Now that February is already half over I figured it was safe to write this post. (Of course, now all hell will break loose!) But wait, it is true that we’ve had an unseasonably nice winter, isn’t it? I think I pushed my snow shovel around just once. There’s no question that the weather we’ve experienced the past few months has been a great deal nicer than last year. The fact is we’re even in a little bit of a drought, with very little precipitation on the east end since December. I don’t think anyone is complaining.
What does it all mean for our vineyards? Our field crew certainly thinks it’s been a blessing. They’re working outside everyday pruning our vines regardless of the weather. Right now, without having to fight through snow and severe cold, we are way ahead of schedule.
Although we’ve missed many of the storm systems, the average temperature this winter is still less than 40 degrees. Much nicer than what we could have had, but still plenty cold enough to keep our vines dormant. I should think that our European vines are feeling quite comfortable and right at home.
Vines actually need a certain period of chilling in order to remain healthy and renew themselves for the next year. They don’t completely shut down but undergo what’s called a period of dormancy. Just as a tree loses it leaves in the fall, so does a grapevine slowly go into hibernation. Winter is the time for vines to rest and just like us, if they don’t get enough sleep, they will eventually fail. Grown in the tropics, grapes never stop growing and eventually become stressed out and die. Every vine needs a period of cold weather to break its dormant period and begin growth anew again. Grapes are notoriously deep sleepers and it takes a lot to wake them up. Only when spring temperatures reach a minimum average of 50 degrees and the day length starts to increase will a vine wake up from its long winter’s nap. We don’t usually see enough of those temperatures until at least April.
A big reason we have success growing fine European wine grapes on the North Fork is because our winters are relatively mild. Rarely do we ever see temperatures below zero and we are consistently more moderate than any of the areas surrounding us. It’s also true we have milder weather during the summer season and rarely experience any frost damage to our vines. Why? It’s all about the water of course. The Peconic Bay and Long Island Sound consistently buffer our temperatures, making it warmer during the winter and cooler during the summer.
Will the mild winter lead to an early bud break? It remains to be seen but if I was a betting man I wouldn’t put my money down quite yet. One of the other aspects of our success on the North Fork is that we typically have a long, cool spring. The frigid, surrounding waters chill the air passing over the North Fork, resulting in lots of fog and a March that often goes in – as well as out – as a lion. More often than not, our cool spring weather runs right into the heat of early summer with little time to prep. As my old friend Dave Mudd used to say, “On the North Fork you go from wearing long underwear to shorts in one day.”
Most importantly, as we enjoy this mild winter, let’s appreciate nature’s gifts when they fall our way. There’s still plenty of time left for snow and ice but for now, it is the winter of our content, and will soon be made glorious by the sun of the North Fork.
roh
It’s that time of year again, people are visiting family and friends, giving and recieving thoughtful gifts, and looking forward to what awaits them in the coming year. How appropriate then, that our family of wine growers on the North Fork of Long Island gathered together last week to welcome the director of Oregon’s own certified sustainability program, Chris Serra. Afterall, what better way to explain sustainability than in the context of giving back when we recieve. Our priority is to produce the best fruit with the harvest we are given, year after year, but we must not forget that we are also stewards of the land, and we must not take for granted the bounty of nature, the North Fork terrior, the unspoiled acres of vineyards that the long island wine industry has been able to preserve in the face of modern acceleration. That is what sustainability is all about, and why it is so important to us as winemakers, research scientists and vineyard managers, indeed, as human beings wishing to preserve our land and our way of life for future generations. Our goal is to create a third party certification for growers on Long Island, many of whom already adhere to sustainable practices, as a way to bring more transparency to the consumer, and as a model for other wineries all throughout the state. Long Island is leading the charge where premium winegrowers across the east coast are bound to follow, ensuring many happy holidays for years to come.
http://youtu.be/gmJ8g2FqagALong Island viticulture sustainability meeting, LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology, Inc). Video available at link above.
You know all those urban legend stories – like the one about alligators in the NYC sewers and the blind date that ends with you waking up in a bathtub of ice? The wine industry has its own share of urban legend stories with one in particular that I still hear every year. It goes something like this…
It involves a couple returning home from a recent trip to Europe. The couple talks about how they drank wine like crazy and never got tired or had a hangover. They reminisce about how they met local winemakers who told them “American wines all have sulfites and ours don’t.” The couple agrees that when they are home in the U.S. they cannot drink wine the same way and enjoy it as much. They insist that the sulfites used in American wine gives them a headache and they inevitably want to know why we have to use them. They usually try to stick to white wine “because of the sulfites in reds.” They never buy another bottle of American wine.
