Raise a Glass to 2010!

This is the season for reflection and the time to consider the year we are about to close and a time to look forward to the new year ahead. As we move into 2010, I can’t help but feel so extraordinarily grateful for what 2009 brought to my tour business and to the Umpqua Valley’s family owned wineries.

During a year filled with economic trepidation and instability we toured with more than double the tour guests we saw in 2008. As someone who tours with hundreds of wine interested folks each year having the opportunity to experience the Umpqua Valley through the eyes of different people from all over the country never gets old! Helping to educate tourists and locals alike, all hungry for wine knowledge and wine discovery is truly a privilege. And it is always an incredible experience to hear how much our Umpqua Valley wines are understood and appreciated, especially from our friends visiting from more prestigious wine regions such as Napa and the Willamette Valley. The consensus of so many we tour with is that the Umpqua Valley AVA lacks absolutely nothing! From our amazing natural beauty to our top notch wines and great prices we are not rivaled. The family owned component to our wineries is well understood and appreciated and for those coming from busier wine regions, having the opportunity to meet our passionate winemakers is a unique and unforgettable experience. Knowing all this, it came as no real surprise that Roseburg ranked number 5 on the list of the top 10 wine destinations in the country as polled by TripAdvisor earlier this year. Just one more confirmation of what I already know - we are a wine region poised for greatness.

While it is doubtful anyone will be doing cartwheels over the recent business trend in the wine industry our small boutique wineries offering unbeatable quality and value came out pretty much unscathed. It appears most are gearing up for a terrific year ahead with any difficulties behind them. The 2008 and 2009 vintages are shaping up beautifully and there is great anticipation of the new releases to be unveiled this coming year. A number of wineries including Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards & Chateau Nonchalant Vineyard are expanding by planting more acres of grapes. A new vineyard, Pyrenees Vineyard is scheduled to open its tasting room in just a few days bringing our number of wine tasting locations to 22! Melrose Vineyards saw completion of their new convention center and MarshAnne Landing evolved their tasting room into an art gallery now offering visitors fine art as well as fine wine! A few of our smaller wineries expressed thoughts of increasing production as many of their wines sold out quickly this year! All of these things are signs of the confidence our winery families are feeling about our wine region. A confidence my own wine business experience supports!

From the perspective of a wine writer and wine tour operator I could not be more excited about the new year. I am excited for what the future holds for our entire community. A healthy wine industry adds to a healthy community. With the 2008 and 2009 Umpqua Valley vintages expected to be some of the best of the decade and a growing knowledge of our budding wine region, 2010 will be bright indeed. So I say lets drink a toast to the new year. Cheers!

Global Warming? It's Cold Outside!

We have been hearing much about global warming and climate change recently and its negative impact on our planet and resident animals. Whether you believe the warming climate of our planet is a result of man or as a result of a naturally occurring cyclical warming trend, hotter, longer summers are a fact. Most of us are aware of how this warmer weather affects so much of our planet with melting ice caps and tragically, more animals entering our endangered species list. But the state of our planet is affecting even more then the Polar Bears. It is affecting fine wine.

When I first heard of award winning wines out of British Columbia and fine sparkling wines from England I new it had to do with the changing climate. My mother and father are from British Columbia and England and I am telling you during their lifetime there were no grapes growing and no wine being made- it was just too bloody cold! But things are a changing and for many wine makers it is serious cause for alarm.

Essentially what is taking place, is the sweet spot for growing grapes is moving north. And locations like California, Southern France and Southern Italy are experiencing such warm weather, industry leaders are very worried about their future ability to grow and produce wine varietals they have become known for, in a quality and style wine lovers have come to expect. The number of “hot wines” high in alcohol are becoming almost the norm. Big, jammy sometimes pruney wines have become synonymous with much of California, a result of over ripe fruit from very hot locations. Vintners are having to consider the change in climate as it affects the grapes best suited for any one area as well as making crucial changes in vineyard practices. Some experts think the glory days are waning for much of the more popular wine producing regions of California and Europe and one expert suggests an 80 percent reduction in producible land over the next 50 years!

So is it all bad news…? Of course not! There is a silver lining to every cloud. In cooler regions like Burgundy known for the fickle cool weather pinot noir they are rarely finding it necessary to chaptalize their wines -adding sugar during fermentation- to increase the alcohol. The warmer weather has taken care of that and that’s a good thing. For those of us in cooler weather locations like Oregon, particularly in the cooler Willamette Valley, wine makers have been quoted as talking about how easy the last decade or so of vintages has been in terms of ripening fruit. Even the rules for vineyard location and elevation has evolved. Higher elevations thought to be too high and too cool for quality grapes are now excellent for many varieties and an area thought only suitable for cool weather varietals such as Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Riesling are now looking to Grenache, Syrah and Tempranillo! Most Umpqua Valley wine makers think they are in wine heaven and live in the perfect wine paradise. The sweet spot for excellent wine production for sure. We have it all! Cooler areas for Pinot, warmer spots for Cabernet and the right climate for everything in between. Our 100 valleys lends itself to different climates, suitable to produce exceptional quality and diversity in our wines. Climate change is affecting us too but the uniqueness of our area allows us more flexibility. I am not at all happy about our warming climate and am brought to tears thinking of the serious affects of all this on our planet. I am just trying to stay positive. Becoming the new California known for our award winning Cabernet and exceptional Zinfandel would not be all bad.

Hooray for the Family Owned Winery!

