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on this page:Blending Louis Roederer - Susan Hulme
A Zinful Experience - Kevin Powell
3 Days in Bordeaux - Patricia Green
Blending Louis Roederer Brut Premier
By Susan Hulme
The president of Champagne Louis Roederer, Jean Claude Rouzaud and his head winemaker, Jean Baptiste Lécaillon hosted a tasting for the Circle of Wine Writers to which AWE members were also invited. The main themes were: the expression of terroir through the individual varietals from Roederer vineyards; the effect of the use of vinification in oak; and their à la carte use of partial malolactic fermentation which they describe as unique in Champagne.
The art of assemblage
What was so appealing about this tasting was to see the art of assemblage at first hand. It has always fascinated me how a blender can taste a young, raw wine from a single grape variety and terroir and assess its potential contribution to the whole blend, particularly when it is to undergo both secondary fermentation and bottle ageing.
The tasting began with three different Chardonnays from the Côte des Blancs: the first fermented in stainless steel with no MLF, the second barrel-fermented with bâtonnage and the third a blend of the two previous in the percentage deemed to bring out the best in the wines (80% and 20% respectively).
Then there was a comparison between Pinot Noir from Vallée de la Marne and Montagne de Reims. There were some striking differences, the Vallée de la Marne having softer red fruit and honeyed qualities on the nose while the Montagne de Reims had a more heady, bruised apple style. Both had a crisp acidity and a long savoury finish.
Pinot Meunier from Vallée de la Marne was next. This was interesting because its image is that of the poor relation, yet Champagne winemakers themselves value its contribution, as testified by the high percentages in both Moët and Krug. This particular example had a softly fragrant peach and red fruit nose.
The tasting carried on at a brisk pace with demonstrations of different blends: non-MLF wines vinified in oak, MLF wines and a blend of the tailles. We then tasted the blend of these three elements before and then again after the addition of Reserve wine, which comprised the final Brut Premier assemblage.
Controlling excess acidity
One of the most interesting points to come out of the tasting was that, for Roederer, the critical aspect of winemaking is the correction of excess acidity and/or lack of maturity. To do this they have three means at their disposal: increasing the percentage of Chardonnay in the blend (Chardonnay generally has lower acidity than Pinot Noir); the selective use of MLF; and the addition of the tailles (these have lower acidity levels because of the greater skin contact and therefore increased potassium in the juice.)
The line up of 18 wines finished with a comparison between three reserve wines from different terroirs, followed by a demonstration of the effect of dosage on three Brut Premier wines bottled in 1998. This was particularly fascinating because, although each liqueur had the same 12g/l residual sugar, they were from three different vintages and the style of each blend was completely different. The addition of even tiny amounts of 1% or less can have a very profound effect on the style of the finished wine, underlining even more the importance of blending to the art of Champagne making.
Afterwards, tasters were rewarded with a welcome glass of Cristal 1979.
© Susan Hulme 2002.
A Zinful Experience (California Harvest)
By Kevin Powell
My first working day during crush 2001 began at Old Crane Ranch vineyard, sampling 110-year old bush-trained Zinfandel. We sampled clusters rather than berries because of uneven ripening common with Zinfandel - on each bunch some grapes were plump and ripe whilst others were raisined and tasted like sultanas. We tasted lots of grapes to get a feel for their flavour, sweetness and tannin ripeness. We inspected and crunched the pips; green means unripe tannins, brown and nutty is perfect.
The Zin was super-sweet and flavoury with sugar readings around 26 Brix, enough to give 15.5% alcohol. They were the ripest grapes I had ever seen and were completely free of rot - something I had never encountered whilst winemaking in Bordeaux or England.
Zinfandel
I had gone to California expressly to work with Zinfandel, and Robert Biale Vineyards in Napa Valley make some of California’s, and therefore the world’s, best Zins.
According to Bob Biale (Biale’s viticulturist) it’s essential that the fruit is completely ripe to develop its full flavours. This generally occurs around 25 or 26 Brix. Amazingly, even at these sugar levels, Zin often has high acidity (7-10g/l). Bob has previously experimented with picking at different ripeness levels, but found the wines from lower sugar fruit much lighter in body and flavour.
