Wines "big word" of the week! What the heck is a "Oak's Purpose?"

 
Sherry barrel showing the aging process                   


Oak drying before being made into barrels

In the United States, white oak, grown in Virginia, Missouri, Kentucky, Oregon, and Ohio, is the species used for barrels. It is preferred over red and black oak due to its tighter grain which minimizes evaporation of wine from the barrel and its resistance to shrinkage after wine is removed, an important feature in preventing wine from leaking out of a newly-filled barrel, and its high tannin content.

French white oak is harvested from several different forests in France. The Forests are Limousin, Alliers, Vosges, Troncais and Nevers, each producing oak that imparts slightly different nuances of flavor to the wine. The tightness of the grain, which determines the rate of extraction of these flavors, also varies among forests. Winemakers typically use a blend of barrels from different forests to take advantage of the unique characteristics of each.

The porous nature of an oak barrel allows some levels of evaporation and oxygenation to occur. In a year, the typical 59-gallon barrel can lose anywhere from 5½ to 6½ gallons of wine through the course of evaporation. This allows the wine to concentrate its flavor and aroma compounds. Small amounts of oxygen are allowed to pass through the barrel and act as a softening agent upon the tannins of the wine. Phenols within the wood interact with the wine to produce vanilla type flavors and can give the impression of tea notes or sweetness. The degree of "toast" on the barrel can also impart different properties affecting the tannin levels of the wine as well as the aggressive wood flavors.

Ksana Bonarda

Ksana refers to the Buddhist idea of infinity in an instant.
Ripe and round, with inviting plum, chocolate and spice notes allied to a fleshy, mouthfilling frame

Lamadrid Torrontes

Delightful with typical La Rioja Torrontés aromas of white flowers and citrus, with a well-balanced and ample mouthfeel. Comes from a high altitude vineyard planted in the 1920's in La Rioja.

La Madrid Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Opaque purple; smoke, Asian spices, scorched earth, cassis; complex, lengthy, way over-delivers.
100% Lamadrid vineyard. Malolactic fermentation in the oak, and aged 14 months in 60% first use and 40% second use French oak barrels.

La Bastide Blanche Bandol Rose 2010

Mourvedre, with Grenache and Cinsault

it's dry but fruity enough to give it some body., ending with a smack of balanced acidity. There is some twist like wild strawberries, white pepper or a combination of herbs that makes it stand out above the rest.  Best rose of the year.

Serenity Cellars Traminette, GA



Roses, roses, roses. This delightful full-bodied white has aromas of fresh cut roses and citrus. Traminette is a multilayered wine exhibiting flavors of grapefruit and Granny Smith apple with nuances of apricot, which lead to a pleasingly long finish.

Helana Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon, California

 

Straight up California GOODNESS! Nice structure and good fruit leads to an easy-pleasy finish!

Wines "big word" of the week! What the heck is a "Biodynamic?"

A vineyard that is certified Biodynamic© meets and typically exceeds the standards and regulations for organic certified farming.

The term "Biodynamic" (now a copyrighted term) refers to an agricultural movement that gained ground in the 1920s and was defined by Dr. Rudolf Steiner, a professor and philosopher from Austria. The goal of Biodynamics is to get a vineyard, a farmyard or a backyard to be largely self-sustaining, utilizing waste products from one zone as fuel for another area. Vines grown under a Biodynamic© management system, are viewed not as a single "row of vines" but as a small (albeit vital) piece of the whole vineyard structure. It's been said that Biodynamics© look at the vineyard or farm as a "living, breathing organism" itself from the soil to the sun, all striving for a well-balanced ecosystem that is self-sustaining.

Dows White Port

Dow’s Fine White is made from selected white grapes (principally Malvasia Fina and Gouveio--better known as Verdelho). It ages mainly in wood, gaining a rich golden color and an intense, rich, nutty, aromatic complexity. A certain amount of wine is not wood-aged and is blended in to add freshness and fruit character. On the palate, balanced and smooth, with excellent acidity and a long finish.

Serve with tonic water on ice. The combination is interesting and refreshing, as the bitter flavors of the tonic are tempered by the sweetness from the Port.
Or a glass of the White Port on ice, as it is traditionally drunk in Portugal. Nose of orange marmalade, honey, nutty, a little bit floral and fragrant.

