Home | Wine Vintage | 2004
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2004 HARVEST REPORT I learn conceptually. It is possible for me to find a recipe, prepare it exactly as writen, and be satisfied in a sensory/nutritional way. When I am inspired to cook, either by some special ingredients or good friends, my approach is different. I read many recipes, gain an understanding of the way a particular food works with other ingredients, and then create my own dish. Usually the result is quite lovely, although I will admit some of my 'creations' were even rejected by my dog. When I was studying medicine, I loved physiology for the same reason. Physiology is the study of how the body functions and how various systems interact. If you understand normal physiology, you can see how the pieces fit together. In a disease state, you would look at the symptoms, try to understand which systems were malfunctioning to create that set of symptoms, and then look for diagnoses that corresponded to that set of problems. This was easier for me than just memorizing endless lists of differential diagnosis. You might be wondering what any of this has to do with winemaking. In most years, probably nothing. However, in both 2003 and 2004, my conceptual approach resulted in radical changes to my usual 'recipe' of how I make wine. Please allow me one further digression to illustrate my point. In my travels to French wineries, I occasionally happened to run into other visiting American winemakers. These winemakers sometimes expressed frustration in their seeming inability to get a straight answer from the French. They would ask about cold soaks, SO2 additions, treatment of reduction, and other favorite winemaker topics. The uniform French response would essentially be "it depends". This sounds much more mysterious when spoken in French, but it still pissed off the winemakers. The Americans would assume that the French were being secretive, ornery, or just French. I believe that there is another possibility, the French winemakers were being honest. Compared to California, and even Oregon, winegrowing in Burgundy is a difficult proposition. They must deal with grape diseases and relatively unripe fruit much more often. Faced with uneven quality, Burgundians have learned to adapt their techniques to respond to the conditions of each vintage. When I visit Burgundy and Alsace cellars, I ask about the conditions of the current vintage and what they did to deal with any problems that resulted. As we taste lovely and challenged wines, I ask what the winemakers will do to correct or finish those specific wines. For me, this is much more educational than looking for recipes and my questions are answered in a very straight forward manner. The result of my conceptual approach and knowledge learned from tasting in France has altered how I make wine. The most significant change in my winemaking took place prior to the 1998 harvest and immediately after my first visit to France. I abandoned the concept that more was better. Pinot noir is about balance and harmony more than any other red grape varietal. My goal since then has been to understand how to achieve that harmony within the conditions presented by each specific vintage. Each harvest presents us with different degrees and types of ripeness. The amount and type of tannins, acidity, phenolic compounds (color and flavor), sugar levels, presence of grape diseases (rot), all vary from year to year. My attempt is to tailor my winemaking choices to make the best wine from the fruit from that vintage. 2004 began as an early harvest - about 10 days earlier than normal. Fruit set was poor, resulting in a small crop that did not require the normal thinning. The mildew pressure was significant during June and July, but our growers did an excellent job preventing disease. It looked like another dry summer. The difficulty began in mid-August when it rained several inches. The berries swelled and a significant percentage split. These wounds were attacked by yellow jackets and became the breeding ground for disease. The weather continued to be cloudy for several days, after which it cleared. The sun and warm temperatures allowed the split berries to either heal or dry up. Extended sunny conditions did not materialize and cool, wet weather returned early in September. The effect of early season sprays were mostly gone by this time and the risk of rot was significant, especially the longer the cool, damp conditions continued. With harvest expected to begin by 9/20, I began to wonder if the fall rains were coming early and the fruit might never get ripe. After a week and a half of seemingly endless storm front after storm front, the sun returned. Warm, sunny conditions continued for 19 days: long enough to fully ripen and pick all of our fruit. The challenge, other than situational anxiety during the rains, was the presence of disease in the grapes that split. Although no large amount of botrytis was noted in our Pinot noir, we found berries in each lot that were diseased. For sixteen years, I have avoided adding SO2 to most lots of wine at harvest. Although risky, I believe that the resulting wines have more nuance. One of the effects of SO2 is to limit the problems caused by diseased fruit. This was clearly a year when SO2 was needed. Another technique that I frequently use is a short cold soak and a relatively long, slow fermentation. I picked relatively late in 2003 and 2004. By the time, we harvested in both vintages, I felt that the skin tannins were well developed and that the skins were quite thick. This meant that there was a lot of natural flavor material. To achieve my goal of balance, I decided to limit my cold soak to 24-36 hours, punch less often, and press after 8-10 days instead of my usual 12-14 days. The result were wines with lush, ripe tannins, and dark color without excess astringency. These are the most obvious adjustments that I made from my 'usual' routine. My ultimate goal is to produce the best wine possible. The challenges presented in more difficult vintages also present opportunities to make better wines and ones that truly reflect what is unique about each year. I believe that variety is the spice of life. It is very gratifying to produce the best wines in difficult vintages and that is a challenge that I embrace. Thanks, Mark Vlossak, winemaker |
