AN INTERESTING PERSPECTIVE ON THE NEW ORGANIC WINE PRODUCTION LAWS FEATURED LAST WEEK
The new regulations should ensure that everything which happens to the grapes between harvest and bottling is carried out in an organic spirit. No one, of course, is suggesting that pigeage (punching down) is more organic than remontage (rack and return) when it comes to extracting colour, flavour and tannin from red grape skins, or that there might be an organic and non-organic way to press white grapes. What does matter, if you are wedded to the ideals of purity and naturalness which the word 'organic’ implies, are winery additions. Will ‘organic’ mean fewer of them?
This is a matter of consequence, for the simple reason that ingredient labelling for wine is more lax than it is for foods and soft drinks. Unless you buy all your wine from the heroic Co-operative chain in the UK (or drink nothing but Bonny Doon), you won’t know exactly what non-grape ingredients have been added to your wine, the obligatory mention of sulphites aside. The Co-operative does spell out further additions on its back labels – carboxy methyl cellulose, tartaric acid and pectinolytic enzymes on its Fairtrade Chilean Sauvignon Blanc Riserva, for example (and nothing at all bar a little bentonite and gelatine for fining in the Puerta Colorada Rioja Tinto).
My guess is that most of those buying ‘organic wine’ would do so in the hopeful spirit that it will contain fewer additions than conventional wine. That magic word ‘organic’, though, would be the only clue, since the labelling laws let us all down so badly in this respect.
Alas, these hopes are likely to be dashed. The only snippets we have been offered of the coming legislation is that additions of sorbic acid (potassium sorbate – a sweet wine preservative) will be forbidden, as will the relatively uncommon process of desulphurization. Overall maximum sulphur levels will also be lower than that permitted for European wine in general. A bit lower: 100 mg/l in place of 150 mg/l for red wines, and 150 mg/l in place of 200 mg/l for white and rose wines. Daring this is not: the wines of good ‘conventional’ producers will be comfortably under the new organic limits. And organic producers, it would seem, will still be able to use the full panoply of acid additions, must enrichment, yeast nutrients and enzymes.
I still welcome the legislative development: it’s important to step in the right direction. Remember that the rules regarding organic cultivation are not yet perfect, either. Few organic producers like having to use copper sulphate in their vineyards: there is an unhappy friction between the organic ideal and the reality of spraying a metal residue into your soils. Out of that unhappiness will come progress. Maybe the presence of a different set of rules for organic vinification, too, will begin to convince Europe’s legislators that current labelling requirements for all wine, whether organic or not, need revision.
I’m not saying, of course, that full disclosure of additions would result in better wine. It’s not the presence or absence of an intervention, an addition or an adjustment which matters, but the quality of judgment which lies behind that presence or that absence. Full disclosure would, though, make all winemakers at least stop and think about why they are making an addition – and might spare us some of the wine caricatures which undisclosed, heavy-handed additions create.
I WONDER WHAT THE RESULT WOULD HAVE BEEN IF THE QUESTION WAS.....DO YOU CHOOSE A WINE BECAUSE YOU LIKE IT? or IS IT GOOD VALUE? THERE,s NOWT SO STRANGE AS MARKET RESEARCH!!!
Consumers across three continents prefer lower alcohol wines: Prowein
- Thursday 16 February 2012
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In research commissioned by German wine trade fair Prowein, analysts Wine Intelligence canvassed 1000 regular wine drinkers in the US, China, Germany and the UK.
Significant minorities in each country said their ideal wine would have less than 12% alcohol.
In China this was most noticeable, with 91% of drinkers saying their desired level would be 8.5-10.5% by volume.
In Britain, 22% said their ideal wine was 10.5% or less, with similar numbers in Germany and the US saying the same.
The preference for lower alcohol is most marked in the younger generation. In China the survey found that women, and those aged 18-39, were more likely to say their preferred level of alcohol was 5.5-8%
A similar demographic was found in Britain, with 27% of the 18-39 age group saying their preferred strength was 10.5% or less.
When it comes to the importance of ethical wines, drinkers’ views diverge. In the UK and the US around a third said it was important when choosing a wine that it was ‘organic, sustainable or Fairtrade’, a figure that rose to 67% in Germany and 86% in China.