The fact is this story has been told to me many times. My answer to them is always the same: “Perhaps it has something to do with you being relaxed and on vacation!” I go on to say that the reason they feel so good in Europe is simple; “You know, being away from home and the kids, the daily grind of work, sleeping a little later, having lots of “intimate time…” At this point most of them give me dirty looks and shake their heads in disbelief. Some of the wives will snort and elbow their husbands in the ribs. I try to explain there’s nothing in the medical literature proving sulfites have anything to do with headaches and that red wines contain lower levels of sulfites compared to whites. By now of course, I’ve lost them.
Whatever people may want to believe, one thing is for certain. The problem is not sulfites. It’s time for this urban legend to be debunked.
Let’s get a few things straight. All European wine producers use sulfur in wine production – in the vineyard as well as in the cellar, and all wines contain sulfites whether added or not. Wines without any added sulfur can still contain anywhere from 5-40 ppm. Typical levels in finished, bottled wines range from 10-40 ppm.) The same yeasts that convert sugar into alcohol also produce sulfite as a by-product. The human body actually produces about 1 gram per day. Years ago, the subject of sulfur in European wines never even came up; the EU has only been required to list sulfites on the label since 2005. Many imported wines can contain higher levels of sulfites than domestic products. European wineries are allowed to use far more additives than we are in the U.S. They invented additives for wines. For over 400 years, European wine producers studied the effects of sulfur in wine. They learned to understand that good wine could not be made without its use. We learned everything we know about it from them and have continued to improve our knowledge.
Chances are you will ingest more sulfites in your average restaurant dinner than from a glass of your favorite wine. French fries, scalloped potatoes, shellfish, soy flour, maple syrup, guacamole, sushi, olives, pizza, cheese, crackers, and fish—the list goes on—can contain more sulfites (in milligrams per liter) than most wines. The average bag of dried fruit and nuts contain about 10 times the amount of sulfites found in a bottle of wine. Why doesn’t anyone ever complain about trail mix giving them a headache?
Sulfite in domestic wine was not an issue until the mid-1980s. Remember seeing those fast-food restaurant employees spraying stuff over the salad bar? A couple of asthma attacks and a few anti-alcohol legislators later and—voila!—we had a warning label for wine. Some European producers saw this as an opportunity to set themselves apart from their up-and-coming American competitors. Don’t be fooled—all wine is made pretty much the same way no matter where it’s from.
Don’t get me wrong; the folks who are allergic to sulfites have to be very careful. The most dangerous reaction to sulfites involves anaphylactic shock that constricts the breathing passages and severely lowers blood pressure. This type of reaction only occurs in about 0.4 percent of the total population or about 150,000 people. In comparison, about 4 percent of the population (about 11 million people) suffers from severe food allergies. As an example, peanuts are far more dangerous than sulfites can ever be. Since 1990, the FDA has reported 19 sulfite-related deaths—none of them from wine. Most of them were from prescription drugs containing high levels of sulfites (200ppm and higher). Peanut allergies alone result in at least 100 deaths per year.
So what’s my point? As I tell my customers, unless you are one of the few who are truly allergic, you shouldn’t worry about sulfites in wine. If you want to worry, there is something in wine you should be very concerned about. Alcohol is a well-documented toxin to the human body and a known carcinogen at high levels of consumption. It typically makes up 10 percent-16 percent by volume of an average bottle of wine. What do you think has a greater chance of causing you harm—30 parts per million of sulfite or 12 percent alcohol by volume?
According to the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependency, about 105,000 people in the U.S. die annually from alcohol-related causes, which include everything from falls to car accidents to cirrhosis of the liver. Add to this the tens of millions affected by alcohol-related illness and addiction. Sobering stuff, I know, but part of enjoying and appreciating wine must include respecting it and practicing moderation.
As a society, we tend to react negatively to the awful sounding names that science has given some very ordinary and natural things—many of which have been around far longer than human beings. The goal of science is to examine, identify and find the truth. We need to do a better job of stepping back and understanding the bigger picture. And the next time you’re in Europe on vacation, remember to enjoy yourself, drink lots of good wine and set those little old winemakers straight.