Zin also ferments in an unusual way. Fruit arrives at, say, 25 Brix, but then "soaks up" to 26/27 Brix overnight as sugars are released from raisined grapes. There is sometimes a problem for finishing fermentations because of high sugars and a Bayanus yeast (more alcohol tolerant) might be added to help complete fermentation.
High-tech Winemaking?
Grapes were tipped onto a sorting table for removal of unripe and excessively raisined fruit (this was the first time I had ever rejected grapes for being too ripe!) They were given a light crushing, leaving some berries intact and allowing a slight "carbonic maceration" effect, to enhance the fruity side. Diammonium phosphate (DAP) and "Superfood" were added to the must, as nutrients for the yeast. Without them, fermentation might not go dry, or unpleasant by-products such as Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) might be given off by stressed micro-organisms.
Musts were sampled for acidity, pH and Brix. Occasionally if pH was too high (3.8 or more) we’d add a little tartaric acid. Some wines were inoculated with cultivated yeast. Extraction of colour, flavour and tannins involved punching down the cap of skins or pumping juice over the cap twice daily. Punching down was a potentially tricky business, carrying a constant risk of falling into the 3-4 foot-deep fermenting wine! Pumping over was generally safer and in the late afternoon would be performed from the top rung of a stepladder with a can of beer in hand. "Making wine, drinking beer" was all part of the open-minded approach at Biale.
Small lots were fermented in plastic half-ton picking bins. Making wine in plastic bins in a car park may not be quite what one expects in the home of hi-tech winemaking, but they are excellent fermenters which self-regulate fermentation temperatures. It demonstrates that you don’t need space-age wineries to make great wine.
Fermentations lasted anything from 5 to 25 days after which the wine was run-off to tank and the skins lightly pressed in wooden basket presses. Sounds very simple, but it’s actually an extremely messy business, taking ages and invariably concluding with someone up to his thighs in wine and cap. Zinfandel press wine is amazingly soft and could easily be consumed on its own. Wines then went into barrel and were inoculated for malolactic fermentation.
They remain 12-14 months in mostly French oak barrels, about 30% of which are new. Winemaker Al Perry is very keen to preserve the early-drinking, fruity quality of his Zins and doesn’t want this overwhelmed by too much oak.
Temperature Controls
We needed to keep a constant eye on temperature once the fermentation got underway. If it goes much above 35°C there is a danger of killing the yeast and producing off-flavours. This year we had a new method of cooling musts - dry ice. Harvest time logistics sometimes necessitate afternoon harvesting, with grapes arriving hot in the winery. These grapes are most likely to overheat, so we threw a few shovels of dry ice into the must for instant cooling. It has the added bonus of bubbling away like a Witches’ Brew, providing a little entertainment for the winery crew (perhaps we’re too easily amused).
Yeast Influence & Problems
Until I worked in a winery I used to think that yeast was just, well, yeast. I saw a big, thick book entitled Yeasts and wondered how on earth anyone could write such a massive tome on something so small and insignificant - then I noticed the full title of the book was Yeasts - Volume 3! Winemakers passionately believe that different yeasts add certain flavours and textures to their wines. Al uses a variety of cultivated yeasts including "BM45" (a Brunello de Montalcino isolate said to be good for polysaccharides and mouth-feel,) and "Syrah" (from the northern Rhône which adds a "wild, funky" character to the eponymous grape.) Some musts were fermented using their own native yeasts, and they usually take a little longer to get going.
A number of musts developed H2S (rotten egg smells) during fermentation. This may have resulted from residual sulphur on grapes, excessively fast fermentations or the use of certain yeasts. To try to clear it we aerated the musts, but this was rarely wholly successful and the wines remained a little stinky. DAP and Superfood can help, but may lead to faster fermentation and temperature problems. Eventually the wines usually needed to have copper sulphate added in barrel.
Climate
I had often read that the climate in northern California involved cool mornings and hot days, but it was only when working there that I discovered what this really means. I left Yountville around 6.30am and had the car heater on; by 10am if I had been on the road I would have needed the air conditioning at full blast. Temperatures can vary by 40°F during the day, significantly slowing fruit ripening (crucial in a region on a similar latitude to Southern Italy.)
Tasting
"But what the hell do the wines taste like?" you’re asking. A good question and one that it was my onerous task to answer at around 7.30am as I took the "Riedel (not!) 3 litre plastic winemakers’ glass" and tasted each of the 30 or so fermenting musts. If you want to find out, why not visit next year?
