Category Archives: Wine education

What is wine structure?

The author (Clark Smith of Postmodern Winemaking) has a very technical definition of wine’s structure that might be different than the one you are used to. What is your “go-to” definition of wine’s structure, such as you might use when introducing the topic to a group of wine newbies?

20 minute essay
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Wines generally have two features: their aromas/flavors and their structure. Within the structure, there are several elements to notice, and it is by identifying these structural elements (along with signature aromas) that wine professionals can judge the quality (via balance and typicity) of a wine. The major structural elements to pay attention to includes body, acid, tannins and sweetness/bitterness.

The body of a wine is its perception of weight in the mouth, the classic example is the ‘weight’ of skim milk versus cream. The body of a wine can give tasters clues as to the climate the grapes were grown in (lighter-bodied wines tend to be from cooler climates and fuller-bodied wines from warmer), but there are also wines whose structure is mainly defined by its body, as in Gewurztraminer, which tend to be fuller bodied at the expense of acid.

Acidity is among the easiest structural elements a taster can understand. The amount of acidity in a wine corresponds to the amount of saliva the mouth produces. Certain grapes, like Barbera, are known for their high acidity, and while this wine can often be confused for another red cherry aroma Italian wine like Sangiovese, Barbera leads with its acidity, whereas Sangiovese can show both bright acidity and dusty tannins as well.

Tannins are perceived as a drying sensation in the mouth and can be generated from oak ageing as well as from the grape itself. Grapes like Mouvedre or Tannat will have a structure that is defined more by its tannin profile.

Finally, sweetness is part of a wine’s structure, although this can also be altered by the winemaking process. A classic example of sweetness is in a Mosel Riesling where the deliberate residual sugar is used to balance the very high levels of acidity (high acidity being a signature of the Riesling grape). In other parts of the world (as in Australia), Riesling will be finished dry but still showing high acidity because the fuller body of these wines are balanced with the higher acidity creating a balanced wine. Bitterness can also be present in wines, particularly white wines with thicker skins. Wines like Albarino and Gruner Veltliner will show moderate to elevated acidity, respectively, but the signature bitterness of these wines will help create a more firm structure typical of these wines.

Along with learning a wine’s signature aromatics, identifying and understanding the different structural elements of a wine will allow a wine drinker to identify and enjoy (and successfully pair) wines better in the future.

What knowledge are we in danger of forgetting?

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“Modern innovations in electricity, microbiology, and chemical engineering have facilitated powerful and profitable changes in winemaking, but as the demands of sustainability loom large, we may regret our failure to preserve old knowledge.” As it relates to wine, what types of knowledge do you think we are in danger of forgetting (or have we already forgotten)?

60 minute essay.

From Pasteur’s discovery of yeast in the 1880s through the post-World War II upgrades of stainless steel, widespread electricity, sterile filtration and even today’s marvels of GPS-driven cultivation, advances in the wine industry have allowed for a greater volume of delicious, fault-free wine all around the world. While no one would suggest turning back the clock, these labor-saving and monitoring improvements may come at the expense of leaving what was one ‘common wisdom’ behind. As these modern marvels take time for students to learn, we risk losing touch with common wisdom in the areas of farming, winemaking, marketing, and consumer enjoyment.

Much attention has been paid to getting back to the farming of yesteryear. Although tractors, chemical fertilizers and pesticides have only been around since post-World War II, many farmers have recognized the dangers and have started to return to old knowledge. Tractors will still be used, but there is a recognition of the dangers of soil compaction (helping with aeration and drainage). Sprays are still used, but turning back to naturally-derived (not lab-derived) solutions is becoming more commonplace.

Common sense site selection is also at risk. We have the power and technology now to GPS map an area, have tractors to clear the land, level it, and even lay down irrigation/drainage. The risk is that we forget the appropriateness of planting another vineyard. Biodiversity is an important part of any farming system and once a virgin forest has been cleared, it will take decades to centuries to reestablish that natural habitat.

Understanding the evolution of fruit could be lost. Measuring for brix, total acidity and pH are important guides to determine harvest, but tasting the fruit can measure the things these tools do not capture. And despite being labor intensive, pruning and harvesting by hand will give farmers a deeper understanding of land and the vines that he is growing.

