Wine Making Archives - Wine Spotter

January 7, 2020August 28, 2024

Making a wine dream real in Friuli

Back in Friuli Venezia Giulia, in the small town of Ronchis di Torreano, I recently visited the work from Massimo Causero and Maria Chiara at Tralci di Vita vineyards.

Didn’t I know that their great wine was coming paired with a great story.

In his own words, Massimo was born to be a country side man and wine has been in the cards for him since childhood. Recollecting a recent event, one of his primary school teachers came to him remembering a story that had already faded from his mind: a task was given in the class to draw your future profession. Instead of doctor, engineer or architect, Massimo sketched bottles of wine. Each one bearing the name of a teacher on the label.

A few decades later, Massimo would find himself owning and managing a vineyard of his own. That bottle went out of the paper and into the hands of curious wine tasters.

Getting started in the vineyard

Since that drawing in the childhood, there was a long road until Massimo’s first bottle became real.

After obtaining the enotechnical and later the enology diploma, he went through about 10 years’ of practice working with different producers. As the experience gathered in his head and in his hands, the will to use that knowledge to express his own style increased.

At a point in time the stars finally aligned and his preparation met with an opportunity.

In the small town of Torreano, an elder couple invited him to take over the vineyard. He would be able to make it shine once more as the age was putting challenges for the old couple to run the business. Massimo and Maria Chiara decided to cross through that opened door, leaving everything behind, moving to Torreano and grasping their dream.

Philosophy behind Tralci di Vita

Tralci di Vita has about 3 hectares, with 10 varietals distributed partly in a flat area and part on a south facing hill. The production is of nearly 7 thousand bottles altogether.

Part of the production is sold in bulk (sfuso) and part in bottles. The first is aimed at the retention of long time clients who were buying wine at the property for years, from the previous owner. The bottled portion is where Massimo and Maria Chiara began to explore the potential of the land, producing wines from selected parcels and evaluating the results. It’s a simple but straight forward approach to segmenting the clients and keeping the cash flow under control.

The philosophy of the production highlights the integrity of the grape. The work is concentrated in the vines so that minimum intervention is required in the cellar. Customized pruning techniques, adapted to each varietal, help the vines give their best into the grapes.

Tasting Impressions

That philosophy is reflected in their style. The wines are delicate in the aroma and in the palate. The acidity is high, yet balanced with the structure, reflecting the colder weather of the area. Tannins are active but round, bringing life to the wine without being aggressive. The finishings are elegant but at the same time rustic. The signature ending notes of wild berries, slate and moist soil reminds you where the vines are located, and how the area smells like.

Some of their wines caught a bit more my attention. The Sauvignon Blanc, brings delicate white flowers and exotic fruit to the aromas despite the moderate to cold climate area. The Merlot is rich and boasts beautiful black cherries, dark chocolate, liquorice and the signature rustic closing of the Tralci di Vita vineyard.

Their Schiopettino was a great finding. Balanced from the start, presenting a wide range of spices in the palate and smoky tones, with cigar box and a bit of leather. This autoctonous grape had a strong decline during the late 19th and 20th centuries, it was saved from extinction in the 1970s and is now regaining the place among the local varietals it once had. That’s a similar story shared by Tazzelenghe, another jewel from the region.

According to Massimo, 10 years ago would be unthinkable to growth red grapes in the zone, especially thick skin ones such as Merlot. Climate change has created a warm pocket in the zone, opening for a potential that didn’t exist before.

Coming next to Tralci di Vita

Even if the vines are far from being young, ranging from 50 to 100 years old, it was actually the first vintage of Massimo and Maria Chiara at Tralci di Vita.

Their results are focused and makes me curious about what waits in the bottles in the next vintages.

Instead of fixing what is not working, the goal is to understand what are the strengths of the vineyard and excel on what is already great.

Having 10 grape varieties is a challenge to manage, especially during harvest. The different maturation times spreads the efforts between vineyard and the cellar for too long. The season last year went through 12 September until 28th October.

As the strengths from Tralci di Vita become transparent, the focus on quality would naturally impact their current segmentation. That would lead to an eventual reduction on sales of bulk wines and a gradual shift to the bottled selection.