-roh
Thanksgiving is America’s banquet. It’s one of the few completely American holidays, created from a history that only we share. It’s probably my favorite holiday of the year – I love all of the flavors and smells and the grand tradition of a large family meal. Everything feels more peaceful at Thanksgiving. It marks the end of a busy harvest season for me – a calm nostalgic pause before the inevitable commercial stress of the Christmas holidays. Indeed, any anxiety associated with Thanksgiving seems to be felt only by turkeys and that most elusive of domesticated beasts – the wine writer.
I’m amazed at how many wine writers cite the Thanksgiving meal as the most difficult one to drink wine with. All the different flavors and sweetness levels can make it a wine pairing nightmare for the rigorously trained yet unimaginative sommelier. Of course, all of the so-called “wine rules” go out the window with the Thanksgiving meal – but that’s the whole point. Thanksgiving is the meal where you can pour any wine you want and everyone will be happy. No pairing is ever wrong in my opinion but in this case, I find the cacophony of homespun flavors a profoundly satisfying combination. Whether it be a Nouveau, Chianti or Grandpa’s special homemade dandelion wine, there’s an almost preternatural ability of the Thanksgiving meal to blend and harmonize it all together.
There is however an even greater accord that can be reached through our grand banquet – the aromas and flavors of where we live. Cooking with local ingredients can sometimes be challenging but its almost always rewarding. And of course the pièce de résistance to make the meal complete is local wine on the table.
What better way to celebrate this uniquely American feast than with a uniquely American wine? Long Island wines are grown and produced on soils that were walked on by the contemporaries of the Plymouth Colony. The East End is home to some of the oldest continually cultivated land in the country, some of it dating from the 1640’s. In truth it goes back even further as large tracts of land were already cleared when the first settlers arrived in Southold. No other wine growing district in the country can boast of an older agricultural heritage. Our wines, made from this sacred soil, sing the song of North Fork life and breathe of the surrounding sea. Not only do our wines taste good, but in a way, they’re also a part of the Thanksgiving story.
We all had something to complain about this past year, but when we sit down at the table, let’s be grateful for all we have this Thanksgiving. As for me, I love making wine and I’m going to celebrate with a few little things that I cooked up. I’m thinking the 2010 Bedell Chardonnay and 2010 Gewürztraminer for starters along with a preview of our new 2010 Syrah. Frankly I think its a perfect match.
And while you’re planning your menus – here’s a little tribute to our 2011 harvest season and all the people that work so hard to make such beautiful wines. Set to the seminal George Winston composition entitled, Thanksgiving.
I am thankful.
So how was the 2011 vintage?
We had a lot to overcome this past year – including the proud distinction of having an earthquake and a hurricane both in the same week! No year is ever easy, but the 2011 harvest for Bedell was a complete triumph. We have an outstanding vineyard team and I’m so proud to be working with them. The dedication that I see every day is unparalleled. The end result is that we have a cellar full of beautiful wines.
2011 started off like most vintages on Long Island- cool and damp. Unlike last year (when bud break was more than 2 weeks early) bud break occurred closer to the historical norm – for the North Fork this is around May 1st. The end of Spring and early Summer brought lots of sun and heat. We experienced many crystal-clear days with little cloud cover and maximum UV light. For a while as we burned into August and the vintage picked up steam it looked like we were going to get close to accumulating as many GDD as last year. The sun and heat of summer – even during rainy periods – led to beautiful ripeness levels in the whites and the complete maturation of flavors and tannins in our Bordeaux reds. Our yields were low – 1-2 tons/acre – so our crop ripened quickly, well before the late October rains. Sugar levels are lower than last year but flavors are more similar to 2007 than any other vintage in the past 5 years.
As usual the wines will be about balance – lower alcohol levels will be found in whites and reds – at least by those winemakers willing to allow the wines to develop naturally. I find these vintages extremely interesting and exciting because they offer a winemaker the ultimate test – whether or not one can adapt to different flavors and conditions and guide the wine through those conditions accordingly and allow the wine to retain its optimal balance. Every year is different on the North Fork. It’s what makes making wine on Long Island so challenging but at the same time so exciting and creative!
I’m really pleased with what we have in the tanks right now. I love the combination of delicacy and strength in our reds – particularly Cab Franc. It’s the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove. And I love the ethereal lightness of being in the whites. At the end of it now I can say that it’s a beautiful vintage – we’ve accumulated approximately 3500 degree days - one of the highest ever on Long Island. (2010 was the highest with 3700) The wines will all be elegant and full of grace – more Mozart than Metallica, more pastels than bright colors, more Audrey Hepburn than Marilyn Monroe – I can’t wait for you to taste them…
In the meantime, if you’d like to get a feel for what the 2011 wines will be like, close your eyes and listen to this…
“How is the vintage?” “Are the grapes looking good this year?” “How’s the wine going to be?”