Across the world, grape variety is cited as the most important factor when buying wine. More than 80% of respondents in the UK, China and Germany – and 93% in the US – said grape variety influenced the buying decision
A quarter of respondents in the UK said Merlot and Pinot Grigio were their favourite grape varieties, drinkers in the US and China name Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay as favourites, while the Germans prefer Dornfelder and Riesling.
Prowein, the International Wine and Spirits Trade Fair, takes place in Dusseldorf from 4-6 March 2012.
Record battu pour les exportations de vins et spiritueux français
Nouveau record historique pour les ventes de vins et spiritueux français à l'exportation. Un seuil de 10 milliards d'euros de chiffre d'affaires a été franchi en 2011. Soit 2,44 milliards de bouteilles, grâce notammement aux ventes de bordeaux, de cognacs et de champagnes. Les professionnels se frottent les mains.
Les vins et les spiritueux contribuent largement, une fois de plus, aux exportations françaises. En 2011 ce secteur a dégagé un excédent commercial de plus de 8 milliards d'euros. Et pour la première fois, la valeur des exportations a dépassé 10 milliards d'euros, plus que les ventes d'armes. Un seul bémol : cette hausse est due principalement à une augmentation des prix, car les volumes, eux, n'ont pas suivi.
La demande était bonne et les stocks chez les revendeurs se sont vidés, précise la Fédération des exporteurs de vins et spiritueux. Le secteur a plutôt bien encaissé la crise économique. Et 2012 commence aussi bien en terme de commandes.
Dans le monde, les principaux importateurs des vins et spiritueux français sont les Américains et les Britanniques. L'Asie, deuxième région d'importation, affiche une croissance spectaculaire. La France peut donc se réjouir, mais pourrait mieux faire. Aux Etats-Unis, elle peine à gagner les parts de marché. Et pourtant c'est le marché américain qui est le premier marché du vin au monde !
Des vins européens biologiques dès la vendange 2012... voire 2011 !
La Commission Européenne annonce que de nouvelles règles de l'UE pour le «vin biologique» ont été adoptées par le comité permanent de l'agriculture biologique (SCOF), et seront publiées au Journal officiel de l'Union Européenne au cours des prochaines semaines (le délai généralement observé est de 3 ou 4 semaines).
Le texte sera d'application à partir du 1er août 2012 - donc pas de terme "vin biologique" sur les bouteilles avant le 1er août 2012. Les vins issus de raisins de la vendange 2011 et qui auront été vinifiés conformément à la réglementation qui vient d'être votée (avec obligation pour le producteur de fournir un relevé de ses pratiques oenologiques à son organisme certificateur) pourront adopter le terme vin biologique et le logo bio de l'UE à partir du 1er août 2012.
Les producteurs de vin biologique seront autorisés à utiliser les termes «vin biologique» sur leurs étiquettes ainsi que le logo biologique de l'UE. Ils devront également faire figurer le numéro de code de leur certificateur, et respecter les autres règles en matière d’étiquetage du vin.
Après le vote au comité permanent de l'agriculture biologique, M. Dacian Ciolos, membre de la Commission européenne chargé de l’agriculture et du développement rural a déclaré: «Je me réjouis de l'accord enfin conclusur ce dossier, car il était important d'établir des règles harmonisées garantissant une offre claire aux consommateurs, qui s'intéressent de plus en plus aux produits biologiques. Je suis satisfait de ces règles qui différencient clairement le vin traditionnel et le vin biologique, comme c'est le cas pour d'autres produits biologiques. Au final, les consommateurs peuvent être certains que tout «vin biologique» aura été produit sur la base de règles de production plus strictes.»
Dans son communiqué de presse, la Commission Européenne exprime le souhait que cette nouvelle réglementation améliore la lisibilité des vins biologiques sur le marché intérieur et renforce "la position des vins biologiques de l'UE au niveau international, étant donné que de nombreux autres pays producteurs de vin (États-Unis, Chili, Australie, Afrique du Sud) ont déjà mis en place des normes applicables aux vins biologiques."
