[wine] Fw: Nat Decants Newsletter: Wine Cellars

For those of you who get the Minneapolis Star Tribune there is a great article on the front of the taste section about Natalie and her new book "red, White, and Drunk All Over." One of my best reads....it's entertaining and informative. also check our her website to sign up for her bi-weekly newsletter www.nataliemaclean.com Joyce ----- Forwarded by Joyce Hegstrom/FS/CarlsonSchool on 04/12/2007 08:49 AM ----- Natalie MacLean <natalie@nataliem aclean.com> To jhegstrom(a)csom.umn.edu 04/10/2007 05:22 cc AM Subject Nat Decants Newsletter: Wine Please respond to Cellars "Natalie MacLean" <Natalie_MacLean_ ztszsg(a)cmpgnr.com (Embedded image moved to file: pic24575.jpg) (Embedded image moved to file: pic23251.jpg) (Embedded image moved to file: pic27467.jpg) (Embedded image moved to file: pic19094.jpg) (Embedded (Embedded image April 10, 2007 image moved moved to file: to file: pic51881.gif) Dear Joyce, pic60152.gif) Organic wines are among the fastest growing (Embedded image segments in the liquor store, but they're also moved to file: widely misunderstood, from how they're made to pic31691.jpg) their health benefits. I hope this piece helps (Embedded image to shed some light on these questions. moved to file: pic08181.jpg) In future issues of the newsletter, look for (Embedded image features on hot drinks, the impact of global moved to file: warming on wine, and the battle between beer and pic10618.jpg) wine (which is better?). The next newsletter (Embedded image will go out April 27. You can find more articles moved to file: and wine picks www.nataliemaclean.com. pic19977.jpg) (Embedded image Regarding the changes I've made to the wine moved to file: picks recently: You can still look at the pic51887.jpg) complete list of all the wines I choose each (Embedded image week without having to use the new search moved to file: engine. As usual, I include just four of the pic03011.jpg) wines in the newsletter itself so that it (Embedded image doesn't get too long. The rest of the moved to file: newly-recommended wines for the week, usually pic60816.jpg) 15-25 bottles, are posted in my Wine Picks (Embedded image section. moved to file: pic08158.jpg) Just click through to the Wine Picks section on (Embedded image my site, and then click on the latest date: moved to file: voilá, they're all there posted on that page and pic64219.jpg) you can print them out as a shopping list. The (Embedded image only change I made was to make the search engine moved to file: more sophisticated for when you do want to pic10705.jpg) search for wines I've recommended previously. (Embedded image moved to file: I've added a new feature to the web site and pic27123.jpg) newsletter this week: delicious recipes! For (Embedded image details on these, see below just under this moved to file: note. pic58660.jpg) (Embedded image Please forward this issue to other wine lovers moved to file: whom you think would enjoy it. You can also pic19260.jpg) suggest friends and I'll send them an intro note (Embedded image on your behalf. moved to file: pic12843.jpg) You can change your e-mail address quickly and (Embedded image easily online here or add a second address for moved to file: yourself if you'd like to receive the newsletter pic21328.jpg) both at home and at work. (Embedded image moved to file: I now get tens of thousands of visitors to my pic54677.jpg) web site weekly. Just let me know if you'd like (Embedded image to exchange food- and wine-related web site moved to file: links. pic54643.jpg) Have a great weekend! (Embedded image moved to file: Cheers, pic23438.jpg) (Embedded image (Embedded image moved to file: pic53688.gif) moved to file: pic24259.jpg) Book American Edition Wine & Recipe of the Week "Ms. MacLean is the disarming Here's a new feature for the newsletter and web Everywoman ... site that I hope you'll love: recipe and wine of She loves wine, the week! In each newsletter, I'll highlight a loves drinking delicious, wine-loving recipe from a ... a winning professional cook, and then I'll suggest a wine formula." or two to complement the dish from my recent - The New York wine picks. Times To kick things off, I'd like to highlight two "We may have a recipes, the first one from Tracey Black, chef new genre here: and co-owner of Epicuria, a retail fine food The wine book as store and full service caterer in Ottawa. bodice-ripper. Throughout, she Tracey has suggested a wonderful spring dish: remains Herb Grilled Chicken With Orange Balsamic Sauce. engaging, I'd pair it with a zesty New Zealand sauvignon colorful and blanc that has citrus notes, such as Kim informative." Crawford, Villa Maria or Governors Bay. For - Miami Herald reds, I'd try a Alfredo Roca Pinot Noir San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina (from the March 31 "Neither an wine picks). excoriating polemic nor a The second recipe, Pork Chops Stuffed With Red shameless Onion Confit, Dates And Dried Cranberries, comes exaltation of from Larry Irons, the San Diego-based author of the famous and the Bizarre Chef Recipe Collection Cookbook on the fatuous, CD-ROM (which you buy by calling 800-584-0756) MacLean's book and the Bizarre Chef Newsletter. I'd pair this refreshes with dish with Studert-Prüm Riesling, Germany or its evenhanded Punters Corner Triple Crown Cabernet, Merlot, treatment of the Australia. outsized personalities You can search for more recipes now on the site. populating this If you'd like to submit recipes to be posted on industry." the site and featured in this newsletter with - Newsweek credits to you and your company, please e-mail me at natdecants(a)nataliemaclean.com. "Red, White, and Drunk All Over As I am