Vins cliniquement propres et la peur de la puanteur

[ludwig]

A Goode wi-sci read for the rest of us


San Francisco Chronicle

"The Science of Wine" is a dangerous title for a book intended not as a UC Davis textbook, but for a general audience.

That said, if you're interested in topics like how global warming might affect wine, or how the brain makes sense of wine's flavors, you will like this easy-to-follow book by British wine writer Jamie Goode, published by University of California Press (216 pages, $34.95).

Creator of the Web site wineanorak.com, Goode also writes about wine for several U.K. publications. He draws in the reader from the beginning with an interesting short essay about the life and livelihood of scientists titled: "How Science Works: Part One."

In a conversational style, Goode investigates every current major technical issue about wine and some philosophical ones as well.

His succinct three-page chapter titled "Naturalness in Wine: How Much Manipulation is Acceptable?" precedes good explanations of most types of manipulation used in wineries, including micro-oxygenation to soften tannins and reverse osmosis and spinning cones to reduce alcohol.

Many of his sources are from California, and they contribute interesting ideas.

Clark Smith, co-owner of the Sebastopol wine technology company Vinovation, points out that grapes are for the birds -- literally. Wild grapevines use their fruit to attract birds that will disperse their seeds. Understanding the purpose of the grape allows us to understand why it ripens when it does, and why ripe grapes are the easiest to see on the vine.

Some questions can't be answered once and for all, but are worth asking anyway. Here's one: How much of the "rustic, barnyard" aromas and flavors people pleasurably associate with certain wines is due to the grapes, and how much to the spoilage yeast Brettanomyces, commonly known as Brett?

Goode posits that despite greater awareness of -- and disdain for -- Brett in the 21st century, the yeast is actually proliferating around the world for two reasons. Winemakers used to add more sulfur to wine to help kill invasive organisms like Brett, but the current trend is for winemaking with minimal intervention. At the same time, many winemakers pursuing higher ratings from critics are making highly extracted wines that are higher in pH, instead of more acidic wines (with lower pH) that would inhibit Brett's growth.

American wine collector Charles Collins sent some bottles of Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape -- prized for its "earthy, slightly animal-like characteristics" -- to a laboratory for analysis and found dead Brett cells along with a compound produced by Brett.

"If you personally like the smell of Brett, none of this should dissuade you from buying and cellaring Beaucastel," Collins told Goode. "You should, however, give up the myth that the odd flavors are due to terroir. They aren't."

In the book, Marc Perrin, whose family owns Beaucastel, responds tartly: "Of course, you can kill all the natural yeasts, then use industrial yeast to start the fermentation, saturate the wine with SO2, and then strongly filtrate your wine. There will be no remaining yeasts, but also no taste."

To explain why blind tasting is important, Goode refers to a study by Baylor College of Medicine neuroscience professor Read Montague which replicated the "Pepsi challenge" TV commercials of the 1970s and '80s.

Subjects asked to choose which they preferred, Coke or Pepsi, used different parts of their brain when they blind-tasted the sodas than when they knew which brand was which, brain scans showed.

Montague also learned subjects who knew what they were drinking allowed that to affect their preference.

"The implications for wine tasting are clear," Goode writes. "Try as hard as we might to be objective, this isn't possible."

One chapter that runs on too long is his section on corks, screw caps and other closures. After 22 pages and an exhaustive listing of natural cork's faults, Goode refuses to come down squarely in favor of screw caps, even though he writes, "Taint rates of 5 percent (for corks) are clearly unacceptable." On this issue, Goode, who writes that cork "has a special place in the history of modern wine" seems to favor tradition over science.

But that is picking a nit. If subjects such as the potential future of England as a wine grape growing country, thanks to global warming, interest you, or you just want simple-to-understand explanations of wine-related terms like phylloxera, trellising and biodynamics, "The Science of Wine" is easy to swallow.

[Champenois]

je suis bien d'accord que les bretts existent mais de là à les introduire délibérement...

[ludwig]

je suis bien d'accord que les bretts existent mais de là à les introduire délibérement...

On peut les tolérer, ça donne un gout de terroir au vin.

[Don Max]

Plus je progresse dans mon expérience et ma connaissance du vin “premium” et des phénomènes possibles entourant son élaboration, plus mon grief principal par rapport à tout ça est le côté très souvent caché de ces pratiques. Je respecte ceux qui apprécient ces arômes. Il est clair qu’il y a une clientèle pour ce type de vin, alors je n’ai rien contre leur existence. Je voudrais juste que les pratiques comme la fermentation “brettienne”, ou l’usage minimal de sulfites soient déclarées. J’aimerais aussi que ceux qui écrivent sur le vin en parlent ouvertement dans leurs commentaires de dégustation. Le but final étant de pouvoir éviter ces vins, si comme moi on déteste, ou bien de les favoriser si comme plusieurs on aime ça.