Massimo and Maria Chiara said that their vision was to give people something of their own. A piece of their dedication, their dream, their work, their culture, a piece of their life… and that’s how the name “Tralci di Vita” came about.

By the time of this post, their website was still under construction. The way to reach out to them for a visit and for purchasing wine was either by email ([email protected]) or their Facebook page.

October 12, 2019August 28, 2024

Unlucky with corked wine

Odds were not much in my favour this past week when it comes to corked wine. Three different bottles, at three different locations, all tainted.

It had been a fair while since I have found cork taint. It can be a real turn off when it happens on that bottle and at that occasion.

What is corked wine?

It’s a wine fault that gives the wine a range of unwelcoming scents, suppressing the freshness and fruity aromas. Those only get detected later, after aging, bottling and while serving the wine. This fault occurs regardless of the quality and price level of the bottle.

A corked wine is safe to drink, though the smell can be off putting and render the whole experience not a pleasant one.

Why does wine get corked?

The main cause of cork taint is the presence of the chemical compound 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) in the wine.

That’s a powerful chemical that can impact the wine even if in really small amounts. The human nose is highly sensitive to the TCA molecule and can perceived it already at about 10 parts per trillion (ppt). That’s smaller than the volume contained in a coffee spoon poured into an full Olympic swimming pool.

TCA is generated from a really specific interaction between cellulose, chlorine and mold. It is commonly formed in the cork and gets transferred to the wine overtime while stored. However, the taint can originate anywhere in the winery where wet surfaces (allowing mold to develop) and chlorine based cleaning products are easily found. TCA can start forming on those places and find it’s way into the wine bottle through barrels, transport systems, wine cases and others.

How often does it happen?

Not that often. The numbers used to be higher in the past, reaching around 9% in 2007, based on a research done in Napa Valley. The wine industry, however, estimates that the rate of corked wines is around 2% nowadays. That 2% can become irrelevant, though, if taint comes to happen exactly on your special bottle.

The reduction in the incidence of TCA in wines is due to new practices being adopted by cork producers and wine makers. Those include:

change in the chemicals used to treat the cork
adoption of synthetic corks and screw caps
reduction in the use of chlorine in the facilities

How to recognize if the wine is corked?

The descriptors mostly aligned with a corked wine are:

Wet card board/newspaper
Wet dog
Dump basement/carpet

Some people are more sensitive to TCA than others and can detect the scents in lower thresholds.

TCA is also known to be a powerful suppressor of olfactory signals. In low levels it might not be strong enough to produce the descriptors above but instead, it can mute the freshness in the wine. If you don’t perceive the expected floral and fruity notes in a wine that is known to you, there is a chance that low TCA levels are impairing your experience. This compound was found to be over a thousand times more effective than other odor blockers used in making perfumes.

What can you do about it?

Unfortunately, there is not much we can do about it. Once TCA gets into the wine there is no way to neutralize it. Actually, if you aerate the wine in a decanter it will increase the effect of the compound.

If you really want to try and improve a corked wine, there are filtration systems you could experiment with at your own curiosity. One of them consists on passing the wine through a sponge of polyethylene. Technically, the TCA molecule has an affinity for the molecule of this plastic, attaching to each other during the filtering. I haven’t tried it yet as I generally don’t carry a block of polyethylene with in my pocket.

In most restaurants or wine stores, you still have the option of returning the bottle if you perceive the wine to be corked. You might be able to get your money back but, unfortunately, not the spoiled occasion.

My thoughts on corked wine

The growing adoption of screw caps and other synthetic materials to seal wine bottles have been reducing the risk of TCA in wine. The use of chlorine in wine producing facilities for cleaning purposes has also been avoided. Still, the risk always lingers… no matter how expensive your bottle.

It is really a bummer when you are saving that wine in a special night, only to find out at the first seconds of service that it’s tainted.

A good story to tell and a great bottle as a back up can do the trick on shifting gears on the discussion. I also found that people are genuinely curious to smell a corked wine and understand what it is like, given that it’s not that common.