a hopeless cook, or rather, I don't will please the cook, I don't have the skills or knowledge to palates of wine test recipes. So at this point, I ask that lovers recipes be submitted by those who cook everywhere." professionally in restaurants, catering - Los Angeles operations, personal chefs, cookbook/food Times writers, and so on. Please share your most mouth-watering creations with the 70,738 wine (Embedded image lovers who subscribe to Nat Decants! moved to file: pic20576.jpg) Book Wine Words of the Week Canadian Edition The first word of the week is grand vin. This is the French word for "grand or great wine," and "MacLean has refers to the best quality wine made by a very cleverly chateau. Many wineries make second and third wrapped a wine labels that aren't considered as good as their primer in such grand vin. Although it sounds impressive, it appealing actually has no legal or official designation. anecdote that However, giving a bottle of wine with this on any reader, male the label to friends may increase its value (and or female, yours) in their eyes. should find learning about The second word is botrytis cineria. Also known wine completely as "noble rot," and shouldn't be confused with painless." - winemakers who cash out their interest in making Jancis Robinson, quality wine for higher profits. This is a good mold that attacks grapes causing them to shrivel Financial Times up. As a result, the grape juice has a higher of London sugar content and the flavor of the dessert wine made from this juice is more concentrated, "Revel. Imbibe. complex and delicious. The most famous examples Hector. Seduce. of these wines come from Sauternes in Bordeaux There is little and the king of them all is Château d'Yquem. that has been as cosmopolitan or You can find more definitions in my wine as pleasantly glossary. complete." - Globe & Mail, Top Books of the Year Wine Question of the Week "Natalie writes The question of the week is how long do wines about wine with age? Related to this are when should I drink a sensuous this wine and are vintage charts useful? obsession... often The right time to drink wine depends on the laugh-out-loud region, the climate that year and the wine's funny… longevity. I suggest you consult a vintage chart terrific." - Rex online: Berry Brothers & Rudd. Pickett, author of Sideways You can also pick up one of two excellent pocket guides to wine vintages from either Hugh Johnson "Red, White and or Oz Clark. They will tell you whether it was a Drunk All Over good year for almost every good bottle on the is like A Year market and whether the wine needs more age or in Provence may be over the hill. Keep in mind that 99% of meets Kitchen wines are made to be consumed within a year or Confidential two of buying them. I hope this helps! then goes Sideways." - Although I can't answer all of the e-mails I Capital Style receive (several hundred a day), I try to answer as many as I can in the frequently asked wine questions section of my site. Note: The American and In my new book, Red, White, and Drunk All Over, Canadian I also tackle many of the aspects of wine from editions are the grape to glass: how wine is made, marketed, same except for matched with food, consumed and cellared. I do the cover art. this through storytelling, taking my readers Different behind the scenes of the international wine publishers chose world, visiting its most evocative places and different sharing adventures with its most colorful and approaches hilarious personalities. If you'd like to find visually. out more, you can read media and reader reviews of the book.  (Embedded image Story of the Week: Wine Naturally moved to file: pic16030.jpg) Note: If you're more audibly-oriented, you can also listen to this week's podcast of this story. Back in the '70s, the concept of "organic wine" conjured up images of pony-tailed vintners in tie-dyed T-shirts, producing wines more for ideology than taste. Thankfully, those days are just a watery memory now. Today, organic wines are no longer just for health nuts and tree huggers. Wine lovers drink them for their quality. They've gone mainstream and represent one of the fastest-growing categories at the liquor store. Getting into the mainstream required settling some key issues, and that story reveals as much about contemporary life as it does about organic wines. Until the 1950s, most grapes grown for wine (like most crops of all kinds then) were "organic": that is, they were grown without using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. This often meant that crops were at the mercy of diseases and pests and farmers had no choice but to wait until nature recalibrated itself after the blight died out with its food source, the crop. Then along came the so-called "green revolution" and the chemicals perceived as the modern and progressive way to farm. They seemed to offer problem-free fields without destroying the crops. For two decades or so, these intensive and expensive interventions ruled agriculture in North America and around the world. The backlash started with the back-to-the-land movement of the 1970s. Consumers worried about the domination of big business, about harm to the environment and the long-term effects of chemicals used to produce food and drink. (Embedded image moved to file: pic19494.jpg) Wine Glasses Scientists now believe that all such substances accumulate in our bodies; and since they've only been used for a few decades, we don't yet know the long-term effects. These factors, together with the yearning for self-sufficiency of the hippie culture, strengthened the public desire for natural food products. Modern food concerns since then—genetically modified