» Andy's Wine Blog

I went to the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition in Rochester this weekend. It was an amazing event , the proceeds to benefit “Camp Good Days” in Kauka Lake. All 50 US states were represented; 9 Canadian provences; 19 Countries; over 3000 wine submittals; 53 judges from many different countries and states. You name it, this was an awesome event. They let me be a ‘guest judge’ for several flights… I was right on the mark agreeing with the judges several times (not all). For results see: http://www.fliwc.com/results/2010results.asp

Andy

I contacted Winexpert, the supplier of our pasteurized juice to lament the end
of their production of Cab Franc and Cab Franc/Merlot juice. This is their response:

Thank you for your contact. Good to talk to you today and again I am sorry we will be discontinuing two of your favourites. As mentioned we generally do this when we are making room for new product launches – most often the decision is to discontinue a product choosing one that has been a rather slow seller. The Mezza Luna White is a proprietary blend of grapes from California. We don’t reveal the formulation information. I thought I would add our date, source, etc. information since you thought the Luna was from Europe. To identify the juice products and concentrates in our various kits: if the kit is a regular Selection, then the juice and concentrates come from could be from San Joaquin, Lodi, Woodbridge, or even some of the coastal appellations. For the most part, the source we rely on is from the Lodi-Woodbridge AVA. They are always of the same vintage year, and are pure varietal product and are not always single-vineyard. If it is labeled with a country designation, as in our Selection International series, then it comes from that country: Chilean Cabernet is from Chile, Australian Cabernet-Shiraz is from Australia, etc. Very occasionally we blend across vintages with these products, mainly to try to keep consistency within the kit line-up. Even though our harvests vary significantly every year, our consumers demand a high level of consistency. They want the CabSauv/Merlot they make this year to taste exactly the same (as they remember) the CabSauv/Merlot from 5 years ago! It can be quite a task.

I talked to Tim regarding a substitute and there is nothing in the regular line up to replace it.  He recommends for a rich heavy wine try the Chilean Carmenere.   The Small Lots 3 Continent Meritage to be released in May will be the one that will be very similar to the Cab Franc.  The only problem is it’s a Limited Offering.

3 Continents Meritage combines Petit Verdot from Australia, Cabernet Sauvignon from California and Merlot from Chile to make a unique, globe-spanning vision of the quality a wine of the best varieties can truly possess.

We are progressing toward filing an application with the Secretary of State to form a “Grape Cooperative”. If you want to know more about what’s happening, out next two meetings will be January16th at 3PM, and February 6th at 2PM. During the February meeting, we will be learning how to trim Riesling vines behind Lakeland Winery.

Andy

This is an interesting article Christopher Anderson passed along to me. I think I may use this technique in my own vineyard.

http://tinyurl.com/yzw2pqz

I have some good news. The NYS Senate Bill I was trying to get passed was recently approved, and will be made into Law by June 2010. This will make legal everything I have been doing for the past 4 years. What this means for the Grape Co-op is we can make wine from grapes at Lakeland Winery and take it home for your own personal consumption. It can not be sold under the name of the Co-op. In other words, the label must say, “Bottled and produced by Lakeland Winery”. Lakeland Winery must show the revenue and collect taxes on that wine. I think unless the Co-op gets a license to sell and produce wine, the co-op members can not technically assist in the production of wine I will sell to the public. I hope this is clear about how the State may interpret the law.

Senate Bill #3602: Section 76 of the alcoholic beverage control law is amended by adding a new subdivision 7 is added to read as follows: 7. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a winery licensed pursuant to this section may engage in custom crush wine production allowing individuals to assist in the production of wine for sale for personal or family use provided, however, that (a) the wine must be purchased by the individual assisting in the production of such wine and (b) the owner, employee or agent of such winery shall be present at all times. Andy

Over the years, with growing health and environmental consciousness, organic wines have gained a lot of significance. As a result, wine producers all over the world are increasingly looking into creating such wines. The definition and legal enforcement of this term varies significantly from one country to another, and the laws about use of the term are evolving.

