Harvest 2012

Our 2012 Harvest season kind of snuck up on us, as we started picking about 3 weeks earlier than normal this year. We actually started bringing grapes in on August 1^st, as our Edelweiss was more than ready. That is the earliest we have ever started picking, and we probably could have started even a few days earlier, which would have been crazy to start in July! The cool thing about Edelweiss is that it has a very fragrant aroma that wafts through the vineyards when it becomes ripe, and it was very evident the days before we picked.

The other unusual thing I noticed, was that most times when we hit the 95+ mark in heat, is that most plants will shut down and not continue do produce. With grapes, we like to see those nice warm days and cool nights in order to bring our sugar content up, but usually the plants won’t move as quick when it gets as hot as it has been. However, the vines seemed to thrive in this hot weather and have reached sugar levels that I haven’t experienced here in Nebraska before. In all the other years we’ve harvested grapes (and this will be our 16^th year of harvest at JAV), we’ve been able to push certain varieties along but they seem to plateau at a certain brix (the sugars in the grape) and we go ahead and pick them as long as the pH and acids all fall in line. This year the sugars just kept climbing. LaCrosse has been a perfect example. In most years, I’m happy when we can hit 17 or 18 brix. This year, we harvested our LaCrosse here at JAV at 23 brix. That’s quite a bit of difference.

What I’m finding is that we have some very sweet and intense flavors to work with this year, because I believe the grapes are feeling some stress from the weather conditions we’ve experienced. However, because of the lack of rain, our yields have been down. The grapes just aren’t as plump as they normally are. Of course, every year is a bit different and time will tell as to how this harvest will shape up, but the signs are encouraging that we should have some very nice wines from the 2012 vintage.

We wrapped most of the harvest up by September 1st…which is usually when we’re just in the full swing of things!  I’ve come to believe that in growing grapes, the abnormal is normal when we start talking about harvest!

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The Grape Journey

Being a winemaker automatically makes me an expert on wine, right? Nothing could be further from the truth…it just gives me a unique opportunity to work every day with something that holds a certain mystique and romance to many people. The wine I make is just a microcosm to what goes on in the winemaking world. With close to 7000 wineries, just in the US alone, and over 5000 grape varieties in the world, there is always something new and interesting to learn about wine. Having said that, and because of what I do for a living, perhaps I can provide some interesting insight to those interested, and maybe enough information to help start understanding the many nuisances of wine. In turn, hopefully this can open up a new world for some, enhancing the wine experience and lead to more questions and exploring as much as we can about wine.

Many times throughout the day in the tasting room, I’m asked, “What wine would you suggest” or “I’m not a wine connoisseur, what should I like.” I can certainly tell people about the wine, how’s it made or how to use all their senses in tasting wine, but the think I can’t do is tell them if they like the wine or not. That is purely a personal decision based on a moment in time. That to me is the most beautiful and truly amazing experience about tasting wine…is that is should be a personal epiphany every time you take a sip of what writer Robert Louis Stevenson called “bottled poetry.”

Hopefully, through future posts I can provide some interesting and entertaining tidbits of information that will be helpful long the journey of discovering the wonderful world of wine. A journey that will undoubtedly hold some incredible new experiences, and create even more of a thirst to understand wine and all the wonders it holds.

Choosing A Wine

I’ll be the first to admit, wine can be a little intimidating. And, with so many selections, choosing that perfect wine can be somewhat harrowing. But in reality, it should be all that difficult.

When choosing a wine, the 1^st thing to take in consideration is to ask why? Why are we buying/selecting this wine? Is it for a nice romantic dinner…or perhaps a celebration of some sort? Once that is determined, the next steps often become much easier, and help to narrow down the choices.
The next question should be what? If serving with that romantic dinner, what is the food it will be served with? If you’re in the market for wine as a gift, is it for a business associate or very close friend…if they’re a wine drinker, what do they normally drink? If for a special occasion, does it call for champagne or perhaps something a little less serious and fun? By asking why and what, we can easily slide in the next question of how much?

How much are you looking to spend on that bottle of wine? Here it gets a bit more tricky. I’ve had some beautiful $5 bottles of wine that were every bit as good as a bottle of wine that was much more expensive. Perhaps your romantic dinner consists of burgers off the grill (hey, I’m a guy…a good grilled burger can be romantic!). Then perhaps an inexpensive, easy to drink red may work just fine. Let’s say the wine is for that close personal friend that you only want the best for…then maybe it calls for something a little more pricey to show how much they mean to you. Once those questions have been thought through, it’s time to choose that wine that best fits the situation. If there is still some question as to what the best choice is, don’t be afraid to ask the tasting room manager, or even the winemaker. Or liquor managers and servers are usually very well versed in helping to make the appropriate choices.

There’s no better feeling in the world when you make that perfect selection!

Cork, Plastic, or Screwtops...Making the Choice

A common question I get during tours here at JAV, is about closures, “what’s the best, natural cork, plastic cork or screwtops?” Right now it may be the biggest debate in our industry.
Let me start by saying that, at JAV we use natural cork. It’s what we started with nearly 15 years ago, and we haven’t deviated from it. However, I personally have no issues with synthetic corks (besides the fact that sometimes they can be tough to pull out), and our bottling line is also set up to do screw tops if we ever decide to go that route. Here’s what I think are the pros and cons of all 3 closures.

Natural Cork
     Pros:

1. It’s the industry standard, so there must be something good going on there. In fact, most research shows that natural cork is still used in about 70% of wines sold in the US.
2. It’s environmentally friendly, and since it comes from the cork tree without damaging the tree, it is a perfect example of a renewable resource.

     Cons:

1. Corks can dry up and will easily break when being pulled (although proper storage…wine stored on its side or upside) can many times eliminate the problem. Dry corks can also allow oxygen to penetrate into the wine causing it to oxidize  and eventually spoil.
2. Natural cork can sometimes acquire cork taint caused by the chemical trichlorsanisole (TCA) which leads to tainted wine.

Synthetic Cork
Pros:

1. Elimination of TCA and spoilage.

Cons:

1. Made from material that is not biodegradable (some synthetic corks are recyclable however).
2. Some research shows that some synthetic cork can impact a slight chemical flavor to wine.

Screw Tops
Pros:

1. Allows no oxygen to penetrate wine.
2. Easy to open, no cork screw skills required!

Cons:

1. Perception that wine is cheap…not high quality.
2. Miss the romance of not having the cork “pop” and the history and tradition of that process.

Having said all that, a recent survey suggests that perhaps the discussion about closures is more common place among wine professionals than the general public. Among a number of regular wine drinkers surveyed by Merrill Partners Research, showed that closure type is not among their top 3 reasons for buying a wine. It only became an issue when there was a problem!

On a personal note, every once in a great while, we come across a wine that has gone bad because of a bad cork, although I have seen reports that show corkage problems can occur in as high as 6% of all naturally corked wines…again, my experience is much lower than that.

Most of our personal buying isn’t based on what kind of closure the wine has, but other factors. However, I do have to say when at a nice restaurant I do miss the romance of hearing the pop and examining the cork that screw tops just don’t offer. My suggestion is that when looking for a good red wine that has aged, look for the natural cork. Otherwise, Enjoy the wines you want to try no matter what closure they have!

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