Wild Fermentation

All this talk about wild fermentation has really got me excited.  Here’s more about how yeast and bacteria turn grapes into wine.

The following thoughts are based on a conversation I had with Mike Moyer, Professor of Enology at the Walla Walla Community College, while taking my laboratory practical exam.

Wild fermentation with red wine is a great idea.  When a harvest comes in off the vines, there are dozens of species of yeasts, and even more bacteria that are living on the skins.  When we crush and destem the grapes, we introduce a lot of oxygen into the must (crushed up grapes), and this is primetime for microbes to start eating and reproducing.

The first species of yeasts to start eating and making more of themselves include names like Kluyveromyces, Candida, Hansenula, Kloeckera, Dekkera,  and Torulaspora.  Some of these are really good at making chemicals like nail polish remover (ethyl acetate), while others create funky, rubbery, tar, complexities that make a wine multi-dimensional and interesting, if not incredible.  Most of these species die when the wine approaches 3-7 percent alcohol, and then Saccharomyces takes over and eats all the sugar.  He’s the best at this.

Ahhh…I just poured a glass of 2008 Lemberger, and am really happy that I did.  Ok, back to fermenting.  Reds.  Wild.  Great idea if you are looking for multi-dimensional, borderline funkdified, traditional styles.

If you want  clean-cut, American/New World, polished, buffed styles of wine, then your producer has probably selected a packaged yeast.

White wine?  Different story.  Chardonnay?  Yeah, ok.  You can make a wild ferment Chardonnay, because…drum roll…malo-lactic conversion is acceptable.  This is the bacterial conversion of malic acid into lactic acid.  This process make a wine less tart while changing the aromatic profile from apples and fruit towards buttery and nuts.

Riesling? Chenin Blanc? Sauvignon Blanc?  Gewurztraminer?  Wild fermentation is more likely to promote the malolactic bacteria, and these wines will turn out too flabby for what most white wine consumers would prefer.

Both Professor Moyer and myself agreed that if we had a time-machine, we would definitely use it to go back about two hundred years and see how European aromatic white wine regions made their wine.

Here are the techniques modern white wine producers employ to prevent the ML conversion:

1)Refrigeration 2)Sulfites 3)Lysozyme (naturally present in tears, saliva, and egg whites) 4)Low pH 5)Sterile filtration 6)Velcorin

Of these, the one that would be best readily available to Loire, Alsatian, Austrian, Swiss, and Northern Italians of the Middle Ages, up through the High Renaissance until the Industrial Revolution would be 4) low pH.  Our bet is that pre-modern producers picked earlier to achieve these crisp, tart, and aromatic styles that are sought after for the glory and happiness that they bring.

To conclude, if you are looking to try a wild fermented, gutsy, steely, earthy Chenin Blanc, then bring a Coulee de Serrant over to our house and you can be a featured guest on the terroirist show.

Alternatively, try an Old World Winery Sonoma/Mendocino Sauvignon Blanc.  Complex, creamy, soy character with passionfruit, maybe the scent of the road after a short early summer downpour.  Yum…. this wine went excellently with our dinner of hot dogs on ciabatta bread.

Your Friend,

Michael the Microbiologist

Michael Penn

The Terroirists show: Old World Winery tasting part 1

Sonoma Spring Break: Part 1

Some college peeps lean towards classy locales such as Daytona or Lake Havasu for spring break, but not the Terroirists. While Mike was chilling in SoCal and Eric was hanging in Prosser and Walla Walla, I had the unfortunate task of driving to Sonoma County. The drive between wine regions is about 13 hours, and there isn’t a lot to see on the way.

Upon arrival on Monday night, I checked in, ate some pizza, and opened a 2005 Longboard Vineyards Russian River Valley Syrah. It was a nice start to an awesome couple days of Syrah and Zinfandel, with some Pinot and Chard thrown in as well.

Darek Multitasking

The first stop of the trip was Old World Winery. Winemaker Darek Trowbridge was right on time and the sun was shining. We started off with a taste of his 2008 Sauvignon Blanc. If anyone has been searching for a wine that smells like a creamsicle, look no further. The aroma literally jumps out of the glass and into one’s nose.