Les nouvelles règles en matière de vinification biologique comportent une définition technique du vin biologique qui est compatible avec les objectifs et les principes de l’agriculture biologique figurant dans le règlement (CE) n° 834/2007 du Conseil. Le nouveau règlement prévoit un sous-groupe de pratiques œnologiques (vinification) et de substances pour les vins biologiques, définies dans le règlement relatif à l'organisation commune du marché du vin (OCM) [CE) n° 606/2009]. Ainsi, l'acide sorbique et la désulfuration ne seront pas autorisés et le niveau maximal de sulfites dans le vin biologique doit être inférieur à 100 mg par litre pour le vin rouge (150 mg/l pour le vin traditionnel) et 150 mg/l pour le vin blanc /rosé (200 mg/l pour le vin traditionnel), avec un différentiel de 30 mg/l lorsque la teneur en sucre résiduel estsupérieure à 2 g par litre.
Outre ce sous-groupe de spécifications, les règles de vinification générales définies dans le règlement relatif à l’OCM vitivinicole seront également applicables. Parallèlement à ces pratiques œnologiques, le «vin biologique» doit évidemment aussi être produit à partir de raisins issus de l'agriculture biologique, telle que définie au règlement (CE) n° 834/2007.. Le règlement recense les techniques œnologiques et les substances autorisées pour le vin biologique.
GOOD NEWS FOR ABEILHAN COOPERATIVE ?
Languedoc : Partenariat dans le vin bio entre une cave coopérative et le négoce spécialisé
Après plusieurs années de collaboration, la Maison des Terroirs Vivants, acteur majeur du négoce de vin bio, et la cave coopérative d’Abeilhan dans l’Hérault près de Béziers, ont signé un un accord de partenariat pour le développement de vins bio. Ce contrat a pour but d’accompagner le développement de chaque partenaire dans le secteur du vin bio : la cave s’est engagée à vendre en exclusivité à Terroirs Vivants la production de ses 100 ha de vigne actuellement en deuxième année de conversion. Elle bénéficie en échange de l’accompagnement technique fourni le négoce : suivi des parcelles et du cahier des charges pour l’élaboration des vins.
Terroirs Vivant s’est engagé à acheter, à un prix valorisé par rapport au prix des vins conventionnels, les vins issus des vignes en conversion. Pour Terroirs Vivants, ce partenariat permet de sécuriser ses volumes et de maîtriser la filière de production de la vigne jusqu’à la parcelle grâce à une étroite collaboration entre les producteurs, la production de la cave, la production du négociant et les œnologues de Terroirs Vivants.
Pour la coopérative, ce partenariat offre une garantie de débouchés, y compris pour les vins en conversion. « Cette collaboration technique est intéressante pour la cave, elle nous ouvre à différents styles de vin. Ce partenariat est également bénéfique pour nos adhérents qui sont en conversion, qui sont ainsi en relation étroite avec le metteur en marché et sont ainsi plus proches du produit fini », estime Delphine Berruezo, la directrice de la cave.BEWARE!! THESE WINE SCAMS ARE BECOMING FREQUENT
Fine wine company disappears leaving clients empty-handed
- Thursday 2 February 2012
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Beaumont Vintners Ltd, a wine investment company set up in June 2010 and registered in Fulham, London, sold a client – who wishes to remain nameless – Chateau Lafite vintages from 2004 through to 2007.
The cases of the 2004 and 2005 never arrived at EWGA Ltd, the Lancashire bonded warehouse used by Beaumont Vintners.
EWGA Ltd told Decanter.com the client was not alone: it had had ‘a number of calls from Beaumont clients whose wine is not in the warehouse and who cannot contact the company, who are not answering the phone.’
Decanter.com has also been unable to contact Beaumont Vintners either by email or phone.
Meanwhile Beaumont’s sole director, Samuel Philips, 30, is also the sole director of another wine investment company – Alexander Barclay Wines Ltd, formed in August 2011 with its registered office in London’s ultra-exclusive district of Knightsbridge.
Alexander Barclay’s website is very similar to that of Beaumont Vintners.
Its introduction reads, ‘Alexander Barclay is Formed by a group of experienced and successful businessmen and traders, Alexander Barclay's are providing an opportunity for our clients to gain a foothold in the thriving and prosperous fine wine market.’
Beaumont Vintners’ introduction is identical: ‘Formed by a group of experienced and successful businessmen and traders, Beaumont Vintners are providing an opportunity for our clients to gain a foothold in the thriving and prosperous fine wine market.’