The ability to measure and monitor a fermentation has been one of the most significant advances as it relates to today’s reality of fault-free wines. The risk is that students no longer learn how to use and trust their palate. With thousands of components, many of which have not been identified or are able to be measured, the ability of a winemaker to be guided by both metrics and her palate in a glass of wine is at risk of being lost. Especially in the less-understood areas of tannins, following the evolution of the texture on one’s palate might be the only tool still available, but without the wisdom, there is no confidence in its application.

There is a risk of forgetting how to physically work the wine. The fresh, fruity nature of wines fermented in stainless steel is a popular style, but this comes at the expense of confidently working with oxygen. Understanding, again, through smelling and tasting, when a wine could benefit from oxygen exposure and when to protect it may be lost in the use of stainless steel and inert gas. Electric pumps are a wonderfully labor-saving device, but the ancient art of fermentation, maturation and clarification in the same vessel (never racking the wine) is not widely embraced today and this knowledge is at risk of being lost.

In a hyper-competitive world where everyone is connected and everyone is shouting, we may forget that wine exists for enjoyment. Marketing departments continue to put wine on a pedestal and drive the association of lifestyle, as if selling cars. Finding more uses, including the growing popularity of wine mixology, to drive consumption comes at the risk of forgetting that wine is something essential on a table like salt or bread. Consumers searching authorities or social media to take the risk out of buying wine is understandable, but it this had become more necessary because the industry has made wine more special that the rotten grape juice that it actually is. The perfect social media life risks consumer losing their own sense of discovery when it comes to wine.

We risk losing diversity on the shelves too. Ironically, the advances in the wine industry of the last 150 years has caused more well-made wines to reach the market, causing the lack of diversity. Consumers, being overwhelmed by choice, and having lost the sense of discovery, gravitate to large brand wines that they recognize, and so, these are the wines that satisfy their needs of no surprises under the cork.

There are advances, such as cleaning for TCA-taint on corks, that are ultimately excellent for the industry, though use of renewable sugarcane to create corks is also an excellent advancement for everyone (including the planet). But holding on to some of common wisdom of yesteryear, and actually teaching these practices of farming, winemaking, maturation, marketing and consumption, will help us become better farmers, winemakers and consumers.

Don’t be afraid to look at things from a new perspective…

What is the best wine made in Burgundy?

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Ok, so I finished this 30 minute essay on time, but looking back on it, I don’t know if I actually answered the question. I sort of did… When discussing the “best” wine in Burgundy, I believe that you MUST incorporate the producer as must as the specific terroir.

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In your opinion, what is the best wine made in Burgundy? If you were talking to a wine novice, how would you explain what is so special (or outstanding, or memorable) about that one particular wine?

Burgundy is an area of such nuance, that it can be completely overwhelming and an exhilarating hunt at the same time. With only two principal grapes, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and a long history of bottling single, small plots, it is overwhelming how different two wines grown next to each other can taste. But once you discover that those two wines do taste different, there is a lot to explore in the region.

To say what is the “best” depends on your budget and circumstances. There can be best value or best experience. The Burgundian terroir can be either wonderfully translated or completely obscured by the winemaker, so part of the hunt in Burgundy involves producers as well as the specific vineyard site. Therefore, there can also be a “best” Burgundy to choose when you don’t recognize the producer.

Some of the best values in Burgundy are outside of the famed Côte d’Or in the Côte Chalonnaise. This subregion is situated right below the Côte d’Or and while it does not benefit from the limestone escarpment of its famous neighbor to the north, there is enough limestone and different expositions that wonderful Pinot Noirs can be found here as well. One wonderful value is from Dureuil-Janthial, especially their Rully Rouge at about $35 per bottle, is a wonderful expression of Burgundian Pinot Noir. The wine is elegantly balanced between fruit and earthiness that you would expect in Burgundy.

If money is not an issue, look for any of the wines from Mugneret-Gibourg for a completely transcendent experience. The wines that these sisters produce quietly strike an emotional cord for their finesse, length of pure Pinot Noir fruits and spicy complexity with a silky texture that is the ultimate expression of Burgundy. While they don’t produce wines that sell for under $125 per bottle, these are also wines that have tremendous ageability and will evolve to include more of a truffled earth expression in time. Their Vosne-Romanée would be an exceptional wine to track down and try to understand why this is one of the best wines in the region.

