The Fruit Bomb Resistance...

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Above is a well written piece on the 2010 vintage as well as more opinions on the alcohol debate.

It appears as though we are at a tipping point and no matter what your opinion on the alcohol subject, there are certainly more choices than ever to be made.

Between this article by Jordan Mackay, NY Times (Eric Asimov), SF Chronicle (Jon Bonne), Wall Street Journal (Lettie Teague), the voices for lower alcohol are growing, reaching and preaching. Sommeliers are also growing in numbers across the US and seeking much of the same to pair with their cuisines. Twitter is yet another voices which continues the debate and spreads it even further.

While the biggest publication, The Wine Spectator has yet to say anything on the subject, maybe it’s being penned right now? There is no question there is a demand for low alcohol wines. Do you think the biggest teacher will share the gospel.

No

But I definitely believe in the trend (2010 notwithstanding). :slight_smile:

Jamie, are these numbers by design…are you shooting for a target…or are you going with what Mother Nature hands you?

Alcohol percentages for the past six vintages of Kutch’s pinot noir:
2005: 16.3%
2006: 15.3%
2007: 14.1%
2008: 13.9%
2009: 13.2%
2010: 12.8%

Good to hear from you Bill…

I don’t understand your question but if you are asking if I did anything to the must to achieve those alcohol levels the answer is no. I picked early. I am picking on taste as well, I am not picking simply on numbers.

Just wanted to know if you started each of those harvests with a target ABV in mind with the intent of shooting for a lower ETOH and higher acid wine, or if you just rolled with what the vintage threw at you.

Lots of folks out there, I think, have a plan that they are after in regard to ripeness, acid, ABV, etc and can get creative to achive those goals…not that there is anything wrong with that approach at all. 12.8% is about the lowest I have seen that I can remember on modern wines of any varietal…again, nothing wrong with that at all.

I don’t think the voice is that loud yet. If you are new to wine, you would prefer a hint of sweetness that comes from alcohol and jammy fruit doesn’t hurt either.

BTW if a wine maker wants high rating from Bob, go high alcohol or from Allen go low, pretty obvious. I will definitely buy/try Kutch wine to check where California can achieve phenolic ripeness @ below 13% alcohol.

The yields in the vineyard were less than 1 ton per acre. The soil is well drained. The hang time was incredibly long in 2010 so these factors enabled the 12.8% alcohol wine to be made. The same wine was made in 2009 from Falstaff. Finished alcohol was also 12.8% alcohol. After aging for 18 months in barrel though, the alcohol elevated to 13.2% (right now). It too had incredibly low yields.

Last year in Savoy I had a clone of Pinot Noir called Martini which simply never got ripe (to the taste). I picked it at 26 brix and it soaked up to 29 brix - 17+% alcohol (without any water). In that case picking early would have been meaningless as it would have tasted like a green stalk. Instead I watered back and sold off the bulk juice wine in barrel. Since 2007 I had scrapped 25% of almost every vintage and often even more of my wine to maintain what I believe in. Lower alcohol, balanced and really good wines. Even with the right site we are still weather and vintage dependent. On the other side of the pond and for an inverse view, 03 Burgundy is a perfect example.

I believe that this year’s release of the Arnot-Roberts Clary syrah was < 12%–and it’s delicious.

Wow. A domestic syrah under 12%…hell, under 15% is a rarity.

08 North Coast from AR is 12.4. Also, Wind Gap Armagh 08 is 12.7. So much for Syrah being high octane :slight_smile:

Jaime, lord knows I hope you are right.

Their 2009 Green Island Vyd. Chardonnay clocks in at 12.4%, and the 2008 Hudson Vyd ‘North Block’ Syrah is under 12% IIRC. Both excellent, flavorful, balanced wines. The low alcohol is largely a function of their decision to seek out very cool vineyard sites.

Jamie, do you do the same?

Jamie, I’m curious: Mackay writes that your change in preference for lower alcohol wines led to the style change. Has this been a struggle with pleasing your customers / people on your mailing list? In other words, did you have a core group of people come to know and love your '05 and '06 wines, only to be disappointed by your transition to figures in the 12 and 13% abv range?

Good question Jon. My reaction was the opposite and the disappointment prompted me to miss the transition.

RT

Interesting questions, Jamie, and one that only one person can answer, and I don’t believe he will . . .

It is difficult to base any overall statements about ‘the state of the wine biz as it relates to ABV’s’ based on the 2010 vintage. Many a winemaker was ‘forced’ to make wine in a certain style because of what Mother Nature dealt, not necessarily out of choice. Should the vintage have been similar to 2005, one wonders what many a winemaker would have done.

There is no doubt many a producer that is leaning toward making lower ABV wines with higher acid levels . . . AKA wines that will work better with food in general. And I do believe we will see this trend continue . . . but I do not see this trend ‘taking over the industry’ as of now. Will the general public enjoy a sub 12% alc syrah, especially upon release and just popping and pouring? No, they won’t . . . and herein lies the problem. Some of these wines require longer cellaring times, and some requiring quite a bit of decanting or air time. The general consumer simply does not understand this concept, nor are we as an industry educating them as to why we do this.

I’m hopeful that markets will exist for all styles of wines for that is what makes our industry as ‘entertaining’ and enjoyable as it is . . .

Cheers!

I thought wine by the numbers was supposed to be bad? [scratch.gif]

That’s ratings numbers, you nimrod.

Larry, you make a lot of good points.
In our “instant gratification” society, many people don’t want to age a wine much past a couple of years and want to pop & pour…

I can appreciate various winemakers leaning towards making lower octane pinot, but quite frankly, many if not most of the pinot vineyards have micro-climates which do not support ripening at lower alcohol levels. Plus they often contain clones which also do not support ripening at lower Brix levels.

I believe the Kutch-Mon did his homework as to vineyards that would foster ripening at lower sugar levels.

Plus, many winemakers plan on picking very ripe grapes with the idea of watering them back.
So they’ll never make lower octane wines.

I agree with you 100% that all types of pinot should be available.
Everybody to their own taste the old lady said as she kissed the cow… [cheers.gif]

You know my stance on 15% pinots (and chards for that matter)

TTT

With respect to Jamie’s wines, the WA scores have gone up as the alcohol has gone down; although admittedly, only two vintages have been reviewed (the 06’s and 07’s - and of course there are other differences between the wines specifically and the vintages generally). It will be interesting to see what RP thinks of the 2008 and especially the 2009’s and 10’s. Regardless, I’m looking forward to the new releases. While I haven’t barrel-tasted the newer stuff, I find the 08 to be packed with flavor and a fine achievement in a challenging vintage (and I’m not a low-alcohol missionary - last week’s bottles included an Aubert Reuling and an Edmunds St. John Bone-Jolly and I had no difficulty enjoying them both).

I thought Adam Lee made a very good point in his comments reply.
Tom

My apologies for the over generalization. I was referring to 95+ RP, most if not all display sweet fruit expression.