Peaches in my Wine?!

Every so often at events we get asked: “so how many apples are added to make this wine apply” or “at what stage do they add the blackcurrants to the Cabernet”.  While seasoned wine drinkers may smile, it’s not surprising that a novice taster might pose such a question.  Confronted daily by newspaper wine columns, magazine food & drink sections and various online resources that introduce colourful and descriptive adjectives, it is reasonable for a novice wine drinker/taster to conclude that somewhere along the way the winemaker might be adding tobacco, leather, strawberry or some other ingredient to their grape juice, depending on the aromas detected and described.

Don’t fear this is certainly not the case!  What we do know is that in certain native plants, fruits and vegetables share certain components.  Some grapes contain components of peach for example, this is reflected in the Viognier grape which can often be described as producing a ‘peachy’ or fruity apricot style wine.  In fact viognier and peach share a compound called ‘Linalool’.  This compound is also shared by Muscat, Riesling and Gewürztraminer and is in fact in some soap & perfume products too!  The cosmetic company LUSH describe it as follows: Linalool is a colourless liquid with a soft sweet odour. It occurs naturally in many essential oils such as Tangerine, Spearmint, Rose, Neroli, Mandarin, Lemon, Lime, Lavender, Cypress, Grapefruit, Cinnamon, Chamomile, Palmarossa, Ho Wood and Ylang ylang.  All grapes contain varying percentages of similar compounds.

Overall however the flavour of a wine is affected by two factors: 1. Nature, 2. Winemaker.

The natural climate plays a major role in determining the characteristics of a wine made from a particular grape variety.  A cool climate results in grapes (and eventual wine) at the lower end of the ripeness scale.  These would share earthy, ‘green’, vegetal and herbal characteristics while being high in acidity.  Warm climates will result in wines of riper flavour, fruitier with softer acidity.  Sauvignon Blanc is a good example of this.  It shares a compound called ‘pyrazine’ with bell peppers and asparagus.  Sauvignon Blanc produced from a cool climate at the lower end of ripeness produces a wine where the pyrazine characteristics are very noticeable.  At warmer regions the fruit becomes riper and the pyrazine begins to take a back seat versus the developing compounds associated with riper fruits.  Therefore as an aside tip we can also deduce that herbaceous ‘green’ wines come from cooler climates or have been produced with grapes picked early.  A good example of this would be a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.  Warmer climates will reveal only slight grassy notes with riper melon and apply styles, on the highest end of the ripeness scale intense and luscious tropical aromas will be present overwhelming and covering up any traces of herbaceous characteristics.

So just as we explained how nature - climate, temperature and ripeness will affect the flavour profile of a grape, so too will the winemaker’s interaction with the fruit in the winery.  Oaky aromas, creamy/buttery characteristics and toasty nuances all imply that the winemaker has played further with the fruit during the wine making process.  But remember at no stage will apples/cherries/gooseberry/spice be introduced, these aromas are all naturally occurring and easy reliable triggers for us to use when describing a wine to friends or seeking assistance in the wine shop.  We’ll chat about these additional winemaker induced characteristics soon.

Tags: aroma, climate, linalool, pyrazine, tasting, Wine Basics

New Year (Wine) Resolutions

So now that Christmas has passed once again and New Years celebrations already seem like a distant memory why not make some New Year’s (Wine) Resolutions?  As part of your new year’s resolutions why not start to record thw wines you tried and in particular the wines you really liked.  This doesn’t have to be anything too fancy.  Start with basic notes and build up from there.  So did you enjoy a particular wine over Christmas?  Did you jot down the name?  Or save the label?  No? - Then dash out to your glass recycling bin and fish out your favourite tipples from the season.

To make a wine note for future reference you should record: What the wine was, its name, brand, country it came from, colour, grape variety and any other info that helps you remember it.  If you want you could also mark it out of ten.  Remember that it is also important to record details about wines that you may not have liked so much - this will help you avoid buying a style of wine you don’t like in the future.

A layout for your tasting note might look like this:

An example of how you could complete this tasting note would be:

Your note should reflect your thoughts and feelings for the wine.  Don’t feel anxious or intimidated about how you describe it.  Use words and phrases that you can relate to and which sum up the wine as it tasted at the particular time.  After you have written a few notes you will start to feel more comfortable about describing wine and should also begin to find yourself identifying flavours and tastes far easier.

Best of Luck!  Tom

Tags: new year, tasting, tasting note

Video wine tasting with Bodegas Valduero - Part One

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had an opportunity to meet up with a friend from the Spanish winery - Bodegas Valduero.

While I had the chance I switched on the video recorder and saved some of the tasting.  Roger provides a good deal of additional info about the winery & the region.  Hopefully we’ll get more and more video posted over the next while, afterall a picture (or video) is worth a thousand words!

 

Take a look!

Tags: Ribera del Duero, Spain, tasting, Tempranillo, Valduero, video

Conversations with… Valduero

Just last week I had an opportunity to meet with an old friend,  Roger, from Bodegas Valduero.  Roger was travelling around Ireland for a few days to raise awareness for his wine - Valduero.  The winery is based in Ribera del Duero D.O.   Ribera del Duero is the most important of Castilla y Leon’s five DO zones.  (Get to Madrid and drive north for about 2hrs).