As a winemaker, I appreciate getting asked questions like these over the course of the year. The wine culture on the North Fork is still relatively young and years ago, fewer people were as tuned into the local wine scene as they are today. But as many of us know, it’s a difficult question to answer, especially before the harvest is completed. The growing season is long – sometimes well over 200 days – and lots can happen over the course of 5-6 months. To help folks understand this scenario better, I think some analogies might come in handy. For the avid reader, one might say that a vintage is like a thick, well-written novel that has a large cast of characters and a plot that takes many twists and turns before coming to a conclusion. For the sports fan, a vintage can be a lot like a baseball season. It takes place during the same time of year (April – November) and involves a similar wide-range of factors. Trying to determine the quality of a vintage in April or May is sort of like asking who is going to the World Series? As they say in sports – that’s why you play the game.
But unlike baseball, there are always winners in the game of Long Island winemaking. No matter the weather conditions of the vintage, very good wines are made every year on the North Fork. Some will say this is typical winemaker talk – saying every year is a good year – but I’m here to tell you it’s the pleasant reality of making wine on the North Fork. And it’s true because of our mild temperate climate and just as important – the diversity of the grape varieties planted in our fields.
When compared to our contemporaries in the EU, the east coast wine industry is one of the most diverse in the entire world. In France, the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée rules closely define which grape varieties can be grown in each of the several hundred geographically defined appellations. For example, Bordeaux is planted predominantly to the varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc while in Burgundy, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are king and queen. Similar rules are found in Germany where Riesling rules and in Spain which is famous for their Tempranillo. Such restrictions have helped to produce some of the best wines in the world and these regions have become models for winemakers around the globe to emulate. The drawback to this system is a lack of varietal diversity – weather conditions in these regions may not always be favorable to the varieties grown there. The result is that many wineries in these districts are not always able to produce their best wines every year, leaving what we call “vintage variation.”
Unlike these Old World regions, the North Fork grows a fairly wide range of wine grapes. Our moderate climate can ripen this eclectic mix of varieties and our diversity in this regard allows us to produce wonderful wines every year. In years when rainfall and cool weather dominate, white wines will shine. Hot and dry years will be best for reds. There are also vintages that fall somewhere in between – where both reds and whites are of extraordinary quality, i.e. 2010.
The bottom line is that every vintage on Long Island will produce delicious wines. It’s a testament to our climate and soil and to the hard working people in our vineyards and cellars who strive to keep pushing the quality of our local wines higher and higher and to whom every year is filled with great expectations…
Next: My thoughts on the 2011 vintage…
Founding Winemaker Kip Bedell opens the first post-harvest beer
I help open the rest...
After many long days and nights our 2011 harvest finally came to a close on October 24th. As the last of the fruit was brought to the crush pad, our crew gathered for a ceremonial “thank you” to all who worked so hard to make this season a success! Here are a few highlights of our celebration – complete with some cold beer and sparklers! Making great wine is always a team effort and our Bedell crew is the best in the business. Happy 2011!
A sparkling vintage!
The culmination of many months of hard work in the vineyard is at hand when we finally begin to harvest the grapes. Here we’re harvesting our Sauvignon Blanc fruit which looks beautiful!
In order for our fruit to reach maximum levels of ripeness, we often have to reduce the amount that Mother Nature gave us. Here we are thinning the crop on some Chardonnay vines a few weeks before picking. It’s hard to do but it will make a much better wine!
There has been a great deal written about the use of natural cork vs. screwcaps in the wine blogosphere lately – mostly by folks who only have the experience of pulling them out or twisting them off. Many people who come to Bedell ask me the question – “What’s the deal with screwcaps?” Others are concerned about cork and wonder about the environmental aspects of using them to bottle wine. Some people wonder whether or not the world’s supply of cork is running out and if the cork trees are killed outright when they harvest the bark. Not to worry – that’s why I’m here to try and clean up some of the confusion in the greater wine world! Here’s a quick little primer on screwcaps and corks.
Cork has been used to seal containers of wine since the second century A.D. The Romans (of course) used it for sealing amphora, making shoes, fishing floats and even insulation for their beehives. It wasn’t until the 16th century when it became common for corks to be used as a closure for glass bottles. By the mid 17th century, most of the wine industry was using natural cork.