The name Beaumont Vintners Ltd appears on the Alexander Barclay site: ‘Beaumont Vintners uses relative pricing, industry supplied information,…’
Alexander Barclay claims to store wine at EWGA Ltd, although EWGA told Decanter.com it has no account for Alexander Barclay Wines Ltd, will not be opening one and has made a complaint to the Trading Standards Authority.
World wine production stable in 2011
Despite a continuing reduction in area of vineyards, global production in the year remained virtually unchanged at 270 million hectolitres with Europe contributing 158 million of the total. In plain English that global production is three thousand, five hundred million bottles!
Within Europe France regained its number one position, increasing production by around 8% to 50 million hectolitres at the same time as Italy saw a 13% decline to around 42 million hectolitres. Outside Europe the USA saw a significant decline whereas Chile, New Zealand and Australia posted healthy increases.
In 2011 around 60,000 hectares of the worlds total of 7.8 million hectares of vines were grubbed up continuing the trend of the last decade. Europe led the way with 50,000 hectares led in turn by Spain whose vineyard area reduced by 28,000 hectares.
France- The changing landscape
Whether living in France or simply being a regular visitor, it cannot have escaped notice that over the last decade there has been significant change in the agricultural mix. In the order of 100,000 hectares ( quarter of a million acres) of vineyards have gone to be replaced by corn and in the south also by olives. This has had the effect of reducing the total by about 11% to 790,000 hectares.
Languedoc Roussillon is by far and away the region most affected. Over a fifth of vines have disappeared reducing the worlds largest wine region to a surface area of 200,000 hectares. This of course is reflective of the regions move away from being a high volume producer of cheap wines to one of the worlds most innovative and high quality producing areas.
Along with the countries reduction in area under vine there has also been a huge reduction in the number of wineries, down from 110,000 in the year 2000 to 85,000 now. There has of course been a significant amount of consolidation with Negociant producers in particular buying individual domains. Recent examples in Languedoc of this trend are the purchases of Domaine Martinolle in Limoux by Paul Mas and Domaine Sauvageonne in Saint jean de Blaquiere by Gerard Bertrand.
One other interesting statistic regarding French wineries is that the number run by the fair sex has doubled from 13.5% in 1988 to 27% today. Is there a corollation here with the increase in quality???
OUCH NO PUNCHES PULLED!!
Chapoutier pours scorn on natural winemakers
- Tuesday 31 January 2012
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Interviewed in the current issue of Decanter, Chapoutier tells John Livingstone-Learmonth the practice of natural winemaking – that is, using no sulphur dioxide to stabilise the wines – is a con.
‘It is a connerie. It is rubbish. It’s like making vinegar, bad vinegar. How can anyone allow toxic yeasts to develop so that these inhabit the wine?’
Moreover the Hermitage producer (pictured), who also makes wine in Australia, Portugal and Alsace, considers those who follow the practice, ‘hippies from another world’.
‘It is extraordinary that people defend products with defects on the grounds that in the past growers were making wines with defects, so that is good, or natural. Those old wines had defects because people lacked the tools and means not to make fault-free wines.’
Natural winemaking has a long history of attracting fiercely opposing views. In a recent column in Decanter, Andrew Jefford suggested that although the method could produce an undreamt-of ‘landscape of aroma and flavour’, it was also teetering on the edge of ‘charlatanry’.
No winemaker, he argued, ‘should… fold their arms and stare righteously at the ceiling while their wines turn malodorously delinquent through neglect.’
In another article in a previous Decanter, Isabelle Legeron MW, an ‘evangelist’ for natural wines and founder of the Natural Wine Fair, has pointed out how ‘bizarre’ it is that we question natural credentials of our food, but are happy to drink wine that is effectively processed.
‘We celebrate unpasteurised, stinky Epoisses for its uniqueness, and fresh apple juice for its cloudiness, yet we insist on wine that is sterile and consistent,’ she says.
The March issue of Decanter magazine is out nowNew Languedoc wine hierarchies “a du plomb dans l,aile”
There is a deafening silence from the people who run the Languedoc wine region (CIVL) and in particular from the man, Jerome Villaret, who announced to the world a year ago the bizarre new structure of Grand Crus and Grand Vins of Languedoc. It appears that CIVL did not clear the concept with the people who run all French wine hierarchies namely INAO, who have given it thank goodness a clear thumbs down.