foods, mercury poisoning, mad cow disease, fast food, and obesity—have all contributed to the momentum. What is organic wine? Many foods are described as "organic" nowadays, but what does it actually mean applied to wine? Making wine is a two-step process: first you grow the grapes and then you make the wine. That means there's a difference between wine from "organically grown grapes" and "organic wine." Grapes that are organically grown must have no synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or soil fumigants used on them. There's still debate over whether organic grapes are allowed to be irrigated with "gray water" (partially treated waste water). Purists also nix the use of genetically modified vines and growth hormones. To qualify for the organic designation, the farm or vineyard must be free of chemicals for a certain period as determined by governmental agencies, such as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. This varies by country, but three years is the most common length of time for the soil to be declared free of most chemical residue. "Organic wine" takes the no-chemical use a step further. It means that not only were the grapes grown organically, but the wine itself was then made with none of the 500 available additives and agents, except for small amounts of sulfur dioxide, a common preservative noted as "sulfites" on the bottle label. Who defines what's organic? This is a confusing subject because different winemaking regions use different definitions and several organizations provide a number of different certifications. For example, the California Certified Organic Farmers organization inspects and certifies member growers according to its own standards, which are more stringent than those in the California Organic Food Act of 1979. Many producers are advocating a single set of international standards, which would help consumers to understand and trust the organic designation. What do organic vintners use instead of chemicals? In their quest to enrich the soil and keep pests at bay, many vintners inter-plant the vine rows with other crops, such as rye grass, chicory, fescue, oats, mustard, lupins, and red clover. These cover crops control weeds and encourage bugs to feed on them rather than on the vines. They can also be ploughed back into the soil to replenish its nitrogen. Some organic winemakers also add compost made from pomace, the solid material left over from pressing the grapes. Another tactic is encouraging the "good bugs" to eat the "bad bugs." The advantage is that good bugs are selective about what they eat, whereas insecticides destroy every bug in its path, and leave a vineyard more vulnerable to pest attacks the next year. (Embedded image moved to file: pic30209.jpg) Wine Glasses Some vintners allow chickens the run of their vineyards, since they both eat bugs and scratch the soil, naturally tilling it. Others build nesting boxes and perches to encourage hawks and owls to roost and hunt rodents and other pests in the vineyard. This can be surprisingly effective. Doug Price, viticulturist at the California winery Clos de Bois, once laid out a tarp under one of the 30 owl boxes he built around the vineyard. Over the course of one summer, it collected more than 500 gopher skulls. What's the big deal about sulfites? Most wine labels bear the warning "contains sulfites," which can alarm consumers into thinking that the substance is harmful or unhealthy. In fact, sulfites (the salts of sulfurous acid) are just a common food preservative that prevents the wine from oxidizing after fermentation (it turns brown and the fruit aromas go stale) or spoiling from bacteria once bottled. In Europe no warning label is required if there is less than 100 parts per million of sulfites added, since they're considered a traditional and safe additive there. Most experts recommend drinking sulfite-free wines only at the winery since these wines don't keep or travel well. Sulfites are harmless to most people; their danger is to asthmatics, about 5 percent of whom are allergic or extremely sensitive to them. The only time when sulfites are intrusive for most drinkers is when incompetent winemakers use too much, which masks the wine's flavors and gives it an acrid smell, like a lit match. Despite some sticklers who believe that organic wine should contain absolutely no sulfites, the more moderate and common opinion is that their use should not exceed between 10 and 100 parts per million (ppm)—just enough to stabilize the wine and to keep barrels and bottles free of microbes. Today, modern techniques and winery hygiene mean that fewer sulfites are required. Federal law in Canada and the U.S. allows all wine to have up to 350 ppm of sulfites. However, wine that's labeled organic must limit the amount to just 90 ppm for red wines, and 100 ppm for white and sparkling wines. Many organic wines contain no more than 40 ppm. What's more important to remember, however, is that even wines labelled as having "no sulfites added," still have a small amount since sulfites are a natural byproduct of fermentation. Sulfur exists naturally in grapes, potatoes, broccoli, garlic, onions, fruit juices, dried fruits, jams, baked goods, salad bars and bottled mineral water. You can't escape it. Despite the furor over sulfites in wine, a single serving of most of these foods has more sulfites than a whole bottle. Are organic wines really better for you? The good news about even non-organic wine grapes is that far fewer chemicals are used on them than on other fruit. Consumers want strawberries and pears to look good on the fruit stands, so they ignore the chemicals that keep them that way even to the detriment of taste and