1997 No. 3

Dear Faithful Subscribers:

As with most cliches, there is a kernel of truth (no cliche intended) the Vigneron and the artist in residence spent another weekend at Davis, this time in a two-day Introduction to Sensory Evaluation of Wine course. The course is a combination of lecture and initially wine-component tasting; then at the end, finally some real wines after the lecture by Dr. Noble who developed and copyrighted the "Wine Aroma Wheel" which lists over 100 wine aromas. Besides the obvious fruit, vegetable and flora smells, it contains such well-known aromas to our readership, such as Methyle Anthranilate and Linalool. The artist in residence spent a considerable amount of time memorizing the descriptors on the Wine Aroma Wheel and using them incessantly. Not to be intimidated by Dr. Noble, he even took the literary license of translating her scientific term of sweat socks into "funky sneakers." What is it about English majors that makes them so verbose and unable to use common everyday words? It must be the terrior. We then spent a session on the visual characteristics of wine and tasted a mystery wine. The artist in residence, positive it was a Riesling, the bottle shape was a give-away, the Vigneron was sure it was not a Riesling, but had trouble identifying it and thought it might be a Sémillon. As usual, the artist in residence was convinced that he was correct and on more than one occasion so advised the Vigneron. When the wine was identified later in the course, it turned out to be an Alsatian gewúrztraminer. On the afternoon of the first day, we spent studying wine orders - mostly spoiled and what caused them in the wine making process. We then shifted to the major wine components of acid, sugar and tannin. The artist in residence, thinking he was on a roll for identifying the mystery wine, was visibly defeated when the Vigneron correctly selected the four acid samples and the four sugar samples in their correct order of the component. Suffice it to say that the artist in residence was not perfect. The next day we finally started tasting ______________ wine and had a lecture by Dr. Boulton, an enology professor and an Australian, whose thesis was that many things done in a winery such as cold-soaking grapes, skin contact and filtration, did not have an appreciable sensory (tasting) impact on the wine. The Vigneron observed to the somewhat surprised artist in residence that after his 1996 P_____________ B____________ wine and the fact that he is now an expert winemaker, that most of what Dr. Boulton said about red wines the Vigneron and Frank G. had been doing because that is the way their fathers and grandfathers made wine. Perhaps the traditional ways do have some wisdom to them. We spent the last afternoon blind-tasting six white wines which were three different varietals and six zinfandels. By this time, we were all experts and the aroma descriptors for the white wines rolled as fast as the Aroma Wheel could be turned and everybody was finding better scotch and honeysuckle Linalool and other bananas, pineapples and other exotic components to the white wines. We then switched our attention to the zinfandels and the group was quite miffed that they were all clearly flawed and to a greater extent the only question about the flaw was how egregious it was.

Yes, the Artist-in-Residence (Wes Hagen) has been replaced by the Viticulturist-in-Training. Same person, different outlook. Writing the Great American Novel(s) isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. It’s hard to write a marketable book if you haven’t been abducted by aliens, killed your wife, or had extramarital relations with someone famous. Oh well. I just wanted to write interesting literature. Growing grapes is much simpler. You do the work, the plants respond. The wrath of nature can slow you down, but I’d much rather face a raging storm than a New York publishing house.

As for the grapes, they’re looking great. We couldn’t have asked for a better growing season. Cool, foggy nights. Warm days that become temperate as the Santa Rita Valley fills with coastal air, as it does every midday. Average June weather looks something like this: fog until 10:00 AM, then bright sunshine, with windy, cool afternoons and evenings. The wind’s been strong this year, and some vines have sustained physical damage and scarring. While everyone seems to think that "stressing" a vine is good, the opposite is true of young vines.

Getting that plan 30 inches up the stake and getting some canes laid on the fruiting wire is vital at the end of the second growing season. Having dormant canes on a wire during winter will "prime" the vines to produce next year. Come spring, that dead-looking wood will start throwing fruit and a canopy to protect it. The wind has made training the vines more difficult, and we worked through the vineyard as fast as we could. Young vines are trained by loosely tying them (vertically) to the stake with 1/2 inch green tie-tape. When the vine is tall enough, it is either lad on the wire, all canes pointed South (unilateral cane-pruned cordon), or it is cut, and the lateral shoots are laid on the wire, going both directions (bilateral cane-pruned cordon). By the time we trained the vineyard once (18,000+ vines) the other side was filled with leaf-laden canes waving in the wind (a few of them actually were ripped free from the stalk).

Working in the vineyard every day is close to heaven. Your hands start looking really bad, you don’t bathe quite so often, but your office is a sea of magical green that literally turns water into wine. Sure, the 6:15 wake-up call might seem a bit early, especially with no time clock save the knowledge that nature waits for no man. In the vineyard by 7:00. Start cooking through the vines by 7:30. Leave the rows and the crews at lunch. Maybe make a few calls or go on a trip to get equipment or materials. You can’t ask for a better existence. Come three or four in the afternoon, I’m free to write, fish Faviota on my kayak, play golf, or dote on my beautiful girlfriend Kathryn. All that, and I get invited to a lot of tastings and dinners.

The Viticulturist-in-Training has been hanging out with the likes of Richard Atkins (owner of Sanford and Benedict Vineyard), Richard Sanford, Greg Brewer, Dan Gainey, Fess and Ely Parker, Bryan Babcock, Rick Langoria, etc. All of these wine-biz gunslingers (myself included) have met twice to discuss a super-secret project that will be made public in August, around the time of the SBCVA Harvest Festival. Very exciting to Clos Pepe in particular, this news bodes well for our business and our property value. On the subject of business booms, Fess Parker will most likely buy 640 acres adjacent to Clos Pepe. At a cozy Hitching Post dinner with Ely and Bryan Babcock, Ely told me that they plan to have a wine-making facility there, and due to the popularity and profitability of their other tasting room, it can be inferred that hordes of tasters may be searching Highway 246 in the years to come.

The Davis-4 Chardonnay which John Krska recommended we put on the wire last year, is bearing beautiful fruit this year. Estimating harvest is difficult on such a small scale, but I would be happy if we get half a ton and make a full barrel of wine over at Babcock. The Vigneron would be happy if it were enough to sell. (Vigneron being influenced by L’Agent?)

Lily the wonder dog wants equal billing in the Clos Pepe Newsletter, and continues to show jealousy when she sees Bud’s (and only Bud’s) paw-print on the back page of the newsletter. Quoth the 108 lb. pup: "All that corpulent hound does on Clos Pepe is chase ducks and beg for food. I’m in the field all week keeping the workers safe from gophers and rabbits, barking at visitors, keeping Wes company, and this is the respect I get. I’m the vineyard dog, and Bud knows it." When asked about Bud’s heroics in the Long Beach Fire, Lily responded: "That? That was nothing. He told me in confidence that he thought it was a barbecue. He work up the Vigneron to beg for a piece of tri-tip." Lily believes she will gain her due respect as soon as the ‘101 Dalmatians’ craze has waned.

Cathy, Steve and Bud

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