As previously discussed (and evidence above), knowing the producer is also an important part of understanding Burgundy and when in a situation where you do not recognize producers (on a wine list or in an unfamiliar wine shop), Chablis AOC can usually provide you with the “best” Burgundy. The grape here is 100% Chablis and at the regional level, there is usually no new oak or heavy lees allowing you to experience the bright and flinty character that is so typical of this area.

Understanding Burgundy is not something that can be accomplished in a weekend and it can be a maddening experience once you start to explore. Starting here with the best of what this region has to offer should help you decide if this area is as special as all the wine geeks say.

What makes grower Champagne great?

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This was a 60 minute timed essay that I gave up on after about 40 mins. I am disappointed that, despite working with these wines and drinking these wines for much of my wine career, that I couldn’t articulate the arguments about why they are so wonderful.

I guess that’s why I do these essays. Find my blind spots.

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Describe how you would teach a class on the following subject: What’s so great about grower Champagne? Your target audience is introductory wine students. Include a definition of grower Champagne, the styles of wine expected in the category, and identify at least three specific wines that you would use for tasting.

The Champagne region is one of the most northerly winegrowing regions and has been subject to tremendous vintage variation given the marginal climate. Due to this, the business structure of the region has developed whereby there are many small growers of grapes and larger négociant houses buy these grapes, make the blends and market the wine. More attention has been paid recently to the growers who make their own wines, usually called Farmer Fizz or Grower Champagne. There are several reasons why more gatekeepers and consumers are paying attention to this category of Champagne including the transparency of terroir and vintages, and tremendous value proposition.

In terms of styles, grower Champagne are made in all the expected styles including a non-vintage house style (which may change more frequently from year to year given the more limited ability to blend), rosé, blanc de blancs, blanc de noirs, and prestige cuvées. Growers will, like négociants, use both stainless steel and barrel fermentation (new and used). Again, due to the limited vineyard sources, some cuvées may not be made every year and certainly total quantities overall will be much lower than the négociant houses.

Because grower Champagne is made only from grapes owned by the grower, the grower has less ability to blend from a larger pool of wines and ‘smooth out’ differences in terroir, and this is one of the most interesting aspects of grower Champagne. This transparency of terroir can be on the grapes: wines like Egly-Ouriet will put a magnifying glass on the the power of Pinot Noir as the house is based in Ambonnay, in one of the most respected terroirs for this grape. Transparency can also be of the area: Fleury, based in the southern-most Champagne area of the Aube will show a more accessible and round style of Champagne that accurately reflects this warmer area.

This is not grower Champagne.

Grower Champagne domaines generally have less storage capacity for reserve wines compared to négociants, and therefore, less ability to smooth out vintage variations. As a result, many grower non-vintage styles may include only three to four years’ back of reserve wine whereas négociants routinely blend back up to ten years+ of reserve wines for greater depth and complexity. Instead, less reserve wines will bring vintage variations more into focus.

While not the rule across the board, there is a trend for grower Champagnes to have a lower dosage (final sweetening adjustment immediately after disgorgement) enhancing this transparency to the terroir and the vintage.

Grower Champagnes also have a fascination because of their relative scarcity. On the other hand, there can be more value in a bottle of grower Champagne simply because these Champagnes do not have to support large marketing budgets that are necessary at the négociant houses to maintain the luxury and lifestyle aspirations associated with those wines all over the globe. Gaston-Chiquet’s non-vintage “Tradition” is a classic grower Champagne that exemplifies this value proposition. At around $45 retail, this wine is also 1er Cru and shows the complexity expected of such a high-quality wine, and is a steal compared to the more familiar entry-level Veuve Cliquot at about $60+. One gets the sense that they are paying more for the marketing budget of the latter, though that familiar ‘orange label’ will lower the risk of purchase for wine drinkers who do not spend a lot of time studying Champagne.

Transparency of terroir (grapes and/or area) and transparency of vintages coupled with the value proposition offered by the grower Champagnes makes this category of wine fascinating to gatekeepers and consumers. As Champagne is positioned as the ultimate wine of celebration, and because of the smaller volumes of grower Champagnes, both categories are important to keep up with worldwide demand, and both categories should be appreciated for their respective benefits.