Nevertheless, that also makes part of the experience of sharing a bottle of wine. Maybe not for the reasons you expected but, sometimes, a tainted bottle can create a better story than the wine it was holding.

August 29, 2019August 28, 2024

Going Organic in Cartizze

In a period in which Prosecco sales are soaring and their volume surpasses the one of Champagne, the world turn their eyes to Valdobbiadene. The heart of Prosecco production.

Crowning the pyramid of the Prosecco hierarchy we find Cartizze.

Cartizze, the Prosecco Grand Cru?

Cartizze is a hilly area of about 107 hectares, just outside Valdobbiadene. The microclimate in this valley creates a special condition that helps creating this particular style of Prosecco.

The hills face south, keeping the vines exposed to the sun for the whole day without having one vine casting shadow over another. This leads to better maturation and higher sugar levels than in any other Prosecco production area.

The valley also creates a sort of air tunnel, keeping the vines ventilated. This constant air flow facilitates adoption of sustainable practices, since the climate helps keeping fungal diseases away.

The soil is also a key feature in this production area. The mix of sand and layers of clay facilitate drainage, while keeping the right amount of moist on the roots. The grapes don’t “suffer” as much as in other neighboring areas, which is often desired, but evolve to healthy fruits.

The combination of these aspects gives the Prosecco from Cartizze differentiated levels of complexity, depth and elegance.

The Winemaker

On a recent trip to the region I connected with Pietro De Conti, from Pdc (similarity between the acronym for his name and the vineyard label is not a coincidence).

After travelling the world and spending a fair time in Australia, Pietro came back to his origins in the family business. His vision is to evolve the expression of glera (key grape in the production of Prosecco), specialize in Cartizze only and narrow the gap between the producer and the final consumer.

A firm believer in the concept of the terroir in the region (a good place to be if we are talking about Cartizze) Pdc has 100% glera in their Prosecco. Technically, the DOCG demands a minimum of 85% of glera in Prosecco. The remaining 15% is generally a blend with Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco, among others.

The harvest here begins ahead of time compared to most grapes. For sparkling wine production, the required levels of acidity are pretty high, which leads to picking the grapes at early ripening stages. All the grapes are hand-picked and the 10 people team completes the harvest in just a bit over 4 hours. The work starts really early in the morning in order to prevent the fermentation from kicking off ahead of time under the sun. The short distances to be covered allow the grapes to leave the vines and reach the pressing in less than an hour.

By the figures above you can imagine already that the production is not that large. They top 10 thousand bottles a year only, between their Brut and the Dry styles.

Challenges of going Organic in Cartizze

While Valdobbiadene has gained media spotlights with their soaring production, there is a shadow lingering over this success. It’s been years since several parties have been calling attention to the heavy use of synthetic pesticides in the region.

It’s a tough change to make when the soil has got already addicted to the long-term use of such chemicals.

Europe has been looking for a role model to follow on how to transition to more sustainable practices, and it seems they are slowly rising.

Bordeaux saw several cases of soil deterioration and intoxication of workers in the vineyards. After a lot of pressure from entities and good will from associations, actions came into play. At the core of the right bank, Saint-Émilion passed a measurement mandating sustainable farming in the region, starting with the 2019 vintage. That will impact nearly 1000 wine growers alone.
While a mandate doesn’t come in other regions, organic practices depend on patience and risk tolerance of a few producers.Pdc is part of this selected few. Pietro believes in the natural health of the soil for the plants to shine. Starting with the 2019 vintage, Pdc will have the organic certification stamped on their wine labels.

That is an epic achievement, considering the efforts to remain organic in the region. Cooperation with neighboring producers is needed so that your own vines are not contaminated by their spraying. Another producer in Valdobbiadene explained to me that despite adopting organic practices, up to 20% of his production cannot be eligible to be bottled as organic. The vines on his property that are too close to his neighbors, that are non-organic producers, often get contaminated. Often happens that the concentration of chemicals on these vines go over the maximum levels allowed to comply as organic.

Pdc wines

Pietro brought home ideas on customer care learned abroad. You clearly notice a differentiated approach at the modern tasting room, personalized tasting materials, communication with final consumers and the full use of digital content in their premises.