©
Kevin Powell 2002.
3 DAYS IN BORDEAUX October 2001
For me, taking just three days away from ‘the office’ is so much more manageable than a full week or more and even first-time visitors will be seduced by this short flirtation with this important region.
Our generous hosts were Yvon Mau, represented by brother and sister Jean-Christophe & Pascale Mau, whose negociant business has only just been sold to Spanish producer Freixenet. Richard Bampfield MW their freelance consultant with marketing responsibilities for Mau was our hugely knowledgeable and very user-friendly guide.
Our visit was organised to coincide with the vintage, always an exciting and busy time in the vineyard and winery. The aim of the trip was to introduce us to the wines of Yvon Mau, in particular their privately owned petit châteaux (Preuillac & Ducla), and a number of producers who either supply wine or whose wines are distributed by Mau, who is the second largest negociant in Bordeaux.
Earlier in the week the region had enjoyed a 90oF heatwave. Unfortunately heavy rains the day before we arrived interrupted the Merlot harvesting and unsettled weather remained during our stay – intermittent rain and watery sunshine. Eight of us piled into the minibus at the airport (our motley crew comprised of four AWE members and an assortment of on- & off-trade managers) and Richard expertly guided us north through the Haut Médoc, helpfully identifying cru classé châteaux in the more famous communes and stopping for photographs along the way.
Château Preuillac
Our destination was Ch Preuillac (pronounced proy-yac), Yvon Mau’s northerly cru bourgeois property in Lesparre-Médoc. The delayed flight meant our planned vineyard visit to observe (& possibly participate in) the harvest had to be postponed. The château is most impressive in a traditional style, the interior rather luxurious and very comfortable (and like many châteaux, not lived in by the owners). We were allocated very spacious rooms with huge bathrooms the size of a small bedsit in central London.
That evening over a delicious dinner hosted by Jean-Christophe we tasted wines from both Preuillac & Ducla. Of particular interest is the 2000 Ch Ducla Experience which contains a high proportion of Sauvignon Gris. This now rare, small-yielding grape produces a weighty, rich character in white Bordeaux, though unfortunately new plantings are not permitted.
Ecole du Vin
Day two began with a study session at the Ecole du Vin at the château. Firstly, Richard provided us with an overview of the current wine industry and trends in the region. These include much more Merlot being planted, even in the Médoc, since Cabernet Sauvignon is so difficult to ripen, higher density planting, more disciplined winter pruning and green harvesting, leaf removal and canopy management techniques, even experiments using the lyre training system. Many growers now encourage their vines to find a ‘natural balance’ by reduced use of chemicals and less interference generally in the vineyard. A recurring comment during the trip was the importance of phenolic ripeness to encourage supple tannins, as well as sugar ripeness, and the increasing use of gravity in the winery to prevent damage to skins and extraction of astringent tannins.
There is a return to hand picking by many cru classé properties, (today 10%-20% machine harvest rather than the 50% of ten years ago). This despite local difficulties in employing sufficient experienced pickers at harvest time. Using concrete vats (better heat retention) rather than stainless steel is increasing too, as is the use of micro-oxidation techniques, and even experiments with Russian oak barrels. All of these practices demonstrated the innovation and progression spreading throughout the region’s more dedicated producers.
Richard followed this discussion with a brainstorming session regarding the obstacles that Bordeaux had to overcome to improve its image and sales in the competitive global wine market. This provoked a very lively debate and I am sure that Richard’s feedback to Yvon Mau regarding our comments was of great interest. We just managed a short foray into Preuillac’s vineyards across the road from the château where picking and triage were in full swing, with Jean-Christophe supervising hands-on.
On the Road
The afternoon consisted of visits to two cru classé châteaux, firstly, Château Beychevelle in St Julien. We arrived knowing the château team was too busy to provide a tasting (this went down like a lead balloon!), but we were given a very cordial tour of the cellars, including seeing the brand new chai complete with the just-installed illuminated Beychevelle emblem displaying the famously dipped sails. Very impressive and very expensive!
Outside the sun was shining and the long tree-lined meadow stretched invitingly to the Gironde. However, it was onwards to Château Cantenac-Brown in Margaux, the largest of the four main Haut Médoc communes.
