Let’s stop the Pinot Gris snobbery
Tuesday 16 March
Winemakers generally dislike Pinot Gris: it’s not that aromatic, normally has low acidity and let’s face it, it doesn’t set anyone’s world on fire in the same way as Riesling or Pinot Noir.
But it sells. And that means it’s a money spinner which keeps the wine business in business. Last week I ended up in a bit of a debate with a Master of Wine and a few other journalists about Pinot Gris. It ain’t my grape of choice but if people like drinking it, who am I to argue?
My friends love it: they’re successful, smart women in their late ‘20s and early ‘30s and Pinot Gris or Grigio is an easy-drinking wine that doesn’t cause any major issues to their palates. It’s great with food, makes some fabulous late harvest wines and I’m happy to drink it. I admit I’m not the biggest fan and this trend may be a passing phase before we move on to the next grape du jour but getting snobby about it makes the wine industry seem very far-removed from reality.
What’s more, in Alsace Pinot Gris is considered one of the four noble varieties. When I was speaking to Paul Pujol, winemaker at Prophet’s Rock (see blog 15 March 2010), and former winemaker at Alsace producer Kuentz Bas, he said: “The big discovery in going to Alsace was tasting older Pinot Gris. I was surprised by how it tastes if it’s grown in the right sites.”
We may try to sell Riesling and Pinot Noir to wine drinkers but we’re fighting an uphill battle. Let’s educate the consumer, says the wine industry, but most people have more pressing things to do with their time than learn about grape varieties. If people are drinking Pinot Gris then at least they are drinking wine and not beer or bourbon. They can then move on to the delights of other varieties in time.
A Californian’s take on New Zealand Pinot
Sunday 17 January
So, my Wine of the Week is Pyramid Valley’s 2008 Earthsmoke Pinot Noir. It’s quite unlike anything I’ve tasted from New Zealand but then they’re doing things a little bit differently here.
The Burgundy-trained Californian, Mike Weersing, has been biodynamic since planting in this virgin territory in 2000. Before coming to New Zealand, he lived in a camper van “cadging” jobs off his heroes: Alsace’s Jean Michel Deiss, the Mosel’s Ernie Loosen and Burgundy’s Nicolas Potel. People thought he was mad leaving his winemaking job at Neudorf to set up in the unknown Pyramid Valley but he seems to have proven the sceptics wrong.
What is it that makes his wines so different to the rest of the country? Perhaps it’s the soil. Weersing said, “We could not locate the combination of clay and limestone anywhere else in Waipara.”
Or could the explanation lie in low crops? The two-hectare vineyard planted with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is planted at an Old World density of 1m by 0.8m with only 400g of fruit per vine. Elsewhere, it’s common to see 3.5kg of fruit on a vine – and 5kg for Sauvignon Blanc. The concentration comes through in the wines.
What’s more, 95% of his vines are ungrafted and he has found that those that are grafted on to American roostocks are the first to suffer drought. He’s also discovered that the roots of the ungrafted vines can penetrate the limestone whereas the grafted ones get to the limestone and stop burrowing down, missing out on all the mineral goodness of the limestone. While most would worry about the threat of phylloxera, this vineyard is pretty isolated and Weersing has little concern about the vine louse.
Weersing doesn’t irrigate either unlike many other New Zealand grape growers. In Marlborough, some producers on free-draining gravel soils have told me they irrigate twice a day with 400mm of water at the height of summer. But this goes against his idea of terroir. “You are not just expressing the soil, you are expressing the season,” he says, “ and if there’s a bit of drought stress then so be it. For example, if you love Chambolle Musigny Les Amoureuses, you want to see it in all its manifestations.”
He makes his wines in a shipping container rather than a swanky winery. He doesn’t add anything including sulphur (until bottling) and when he does bottle his reds, he doesn’t fine nor filter, so expect a slightly cloudy wine but with all the good bits still in it. Considering his wines have a high pH (4.1 for his 08 Pinot Noir), this should mean that the wines are really unstable and prone to microbial spoilage. It goes against all the wine books that his wines should work. But they do.
Some people might think Weersing’s a hippy. Perhaps he is, but who cares? The wines are impressive and I’m slowly coming around to biodynamics. The proof is in the glass.
JP Chenet says yes to cross-regional wines
Tuesday 6 October
If you’re not already sick to the back teeth of me harping on about the EU wine reform, here I am again with more updates.
Les Grand Chais de France group claims to be the largest exporter of wines from France, representing one in every five bottles of French wine sold abroad.
I’ve just spoken to Tim North, UK director of Les Grand Chais as part of my research for an article in Meiningers. Following the EU wine reform and the creation of vin de France, the white wines of France’s biggest brand JP Chenet, will be voluntarily downgraded from vin de pays to vin de France so it can blend across regions this year. North said, “At JP Chenet we think that there are big quality advantages of being able to blend from different regions especially for whites. For example Sauvignon Blanc is not aromatic in the Languedoc Roussillon; it is in the Loire but it can be a bit thin in cool years and we can also take some fruit from Gascony. We think that we can offer a great price to quality ratio by cross regional blending.”
While smaller producers oppose this sort of cross-regional blending, as it goes against all notions of terroir (or sense of place), this will enable the brand to compete with the New World’s big boys without previous restrictions.
“We were able to do this with vin de pays du vignobles de France previously but it was so complicated. We had to go through a bureaucratic process in each region before blending. We did this with our Kiwi Sauvignon in 2008 for the first time. We went through the whole rigmarole but we no longer have to get the ‘agrément’, we can please ourselves.”
“It’s what the Aussies had been doing for ages and we can do it now.”
The producer’s reds look likely to remain unchanged at least for this vintage, claiming there is little benefit in sourcing wines from outside the Languedoc with so many grape varieties and growers to choose from.
Hands off! Riesling’s ours, says Alsace
Friday 5 June
Believe it or not, the Alsatians are trying to prevent other French regions using Riesling and Gewurztraminer on their labels.
The new European wine law, which will come into force on August 1, will allow vin de table growers to use varietal labelling for the first time. In France, Alsace has been the only region that labels its wines varietally. Now, Alsace producers are claiming their image will be cheapened by vin de table producers using ‘their’ grape varieties on the labels.
The Ministry of Agriculture has put together a group to look at their request but come on…you cannot be serious? The Alsatians want a 10-year grace period so that they don’t rely on varietal labelling and can improve the region’s image. Hate to say it, but shouldn’t they have thought about improving the image before? Perhaps making a style of wine that doesn’t have you wondering if the wine is sweet or dry when you pull the cork?
Ribeauville gets trendy
Which brings me to a tasting at Bibendum this week with Cave de Ribeauville. The co-operative has brought in Bordeaux consultant Denis Dubordieu to help them make a more modern, drier style of wine.
Philippe Dry, general manager and a friend of Denis told me: “We want to show we make fresh varietal wines that the UK likes. One of the main issues in Alsace is sweetness. We are now trying to make really dry Riesling that are approachable in youth as well.”
The wines from the 2008 vintage are really clean, modern and dry with light body and well-integrated alcohol. However, with only 3.5g of sugar and total acidity of 10g (Ph 3.0) on the Riesling Prestige and similar figures on its other wines, I found the acidity a little too searing. I feel a trip to the dentist is imminent. Nevertheless, I like their direction and wines like this are what would give Alsace a better name – not banning others from using Riesling on the label!