Mutterings are coming out of CIVL regarding yet more weird and wonderful classifications such as “Terroirs d, exception”. Let us all hope that whatever they come up with displays an understanding that there are good and bad producers in all terroirs and that it is the market/ consumer who set prices.
A Balanced view on the minimum alcohol pricing debate from one of the drinks industrys finest writers
- by Andrew Jefford
Jefford on Monday: Dionysus and Downing St
Others will chose to wait until Lent begins on February 22nd to hang up the corkscrew (or leave the screwcaps intact). Some try to have an alcohol-free day or two every week; my own strategy tends to mean leaving abstention to fate, but to welcome it when it happens. Any habit is best repudiated once in a while, if for nothing else than the view it gives of a changed world. I’m sure that time spent away from wine, too, can sharpen one’s tasting abilities on return.
You might, of course, regard any kind of restraint as wimpish and contemptible. “Un repas sans vin est un jour sans soleil” (‘a meal without wine is a day without sunshine’), Louis Pasteur is reputed to have said, and some wine lovers enthusiastically agree. Medical opinion, moreover, can usually be found to back up almost any personal alcohol strategy other than that of unmitigated excess.
Individual practice is one thing; debate and lobbying another. When those involved in wine production, sales or promotion discuss restraint or abstention, an element of self-defensiveness seems to sharpen the tone. This is particular evident when the restraint is being urged by governments on citizens for their own benefit (as with the current debate regarding minimum alcohol pricing in the UK).
I’ve spent my working life writing about (and thus in some sense promoting) fine alcoholic drinks including wine, and I’m in no doubt of their beauty, intrigue, cultural depth and civilising qualities. I’ve often witnessed and experienced the beneficial effects of moderate alcohol consumption in lifting the spirits and bringing people closer to one another. A little wine brings spiritual music to secular life. Without alcohol, wine wouldn’t do that. Without alcohol, wine does not exist.
Drunkenness and alcohol dependence, though, are pure horror, both to experience and to witness. I’ll never forget the boiling rage of someone’s aunt, banging the table next to me at a friend’s wedding because the serving staff were slow in uncorking the bottle she was clutching, nor the sense I had of peering into an abyss as I imagined the life she and her mortified husband lived out together. One of the reasons I relish no longer living in the UK is that it’s rare, closer to the Mediterranean, to observe roaringly drunk males sow discord in public places, though you don’t need to be particularly observant to see (and smell) the less ostentatious forms of drunkenness here. Set against these excesses, the calm and serenity of abstention is indeed beautiful.
It’s admirable to drink moderately, and to celebrate and propagate the richness which wine’s long culture has brought to human existence -- but it’s admirable not to drink, too. Beneficial moderation, after all, is defined by intermittent abstention. Dionysus, as Euripides wrote in the Bacchae, is most gentle yet also most terrible to mankind. It’s in our greater interest to maximise the gentleness, and minimise the terrible episodes.
When those in power try to bring this about, it seems to me that they deserve the support of moderate drinkers. (This, of course, is not an argument for prohibition: we would then miss out on the beneficial gentleness.) Those whose livelihoods are articulated around alcoholic drinks should also take a long view.
Between the adoption of the Loi Évin in France in December 1990 and 2008, alcohol consumption fell by 20% -- yet those producing France’s good wines and its fine wines prosper today as never before. Governments don’t always get it wrong. Minimum alcohol pricing in the discount-addicted UK would principally target the cheapest and most alcoholically corrosive drinks: those favoured, in other words, by those in thrall to the terrible Dionysus rather than the gentle one. It’s a sound policy.
Languedoc : "bête noire et grand espoir des vins de France" dans le San Francisco Chronicle
"Le Languedoc-Roussillon est la bête noire et le grand espoir de la France", pouvait-on lire en ce début d'année dans les colonnes du San Francisco Chronicle, l'un des quotidiens les plus lus en Californie. Bête noire, parce que pendant des années, avec 740 000 héctares de vigne, cette région a été la source de fabrication du vin industriel exporté en Europe et en Amerique. Mais nous allons nous centrer sur l'espoir. Depuis deux décennies, elle a également connue une renaissance en tant que région qui allie la tradition de l'Ancien Monde avec la liberté du Nouveau Monde. Voici un endroit en France où les règles sont toujours en train de s'écrire. Au sein de cette nouvelle étape, des domaines comme Mas Champart et Daumas Gassac ont construit leur nom dans cette région.