For a beverage to be classified as organic wine or vin organique, as the French like to call it, first of all, the grapes must be sourced from a vineyard that follows organic viticulture utilizing naturally occurring substances instead of industrially produced chemicals used in conventional viticulture. The basic idea is to take the prevention rather than cure approach to grape growing whereby creating a healthy bio-diversity and soil are considered paramount.

Another vital criterion is that organic wines be produced without the addition of sulphur dioxide (SO2), although very few countries legally enforce this rule on their wine industry as SO2 is still considered the most effective anti-spoilage agent. In the European Union for instance, a label may say organic but allow a certain amount of sulfites in the wine. So, even a wine may claim to be organic, it may not necessarily mean the wine is sulfite free.

Please have a look at the table below for a list of organic wine recommendations. Alternatively, you can also search for your choice of grape variety like organic cabernet sauvignon, organic zinfandel, organic syrah, organic merlot, organic chardonnay, organic viognier, organic sauvignon blanc and so on. Please set your search criteria according to your location and currency.

Biodynamic Wine

Followers of biodynamic viticulture describe it as an advanced form of organic viticulture. It is based on the theories of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner. Biodynamics calls for a holistic approach that seeks ecological self-sufficiency but also includes ethical and spiritual considerations. The vineyard is seen as a living organism which can be maintained in a self-sustaining way, potentially creating a unique growing environment.

Both organic and biodynamic winegrowing are grouped under a relatively new concept known as sustainable viticulture which ensures the avoidance of any sort of environmental degradation while maintaining the economic viability of the vineyard.

For full report, go to:  http://www.wine-searcher.com/organic-wine.lml

Whit & Whistle has great DIY instructions for turning old wine bottles into something useful for the holidays.

Not a bad idea. Gifts perhaps?

According to Mintel, we can all be thankful that domestic wines seem to be recession-proof:

And thanks in large part to prices that are still on average 35% lower than imports, domestics dominate the market more heavily than ever — accounting for nearly 75% of wine sales by volume last year.

Mintel also identifies specific areas of growth for wine, among them include Millenials (21 to 32 years of age), men—who spend more per bottle than women, boxed wines and other environmentally friendly—or convenient packaging such as screw caps.

If you’re interested in making your own wine with screw caps, you’re in luck—we currently offer screw cap bottles for your personalized winemaking experience at Lakeland Winery.

via MediaPost Publications.

In the past 2 years I have received several inquiries from local grape growers if I knew anyone who wanted grapes growing in their back yards. Then, this year someone actually gave me two bins of concord grapes to make wine.
I am organizing what I call a Grape Co-op, and am soliciting the following people: organizational; workers and suppliers(growers). We will be purchasing or accepting donations of red grapes from local growers in the Syracuse area. Wine will be made from these grapes and sold to the public via Lakeland Winery, Inc. You may be paid either from the proceeds or reimbursed for your efforts with wine. The following is a general job description we could follow: Organizers- Those who organize the foundation and structure of the group.
Workers- Harvesters; Pruners; grape crushers; wine makers; bottlers; labelers & corkers; distribution & sales. Grape Suppliers- Land owners who donate or sell grapes to the co-op.

I am having a meeting of interest on Saturday, November 21st at 4PM for anyone who may be interested. Please e-mail me at andy@lakelandwinery.com if you can not attend but are interested in some aspect of this.

Andy

After crushing and de-steming the grapes, yeast is added to the mash and fermentation begins. The grape skins rise and would dry out if they weren’t punched down twice each day. About a week after primary fermentation begins, the grape juice is pressed from the skins and the juice continues to ferment in airtight containers.  After about a month or so, the juice will be ‘racked’ to separate the juice from the ‘lees’ (sediment). This will continue for more time, then racked again to separate the sediment from juice.