[wine] In Vino Veritas

Dear friends, The following is the 2-5-09 posting (under the title "In Vino Veritas") on John Holdredge's blog, http://pinotdiatribes.blogspot.com, which I commend to your attention. John makes pinots, syrahs and zins from various appellations around Sonoma County, and is an all around prince of a guy. Quoting John now: Blah, blah, blah, in wine there is truth...hell, you could say the same about Vodka. Or beer. Drink enough, and even the most discreet individual will say something he or she shouldn't have said. That's usually a good time to take pictures of them by the way. But there are certain truths in winemaking that are beyond dispute. Take any facet of winemaking, and within that subject, some things just cannot be argued. A good example is when is the best time to complete malolactic (ML) fermentation? After all, ML takes a while to finish, and the progress is affected by numerous things like ambient temperature (bacteria struggle below 62 degrees or so), pH (high pH is easier, low pH is more challenging), alcohol levels (high alcohol is a hostile environment), and more. ML fermentation is anything but a straight line -which I guess is kind of like that scene in Kill Bill 1 where "Black Mamba" is getting the Hittori Honzo sword presented to her and Hittori Honzo says something like "revenge is never a straight line"- or maybe not. Sometimes ML finishes before winter, sometimes in spring, sometimes the next summer, sometimes it just doesn't finish. So which is the best time for an ML to finish? Easy question. Here is what I know to be beyond dispute about the best time for ML fermentations to finish**: 1. If your ML's complete before winter- that is the best possible thing because you can sulfur your wines and keep them safe. This reflects a conscious effort by the winemaker to always adhere to the best possible practices. 2. If your ML's don't complete until spring, that is the best possible thing because longer ML keeps the wine slightly blanketed with CO2.This reflects a conscious effort by the winemaker to always adhere to the best possible practices. 3. If your ML's don't complete until summer, that is the best possible thing because if you bottle in the fall, you will probably have used less sulfur if you waited to sulfur until ML is complete.This reflects a conscious effort by the winemaker to always adhere to the best possible practices. 4. If your wines simply don't complete ML, that is the best possible thing, because that harder profile of malic acid gives the wine an additional layer of structure.This reflects a conscious effort by the winemaker to always adhere to the best possible practices. 5. In all instances, NEVER admit anything is out of your control or that you made a mistake. Instead, always make it clear that you are the ringmaster, and whatever happens is all part of your grand design. **this rather fuzzy logic can be applied to any facet of winemaking.