Il n'est pas surprenant, note le "San Francisco Chronicle", que pendant la dégustation récente de plus de 40 vins rouges du Languedoc-Roussillon, on rencontre un vigneron jeune et entreprenant qui hérite ou découvre un trésor de vieilles vignes et des fermes, auparavant négligé et aujourd'hui de retour à la prospérité. C'est également sans surprise que de nombreux vins qu'ils ont aimés profitent de pratiques biologiques ou biodynamiques.
De gens comme Didier Barral ou Gerard Gauby du domaine Gauby de Roussillon, ont combattu la tentation d'obtenir de l'argent du gouvernement que les auraient poussés' à s'eloigner de leurs racines. Le cépage Carignan a longtemps été le mal aimé de la région dû à son caractère neutre lorsqu'il grandit mal, et représentait une grande partie des vins ennuyeux quicdégradaient la réputation de la région.. Maintenant le cépage Carignan vit une deuxième vie avec des gens comme Jean-Marie Rimbert, qui a lutté pour acheter des terres dans la zone obscure de Saint-Chinian. Le Languedoc-Roussillon a réussi son objectif d'être un laboratoire en France pour la création de nouveaux vins. Mais il y a aussi une grande leçon que devrait résonner en Californie. Le Languedoc-Roussillon est de retour à une éthique qui respecte les raisins qu'etaient tombés dans le discrédit de la production d'un vin industriel, et la considération pour le travail et la culture artisanal fait sa réapparition . Lorsque nous entendons parler de la résurrection de vieilles vignes, des lieux oubliés avec un grand potentiel, nous devons savoir que c'est une histoire de plus que nous avons en commun.
[source : San Francisco Chronicle/ 8/01/2012]
Your favourite value for money wines
We would like to hear from you about your favourite Languedoc wines. Let us know which are your current red, white and rose favourites , under 5 euros, 5 to 8 euros and over 8 euros. Simply e mail: info@languedoc-select.com . We will publish the results on the site
Le chiffre d'affaires de Gérard Bertrand progresse de 21 % en 2011
Le chiffre d'affaire de Gérard Bertrand progresse en 2011 de 21 % à 45 M€. Il annonce dans le quotidien économique Les Echos viser le cap des 100 M€ sur cinq à sept ans.
Gérard Bertrand est propriétaire de sept domaines représentant 500 ha de vignobles, 15 % de ses ventes en volume et 30 % de son chiffre d'affaires. Il a recemment acquis un domaine en Terrasses du Larzac et a reçu en fermage le domaine d'un autre ex-rugbyman, Jean-Pierre Rives, à Bizanet.
La valorisation de sa gamme propriétaire ne saurait éclipser le dynamisme de la branche négoce, qui permet notamment à Gérard Bertrand de s'imposer comme un leader de l'offre de vin bio avec sa gamme de vins de cépage Autrement, qui ont fait l'objet d'une campagne d'affichage à Paris au printemps dernier.
[ Source : les Echos ]
FAILURE
In the Midi Libre sunday 15th january one of those little announcements headed "VENTES AUX ENCHERES PUBLIQUES", details of a sale of 100,000 litres of wine plus equipment apres LIQUIDATION JUDICIAIRE.
Not unique but sad when you know this is a good winemaker who simply could not sell enough of his wine at a decent price! The domaine is Chateau Peyriac de mer in the Aude
There's been a lot of talk recently about Vin Naturel. There have been several Natural Wine Fairs around France and in the UK too, which have thrust these products under the spotlight. But why call your wine "naturel" when you can go down the Organic or Biodynamic route?
The two stand-out issues with Natural Wine are that no yeasts can be added during the fermentation process, and no sulphur, in whatever form, can be used either in the vineyard or in the winery.
By not adding any yeasts to the mix, the winemaker is relying upon the naturally occurring yeasts which are present on the skins of the grapes, and in the air, to do the job of fermenting the juice. It sounds very logical, but sometimes this can lead to the fermentation process being slow to kick in, or not finishing properly, leaving higher levels of residual sugar, and a bit of fizz. A visitor to a recent Natural Wine Fair told me that many of the wines were still fizzy and over-sweet, due to unfinished fermentations. There is therefore a risk in producing Natural Wine.