What makes a wine great?

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This is where you can find a lot of great wines.

Another timed practice essay (60 minutes). I love Karen MacNeil’s writing and keep The Wine Bible within arm’s reach. Her opening chapter in this 900+ page book is picking apart what makes a wine great. A refreshing move and the perfect way to set the tone of this book.

I have been schooled to judge a wine’s quality by the typical FA-BLIC-IT standard whereas The Wine Bible goes into more poetic terms and teases apart some aspects that I think need to show up together in order to judge a wine as truly great. In addition to my combination of distinctiveness and terroir below, I also think that any wine that shows non-fruit aromas are inherently also complex. If there any way to show complexity without showing non-fruit flavors?

This was a fun topic to tear apart, though I had trouble naming all of The Wine Bible’s nine attributes of greatness, but I’m pretty such they are all covered by FA-BLIC-IT. Though maybe this opens the discussion comparing the differences of a quality wine and a great wine…

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In your opinion, what are the three most important aspects of “wine greatness” and why?

While it is easy and automatic to decide if a wine is to your liking, to really appreciate a great wine, a taster needs to put aside their subjective opinions and judge a wine on its inherent merits. Greatness in a wine can be defined in several ways and generally incorporates finesse, ageability, balance, length, intensity, complexity, integration and typicity. The Wine Bible defines nine attributes of a great wine that are captured in the list above. The most important of these aspects of wine greatness are non-fruit aromas (part of complexity), precision (part of integration) and the combination of a wine being distinct though still reflecting the terroir of an area (typicity).

Complexity of a wine is defined by the number of discrete aromas and flavors a wine can hold, and a great wine will hold many non-fruit flavors as well as fruit flavors. For example, Beaujolais Nouveau typically shows juicy strawberry and banana flavors. Beautiful flavors on their own, but these wines are typically not regarded as complex. Another Gamay wine from the AOC of Morgon would typically show aromas and flavors of red fruits (cherries, strawberries), dark fruits (blackberry) as well as mineral notes and earth notes of forest floor or mushroom. The wine from Morgon AOC is showing more ‘categories’ of aromas and flavors (fruits, minerality and earth) compared to the Beaujolais Nouveau (just fruits), and this complexity, especially via non-fruit descriptors, is one of the most important aspects of wine greatness.

Off vintage? Yea, not when you are a great wine…

Precision separates good wine from great wine. When a wine can show each of its complex aromas and flavors in defined layers, it should be considered a great wine. A vivid example of this kind of greatness can be found in many parts of the world, including California. There are Napa Cabernet Sauvignons that exhibit all of the power and complexity associated with this region, but, usually a little further up price category, other Napa Cabernet Sauvignons have a precision in delivering blackberry fruit as vividly as vanilla oak notes and as distinctively as showing its smoky notes. Both of these examples are of a balanced wine, but in the latter example, there is not a muddling or a general ‘wash’ of flavors but rather each flavor is vividly etched out across your palate. Even in an off-vintage, a wine like 2004 Château Angelus from St-Emilion in Bordeaux is still exhibiting a precision in flavors which confirms its status as a great wine.

The last aspect is a combination of terroir and distinctiveness. The Wine Bible separates distinctiveness and ability to showcase terroir, but truly great wines will show these together. A distinct wine is to say that it does not show sameness, which is a very important trait to consider when judging a wine’s greatness. However, a wine like Château Beaucastel in Châteauneuf du Pâpe shows a distinction for being only Château Beaucastel. By being atypical for what is expected in this area, this wine is certainly distinct, but falls short of great because its style obscures any sense of terroir. Combining distinctiveness and terroir is one of the most critical aspects of great wines.

A delicious white wine made from Cabernet Franc. Distinct? Yes. Shows terroir? No. Could have been from any cool-climate old world appellation.

While there are many attributes of great wines including distinction, balance, complexity, non-fruit flavors, precision, terroir, length, shape, and ability to evoke an emotion, the most important of these are complexity, precision and that combination of distinctives while still showing where the wine is from. Fortunately for wine drinkers, many wines on the market will exhibit some of these attributes (especially balance and length), but the more of these ‘categories’ of greatness a wine can check off, the more the wine can be considered as one of the world’s great wines.

