Dan’s Cellar Notes for October, November and yes December 2005

And now a little time off for Dan, until January next year.

By Dan Mouer

Bill Jones in his Riverglade Vineyard, Powhatan County.

Photo by George Haskell Photography

The 2005 Virginia Vintage is Over…and it’s GOOD!!!

The grapes of 2003 were sodden, and those of 2004 were beleaguered by molds and rots, but Virginia’s 2005 season may well prove to be another like those of ’98 and ’01; that is, a vintage to even further bolster our state’s reputation as a producer of excellent wines. Five or six weeks of late-season drought did it again for us. Grapes ripened fully, producing good sugar and acid balance, and in many cases, extraordinary concentration.

I’ve been grabbing sniffs and tastes of my ’05 wines from various Eastern Virginia vineyards, and each and every one of them is potentially a winner. The Cab franc and Cab sauvignon are both fruity and rich, but the merlot is sinfully sumptuous, with fat velvety texture and a lingering finish. Three different Chardonnays are each rich, apple-y, and accented by notes of spice, butter and vanilla. Pinot gris, still cloudy and new, is already promising to be my best ever, and this year’s Viognier is already comparable to 30-plus-dollar bottles from Condrieu in France, California’s North Coast, and Australia’s Yalumba Valley. The Sauvignon blanc is in-your-face crisp, just as I like it, and the Traminette is sweet and spicy. My nouveau-style Dornfelder is deep purple, full-bodied, and yummy with tart acids and sweet fruit all at the same time: completely quaffable picnic wine, as it’s meant to be!

Mind you, these wines, for the most part, are still raw, brand-spanking new, and not yet fully subjected to the influences of secondary fermentation, oak aging, and judicious blending. If any of these comes out less than wonderful, well, blame the winemaker, not the grape-growers or the weather, or the terroir!

I’m often surprised when I chat with fellow Virginia winemakers who feel that Virginia wines are mediocre, at best, or terribly over-priced. Well, to be frank, I’m not THAT surprised. There remains quite a bit of mediocre wine-making in the Commonwealth, and some of the prices are, well, optimistic at best. On the other hand, when we have good vintages like this, in which both grape quality and quantity were excellent, we can expect oceans of really fine wine at very competitive prices. No wonder, Virginia is now ranked fifth among states in the nation in its annual production of vinifera grapes and their wines, following only California, New York, Washington, and Oregon. It is also no wonder that Virginia wines regularly win praise and medals in competitions and evaluations across the country, and, in fact, around the world.

Let’s be realistic: Virginia’s better-quality wines tend to cost in the $15-$30 per bottle range. Well, you may argue, that’s much higher than very good wines from Australia and California. I would counter, however, that you are comparing apples and oranges! Virginia’s better wines are, quite often, in the same league with California or Aussie or French or Italian offerings that would sell for two or three times as much!

What’s more, Virginia wineries produce some very well made everyday wines in the $12-dollar-and-under price range, comparable to similarly priced wines from elsewhere. For example, I recently taste-tested a very nice Rhone Valley white wine, made from the Rousanne, Marsanne, and Viognier grapes, that sells at my local wine market for just under ten bucks. It’s a real winner! However, for under eight bucks, Horton Vineyards’ (Orange County, VA) Stonecastle White, made with these same grapes, and a few others besides, is far superior (in my humble opinion).

So my point is? Well, if you are reading this column, you are probably a home winemaker. If you are like most home winemakers these days, you probably make most, if not all, of your wines from kits. These days, there are some mighty fine wine kits out there, and we are very lucky to have that industry working so hard to improve our winemaking hobby, as well as our wine drinking. Nonetheless, as a hobbyist winemaker, you may be missing out on a fantastic opportunity to make really special wines from fruit grown right here in Virginia.

Winemaking is truly a joy when the harvest is so bountiful. With the grapes available in ‘03 and ’04, the winemaking was, well, less than a joyful experience. Nonetheless, when I won medals in the Winemaker International Competition, and ribbons in the Home Wine competition of the Virginia State Fair, based on my wines from those less-than-perfect vintages, I felt true pride and satisfaction with my winemaking skills.

Know your grapes

Here is yet another chapter in our ongoing attempt to demystify the names of wines and wine grapes that you might be likely to encounter in your home winemaking experience.

Champagne: This is a term often used for any sparkling wine; however, it should properly be reserved for sparkling wines made in the Champagne region of France by the time-consuming process known as “the Champagne Method.” Champagne is made exclusively from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier grapes, or from a blend of two or al of these. The real “secret” of Champagne is the second fermentation, which takes place in the bottle. The wine is then stored in contact with the yeast cells created by this bottle fermentation for at least a couple of years—longer for really fine Champagne. Bottle aging is then followed by a complex procedure designed to force all the spent yeast down into the neck of the bottle, from which it is then expelled under pressure before the bottle is then topped up, corked and wired, ready for sale.

Chenin blanc: This white grape, which is native to the Loire Valley in France, is an incredibly versatile one. Chenin blanc makes clean, crisp food wines; big, fat, richly sweet dessert wines; fresh-tasting sparklers; and thousands of gallons of ordinary “plonk,” especially the flabby jug wines of California’s Central Valley. If you are buying a kit that features Chenin blanc, try to ascertain if, perhaps, it comes from Northern California, Northern France, or, perhaps, the Andean Foothills of Chile or Argentina. These are more likely to produce a really good wine than will a kit made from Central Valley grapes. Even so, Chenin can prove very surprising, so if the price is right, give it a try.

Chianti: Chianti is a red wine from the region of that same name that spans a large strip of central Tuscany, in West-Central Italy. Chianti’s “capital” is the City of Florence. Chianti wine is made principally from the Sangiovese grape, although small amounts of other grapes, including the white Tempranillo, may be included. It is difficult to characterize Chianti, for everyday varieties tend to be light-colored, light-bodied, easy-drinking wines. The perfect slosh for washing down spaghetti! However, fine Chiantis—and there are many of them—are dark, rich table wines with flavors of cherries mingled with leather, tobacco, and spices. The label “chianti” on a wine kit is virtually meaningless, unless you have some idea of what a particular company has in mind.

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For info on the Central Virginia Winemaker’s group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CentralVirginiaWinemakers/