PdC is also trying to provide orientation to visitors in the region. Extending the experience from the vineyard to restaurant recommendations, cultural activities and a bit of history from the area.

Their 100% glera sparkling wines come in two styles: Cartizze Brut and Dry.

Both with beautiful and persistent perlage, the range of aromas is wide enough to be entertaining but straight enough to keep it fun and not too serious. Summery opening with acacia flowers, white peaches, pear, grapefruit and some minor herbal notes with sage and thyme. Long finish with lemon zest, bitter almonds and a bit of wet slate adding minerality to the palate.

Something close to my heart is the view of having the wine as an experience. The more ingrained the story gets into the wine, more meaning you see on each sip.

June 2, 2018August 28, 2024

Difference between organic and biodynamic wines

Consumers have been showing a growing interest about the origins of their food and drink, while the demand for sustainable practices gets stronger across the markets. When it comes to wine, UK alone has seen a growth of 15% on the consumption of organic and biodynamic wine, compared to the previous year.

The market share of organic and biodynamic products is still relatively small, but they are getting traction from consumer demand and you will be seeing more of them in the shelves.

But what are organic wines, to start with? And how are they different from the biodynamic ones? Are they any different in taste? In the end, why should you care?

Organic Wines

Simply put, organic wines are produced without the use of synthetic pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. This requires the adoption of a series of sustainable practices to ensure proper maintenance of the vines.

The regulation of organic wines is heavily focused on restricting the use of chemicals, but there are differences on how these rules are defined around the globe. In the USA, organic wines cannot have added sulfites. In the EU however, the addition of sulfites might not prevent a wine from getting the “organic” stamp. The EU regulation defines a maximum level of sulfites for organic wines which is lower than the non-organic ones. This allows sulfites to be added as long as the total concentration is under this level.

The use of certain additives such as gelatin or egg whites for fining, or yeast to speed up the fermentation is permitted. Also, practices that still don’t have a substitute in the market might be used in the production, with certain restrictions. Those include heat treatments, filtration, reverse osmosis and the use of ion exchange resins.

The regulation for organic wines in the EU became official in 2012. All wines complying with the requirements have been bearing the green leaf logo on the bottle since then.

In the US, the Department of Agriculture is responsible for the organic certification. The bottles that comply with the country regulations can show a “USDA-Certified Organic” stamp.

In the absence of chemicals, a set of practices come into play to manage the health of the vines. As example, we have the so called “sexual confusion”, in which pheromone pods are placed around the vineyard. It has shown to be effective especially against white moths. The way it works is that the essence confuses the male insects reducing the changes of the female insects being fertilized.

Another practice is to use cover crops (clover, ryegrass, barley, dandelions). Each one brings a different kind of mineral to the system. They can be also ploughed and mixed into the soil, helping to fix nitrogen, among others.

Biodynamic wines

Imagine a wine production going even further into wearing the hat of sustainability, to the point that it’s all grounded in a philosophical stream.

Biodynamics are much closer to a philosophy than to just a series of sustainable practices. It adopts a holistic approach to farming, seeing it as a complex system of inter-dependencies between animals, soil, plants, weather and even planetary alignments. The practices look at fostering a healthy and sustainable balance between all those elements. If there is any type of unbalance in this chain, the treatment is done with natural materials applied in specific ways to the soil, compost, and crops, with the intention of engaging non-physical entities and elements.

The philosophy is wide and complex. We can compare it to lenses through which you see and interpret the world, that eventually dictates how you manage agricultural practices.

The concepts of biodynamics were created by the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner. He started applying it 1924, to help a group of farmers fixing recurring issues in the fields.

The biodynamic certification for farms and products is managed worldwide by Demeter International.

Natural wine (or vin naturel)

I am commenting also on a third category of wines that is often mentioned in the context of organic and biodynamic products. “Natural” wines (or frequently referred to “vin Naturel” in Europe) are a bit of a question mark. The practices around their production are not standardized nor the use of the term is regulated in the industry.