Modern bottling techniques

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So another essay that I was not prepared for. But, like, seriously not prepared for. It’s been crazy busy at work (oh yea, and planning a wedding), so after staring at a blank sheet of paper for a few minutes, I pulled out my notes. Sad face.

Also? I have no examples for any of these… I am so depressed…

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Describe three techniques that are used in modern (aseptic) bottling of wine. For each example, describe the equipment and methods used, as well as the typical usage, benefits, and drawbacks of each technique. 60 minutes.

After all of the careful work in the vineyard and in the cellar, the bottling line becomes a factor that will either maintain the quality already created or destroy it. The main principles of modern bottling is to maintain the highest levels of hygiene as to not introduce any yeasts or bacteria that will negatively impact the wine trapped in the bottle. There are three major techniques used in modern (aseptic) bottling that use heat treatments and each use a different combination of temperature and time: flash pasteurization, tunnel pasteurization and thermotic bottling. While all wine bottling should be done under hygienic conditions, these bottling techniques are most important for higher-volume wines where large recalls would be disastrous, both financially and for the brand. Much of the equipment unique to these techniques may also be out of reach for the small wineries.

Flash pasteurization sends the finished wine to very high temperature for a very short period of time, typically 75°C for up to 30 seconds (before being brought back down to room temperature quickly). This heating and cooling will effectively kill any viable yeast and bacteria but the wine will risk re-infection at the filling machine, or through stale bottles and poorly stored corks. Due to the short time at a high temperature, this technique may have the least amount of damage to the more delicate flavors and aromas in a wine.

To avoid risks of re-contamination, tunnel pasteurization can be used. In this technique, already bottled wine is passed through a heat tunnel for about 15 minutes where sprays of hot water heat the bottle up to 82°C. All remaining organisms will be killed in the sealed bottle. At the end of the tunnel, the wine is passed through cold sprays to bring the temperature down as quickly as possible. While even more hygienic than flash pasteurization, there is a large amount of expensive equipment to install.

Finally, thermotic or hot bottling makes use of the lowest levels of heat with the longest cooling wine. In this technique, the finished wine is heated to about 54°C, which is below sterilizing temperatures (which is about 82°C for 20 minutes). While at this elevated temperature, the wine is bottled and corked, and then sent to the warehouse to slowly come to room temperature. While the most gentle (in terms of heat exposure), the long time at the elevated temperature will destroy any yeast and bacteria.

Any of the above techniques are best used for higher volume wines (due to the complications of a large recall) but also because some will argue that heat will damage the wine. From a scientific point of view, heat will advance many maturation reactions, so these techniques would be most appropriate for young, large volume wines, there the young wine could benefit from some slight maturation (giving a softer, rounder character). As the wine industry is dominated by global brands in high volumes, understanding the principles and choices of modern bottling techniques are important.

Glamorous sad face

Somms dealing with screwcap complaints

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So….again, a topic I was pretty sure I knew a lot about…but these practice essays reveal I don’t have a grasp on examples. I mean, there are a ton of very highly-regarded wineries (even in the old world) who almost exclusively use screwcaps but damned if I could remember one of them.

This was a 30 minute essay. I used about 5 minutes to brainstorm and 21 minutes to write. I didn’t think I would finish in time…

I see closures.

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Do you think customers still react negatively to a screwcap? If a sommelier encounters a customer who reacts negatively to a wine choice based solely on the presence of a screwcap, how should they proceed?

The original screwcaps on wines were introduced in the 1960s and were generally relegated to the cheap jug wine end of the market. Screwcaps are tamper-evident rolled on metal caps that can easily be screwed off of a wine. In the last two decades, screwcaps have stolen market share from traditional corks at all price segments due to its immunity from TCA ‘cork taint’, because of the convenience of not needing an extra tool for screwcap wines, and because of its widespread adoption from high-quality regions like New Zealand and Clare and Eden Valleys in Australia.