The risk is further enhanced by the absence of sulphur in all stages of the process. For the vast majority of vignerons, sulphur is absolutely indispensable. In the vineyard it is sprayed as a dry dust, or mixed with water, to protect the vine against oïdium. The sulphur reacts with microbes on the vine leaves to create sulphur dioxide (SO2) which lowers the pH level, and stops the oïdium fungus from propagating.
As soon as the grapes are harvested, sulphur, or more precisely, Sulphur Dioxide has many roles. The grapes and juice may have SO2 added to sterilize them, but mainly to prevent oxidation. At the start of the fermentation process, it may be added to kill naturally occurring yeasts which could kick-start the fermentation before the commercial yeasts have had a chance to work. At bottling time, SO2 can be added, particularly to whites, rosés and sweet wines, to sterilize and prevent against oxidation. So how is it possible to make wine without using commercial yeasts and in particular, sulphur?
Experienced natural wine makers will tell you that there is enough yeast naturally occuring for the fermentation. Sometimes, a little patience is needed. They will also tell you that there is enough sulphur naturally present in the soil to supply the vine with all it needs. In the fermentation process, sulphur is a minor by-product, so again, provides some protection to help the wine through the vinification process. Needless to say, natural wine is not currently a massive industry, although there are clearly more and more vignerons taking to it. There are undoubtedly those who believe it's an easier way to get into a niche market than going down the Organic and Biodynamic routes, which can take years.
As a footnote, it is worth mentioning that Organic and Biodynamic producers are allowed to use a certain amount of SO2. Less than the EU limits, but consequential even so.
So what's the big deal with sulphur or more precisely sulphites? It is implicated in many of the day after headaches, particularly those associated with whites and rosés, and there are many people who have allergies to certain sulphites, which can cause various reactions, including asthma attacks. Other, longer-term effects haven't been officially proven so far although there are plenty of theories.
There's no doubt that a good Natural Wine, that has finished its' fermentations, and has had no sulphur added, has got to be a healthier product than the mass-produced, chemistry-set wines that form the bulk of the commercial offering. So whilst I'm still skeptical about some vignerons jumping on the Natural Wine bandwagon, it can only help to draw our attention to the fact that our wines are sometimes choc-full of chemical compounds,
For the next Newsletter, we will taste some of the local Natural Wines and report back to you.
Dominic George. Copyright 2011
minic George. Copyright 2011
I was recently asked to do some translating at a local wine event. I agreed, without asking any further questions, as I just expected to be translating a few general speeches, and then to tuck into the dinner. However, one of the speeches was by a brilliant researcher from Montpellier University, whose speciality is the chemistry of wine aromas. My French is good, but translating this stuff was pretty much beyond me. However, despite the obvious complexity of the subject, it encouraged me to do a bit of research and try and come up with a basic introduction to a fantastically complicated area of research.
So, what exactly is an aroma? An aroma or more correctly an aroma compound is a volatile chemical compound. Volatile because it has the capacity to vaporize and therefore reach up the nasal cavity to the olfactory bulb, where, if it has a detectable odour, it can be smelled. However, as we shall see, the molecules that are present in these compounds also play a role in determining the taste of the wine as well.
When we taste wine, the aromas that are present can in theory be classed as Primary, Secondary and Tertiary aromas. The Primary Aroma is the initial impression of the wine just after it has been poured. If the wine is good, ie: not corked or off or over-sulphured, then we should decern the aromas which are typical to that grape variety, and of which, molecules are present in the skin and pulp of the grape. For example, researchers have discovered that a molecule called 2 méthoxy-3 isobutyl-pyrazineis responsible for the aromas of green peppers in Cabernet Sauvignon and especially Cabernet Franc wines. The depth of the aroma depends upon many things: climate, soil, sunlight and crucially the level of maturity of the grape. Also, if as is often the case, the wine is blended with other grape varieties, it can enhance, or more often, lessen the impact. So we can say that these primary aromas are part of the DNA of each particular grape variety. Perhaps the most famous Primary Aroma is the Lychee aroma associated with the Gewurztraminer grape.
