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Newsletter # 03 |
March Release - 1998 Syrah When we began this winery, I vowed not to engage in the tried and true practice of over-romanticizing the winemaking process. After years of working for wineries whose back labels could have been written by Jack Handy (Saturday Night Live’s Deep Thoughts), I’ve decided it is best to let the wine speak for itself, and answer questions regarding the process in a straightforward manner. Those of you who have already tasted the wine may proceed directly to the order form. I look forward to hearing from you. How do you like the 1998 Syrah? This is the best wine we’ve made in our short history as a winery or as home winemakers. How does it compare to the 1997? 1998 was a cooler growing season, which gave us gorgeous grapes that were more physiologically ripe than the previous year. We harvested the grapes October 7th, a full month later than ’97. There is a brightness of fruit (blueberry and blackberry) I had yet to experience from this vineyard. This concentration of high-tone fruit seems to carry the gamey nature of our Syrah well. The wine, at 14.4% alcohol, has the body of the 1997 without the touch of astringency. It is very well balanced. Any differences in winemaking? Yes. The 1998 Syrah was produced in a very non-sexy manner. Our grapes were fermented in closed top tanks exclusively, compared to the ’97, which included one 5-ton open top tank. The process of transferring our wine immediately after fermentation to our winery across the valley from Quivira forced us to rack this wine 3 more times prior to barrel aging. By virtue of these logistics, we discovered that aeration can help eliminate any off-odors commonly found in freshly fermented Syrah. The ’98 was bottled bare naked, code for unfined and unfiltered, compared to the ’97 which needed a light egg white fining to tone down the tannins. We did very little to this wine once it was in barrel. What about oak? We still have a "What about it attitude" towards oak. We prefer Rhone wines to Australian Shiraaaz, so we are not big fans of wines that are obliterated with the taste and smell of wood. Traditional Rhone producers use very old large barrels, but occasionally the funk factor within such cooperage can be a little much for me. Since we don’t filter our wines, we felt it necessary to purchase a fair amount of new barrels, ones we know are clean. We favor a type of French barrel that is softer than most when it comes to wood tannin. The staves are immersed in hot water prior to coopering which leaches out additional tannin from the wood. The ’98 has 30% new oak, a bit more than last vintage, but you’d be hard pressed to notice by tasting the wine. We use only French oak for Syrah (remember this ain’t no Shiraaaz). We also don’t like to keep Syrah in oak for more than 12 months. Any particular appellation within the Rhone you would compare this wine to? Possibly Cornas in a ripe vintage, though our wine is a bit more lush and fruity than most Northern Rhones. How long will this wine age? Depends on how much you have. It will last for ten years, but not in my cellar. I’ll have most of it consumed before the year 2005. How would you describe this wine? As Pete Townsend might say, it’s Meaty, Fruity, Big and Bouncy.
1998 Zinfandel Following this year’s ZAP tasting, the early word on the 1998 vintage is mixed. The opinion shared by a few reviewers is that the ‘98’s lack the body of the preceding vintage. This comes as no surprise to me, since, as I mentioned in Newsletter No. 2, it was a difficult (and I’m being polite) growing season for Zinfandel here in the North Coast. I’m pretty sure our ’98 Zin would have conformed to this generalization had we not dropped crop as early and often as we did. Though both the ‘97 and ‘98 are made in the same "fruit forward" Dry Creek style, in side by side tastings, the ’98 wins out every time, despite the fact that it is only now recovering from bottling and showing its stuff. While farming practices like crop thinning can mitigate a tough Zinfandel vintage, blending other varietals can also help. As most of you know, we have a nice ace reliever in our bullpen called Syrah, which can really add depth and richness to Zinfandel. And remember, 1998 was just fine for our Syrah in Dry Creek. In fact, the Syrah was so fruity in ’98 that we were able to blend 11% into the Zin without sacrificing our Dry Creek "fruity" Zin style. Now I know how Joe Torre must feel having Mariano Rivera around. 1210 cases produced 1998 Sangiovese As many of you already know, Dad and I are infatuated with this variety when it comes from the Chianti Classico zone, which is why we have been so disappointed with most of the offerings from California, including our own first few efforts. We released this, our first commercial Sangiovese, in January and have already sold half of our total production. (Ok, we only made 320 cases, so maybe that’s not such a big deal.) I’ve noticed that our customers fall into one of two categories with respect to California Sangiovese: those familiar with Chianti Classico and Brunello di Montalcino wines who are looking forward to finding a local version that isn’t thin or overwhelmed by Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot; and those whose only experience with this beloved varietal wine comes from tasting California Sangioveses and are wondering what all the fuss is about. Dad and I certainly fall into the former group but can understand the perspective of the latter folks. The quest to change the minds of either group, and more importantly ourselves, begins in the vineyard. Imagine my surprise. It seems that the most effective approach to making distinctive Sangiovese is to adapt vineyard techniques used for Pinot Noir. Keep crop levels low, be sure bunches are separated from one another and manage the canopy to maximize morning sunlight but reduce afternoon heat. Sangiovese grapes are so sensitive to the afternoon light they can become bleached or pink, which is not good. This 1998 is deeper in both color and structure than most California Sangioveses, even those blended with Cabernet Sauvignon. It is unblended, unfined and unfiltered. We used only French oak, primarily 5 year old barrels. 320 cases produced |
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| 4 2 0 2 D r y C r e e k R o a d - H e a l d s b u r g C A 9 5 4 4 8 - t e l 7 0 7 - 4 3 3 - 5 5 9 0 / f a x 7 0 7 - 4 3 3 - 5 5 9 1 Copyright ã 1997-2006 Unti Vineyards. All rights reserved. |
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