health. However, the appearance of wine grapes is irrelevant, since they're going to be crushed. As a result, they're grown specifically to optimize their taste. Still, there are 17 chemicals commonly used in vineyards today and grapes aren't washed before being crushed. This means non-organic fruit may have trace amounts of chemicals, but the process of fermentation neutralizes almost all such residues and filtering the finished wine usually removes whatever might remain. After all, federal law stipulates that there can't be any chemical residue in the finished wine, organic or not. There's really no evidence that organic wine is any better for you than non-organic, or that it will reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease or other illnesses. Does organic wine cause fewer hangovers? Sadly, no. The only cause of a hangover is drinking too much alcohol. Organic wine won't even make your hangover less severe. Do organic wines taste better? In blind taste tests, many experts perceive no difference between well-made organic and non-organic wines. Still, in the words of Randall Grahm, owner of California's Bonny Doon Vineyards: "Our vision must go beyond taste. We have to ask, 'What are the costs of chemical co-dependency? Does our business advance values that we esteem? Are we making a product that customers want to buy?'" Having said that, wine is an expression of the earth in which the vines grow. If that earth is rich and alive, rather than a chemical wasteland, that's got to affect the wine, even though the difference may be subtle. Winemakers themselves certainly believe that their wines are more complex when the grapes are organically farmed. That process demands careful hands-on attention to matters such as canopy management, when growers prune back the leaves to create better air circulation among the grape bunches so that there's less chance of rot. How is organic wine different from vegan wine? It's all in the clarifying—the removal of the particles which create cloudiness. (Some vintners skip this step because they believe it can strip the wine of some of its character.) One of the traditional ways of "fining" wine is to add whisked egg whites to the barrels of fermenting wine. As these settle through the liquid, they bond with particles and eventually float back to the top, where the vintner scoops them out. Organic wines allow the use of the whites of organic eggs, but not vegan wines. Vegan wines also don't use clarifying substances in the trade like gelatin, blood, skim milk, and fish bladders in favor of certain types of clay, centrifuge machines or cellulose filters. Another method is to simply allow the wine a longer time in the barrel so that any particles settle naturally at the bottom and can be left behind when the wine is drained out into bottles. Why farm organically? Many winemakers consider the approach as part of their overall commitment to quality. Organic farming requires a much deeper understanding of the vineyard and a greater vigilance over it. Problems must be detected early because organic fixes take longer. Another benefit is the social responsibility for winery workers' health and not exposing them to toxic chemicals. What are the environmental benefits? Many wineries have locked horns with environmentalists and local residents over the issue of deforesting the land in order to plant vineyards. Hillsides are a flash point. Winemakers know that vineyards on slopes produce some of the finest wines because water runs downhill and the vines must struggle for moisture and nutrients when it doesn't seep into the hillside, reaching their roots deeper into the earth and picking up more nuances. But the flip side is hillsides soil erosion, since vine roots aren't as extensive as those of the trees. As well, if the winery uses chemicals, its run-off can contaminate local waterways and harm wildlife. The organic approach can mitigate both soil erosion and contamination. Organic growers don't use chemicals, so the run-off water is clean; and they plant cover crops and trees within the vineyard, which reduces erosion. In Santa Barbara County, California, a forested area surrounds the vineyards as a natural habitat for birds, wild pigs, and deer. To reduce chemical contamination, some organic vintners also use only whole cork bark rather than cork particles glued together, and they avoid plastic corks or pesticide-treated corks altogether. Others use beeswax seals for the bottles, recycled paper for labels and inks developed without animal testing. What's the difference between organic and sustainable farming? Sustainable farming tries to minimize the use of chemicals and the winery's impact on the environment. They also attempt to be more efficient in their use of all resources, including water and energy, and to use recycled and non-polluting materials wherever possible. At the California winery Fetzer, for example, tractors use biodiesel derived from vegetable oil rather than petrochemicals. The winery irrigates the vineyard with recycled water, has cut its landfill usage by more than 90 percent and makes its own recyclable capsules to cover the corks in the bottles. While sustainable farming often incorporates organic principles, it is not organic, nor are there any legal requirements. Why don't more organic wineries promote the fact on their labels? In a word, perception. Rightly, most consumers already think of wine as a natural product, though they're likely influenced less by knowledge of winemaking and more by those lovely leafy vineyards pictured on labels and in ads. So although they may seek out organic versions of lettuce, tomatoes or beef, they don't necessarily think to do so for