Ribera del Duero received its D.O. status (Denominacion de Origen) in 1982.  In the early eighties Ribera del Duero was relatively unknown outside of Spain, (Rioja was still commanding all the attention).  The main grape variety in Ribera del Duero is Tempranillo,  referred to locally as ‘Tinta Fina’.

In 1983 Don Gregorio Garcia established Bodegas Valduero in the region.   It was one of the first wineries to establish itself in the region, as I write this today there are over 200 registered wineries operating in Ribera del Duero!  Certainly a lot of the new wineries to the region are benefiting from the success & prestige of the region generated by other wineries such as Vega Sicilia & Valduero.

The Valduero winemaking team is led by Yolanda Garcia Viadero, daughter of Don Gregorio.  Yolanda has been at the helm since the wineries inception back in the early 80’s.  Certainly Valduero has benefited greatly from the continuous stewardship shown by Yolanda over the last 26 years.  I tasted my first Valduero crianza back in 2003 and have been a big fan since.  The style of Valduero is very elegant, producing a fine, well structured wine with typical aromas of dark fruits, tobacco, hints of mocha and subtle earthy characters all wrapped in a refined yet impressive veil of rich oak.  I am always impressed by how ‘alive’ and fresh the wines of Valduero taste, this seems to hold true throughout the selection of wines produced.  I got to try a nice selection including a five year old crianza and a ten year old reserva, and despite their age I remarked on a couple of occasions how big, fresh and alive the fruit flavours were.  This style of wine is not simply achieved overnight.  It takes years of experience with the vines in the vineyard, some trial and error and careful nuturing to produce a harvest that achieves such powerful and memorable wines - well done Yolanda!!

Some of the main points Roger was keen to remind me of… !!

• The Bodega is situated at 840m above sealevel, making it probably the highest vineyard in Ribera del Duero.  This altitude is important as it contributes to large temperature variations between day and night, this works to stress the vine as it doesn’t have a steady temperatue to develop in.  Such stress to the vine ultimately produces fruit which will take a little longer to ripen and will have a lot more character than its rivals.
• The vines (tempranillo) planted for the red wines are trained (although they may appear hacked) into low bushes. 
• 200Ha. (Each. - hectare, is about the size of a football pitch) of these low bush vines are planted, making it the largest area of low bush vines in Spain!  The fruit is all harvested by hand into small crates to ensure that the berries do not get squashed enroute to the winery.
• The winery is still family owned and managed.

The winery reinvests heavily into their vineyards and facilities to ensure quality year after year. 

One of my own favourite features of Valduero is thier enormous winery - it’s made up of three long tunnels buried into the side of a hill. 

 

 

 

 

Each tunnel serves its own function:

1. Fermentation tunnel,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Barrel Ageing Tunnel,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Bottle Ageing Tunnel. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another update from Roger was about an additional tunnel - required to keep up with demand and addition volumes being produced at the winery now.  (Production of a white wine unique to Valduero has steadily increased over the last five years).  This new construction is to be capped with a tasting room offering a magnificant view across the vineyards of Ribera del Duero.

I had a chance to travel to the winery last summer while on holidays and took a few snaps while I was getting the grand tour.  While I was there some other keen tourists stopped by to check things out.  If you do get the chance to travel to the area it is certainly worth checking out - even ring in advance and you might be welcomed with a glass of wine!  It was early days in the holiday when I visited so I still had the enthusiasm to scribble some tasting notes - I’ll dig them out and compare to what I got to taste last week.  I’ll try get them posted later this week.

Tags: Ribera del Duero, Spain, tasting, Tempranillo, Tinto Fina, Valduero

Here we go!

Hi all,

 

Just penning a brief note to get the ball rolling with our new blog!

Bear with us while we get comfortable with this new addition to the website.  If you have been clicking onto the site occasionally you will notice some new features and additions have also been added.  We have created some new sections for you to explore. 

 

The very fact you’re reading this means you have discovered the first of our new additions: Our blog!  As time goes by we will be updating this blog frequently with a whole host of info on various wine related topics.  I have a few ideas my self to begin with but if there are any questions you might have or advice you might need please feel free to post them right here on our blog.

 

In the main body of the website we have freshened up our appearance and introduced some new pages – “Upcoming Tastings” & “Wine Basics”. 

 

Upcoming Tastings

In the near future WineCourse.ie will be bringing you information about wine tastings in your area.  These will range from casual wine club tastings and discussion through to tutored tastings & wine dinners hosted by winemakers and importers.  (If you are involved in a wine club or associated with an upcoming event please drop me a note, info@winecourse.ie, and allow WineCourse.ie to help promote it for you).

 

Wine Basics

Maybe you haven’t had a chance to come along to one of our wine courses or wine tasting sessions yet.  Click on ‘Wine Basics’ over the coming weeks and we will provide you with some of the essential basics to allow you enjoy your wine further and develop some wine tasting technique!

 

Like I said at the start, we are eager to share info with you about wines in Ireland, wine education opportunities and any other info that might come our way.  We’ve lots of exciting ideas so remember this page and come back to visit soon!!

Tags: tasting, Wine Basics