Time to Up the Ante!

For those of you who think I am a tad overly optimistic and excited about our areas potential as a highly regarded wine region, I must draw your attention to yet one more validating piece of publicity. The January issue of Sunset Magazine (yes thee Sunset Magazine) printed a story on the Southern Oregon AVA and in their words called it “The next big wine country: Southern Oregon!”

While the article had some inaccurate information regarding location of some of the wineries i.e.: putting Abacela in the Applegate Valley and reporting Jacksonville was part of the Umpqua Valley, the message was very clear. The exciting wines, no crowds and inexpensive tasting fees made it a top destination choice for wine tourists. How proud our wineries must feel to have a publication with the readership and prestige of _Sunset Magazine _report so clearly what so many of us know to be true!

I can’t help but notice within the story and within the responses to the article on their web site (Sunset.com, search for Southern Oregon), Josephine County and the Rogue and Applegate area received more enthusiastic comments then Douglas County and the Umpqua Valley. A number of tourists wrote in on their love for Jacksonville with the great restaurants, and bars, the Britt Theater and the culture and intrigue of the downtown area. Out of 22 comments on the article 14 expressed a love for Jacksonville. This appreciation and love for this area was voiced by people from Napa, Portland and San Francisco. Unfortunately, there was not one response from travelers expressing their love of Roseburg and the Umpqua Valley.

To me, even with my sometimes overly passionate feelings about my home town of Roseburg I know why there is not the enthusiasm for our area their could be. And why Josephine County and the Rogue AVA receives more committed wine travelers then we do. Simply put they have done a better job of growing and promoting their towns with business and events that tie in beautifully with wine interested travelers making for a total experience. Jacksonville boasts great wine & wineries, excellent restaurants, hip wine bars and shops and interesting boutiques. This is all combined with cultural events held at the theater as well as other events geared to the sophisticated consumer such as those who travel for wine! As a town who’s biggest cultural event is our Graffiti Days, Roseburg is a bit behind the times when it comes to offering supportive events for the more discerning tourist.

Douglas County has it all with the our rivers and unspoiled natural beauty, our historic downtown and excellent wines and beautiful wineries. We just need to bring it all together with higher quality dinning choices, better night life options and more interesting cultural events. We have the great wine, unfortunately wine travelers need and want more. I see progress in this area and know it is just a matter of time before a true vision for our county as a wine destination comes into focus. And when it does we will all benefit from it.

P.S.  Today is the Girl on Grapes birthday!  Cheers!

A Pinch of That, A Pinch of This!

There is much to consider when making wine. So much so, that when I really think about it, it boggles my mind. Everything from what varietal to grow and make to which barrels to use, to when to bottle and release it. Within each of these decisions there are literally hundreds if not thousands of possibilities! And we haven’t even talked about all of the possibilities of blending!

When you purchase a bottle of wine and it is labeled by its varietal name, this indicates it is at least 75% of that variety. In Oregon, many wines labeled with their varietal name must be 90%. Then there are the plethora of lovely blends that do not contain the 75% of one varietal. These can often consist of a combination of more than three or four different complimentary wines. A perfect example would be a Claret (also known as a Bordeaux blend) which would most definitely contain Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cab Franc but might also include Petite Verdot and/or Malbec. Just how much of each wine to add to make just the right recipe is determined by the wine maker and varies from year to year depending on the characteristics of the wines. Spangler Vineyards makes an excellent Claret among so many other quality wines. Pat Spangler wine maker and co owner of the winery along with his wife Loree, truly understands the art of blending.

There are many blends out there that are not classic blends so are not dictated to some degree by a certain “recipe” of even the type of grapes used. A perfect example is Bulls Blood which is purposely an unorthodox mix of red grapes varieties. So how to decide what goes in and how much of any one grape? A daunting thought to me. One of my favorite blends is a fairly new concept that has caught on in a very big way all over the world and that is the marriage of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. But just how much Syrah and how much Cab? Dyson DeMara wine maker and along with his wife Susan owns HillCrest Vineyards, makes a Cab, Syrah, Zinfandel blend that is out of this world! How did that come about and how did he decide how much of each wine would result in the best combination? Dyson is one of the most talented wine makers I have had the pleasure of meeting and he makes it look easy! It is obviously not easy as the possibilities are potentially infinite. And, if it was so easy, then why are there so many mediocre and bad wines in the world?

As I was out barrel tasting some wines this weekend, which by the way were absolutely amazing, I was struck by just how much artistry goes into putting together a bottle of wine. How much needs to be done, but also how much needs to be truly understood about each different wine. The time and commitment involved with following a wine as it evolves is huge and the ability to understand each wines personality and structure comes from experience. To have the palate necessary to taste a wine and know which direction you want to take it or better yet, honoring the direction the wine itself wants to go, is nothing short of amazing. Next time you open a quality bottle of wine, those wines that really make your mouth sing ( and we here in the Umpqua Valley have so many premium local wines that do just that), think about all the artistry that makes it just that way…Wow!