While the vast majority of the wine-drinking public has come to accept the screwcap, a sommelier might come up against resistance at higher price points. In any case, if a customer reacts negatively to a screwcap, a sommelier can offer to exchange the wine for something similar, allow for sampling of the wine under screwcap to educate, or if this is not possible, the sommelier can try to win the customer over by discussing the many benefits of wines under screwcap.

Replacing the wine is the first strategy, which can be easily done in areas that use both corks and screwcaps like in the basic Chablis AOC or in many parts of Germany. Other areas that are screwcap-dominant, like New Zealand, the sommelier might have to go to a different region (perhaps a Sancerre to replace a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc).

Allowing for sampling of the wine under screwcap might just be enough to convince a customer that the wine is perfectly fine despite the customer’s negative associations with screwcaps. The other benefit here is due to screwcaps’s ability to keep the wine fresh and free from bottle variation due to different oxygen transmission rates (OTR) as found in corks. Even with more recent technology that allows a winemaker to dial in the OTR on a screwcap, many tastings have proven that wines under screwcap have less oxidation upon opening. If the wine is opened, samples, and still rejected, the fact that the wine is more fresh upon opening gives it a longer ‘shelf life’ and thus a better chance to recover profits by selling the remaining wine in the opened bottle off by the glass. Less initial oxidation means less waste in this case.

Finally there is the traditional educational route for the sommelier to engage with the guest. The benefits of the screwcap include the inherent lack of TCA, meaning less waste again. The tight seal afforded by the screwcap means that the wine is more likely to show exactly as the winemaker intended it to show. The tighter seal and slower OTR makes this the ideal closure for capturing and maintaining delicate and fresh fruit and floral aromas for higher aromatic varieties like Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc (the sommelier need only to point to the success of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to prove this point). Finally, the screwcap is completely recyclable (though, due to the water used in the creation of screwcaps, might not be the most environmentally-friendly choice).

While attitudes have changed to embrace screwcaps more thoroughly today, sommeliers have several options to proceed if a customer complains of a screwcap wine based solely on its closure. Replacing the wine, sampling the wine or having a discussion about why screwcaps are favored by winemakers could help the sommelier be sure the guests has a wonderful experience with the wine they ultimately choose.

Somms dealing with tartrate crystals

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Oh my god, this is so bad. I’m pretty certain that the following essay is a fail.

This was a tricky question too: basically asking what advice I’d give to a sommelier when dealing with tartrates in front of a customer. Ignore it?

I definitely didn’t have enough advice to fill an hour. I finished the following essay in under 25 minutes (including mind mapping) not because I’m quick, but because I had little to say on the topic.

This essay also successfully illustrated how little I know about the facts when it comes to tartrates. I totally blanked when trying to explain the origin of the crystals, how they form a a technical description of how they can be removed (and there is more than one way to remove them!) I think the structure of my essay overall is alright, but I had nothing to say on the topic and it shows!!!

**sigh** I guess that’s why we do practice essays.

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How would you advise a sommelier in dealing with naturally-occurring tartrates with a customer?

Tartrate crystals (sodium bitartrate) are natural by-products of the fermentation process and a particular issue for white wines as the tartrate crystals will build under chilled conditions. The concern is that, though completely harmless, it looks like tiny shards of broken glass. Tartrate crystals in red wines are not as noticeable (possibly at the end of the cork) and so this tends to be more of a white wine issue. Sommeliers may encounter tartrate crystals when serving wines to a guest and there could be three ways to deal with this in front of a customer: decanting, switching wines or education.

Tartrate crystals are large enough to see and, while totally harmless, can give a slight bitterness when consumed. For customers expecting a clear bottle of wine, decanting the wine off of its tartrate sediment could be an easy solution. Filtering the wine through a wetted paper coffee filter would also help to recover the most amount of wine possible.

If the customer is particularly sensitive about the crystals, gently steering the customer to a completely different winey could be another successful tactic to dealing with customer situations. As tartrate crystals are more likely to happen in smaller-production wineries (where the crystals can be explained to buyers), suggesting larger case production winery brands could help avoid this situation altogether.

Finally, a sommelier could educate the customer on what is happening in the bottle. Tartrate crystal formation is the result of less process at the winery. To remove tartrate crystals, the wine needs to be chilled to -4°C for up to a few weeks in order for the crystals to come out of suspension before the wine is then filtered off. The customer then may delight in knowing that they have a less filtered (so less manipulated) wine in their glass.