Cork is produced from a species of oak called Quercus suber, which is native to the southern Mediterranean region of Europe and northwest Africa. The tree forms a thick, rugged bark that can be harvested every 9 to 12 years to produce cork. The harvesting of cork does not harm the tree; in fact, no trees are cut down during the harvesting process. This makes natural cork a renewable resource that provides an agricultural economy for many Mediterranean countries that cover almost 2.3 million hectares of forested land. Portugal in particular has been the leader in the sustainable development of the industry, implementing important reforestation projects – the current rate of reforestation being estimated at 10,000 hectares per year. This keeps many thousands of families employed in agriculture and provides an important ecological benefit to the region as well as to the rest of the world. Most would agree that the more land we can keep under trees the better off all of us will be. In my opinion this makes natural cork the most sustainable closure I can use – something which is very important to me.
Screwcaps were developed by the French company La Bouchage Mecanique in 1964 at the request of Peter Wall, Production Director of the Australian Yalumba winery. They became commercialized in the 1970s but have recently come back into fashion as the “hip” closure of choice, especially for younger consumers. The use of screwcaps in the wine industry is a direct result of the increased incidence of wines contaminated by 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole (otherwise known as TCA) which can be found on some corks. TCA is usually produced when naturally occurring airborne fungi and/or bacteria are presented with chlorinated phenolic compounds, which they then convert into chlorinated anisole derivatives. (ok the chemistry part of this class is over now…)
Older methods of cork manufacture often utilized chlorine as part of the washing process – something which is obviously no longer used. TCA taint can range from the smell of musty cardboard and dank basement to a subtle decrease in the wine’s aroma and flavor. It’s what happens when the wine is called “corked” – the biggest reason why wines are returned in restaurants. A lot of wine has been spoiled by TCA contamination over the years and the development and use of the screwcap was promoted as a way to decrease this problem. Some are now saying that screwcaps go so far as to guarantee a higher level of quality wine in the bottle. But I say – not so fast…
In my opinion, screwcaps do not guarantee a higher level of quality any more or less than corks do. The producer, vineyard, and climate as well as the passion and dedication of ownership, vineyard management and the winemaking team are what makes for quality wine. A wine that is insipid, uninteresting or flawed will remain that way regardless of the closure. What screwcaps will do is reduce the chance that a bottle will be spoiled by TCA. This is a very good thing, however it is also well documented that TCA can contaminate wines in the cellar prior to bottling as well. As screwcaps become more widely used we are already seeing some of the other potential problems associated with them – the instance of sulfide production in the bottle and the more recent studies showing that some of the plastics used in the liners of the caps may absorb aroma and/or flavors over a long period of time. As with most things in life, nothing is perfect.
What natural cork does do (something that scewcaps cannot do) is allow a small amount of controlled oxidation – microscopic exchanges of oxygen that enter the bottle and helps the wine age gracefully. This is particularly necessary in age worthy red wines which need this low level of oxidation in order to soften and become more complex with age. So far, screwcaps have failed this test of time.
What is most important in all this sturm und drang over wine closures is that an exciting new cork technology is being developed which is leading to a golden age of quality corks. During the past few years I’ve seen a huge increase in cork quality and a dramatic decrease in the incidence of “corked” wines. No doubt the market pressure from screwcaps and synthetic closures have forced the cork producers to raise their game and improve their product. Cork companies are now more adept than ever at removing potential problems from production using techniques such as steam and UV light treatments to reduce and sometimes eliminate the potential for TCA contamination. The bottom line is we are now using a higher quality cork than ever before and I expect the science around this issue to get even better as time goes on.
Yes you guessed it – I am a natural cork devotee – but my main point here is that there is no perfect closure. Wine continues to age and develop at some level no matter how we package it. Regardless of the closure, the finest wines will be made from the best and most dedicated producers. For me, I can’t quit the sound of a cork popping out of a bottle. It’s a sound many of us have grown to know and enjoy – a sound that indicates a special occasion, a celebration or a historic accomplishment. But most of all, it’s the sound of love and romance. It’s a sound heard over many generations – one that hasn’t changed in hundreds of years – that signals a special moment is at hand.
Sustainable, biodegradable, renewable, traditional, ecological, enduring, dependable and romantic – there’s lots of reasons to celebrate the new and improved cork. These are the reasons why as a winemaker, I choose to only bottle our wines with natural cork. So the next time you pull one out of a bottle, celebrate another one of nature’s great gifts to humankind – the wonderful and extraordinary natural cork!