Leftover Wine???

I am often asked how long a bottle of wine, once it is open, can be stored before it goes bad. And this weekend I read an article in Food & Wine Magazine where the writer opened a bottle of high end California Pinot and conducted a daily “taste test” creating a "taste time line" beginning at day 1 and ending at day 20. By day 5 things were getting pretty ugly and by day 20 the tasting notes sounded more like notes taken during a science experiment then a wine tasting!

All of this talk brings up my husbands favorite wine joke or at least the one he shares most often with wine clients and one I am sure you have heard before…What is the difference between Martha Stewart and a real woman? When Martha has left over wine she freezes it in ice cube trays to use in different recipes as needed and there is no waste. A real woman asks, “leftover wine?” But even as a real woman I often have wine left over whether it was from a dinner party with friends or just a regular weekday meal. While most of us do not want to force ourselves to finish the bottle we also do not want a good bottle of wine to go to waste. So I have some recommendations for you to help preserve your wine.

First off younger wines will generally be less affected by being open for a day or two then older wines. While the opening of an older wine a bit before serving and even decanting the older vintage can allow the wine to reach its pinnacle, older wines are less stable and can begin to go over the other side quite quickly. I recommend opening these mature wines only when you know they can be enjoyed in their entirety, in one evening. Both whites as well as reds should be stored in the refrigerator once they are open. This will slow down the aging of an open bottle of wine. Make sure you put the cork or a stopper back into the bottle too. Let the wines warm up a bit before enjoying the remainder, obviously longer for the reds then the whites. For those of you needing to store the wine more than just one day I strongly suggest using compressed nitrogen. I am not a fan of the plungers that supposedly remove air from the bottles and find nitrogen to be the only product that seems to make any real difference. This gas is squirted into the bottle and weighing more then oxygen displaces the oxygen and creates a layer and a seal between the wine and the air. Once the stopper is removed the gas dissipates. This method while better then nothing will not store your wines indefinitely. By day five even with gas, you are pushing it.

So the moral to the story is be prepared to drink your wines as soon after you open them as possible. There are only about four glasses of wine in each bottle, so for a couple this should not be difficult and for a solo wine imbiber two glasses the first night and two the next should take care of it! If you have any problems call a friend to help polish off the bottle. After all, what are friends for? And wine is always more enjoyable shared with someone you care about.

Are We There Yet?

What determines when a wine is released? Like many other components to the wine making process when a wine is released for sale is usually a decision made by the wine maker. A number of considerations are taken into account when deciding the right time for a winery to allow their wines to be available for public scrutiny and sale. The decision making process for releasing wines can vary significantly from winery to winery.

It is important to understand the vintage of a wine which is the date on the bottle indicates the year the grapes were grown. The release date could be anywhere from several months to several years from the vintage date.
Generally whites are released first as they do not require the same aging as reds. One lovely exception to this and there are others of course, is Chardonnay done in the "sur lie" style, left on the sediment for months sometimes years imparting a quality to the wine that can not be rushed!

Reds usually require a more lengthy aging process after fermentation and it is not uncommon for vintages to see several years in the barrel or tank before release. This differs with each variety of grape as well as with the growing conditions unique to each year. Some reds are meant to be drunk younger then others. With so many considerations it is the wine maker who knows the best timing for the release of his wines.

When visiting more commercial, corporate owned wineries you will find the trend is to release wines very quickly. Any aging necessary to improve a wine is yours to do with the wine already in the bottle and now in your cellar. The business rather than the craft of wine making is what dictates the decision to release a wine. Simple economics do not allow for the benefits of giving a wine more time. Space, barrels and time are expensive and most large wineries need to push out one vintage to make room for another. Many do not have the luxury of crafting wines with time as part of the recipe. Cash flow is an issue and wines allowed to take their time to evolve in the barrel mean they are not turning over. Since grapes are harvested every 12 months these wines are also taking up space needed by the new harvest. More often then not, visiting corporate owned wineries will present tasting lists with whites released from the most recent vintage and reds from the last two vintages. It is unusual to find wines available from past vintages and if you do these wines are usually referred to as “library wines” and are accompanied by high price tags.

Spending time in smaller, family owned wineries like those found here in the Umpqua Valley, you will find a different business model. It is not uncommon to find red wines on tasting lists that are from vintages going back four or more years. With the small case lots our wineries produce here I can guarantee you these are not wines that were released several years ago and have not sold! These are wines that have been allowed to take their time to develop and have recently been released. Making the highest quality wines possible is the top consideration to our local wine makers and winery owners and this can take time. Time they are able and willing to invest.