The secondary aromas are those which will start to become decernable after around 10 minutes, when the wine has been opened and in particular swirled around a glass. These aromas are produced during the fermentation processes (alcoholic, malolactic and also carbonic maceration), when the action of the yeasts on the sugar produces alcohol and CO2. Alongside these reactions, there are many secondary reactions which affect the aroma molecules, mainly due to certain enzymes in the developing wine. Researchers now know that some of these secondary aromas are always potentially present in differing grape varieties, but need the fermentation process to release them. The intensity of these aromas varies according to the fermentation conditions: temperature; amount of sugar and yeasts present. In theory, the more sugar present, the more active fermentation there is, and therefore more secondary reactions which will promote certain aromas. For example, sweeter wines such as those made from Muscat grapes , have very pronounced Secondary Aromas. We often talk about peach and apricot aromas in Muscat, and these are the result of the fermentation process.
Tertiary aromas are a slightly easier area to define, although still full of complicated detail. These are aromas which become prevalent during the ageing process ie: they are down to the barrel or vat or bottle. For example, an oaky smell would obviously indicate barrel-ageing. Notes of vanilla are also associated with barrel ageing, and are more or less prevalent depending upon the provenance of the barrel and the grape variety. Syrah raised in new American oak barrels is often perceived as having very strong vanilla aromas.
As you can see, this is a complicated subject, and I have barely scratched the surface. However, it shows what a fascinating area of research wine aromas are. It also suggests that as research advances, and certain molecules and enzymes responsible for the production of particular aromas are identified, then it can't be too long before wines will be manipulated to produce exaggerated aromas. Or perhaps it's already happening.......................
Dominic George. Copyright 2011
WHO MAKES LANGUEDOC’S WINES?
France
is an incredibly diverse country and that diversity extends to its
regions wine makers. In Bordeaux there are literally thousands of
vignerons ranging from the “ crème de la crème” top chateaux to the huge
plethora of domaines producing ordinary wine. The latter results in the
importance of negociants. They are numerous and large, buying grapes
and/or wine and selling Bordeaux to the world.
Burgundy by contrast
does not have large numbers of top end wine estates nor for that matter
thousands of vignerons at the lower end. It is very dependent on
negociants and negociant eleveurs.
Here in Languedoc we have a vast
array of types of wine maker. Let’s begin with the cave cooperatives for
whom Languedoc is a traditional bedrock. Their numbers have declined
rapidly over the last 15 to 20 years but there are still around 45 of
them with in excess of 35000 adherents (members who grow vines and
supply the grapes). These adherents, despite recent programmes and
incentives for grubbing up vineyards, still cultivate about 200000
hectares. The cost of establishing, equipping and running these huge
wineries together with costs of sales and marketing is effectively
shared by the adherents and to some degree by the taxpayer.
The
theoretical strength of the system is one of scale. Instead of several
hundred small wineries making small amounts of wine there is one making
lots! This enables them to supply large customers such as supermarket
chains and negociants. The downside of course is that quality and
individuality is compromised by the sheer fact of different qualities of
grapes going into the mix.
There are also similarly structured
organisations comprising of growers and/or cooperatives who have banded
together for production and marketing reasons, an example being
Foncalieu in the Aude.
A major growth sector of wine making in the
Languedoc is that of the negociant or negociant eleveur. These companies
buy grapes, grape must or wine from independent vignerons and often
grow their own vines as well. They make and/or blend wine and market
them globally quite often under a brand name. Their strength is again,
scale. They deal in large quantities and can thus afford high quality
equipment, high quality people and large marketing budgets. This scale
also permits them to supply major customers both here and abroad.
Successful examples of Languedoc negociants would be Paul Mas and Gerard
Bertrand.
The final significant type of wine maker is of course the
independent vigneron. They number around 5000 in Languedoc and
cultivate about 100000 hectares. These people or families literally do
everything. They plant, cultivate, prune and plough the vines, they
harvest, make and mature the wines and of course do all the sales and
marketing!
In the vast majority of cases they do not have scale
(they vary in in size from 4 to 200 hectares), so are never going to be
able to supply Carrefour or Tesco ,thank goodness! What they do have is
skill, passion, pride and commitment plus a huge work ethic.
Therein lies the charm and excitement and it is these qualities which facilitate the production of EXCELLENCE
Click below for the best way to discover the wines and more of the Languedoc
L'abus d'alcool est dangereux pour la santé. A consommer avec modération.