Casa Silva Pinot Noir

Depth of flavors range from cherry to cola can be explosive when you take in the wines bright acidity and gentle tannins making for a versatile and embracing value!

Valera Monastrell

 

In the Rhone Valley, French vintners have long made stylish wine from Mourvèdre. Less polished, but perhaps more striking, is this Mourvèdre (known in Spain as Monastrell) from the backwaters of Spain, in the arid climes of Bullas. With aromas of plum preserves, soy, and sage blossom, this is a powerfully authentic wine that wears its caballero saddle-leather personality with panache.

Wines "big word" of the week! What the heck is a "Sommelier?"

A restaurant employee who orders and maintains the wines sold in the restaurant and usually has extensive knowledge about wine and food pairings.
French, from Old French, officer in charge of provisions, pack-animal driver, alteration of *sommerier, from sommier, beast of burden, from Vulgar Latin *saumrius; see summer [A period of fruition, fulfillment, happiness, or beauty.]

Martina Prieta Verdejo

Verdejo thrives in the mesa, but needs to be harvested with extreme precision, utilizing the best of technologies to capture the purity of fruit. This wine is among the very best fresh white wines of the world; one that delights the palate with stinging nettles, ripe pineapple, dried mint, and pencil dust.

Gio Cato Pinot Grigio

Appealing soft fruit aromas, in a style that is somewhere between light and medium weight, the wine offers refreshment. You get a peek into what’s happening in Slovenia. Good deal. Good wine comes from Slovenia. This small country is between southeastern Austria and northeastern Italy, places curious drinkers know as consistent sources of good wine. Primorska is the western slice of Slovenia. It is the nation’s most prosperous area, a bilingual region with flourishing viticulture and maritime commerce. Primorska has historical links to Italy: it was conquered and annexed by the Italians in 1918, then split between Italy and Yugoslavia after World War II. Sharing some characteristics with the best from Friuli and Venezia Giulia but also marked with a style that is distinctly Slovenian. Wines here tend to be riper, textural, made with larger barrels, and more exposure to natural yeast and oxygen. These characteristics have come to symbolize the growing Slovenian wine industry.

The Estate is right on the border between two worlds. Use of no herbicides in 10 hectares of vines. The wines are all fermented in French barrel, and show a ripeness both formed by proper farming and cellar technique, and by the estate’s proximity to the sea.

Fog Dog Pinot Noir

Intense perfumed bouquet of violets, red cherry, tangerine, and black tea. Hints of roasted coffee and creamy oak in the background. Great balance and tremendous aromatics. Rich color, earthy, spicy notes and a big mouthful of Rainier cherries, tangerine zest and tea leaves followed by a refined but persistent tannin backbone and fresh, lively acidity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainier_cherry

Wines "big word" of the week! What the heck is "Fining?"

Wine before fining.

In wine-making, fining is the process where a substance (fining agent) is added to the wine to create an adsorbent, enzymatic or ionic bond with the suspended particles, making them a larger molecule that can precipitate out of the wine easier and quicker. Given enough time many of these suspended particles would gradually precipitate out on their own.
White wines are fined to remove particles that may cause the wine lose color as well as removing heat-unstable proteins that could cause the wine to appear hazy. Red wines are fined for the same reason but also for the added benefit of reducing the amount of bitter, astringent tannins which makes these wines smoother and more approachable sooner after bottling and release. Ancient fining agents, such as dried blood powder were used, but today there are two types organic compounds and solid/mineral materials.

Organic compounds used as fining agents are generally animal based, which may bring concerns for a vegan diet. Most common organic include egg whites, casein derived from milk, gelatin and isinglass obtained from the bladders of fish. Solid materials can also be used as fining agents with bentonite clay. Activated carbon derived from charcoal removes some phenols that contribute to browning colors as well "off-odors" in the wine. Other inorganic materials use include silica and kaolin.

Some countries require the use of fining agents that may be an allergenic substance to appear on the wine label, as there may be trace amounts of the substance still in the wine. However a study conducted by the UC, Davis Department of Viticulture found that no detectable amount of inorganic fining agents.

As with filtration, there is the risk of some loss of flavor with fining with desirable flavor molecules going out with undesirable particles. Production processes get as much flavor and aromatics from the phenols before they are removed. Fining is considered a less harsh process than filtration.