Je reprends le dernier paragraphe de mon premier texte sur ce fil pour introduire un texte qui illustre le point qui me dérange vraiment au sujet des pratiques oenologiques à risque, soit le côté caché, parfois presque tabou de la chose.

Don Max


Henschke 1998 Hill Of Grace or ….

By way of background, early in 2004 I wrote an article called Is Henschke Living on its Reputation which generated more feedback than an other article I have written, almost all of it in a hundred percent agreement. Recently I went to a trade tasting where there was a Henschke stand and tried some of their new releases, which were very credible wines (you can see the reviews here.) During that tasting, I was "grilled" about the original article by someone with a Henschke name tag called Arch Baker.

Now Henschke have as much right to comment about what I wrote as I had to write it, so there is no issue there. To briefly recap one important aspect of our conversation that was outlined in last weeks Irregular Update, Arch Baker said, "We have no Brett in the winery. There was a problem with Brett in the 1998 Mt Edelstone. We moved that wine into a new storage facility that had not been air conditioned. Straight after that, we were hit with a record number of days where the temperature was over forty degrees and we did not check the finished wine before it went out after it had been in the new storage. That was our mistake because the heat affected the wine."

So here are two points. Firstly, according to Arch, there is no Brett in the winery and secondly, the Brett in the 98 Mount Edelstone was caused by heat. Brett can be exacerbated by heat but it has to be there in the first place. So saying it was caused by the heat is not exactly correct.

As a result of my comments last week, I received an email from Campbell Mattinson of WineFront Monthly, a respected independent wine journalist who had this to say.

"I was at a tasting last week where all the wines were served blind. One of the wines turned out to be Henschke Hill of Grace 1998. The wine was bretty as all hell, put down your glasses, no question about it. No brett in the Henschke winery? It's very disappointing to hear that - because until they recognise and admit it, they will never take the right steps to get rid of it - or so you'd reckon. Note, this was the Hill of Grace, not the Mount Edelstone. Whether or not Henschke have a brett problem now I do not know, but they certainly had a significant problem with it in 1998, and it showed all the way to the top of the range. Happy to be quoted on this."

Prior to writing this article, I advised Henschke of Campbell's comments and of my intention of write an article. In my correspondence to them I said " I would to love to have the opportunity to talk to you so I can get your position and present a complete story. I am not out to lynch Henschke and commit to present your comments fairly." They declined to respond to my communication.

The Brett situation is very disturbing indeed. As Campbell states, they may not have a Brett problem now but it was there is 1998. Minor amounts of Brett, in some cases, is seen as adding complexity but in larger amounts is seen as a fault. It can also vary from bottle to bottle and usually becomes significantly worse if storage conditions are less than ideal. When the wine is young, it also often does not show as much as when the wine has aged so it is an insidious, fickle and unpredictable little microbe, but there is no real excuse for a winery not knowing they have Brett in their wine, or in the winery. The winemakers should be talented enough to pick it up prior to release and if it is picked up early enough, it can be eliminated prior to bottling.

When I sent a draft copy of my proposed article to Campbell, he responded with the following. "I've now been in two separate, BLIND tastings where the wine has been picked as bretty by assembled wine press so *in some bottles at least*, I don't think this fact can be disputed. What can be disputed is the extent this level of brett affects the wine. Clearly, some wine drinkers will drink 98 HOG and legitimately love it (i.e. they won't just be drinking the label). My argument then is not whether or not the wine is any good; it's simply that no one should deny that it has brett. All I'd like Henschke to do, if asked, is to say: yes, it has a level of brettanomyces, but we believe it's still a great wine worthy of the label. Once they've said that, then we can all go back to making up our own minds as to whether we like the style or not."

Let’s face it; Hill Of Grace has a platinum-clad reputation amongst Australian wine-lovers and by our standards, at $300+ a bottle, a price to match. French wine lovers may be prepared to shell out $300 for a stinky wine that is not particularly enjoyable but we have higher expectations for our wines in Australia. There are a other wines that are as good as Hill Of Grace, that will age as well, or as rare or unique that cost significantly less, the Tahbilk 1860's vines Shiraz, which are all of these things, at around a third of the price of Hill Of Grace, immediately comes to mind.

Recently, Henschke held events in Sydney's and Melbourne to launch the latest wines including the 1999 Hill Of Grace. Naturally the top wine journalists were invited to the event and they were privileged to be allowed to taste the wine. At the Tuckers Trade tasting I attended, there was no Hill Of Grace available. The reason I point this out is not one of jealousy, it is to show how difficult it is to taste the Hill of Grace prior to purchase, not even the general trade get to try it (there may be a few exceptions.) The Tahbilk 1860's Vines was available for tasting that day (also at cellar door) and when Grange is released consumers find little difficulty in finding an event, even if it costs, where they get the opportunity to try the wine.