From there we tasted through the entire lineup and walked around the small facility. Darek is truly making some old world style wines. His philosophy could be described as minimal intervention, but I think it’s more properly described as selective intervention. The Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay both receive about 24 hours of skin contact before pressing to barrel – at which point everything hopefully works itself out, and it seems to have judging by his finished product. (Expect to see more reviews on these wines over the next few months)

The next stop was Donelan formerly known as Pax in Santa Rosa. The next stop for me, however, is bed. After 13 hours of driving through three forms of precipitation and nearly destroying what was either a huge raccoon or a small bear in Umatilla, I’m literally pooped.

Tweetin’ and Tweeps

Last night the Terroirists clan participated in a worldwide “Tweet-off” Sauvignon Blanc tasting. While the idea of a mass virtual wine tasting could make a strong man roll his eyes and shed a small tear, it’s not nearly as tacky as it sounds. OK, maybe it is. Regardless of tackiness level, the tasting was a good excuse to drink a Sauvignon Blanc. I picked up one of the only local examples, the 2008 Woodward Canyon Estate Sauvignon Blanc.

A Sunny Day with SB and Tacos

This wine is definitely worth a try, but I don’t think it’s for everyone’s taste. The aromatics don’t explode out of the glass like those wines from way down south (New Zealand; not Temecula), but sometimes that’s what the meal calls for. The wine is extremely food friendly and I really wished that I had prepared some fish just for the halibut. (that might make the same strong man cry) What it lacks in aromatics it retains in flavor. The acids could be stronger, but then again so could the tannins. What?! The mid-palate does have a lovely flavor of candied melon, and that is never a bad thing.

Woodward Canyon's Estate Vineyard

Among the socializing and flowery descriptors carrying the #sauvblanc tag, I came upon a winery in Temecula with a Sauvignon Blanc rosé. This is bizarre-o world! After a few notes back and forth with the winery, Briar Rose, it has been settled that such a wine was created by aging (or fermenting – maybe both – not sure) Sauvignon Blanc in used Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. I mean, Cabernet Sauvignon is the son of Sauvignon Blanc, so maybe that marriage makes sense. Whoa.

Ain’t no Sunshine when she’s gone

March 1, 2010 is one of those nights I like to call SANs (single adjective nights). On this particular night that adjective is “epic”. Eric and I roadtripped to Portland, Oregon for a party cleverly titled, “wine party 2010″. All things considered, we tried a lot of wine, met a lot of interesting people, and probably made fools out of ourselves.

Unintentional Captain Morgan Pose

After filming the Terroirists Wine Show, we made our way into the crowded basement of the Douglas Fir Lounge. The room was filled with winos, mostly male, and mostly dressed in blazers and jeans. And I thought I had an original idea – not in Portland, my friend. The sliders were killer with wasabi pickles, and the chicken tasted as though it were fried on another planet (in a good way).

Zach from Syzygy and some girl we don't know

In between the burlesque dancers there was much wine to be sampled. The two wines that stood out the most are the 2009 Feral Sauvignon Blanc from Efeste and a Reynvann Family Winery wine (I don’t know which one it was). Fighting the crowd for a couple of hours, we meandered through the sea of sausage and met some peeps while sampling the best of what Washington has to offer.

Nobile Rot and Vouvray

Unfortunately the party ended rather abruptly at just after 10, which left us incessantly scrambling. We headed two blocks down the street to Nobile Rot, a restaurant and wine bar with a great view of downtown Portland. There I had a flight of Vouvrays, and Eric surprisingly strayed from the Loire for a flight of Ridge Zinfandels. The place has a nice atmosphere, and I’d like to try it again sometime when not coming from a wine party.

The tab was picked up by some guy from Wisconsin, and the rest of the night fades into mystery. Actually, I remember it all, but there isn’t much else worth stating. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the name of this post is dedicated to my long lost love, Sunshine from Portland.

Oh, and expect to see more about this trip in the days to come. Eric has a lot of video to sift through, and we both have hangovers.