popular labels of Sonoma Counties' own, Vintage Wine Estates.  Even that convenient Bota Box wine, or widely dispersed Gnarly Head zinfandel are products of long established Delicato Family wines of Manteca.

 Distinguished brands that are pillars of the state's Napa wine history, Beaulieu Vineyards, Beringer, Chateau St. Jean, and Stags' Leap Winery are today all Treasury Wine Estates of Australia properties.  And that popular Meiomi Pinot Noir, as well as iconic, Robert Mondavi Winery are currently part of the largest imported beer company in the U.S., Constellation Brands.  Bottles such as these and countless others are effectively commodity brands, guided by investors who may have never touched its soil or fruit. Mostly, they can generate standardized industrial products, striving for consistency and market-share that's utilizing a shrinking distributor(wholesale) market. But, another thing they may share today is that at one time in the not too distant past, just about all of these brands were a single artisan's dream; regularly producing a genuine and honest reflection of a unique place and time(it was a good year!).

Cheers to another great story!

 Today there are over 685 bonded wineries in Sonoma county, the vast majority being very small producers, those holding on to that artisan's dream from vineyard to cellar. Way back in the late 60's the region had supported fewer than 60 federal licenses. Over these past decades many artisans have been drawn to the songs of local vineyards and its winemaking, many of them found just down the road. They may have names not seen on our favorite retail wine shelves or home town wine lists, but there is a good chance that here is where a wine lover or adventurer can find that summer California dream.  Should you pick up an honest bottle or two, you may find authenticity using the quick chill method back at the yurt or the lodge, and have a story to tell.

Raising a glass here for more than a decade;
 and Salute!

WineLinks:
  https://discovercaliforniawines.com/
  https://sonomawinegrape.org/

BRAMBLES: Amazing Taste!

One of many papillae types on the tongue

 Mostly, I sit back with amazement when in the company of more perceptive tasters.  The insights that their palates share with their brains just blows my mind, and humbles me in that I did not share in the same immediate recognition.  I feel better when I remember that a minority of the population may have inherited the abilities of 'super-tasters', the benefit/curse when many chemical compounds are perceived more strongly.  As it turns out in this inexact science, it may effect s much as a quarter of the population.  It was helpful then to re-examine how it is that we recognize 'taste'.

 Our taste receptors are not universal. These individual sensors ignite a chemical reaction to a smell, then compounded with those recognized by the tongue and throat receptors, all sending sensory information to the singular brain.  Additionally, our brains also help when we anticipate how something familiar will taste once we see it.  That perceived smell too becomes an integral part of what we savor and connects to our taste histories that are as individual as we are.  Common basic tastes of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami(savory), can be found in just about everything we put in our mouths, with some strong compounds easier to detect than others. Add pungent, and astringent tastes, and you've got a real mental exercise for the brain to decipher with each anticipated gulp or bite.  Simply, the ability to taste uniquely for our species is just amazing.

Anticipation of taste sets a response.

 Even as a scent can be strongly impressionable, its the blanket in our mouth holding numerous receptor cells, each papillae with thousands of tiny taste buds that is tasked with sending a stream of recognition impulses to our brains.  As it turns out, it is in our individual brains where we actually  'taste'.  This relationship between our sight, our nose, our tongue, our throat and our brain means that 'taste' is unique to each individual taster.  An individuals taste history aside, strong 'flavours', like strawberry, lime or tar(can't forget that smell) are more commonly recognized, while many others require individual repetition and memory.  The exercise of taste, of recognition and repeat helps us to catalog and then anticipate what things actually taste like.  If we had never tasted a kiwi it would have very little flavor anticipation for most of us.

It happens in an instant.  We make connections that spark a memory, impulses that run non-stop from our brains to our olfactory perception and back again.  If it smells bad, we may decide not to drink it.  With nose-blindness or odor fatigue our brains can eventually create an inability to recognize certain odor compounds(consider folks who work at the city dump).  Plus, our sense of taste changes as we age, even as its taste memories remain.  Plus, a loss of recognition is generally accepted as we evolve into mature consumers of food and beverage, so much so that a fabulous sampling years ago of a acclaimed '69 Bordeaux may never be repeated.   