As a result, most people buying Hill Of Grace are purchasing it based on its reputation and other known factors like vintage conditions. Imagine what will happen in a few years when people start to open the 1998 bottles that have been lovingly stored and kept for a very special occasion if the bottle is badly affected by Brett (remember, if the bottles are stored less than perfectly, any Brett can be exacerbated.) Will the 1998 Hill Of Grace become know as the Hill Of Disgrace?

When you have a platinum reputation you cannot afford to tarnish it. Trying to cover it up by staff members saying it does not exist, and when it does it was caused by heat, does not add to the credibility.

It is time to come clean, admit it, fix it and have an action plan to placate unhappy purchasers of both the 98 Mt Edelstone and 98 Hill of Grace.
http://www.torbwine.com/pa/2004/HenschkeHOD.shtml

[Don Max]

We moved on to Shiraz, and a pair of 1998 South Australian stars. After all, what else would an American wine lover expect! We chose the Henschke 'Hill Of Grace' and the Clarendon Hills 'Astralis' as the pair - partly due to the praise received from Robert Parker, partly due to their scarcity, and partly because they are probably the two most famous Aussie Shiraz in the US after Grange.

A little controversy with this pair, as one wine (the Hill Of Grace) showed a little oddly. Every time I've seen it I've remarked that it doesn't seem quite right. And now at nine years of age, I think I've figured out its problem - a case of brettanomyces. The wine is a little hard on the palate, with a nutmeg/spice character, and lacking in sweet pure fruit. There's plenty of licorice and cedar flavours, but they're very dry and lack the opulence expected of such a great vintage Many will love this style but for me, I'm just put off by the palate.
http://www.ourbrisbane.com/dining/wines ... tralia.htm



Henschke Hill of Grace 1998


TASTING NOTES
Exceptional vintage is the 1998, to decant before serving. "An evolved and maturing wine whose meaty and still vibrant expression of cassis, plums and red berry fruit reveals plenty of cedary, cigarboxy complexity, but also a low-grade presence of rustic brett-like influence. Deeply fruited and complex, with ethereal scents of animal hide and vibrant dark fruit, it reveals a long, spicy and fine-grained palate whose spicy plum and berry-like flavours are backed by rustic influences and whose tight-knit tannins are showing some metallic aspects. While I believe the flaws in this wine are noticeable, they are far from dominant. Frankly, its remains for the time being, a delightful and elegant glass of red!" -Jeremy Oliver
http://www.topwineries.com.au/wines.php?ID=1497




HENSCHKE
Shiraz Hill of Grace
C.A. Henschke & Co., Eden Valley, South Australia
Web site www.henschke.com.au
Average case production 1,400
Winery production 50,000 cases
Current vintage 2001; 95, $375, 70 cases imported (2002 to be released Oct. 2007)
Best recent vintages (pts.) 1998 (94), 1997 (95), 1996 (97)

Stephen Henschke's family arrived in Eden Valley from Germany in the mid-1800s. About the same time, a neighboring German immigrant planted a vineyard across from a lovely little fieldstone church called Gnadenberg (German for "hill of grace"). Stephen's great-grandfather acquired the property in 1891, but it wasn't until 1958 that his father, Cyril, bottled the Shiraz we know as Hill of Grace. Several of the original rows remain, tended by Stephen's wife, viticulturist Prue; her sprawling, gnarled and twisted plants are the heart and soul of this remarkable wine.

At its best, Hill of Grace wraps its rich berry, black fruit, dusky spice and mineral flavors into a big, round, utterly seamless package. After 10 years, it has aged into something even more refined, and it can keep going for another 20 to 30 years, perhaps more.

Henschke hit a significant speed bump around 1999 and 2000, when brettanomyces, a spoilage yeast, took the gloss off the red wines, including Hill of Grace. But they eliminated the problem, and today's wines are impeccable.

Other wines of note: The other Eden Valley Shiraz, Mount Edelstone ($100), comes from a hillside vineyard and in some vintages can challenge Hill of Grace for supremacy. Among the whites, the Julius Riesling ($27) deftly balances pineapple and mineral flavors. Cabernet Sauvignon Cyril Henschke ($100) weaves herbal flavors with ripe fruit seamlessly.
http://www.bwwines.com/News/IntheNews/A ... fault.aspx



Predictably, however, it's when tasting the reds that the superlatives start to flow. So, let's take it from the top. Henschke Hill of Grace 2001* is stellar. Gone is the brettanomyces that has plagued some previous vintages.

It has a fabulous array of aromas including eucalypt, liqueur cherry, mocha and earth, and the palate is brooding and multi-layered. It has an intensity that can only be explained by low yields and those old, old vines. The wine has soaked up new oak (both French and American). Hill of Grace has a character that is as unique to it as Grange character is to Grange - I really like it. This is the best Australian red I've tasted that is on the market today.
http://www.henschke.com.au/reviews/?action=review&id=76




http://regionalwines.co.nz/be/Editor/Do ... n_Icon.pdf