wine. Many wineries are cautious about promoting their organic designation. They know that most consumers buy wine based on its taste and quality—the organic part is just a bonus. Understandably, it's a point of pride for many winemakers that consumers buy their wines for the "right reason": taste not ideology. Organic wines also have an unfortunate history. In the past, they were perceived (often correctly) as being poorly made and prone to going bad quickly because they lacked preservatives. Another legacy is the reputation for preachiness and moralizing—no one wants to be scolded into virtue, even though today's consumers are much more aware of the environmental impact of their food and drink. As well, many vintners are wary of the red tape and cost required to designate themselves organic. They may not want to lock themselves into just one mode of production—especially in the event of a virulent attack of pests or rot, which might require emergency chemical treatment. In that situation, if an "organic" winery had to remove the designation from its label, it would be in the awkward situation of having to explain why to its consumers. Further, if a winery has several products, and not all are organic, that might reflect badly on the others. For all these complex reasons, only a few organic wines actually make a selling point of the fact and highlight it on the label. Most others hide it on the back of the bottle in small print or don't mention it at all. What are the challenges to making organic wine? They vary by region. Chile, for instance, with its dry climate and natural irrigation from the Andes snowmelt, is a much easier environment for organic grapes than many other areas. Oregon has fewer harmful local insects than California and its wineries need less pesticide. By contrast, in colder and rainier climates, such as northern France and Canada, vintners must battle rot and can count on less warmth to ripen their grapes; many consequently use "Bordeaux mixture," made from copper sulfate, a traditional fungicide to fight rot. The economic challenges of organic winemaking are high: start-up costs can be substantial, especially when vintners must first wean a vineyard off a chemical dependency. Much like drug-dependent humans, vines can come to rely on chemicals and the habit that's both expensive and hard to kick. Chemical dependency creates imbalances in the plant's immune system and weakens its natural ability to fight pests, disease, drought, heat and rot. The substances also disrupt the ecosystem of the soil, killing all the microbes that normally produce phytochemicals, natural nutrients and trace elements a vine needs. The roots normally soak up these elements, which affect the flavor of the grapes. But organic vintners say their costs go down again in the long run. Once their vines are back on a natural footing and able to reassert their own vigor, they're better able to fight diseases and pests naturally. Expensive chemicals aren't needed. What's the difference between organic and biodynamic? Biodynamic viticulture is based on a theory first propounded by the Austrian agronomist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner in the early 1900s. Like organic farming, it also encourages fostering a healthy balance in the soil and eschewing artificial pesticides, herbicides or fungicides. It differs from organic farming by stressing the link between the cosmos and the plant's health. The biodynamic theory holds that four cosmic elements affect the vines: the earth element energizes the roots; light, the flowers; heat, the fruit; and water, the leaves. Where organic vintners use compost to fertilize the soil, biodynamic vintners use minute quantities of homeopathic-style preparations. As in homeopathic medicine, the idea is to encourage the body to heal itself rather than to just treat the symptoms. Who makes organic wine? The number of wineries making organic wines is increasing steadily, with the result that they're available in a far greater range of styles than ever before. Formerly, they were only the domain of small producers, but now large companies are taking an interest as a way to diversify their offerings and to improve their environmental images. Some of the producers implement some organic principles and not others, some grow organic grapes but don't make organic wine and still others make both organic and non-organic wines. So check the labels carefully. I've reviewed the wines of several producers on my web site and the new advanced search engine allows you to designate organic wine as a search criteria. What's the future of organic wine? The category is growing at about 20 percent a year, albeit from a small base. Encouragingly, even when winemakers don't aspire to be fully organic, more and more are still trying to reduce their dependency on chemicals. That's good news for wine drinkers because wine is an expression of the place it's grown. That place shouldn't be a chemical-ridden wasteland, but rather a place that's as diverse and nuanced as the wine we drink—and a place we can all live in. Please note: The content of this article is registered under copyright by Natalie MacLean. No part of this article may be copied or distributed in print or on the internet without first securing written permission of the author. Thanks! Wine Picks for April 14 I include just four of the wines I recommend this week in the newsletter to keep it short. The rest of the new wines I've picked are in the Wine Picks section of my site, as well as many more wines from previous weeks. You can print a text-only version of these wines, without the top note or graphics. Trying to find these wines in your local store?