I am constantly singing the praises of our beautiful Umpqua Valley and with no less passion our amazing wineries which are all family owned. Some might say I am a bit obsessed with this wonderful attribute of our area. But after reading the latest report out of the Marin Institute - an alcohol watchdog organization out of the San Francisco Bay Area - you might understand why I go on so…

This latest published report entitled _“The Myth of the Family Owned Winery”_ -Global Corporations Behind California Wine- is a 9 page report stating the fact that despite the industry promoted image of the mom-and-pop wineries of California, nearly all of the leading wine producers in the state are multinational corporations with offices worldwide. And it states that wine is just one part of their massive product portfolios along with beer brands, spirits and even tobacco. The report goes on to suggest that these huge corporations hide behind the warm and fuzzy family owned winery façade as they work to deregulate the laws governing alcohol in every state. Their goal is bigger market share and relaxed laws to allow for bigger profits. And it has worked… The case sales listed for the year 2008 ranged from between 4.5 million cases for the smallest of these giants ( Brown-Forman) to 56 million cases of wine sold by the largest (E&J Gallo).

And while this report could be argued as a veiled attempt for prohibitionists to get up on their soap box one more time to voice the evils of big alcohol, the information contained within is accurate and something that can be easily seen from “on the ground” in my old home state. Nowhere more easily witnessed then in Napa where in 1970’s virtually all the wineries were family owned and today most are owned by one of ten major corporations. A visit to any national supermarket chains wine section is a perfect illustration of the wine industry. Safeway and Albertsons display easily over 1000 different wine labels but most can be traced back to those top ten corporations. Other lesser known wine regions all over California are witnessing the corporate take over of their wine industry as well. This transformation of the wine industry in California is turning the state with the reputation of family run wineries and hand crafted wines into the state with the reputation for huge corporations making astounding profits much of which is propelled through disingenuous marketing.

So are there still family owned wineries in California? Of course there are. Just not many and as the corporate trend continues, family owned wineries are absolutely on the endangered species list. And the trend continues in Washington State and yes, here in our beloved Oregon as well. The Willamette Valley mixes the family owned winery with the corporate owned and run winery and to some it might not be immediately obvious which is which. But it doesn’t take long to see and taste the difference for those interested. For those of us lucky enough to live here among one of the last completely family owned wine regions in the country (no facades here) we should appreciate it more! And while the Umpqua Valleys unique terrain is best suited to the smaller vineyard and winery operation it is just a matter of time before our family owned tradition begins to mix with the bigger business of wine making. But for now, before progress rears its ugly head, take advantage of what we have. Get out and visit your favorite winery today. I’ll see you there…

Spill the Wine

Last week I wrote about wine bottles and where the different shapes came from so I thought this week I should really address wine closures to help demystify the array of ways producers are stopping up their bottles.

The most well known wine closure is of course the cork. The natural cork comes from a tree grown in the Mediterranean. The cork can be removed from the tree without hurting the tree. Natural corks are still used in over 80% of wines bottled today and many would argue that the cork is the best closure for wines you wish to age. The argument is the cork material holds pockets of air allowing just the right amount of oxygen into the bottle to foster the very best aging process. Unfortunately a small number of corks fail and lead to “corked” wine. Cork taint is caused by the presence of the chemical Trichloroanisole (or TCA).

Synthetic corks are made from plastic compounds designed to look and “pop” like natural cork but without the risk of TCA contamination. The concern with this type off closure is its ability to properly seal the bottle long term and the difficulty in removing it from the bottle. Some argue they impart a slight chemical flavor to wine. These closures are recyclable but not biodegradable. There is talk of a new generation of these injection molded closures that have developed a system of nano-cells as to perfectly replicate the cellular structure of natural cork.

And then there is the screw cap also know as “Stelvin caps”. These closures are made from aluminum material that threads onto the bottleneck. They are the predominant closure used in New Zealand and form a tighter seal and keep out oxygen for a longer time then cork. They are said to promote aromatic freshness while still allowing the wines to age and eliminate the problem of cork taint. But as with every type of closure there is a down side. Unlike the real cork the screw cap does not allow even the smallest bit of oxygen to mix with the wine and therefore the wine ages differently then with the more traditional cork. Some screw caps may also be affected by the chemical process sulphidisation resulting in some wines forming bouquets of burning rubber or rotten eggs.

The “Vino-Seal” or “Vino- Lok” is a plastic or glass closure. Using a glass stopper with an inert o-ring, the “Vino-Seal creates a hermetic seal that prevents oxidization and TCA contamination. These are primarily used in Europe and have their down side too. Each one is very expensive and make it necessary to hand bottle as there is not compatible machinery yet to take on this role. And how wines age with these tops is still in question as they are relatively new.

The Zork is an alternative closure that seals like a screw cap and pops like a cork. The Zork closure has an inner metal foil similar to a screw cap and an inner plunger which creates the pop like a cork.

The crown cap, just like that used on beer bottles has been used as a closure for sparkling wines during the fermentation process. Normally the cap is replaced with a cork before shipping but some producers are releasing wines using the crown cap eliminating the cork taint possibility, while providing a tight seal. Easier to open but without the pop.

I can’t help but prefer the real cork and will take my chances with the very few times a bottle ends up corked. And it isn’t because of the pop - I just think they are superior for aging wines. But my preference for the “real” thing does not mean I would not buy or have not enjoyed wines with other closures. Each one has its pros and cons and I am too interested in experiencing everything wine has to offer to draw any lines in the sand with regard to the top of the bottle.