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Grapes Unraveled - A Series of Articles
“The Inside Scoop”
by: Shaun Hatton, Bacchus Director of Operations
January 2007 - King "Cabernet"
Cabernet Sauvignon is considered the King of all grapes. While being challenged recently by Merlot and the hot selling Shiraz/ Syrah wines, it is still one of the world’s most popular and widely planted red wine grape varieties, even here at Bacchus. It’s deep, rich, and complex characteristics are the reason for it’s worldwide appeal.
Cabernet Sauvignon is a great wine for oak ageing and is arguably the most age-worthy dry wine produced. Many of them require a few years of ageing for them to show their great potential. But don’t think that all Cabernet’s need years and years to age. The region of growth for the grape is the big kicker. Although having similar characteristics, cabernets from Napa Valley will differentiate in flavors and complexity to Lodi or other regions of California.
When drinking Cabernet Sauvignon it is important to remember it’s versatility. Its aromas and flavors range from a cherry, black currant, blackberry, plum, and blueberry or jammy fruitiness to a range of complex spices, not to mention the oak influence bringing cedar, smoke, and vanilla to this elegant wine.
So to help you with your next big decision on what to make this year, consider the King “Cabernet Sauvignon”. It can be successfully made on its own and has consistently been our dominant blending grape. Just ask our master winemakers!
February 2006 - Racking Wine
Racking is the removal of sediment (termed lees) from the bottom of the wine barrel or container. The racking period is a very simple process and can be considered as a quality control procedure in winemaking, typically done after the wine has had some time to settle in the wine barrel or container. This process is necessary because the sediment is composed of dead yeast cells. If this sediment is left in the barrel the dead yeast cells will start to decompose and rot, once this happens the wine enters a danger zone.
During the racking period, sulfer dioxide gas is released through the airlock (pressure release bung) on top of the barrel and this reduces the wines protective qualities. It is therefore necessary to replenish this protection, and this is done with the addition of potassium metabisulfate (aka...sulfite.) Now don’t be alarmed, you wont even know it’s there. Thank you and hope to see you all soon!
November 2005 - Barrel Facts
This unusually late harvest was caused by the slow ripening of the grapes. Temperatures were more moderate than usual during the summer months slowing down that ripening allowing the grapes to reach optimum maturity without the problems of excess sugars. Many winemakers in
California
are even going as far as saying that the grapes of the 2005 Harvest could exceed the quality of the fantastic 1997 season.
Being that the 2005 Harvest is about 2 weeks later than usual, your wines would not benefit being in the barrel an extra 2 weeks. Ageing wine in newer oak barrels gives the wine nice vanilla and oak essences which really benefit the heavier style wines like Cabernet, Barbera, and some Merlots. However you must be careful, some of your lighter wines like California Brunellos, Zinfandels, and few others can sometimes get overpowered by the newer oak barrel ageing. These newer oak barrels are all medium toasted allowing the introduction of tannins into your wine and this is what you would taste in some of these lighter wines (like biting into the stem of a grape). Tannin is that substance that is considered the backbone of a wine, allowing the wine to reach full maturity as those tannins begin to soften. By using an older broken in oak barrel, you are not going to pick up much tannin or oak flavors. After 3 years these barrels just become a storage container just like ageing in glass. If you reserved a barrel of wine and let it sit for 24 months in a 5 year old barrel a similar result would come from putting that same wine into a bottle for that extra year. The wine will soften due to the tannins and the wine will lose its edge or bite. Happy winemaking! See You All Soon!
October 2005 - Crush Season
Bacchus Winemaking Club experienced yet another great crush season. The late harvest caused the grapes to ripen and produce beautiful fruit. This unusually late harvest was caused by the slow ripening of the grapes. Temperatures were more moderate than usual during the summer months slowing down the ripening and allowing the grapes to reach optimum maturity without the problems of excess sugars. Many winemakers in California are even going as far as saying that the grapes of the 2005 harvest could exceed the quality of the fantastic 1997 season.
Being that the 2005 harvest is about 2 weeks later than usual, your wines would not benefit being in the barrel an extra 2 weeks. Aging wine in newer oak barrels gives the wine nice vanilla and oak essences which really benefits the heavier style wines like Cabernet, Barbera, and some Merlots. However you must be careful, some of your lighter wines like California Brunellos, Zinfandels, and a few others can sometimes get overpowered by newer oak barrel aging.
The newer oak barrels are all medium toasted allowing the introduction of tannins into your wine and this is what you would taste in some lighter wines (like biting into the stem of a grape). Tannin is that substance that is considered the backbone of wine, allowing the wine to reach full maturity as those tannins begin to soften. By using an older broken-in oak barrel, you are not going to pick up much tannin or oak flavor. After 3 years these barrels just become a storage container just like aging in glass. If you reserved a barrel of wine and let it sit for 24 months in a 5 year old barrel a similar result would come from putting that same wine into a bottle for that extra year. The wine will soften due to the tannins and the wine will loose its edge or bite. Happy Winemaking! See you all Soon!
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