A beverage temperature(cold mutes aromas), the tasting environment(two vodkas and a heavy perfume), and certainly our health(stuffy nose?) also will effect how we are able to perceive taste. Tasting then is always trying to catch those past memories that may never come again. No two experiences are never exactly alike, and for each taster it becomes uniquely sensual.  It is this human ability to taste recognize so much, to experience wide variation, that keeps us in pursuit of the savor moment.  Tasting for us is the here and now of recognizing pleasing aromatic and flavor compounds, and the new memories they may create.  So, if I continue to enjoy drinking what I like, and focus on what is physically happening in that moment, it will happen again. Now I don't feel so out-witted when raising a celebrated glass, because I too am blessed with amazing taste!

Salute'

WineLinks:
  https://foodinsight.org/the-science-of-taste/
  https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-demonstrate-that-taste-comes-from-the-brain-not-the-tongue

BRAMBLES: Chasing Greatness...

Beginnings of greatness on Sonoma Mountain AVA

Flowering grapevines now blanket the North Coast vineyard landscape, a fresh start with the annual anticipation of a great harvest bathed in warmer degree days later in the volatile growing season. Comparatively, it is not unlike the national pass time, where groomed conditions awaken in the early spring, in preparation for the long developing run into, hopefully, the post season and a chance for ever-elusive renown. Greatness should, after-all, be elusive, served only to the most resilient, the strongest, and the very best.

Prized Riesling vineyards of Johannisberg, Rheingau

For most wine consumers greatness is ever elusive, as the overwhelming majority of consumers sponge low price point wines consistently produced by large industrial complexes where accountants or shareholders may carry more influence than contracted growers or accomplished winemakers. Those that casually quaff the best of global wines, also find greatness as rare as fine vintages or perfect growing conditions for the most esteemed estates.  Additionally, something as personal as wine has always had the handicap of being subjective: what's good to me may be swill to you.

Part of what makes wine so socially enjoyable is the constant quest to discover a lasting memory that can be shared. Imagine a wine that you can have a conversation with, a goblet that for that instant becomes so much more than just a social beverage. When we find a wine that speaks to us, that opens its soul so that we have a relationship with it, that can be a moment to remember.  There are certainly wines that have all the bells and whistles, all the shining varietal characteristics delivered in balance across almost all price points.  But, a wine that can transport you to a place, to a surprising memory, or for a brief moment to display a story of its unique path is a very special wine that may be on the cusp of greatness.  It can be authentic, an honest expression.

Terraced Syrah vineyards of Cote Rotie

Authenticity is not common to all wines, in spite of what may give us the appearance of vintage consistency. A harmony of the nurtured vine, its true fruit expression in concert with its place and environment, where its 'whole' is more that the total of its parts is then so much closer to authentic. Even as it may appear to most as too esoteric, when found in the glass authentic wines tend to stand out.  For many wine lovers' it becomes their 'ah-ha' moment.  These then are 'honest' wines, a liquid story of a time and a place and careful nurturing that allows them to approach greatness.  Routinely, this is more difficult with the dilution of multiple vineyard sources, where the singular focus becomes prismatic.  Talented winemakers then can then take numerous instruments to compose very unique, yet still authentic, liquid compositions.

It is those rare, innate attributes that are the reasons wine lovers continue to search for greatness.  In that moment when the bottle is pulled from the shelf or ordered off a well-tailored wine list can be filled with the weight of mystery, but buoyed with the yearning to find greatness.  Historically there are prized vineyards or estates that routinely get to the post season for wine lovers because they define, because they know who they are. How fortunate are then are those chasing greatness when its expression can be surprisingly found in the unexpected.  It's even richer when it is a consumer value.

Salute!