Throughout our visit we had observed ‘triage’ taking place on sorting platforms in the vineyards. At Cantenac-Brown this took place at the winery itself. Now owned by AXA Millesimes, it was an English painter, John Lewis Brown who bought the vineyard in the 19th century and built an impressive château with an undeniably Tudor-style façade (though with Dutch architectural influences too), famously reproduced on the opulent gold label of the château’s first wine.
Following our tour we were provided with a generous tasting of three wines. A cask sample of 2000 Cantenac-Brown and the 1998 vintage of the same. Also 1998 Château Canuet, the concentrated, assertive second wine of the château.
Our mouths suitably stained deep purple we returned to Preuillac for an interesting pre-dinner vertical tasting of the château’s wines from 1997 to 2000. This included a comparison of the 2000 cask samples of the ‘finished blend’ against samples matured solely in American and in French barrels. Undeniably, the quality, structure and fruit concentration have greatly improved and developed since 1998 with Jean-Christophe at the helm. A second delicious dinner followed with increasingly outrageous ‘blind’ wine options games with Richard and Pascale. Great fun.
Across the Gironde
Our last day required a very early start to enable us to catch the ferry across the Gironde to Blaye. The blustery journey stimulated our appetites – pastries and steaming hot chocolate in a cosy Blaye café never tasted so good. A short journey brought us to Château Rousselle, owned by a dynamic young couple, Vincent & Natalie Lemaitre whose vineyards straddle the boundary between Blaye and Bourg within sight of the Gironde. Yvon Mau distributes the wines produced by this enthusiastic couple that practice biodynamic principles.
We arrived to see Vincent making adjustments to the small machine harvester (relative to those generally used in the New World) ready to continue harvesting their crop of Merlot. His charming wife gave us the grand tour and we enjoyed a very technical discussion with their young, enthusiastic winemaker. He is experimenting with micro-bullage, a much slower and careful method of micro-oxidation, which binds tannins and anthocyanins. Wine can be left longer on the lees in this method without the threat of spoilage from hydrogen sulphide and reductive aromas and flavours.
Although the estate is predominantly planted with Merlot, the terroir is very favourable for Malbec, and Rousselle is one of very few châteaux in Bordeaux where further plots of Malbec are being planted. We enjoyed our tasting of four wines from both Bourg and Blaye - three Merlot-dominated reds and an interesting 2000 Rosé de Ch Rousselle (100% fermentation in new French barrels – yes really!), which several of our group felt driven to purchase.
The Lemaitres’ philosophies and strategies have also resulted in several medals in international competitions and I personally found this visit to be one of the most interesting during our trip. I am certain we will hear more from this (bio)dynamic duo.
Pascale Mau very generously treated us to a long and very tasty lunch in St Emilion and we reluctantly climbed aboard our bus for our last visit, to Château Val d’Or, a St Emilion Grand Cru. Phillippe Bardet, though deeply immersed in processing his vintage, took time out to explain his environmentally friendly principles and attitude to making wine. Since 1985 he has cultivated a variety of grasses and plants in the vineyards to encourage a range of local insects.
He generally practices organic principles with the aim of establishing a natural equilibrium in the vineyard and prefers the philosophy of prevention rather than cure. Even more revolutionary (we were not even permitted to take photographs!) has been his invention of a grape ‘bath’ where all grapes go through a water trough on arrival at the winery. The ripest grapes sink due to higher density, less ripe or unhealthy grapes are either suspended or float. He then decides whether the grapes are vinified together or separately.
His dedication and determination are convincing, his 2000 cask sample of Ch Val d’Or deeply fruited and concentrated. A supremely fascinating and stimulating end to our trip.
Positive Conclusions
I must hugely recommend the trip to future would-be candidates, whether you are a Bordeaux ‘virgin’ or want to renew your acquaintance (the itinerary appears to change slightly each visit). The days are full but not unmanageable for the reasonably fit, and I certainly did not feel that we had ‘Yvon Mau’ thrust at us to the exclusion of everything else – far from it. Mau very generously covered all expenses in France and Richard is a mine of information and very accessible.
I’m sure that one more day in the region would be very welcome for some members, particularly for first-timers, perhaps adding a visit to Sauternes or another sweet-wine commune. One possibility is to extend your personal stay an extra day or two – I am certain Richard would be happy to make these arrangements for your return flight.
A big thank you must be made to Richard and the Mau family for their generous invitation.
© Patricia Green 2001.