While completely harmless, some guests at a restaurant expect their wines to be crystal clear and sommeliers need strategies when encountering tartrate crystals tableside. Though the physical act of decanting (or filtering), by switching to a winery less likely to throw tartrate crystals or by education, a sommelier can successfully serve the needs of their guests.

Will micro-oxygenation render barrels obsolete?

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This wine makes me as happy as this essay. It also neatly proves that micro-oxygenation will not make barrels obsolete.

I kinda like this essay. It was a beautiful moment where all my facts and figures were easily recalled and the essay question itself provoked further questions from me (which I am now pursuing with different wineries to find out their experience). I think the structure is pretty clear too.

This is the kind of moment (and feeling) I always wish for…

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It has been said that “micro-oxygenation might render expensive barrels obsolete”. What do you think is the future of micro-oxygenation, and what impact (if any) will this have on the wine industry?

With the advent of successful micro-oxygenation over the past few decades, this practice has increased in use and importance in the wine industry, and some have even suggested that micro-oxygenation might render expensive barrels obsolete. Micro-oxygenation is a process that mimics the minute oxygen exchange that usually happens over months in barrel. A micro-oxygenation meter can be used in tank to diffuse out tiny amounts (0.1mg/liter/month) of oxygen that can help polymerize tannins and stabilize color, and if oak flavor was also necessary, this could be added in the form of oak alternatives. There are advantages and disadvantages of using micro-oxygenation and depending on the size of the winery and skill of the winemaker, this technique could be used to replace barrels in some wineries.

One of the first advantages of micro-oxygenation is the relative cost to barrels. The initial capital outlay for a micro-oxygenation diffuser is high, with ongoing costs related to O2 tanks, but these expenses can be amortized over larger amounts of wine (depending on your tank size). There is also a significant savings of labor: moving and monitoring dozens of barrels relative to programing the micro-oxygenation diffuser in a single tank. Relative to that tank of wine divided into dozens of French oak barrels (costing around €1,200 for each new one), micro-oxygenation can be an economic option for some wineries, particularly larger wineries.

There is also an advantage of speed. Whereas the traditional oak barrels will naturally have individual rates of oxygen exchange (also depending on how many times that barrel has been used), a micro-oxygenation diffuser can be dialed in precisely to the level of O2 needed for a particular wine. With all of the wine in one tank, it is relatively easy to measure a wine, determine the rate of micro-oxygenation and set the diffuser to dispense that amount. Follow up monitoring and measurement in tank is relatively easy as well, compared to measuring dozens of barrels for the same metrics.

Despite these advantages, there still needs to be considerable practice and skill applied to use a micro-oxygenation meter. The science of tannin management is not fully understood and deliberate exposing a wine to oxygen always carries a risk of oxidation. This risk is further magnified by the volume of oxidizing an entire tank of wine relative to a single barrel. Calculating the rate of oxygen metering is not a straight formula, so a winemaker would need to understand the risks and gain considerable practice before completely forgoing barrels.

Some in the industry also question whether micro-oxygenation will result in a homogenization of styles of wine. For that same disadvantage that every traditional oak barrel will result in a slightly different wine (both from micro-oxygenation and from choice of origin/toast of the barrel), those differences can be blended to create a more complex wine than if everything was dosed from one tank. Even if a tank undergoing micro-oxygenation used a variety of flavor profiles of oak alternatives, the winemaker there will not have as much control to blend the final product to something more complex. A consistent wine style might be the aim of a larger volume of branded wines, but smaller operations might want to keep the variation (and subsequent potential complexity) of using smaller barrels.

Micro-oxygenation has several advantages including economics and speed, which might render this practice ideal for larger, branded wines. Just the same, using this technique requires considerable risk, which might be easier for the larger winey to absorb, and skill, which the larger winey might be able to attract. For these reasons, there seems to be no issue to use micro-oxygenation for larger, branded wines where consistency is key to the style. On the other hand, smaller wineries might still incur the higher expenses and longer maturation of using barrels for the same effect, if only because their consumers will accept more complexity and variation in wines.