Natural wines use organically or biodynamically produced grapes. The vinification process is oriented towards letting the environment do its job creating the wine. While in organic and biodynamic productions we still have a steering hand from the winemaker designing the wine, natural wines are produced with as little intervention as possible from the human side.

No yeast is used. The wild yeast (naturally found on the skin of the grapes) is the one responsible for the job of converting the grape juice into wine. It adds a bit of complexity and new flavors, but at the same time the results might be a bit unpredictable. Since there are no control over the concentration of yeast or even the presence of other fermenting agents, each wine might have its own personality to some extent.

Filtration and finning are also not used. For this reason, you will often find natural wines to have sediments and look cloudy.

No correction is done. Meaning that the acidy and sugar levels in the wine are defined by the natural process as well. Reinforcing the name of this wine category.

Sulfites are not added during the process either.

When it comes to the experience, in my opinion, natural wines are not for every taste. The wild yeast and the natural style of the production help developing wild flavors and textures in the wine. Aeration and decanting can help taming some of those before enjoying the first sip.

In between organic and biodynamic wines, we also find half-ways. You might have already come across wines with “made with organic grapes” or “made with biodynamic grapes” printed on the labels. Despite the fact that these wines were produced from grapes that undergo organic or biodynamic practices, the overall production processes were not that strict. In this case, they didn’t qualify for having the organic or bio stamp on the bottle. As an example, it is not uncommon to find wines “made with organic grapes” in which sulfites were added, in order to extend the life time of the wine.

So why hasn’t everybody shifted to organic or biodynamic wines yet?

Higher costs, production risks and consistency on the profile of the wines are key challenges when stepping out of traditional processes and into the world of organic and biodynamic wines.

Not all producers can afford hand harvest. If trying to compensate for the costs, the price of the wine will rise and it will start competing with wines in higher tranches, with potentially higher quality standards.

Risks can be harder to manage. It is surely concerning to see your winery pilling up with bottles of wine that have a much shorter lifetime than traditional wines from the same category. That’s the case when wines are low on sulfites, one of the key elements for preventing wines to become vinegar too soon.

If a producer praises consistency on the profile and quality of the wines, it’s uncomfortable to pass that responsibility to practices that actually reduce your control over the final product. If we look at Pinot Noir, which is known to be a moody grape, it is much more challenging to have it thriving organically, without the use of synthetic herbicides and fertilizers.

There is still a lot of discussion on how to approach the use of sulfites when it comes to the regulations. Even if organic wines have no added sulfites (in the case of the US regulations), it doesn’t mean they are sulfites free. As seen in a previous post, sulfites are a natural byproduct of the fermentation. They have a very important role in preserving the wine due to its antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Without the added sulfites the aging potential of the wine is compromised. This means that natural, organic and biodynamic wines, in general, are not designed to age and have a shorter life cycle.

The market is tough and the industry is still very traditional in great part. Relying on centuries of knowledge built around viticulture feels safer than experimenting with new practices, and putting your source of income at risk.

Little changes might take time to materialize, but they are slowly happening.

After thoughts and trends

The public has been creating a growing pressure to have chemicals abandoned from food production. It has been a significant driving force for more eco-friendly practices, natural and chemical-free products.

The push is not only coming from consumers but also from people that are being directly impacted by the use of chemicals.

Bordeaux is a large producing region known to use pesticides in the vineyards for a long time. After reported cases of sick workers and growing popular pressure, they started to set an example in the industry. Saint Emilion is mandating with the 2019 vintage, that every bottle produced in the area will have been made from grapes grown with sustainable farming methods, such as organic or biodynamic viticulture. The mandate is being enforced by the local wine council for four Bordeaux appellations. Any wine not farmed sustainably may only be bottled as generic Bordeaux.

Wine producing regions have created a micro ecosystem over the years with the traditional viticulture.

Questions have been raised among farmers and professionals in agriculture on whether the change on methods and treatments would help new diseases to appear.

Great part of the wine producing regions today don’t have vines that are native from their ecosystems. Agricultural techniques and synthetic products, to some extent, had their role in the beginning to have the vines thriving. Since then, technology and understanding of the environment has increased massively and we are in a better position now to look at how to produce great wine, sustainably.