The future impact of micro-oxygenation will be the continued quality improvement for branded wines at a relatively low cost, creating consistent wines with smooth tannins and appropriate color, and raising the bar at the value end of wine industry.

Wild versus commercial yeasts

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Oh, regrets.

The following is a timed essay that I did as practice for my upcoming Certified Wine Educator exam. I was halfway through the total allotted time (60 minutes) when I realized that I should have structured it to be compare/contrast wild and commercial yeast by topic rather than the clumsy way I did it here (which was everything-about-each-yeast-separately).

Yum. Yeast.

I guess that is why I practice.

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What is your take on the cultured vs. wild yeast topic? Is the claim of “wild yeast fermentation” valid, or does cultured yeast dominate the wineries of the world to the extent that wild yeasts are subdued?

A 2013 study by the University of British Columbia found that spontaneous fermentations with so-called “wild” yeasts were quickly overtaken by commercial yeast strains from the air, and these stronger strains could complete the fermentations to dryness. There were some flaws in the study, but the subsequent reporting raised the question: do wild yeasts matter?

It is an important question as many wineries claim to use ‘wild’ or ‘native’ yeast and use this as a marketing point of differentiation, yet this study, and other anecdotal evidence around the world, found that even without inoculating, the stronger, commercial yeast strains dominate fermentations. Commercial yeasts (generally Saccharomyces cerevisiae) are available for sale from any oenology store. These yeasts have been separated out by a microbiologist for various traits, multiplied, packaged and sold ready to add to your must. Wild yeasts, on the other hand, are native to a particular cellar. They live on the equipment, in the vineyard and in the air. The wild yeast are from other strains and oddly enough, the discussion of wild versus cultured has been so significant that oenology companies are now culturing wild yeast strains for sale.

Cultured yeasts have been an input to winemaking since Pasteur discovered the cause of fermentation in the 19th century. Many winemakers today will use cultured yeast for their specific properties (low foaming, low VA production or maybe tolerance to high alcohol) and it is this predictability that make cultured yeast so relevant. Being predictable means that the winemaker can control the quality and expression of the vineyard a little better. The winemaker at Smith-Madrone has said that he used wild ferments on his Pinot Noir for over 35 years before switching to cultured yeasts and cited that the cultured yeast allowed for a more pure expression of fruit.

Of course very few technical sheets or winemakers will openly cite what strain of commercial yeast they are using (but they would be open about other things like, which forest they get their barrels from) as it interferes with the consumers’ romantic notion of winemaking. There is also a fear of standardization: could wines that use the same yeasts (which impacts fermentation kinetics) start to taste the same?

Wild yeast fermentations certainly add complexity to a wine partially due to the different metabolites of these yeasts. Fermentation kinetics will also be different (might be slower to start and warm up) which will impart their own characteristics. Wild yeasts, when taken from the native environment, certainly saves money for the winery, which must be considered, and the romantic notion that wine is merely grapes carefully guided to the bottle will stay intact.

But most truly wild yeasts (non-Saccharomyces cerevisiae) have many drawbacks, mainly, that many of them die around 4-6% alcohol, implying that, even if a cellar has never had a packaged yeast brought into the area, Saccharomyces cerevisiae must finish the job anyway. This reason alone leaves the question of using a commercial yeast, which has the least amount of risk, as a no-brainer, but also that most aroma differences in wines made by wild versus natural yeasts are lost within the first 12 months, so again, why bother?

Knowing that a microbiologist can very easily separate our any yeast strains and reproduce it to use for a fermentation, it should be acknowledged that all yeast could really considered to be wild. Some have just been ‘tamed’. Also consider that the human hand is as much a part of the definition of terroir as the soil, the climate or even the grape variety. The winemakers’ job is to not destroy the individual terroir of the wine. If a wild fermentation starts to generate high amounts of volatile acidity because the yeasts are sluggish to get fermentation started, is this volatile acidity interfering with terroir or part of it?

In the end, it seems that the debate of wild yeast versus commercial yeasts is a philosophical debate. Studies have proven that wild yeasts and commercial yeasts co-exist in many fermentations and contribute their own positive and negative aspects to a finished wine, so the choice depends on the style of wine you are making and for what commercial segment of the market.