Hello and Welcome,
Before we get to the Spring
Cellar Report - Vegan Edition, we have a Special
FLOG Communication.
As you are most certainly
aware, the Coronavirus is rapidly spreading across the planet. Virtually all US
and World health related agencies have issued safety precautions, travel
warnings and, in some cases, quarantines to help contain the spread of the
virus. These are important recommendations that should be followed. You can
follow
Johns Hopkins University tracking of the outbreak here.
The Pacific Northwest, and the
Seattle area in particular, was one of the first areas in the United States to
be exposed to the Coronavirus. As efforts to contain the spread of this virus
have increased, many public events and gatherings have been cancelled. The
downstream effects of these cancellations include a reduction in travel and
tourism related economic activity. Specifically in the greater Seattle area,
over 40 restaurants have closed, some permanently, in response to a lack of
patrons.
Retailers are feeling the
effects as well. If your local merchant is running “out of stock” on hand sanitizer
or bath tissue, may we suggest looking to online sellers such as eBay. Not that
we recommend that you should support these sellers, but it is interesting to
see private label brands being re-sold this way. And maybe that is why your
local merchant is running “out of stock”.
If you are looking for even
more protections, may we suggest augmenting your facial mask protocol with a
lip sanitizer. Lips are important and form a quite necessary aperture for the
enjoyment of wine. To exclude lips from the first line of defense seems to
leave open a pathway to potential infection. To help provide a first line of
protection for your lips we suggest Pinot in Pink Rosé as a home remedy
lip sanitizer. Note: The effectiveness of Pinot in Pink Rosé as a home remedy
lip sanitizer has not been proven, studied or even contemplated.
We would also like to remind
you that everyone gets a free cork included in each bottle. Our corks are firebranded
(no ink) and are made from natural tree bark, as are most premium closures in
use for fine wines today. They are also considered to be an approved vegan
closure. We compress our corks to about 50% of their relaxed diameter and then
insert them into our bottles. The cork will naturally expand to fill the neck
of the bottle and seal the contents inside from virtually all outside
contamination. While natural corks are not a substitute item for bath tissue,
they may perform a necessary and vital function during an “out of stock”
condition.
The winery at Amalie Robert
Estate is closed to visitation for the duration of March. Even though we
believe we are virus free, the challenge is for you to get here and return home
safely via plane, train or automobile.
Please join us for the 2020
Spring Cellar Report – Vegan Edition.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2020 Spring Cellar Report – Vegan
Edition
Hello and Welcome,
After a brief respite and a well-deserved
nap, we are back in the cellar. The primary fermentations are complete, and the
Malo-lactic conversions are in suspended animation. Too damn cold for the Malo-lactic
bacteria to convert malic acid to lactic acid. But not to worry, when the
cellar warms up the bacteria will complete their conversion and blow the barrel
bungs. Then it is time to melt some sand and harvest some tree bark, it’s bottling
season.
Meanwhile, we would like to
guide you through the mystery of converting a vegan agricultural crop (wine berries)
into an otherworldly adult recreational beverage (wine). Please be aware that
what you are about to read and see may upset your cognitive processes and
dislodge some preconceived notions about how we get from wine berries to wine.
And the images will be graphic, especially the graphs. Like this one:
The “Jet” also known as the
“Jet Stream” or more colloquially as the “Trade Winds” have a Yuge impact on
the final days of the be-dangled wine berry, and consequently the resulting
wine. In the above graphic, we see a trove of cold air coming to arrest the
sugar development of any yet to be harvested wine berries, thus providing for
lower alcohol potential and retention of scintillating acidity. Aroma, flavor
and texture, however, continue to develop unabated, albeit somewhat more slowly.
The harvest lesson to be learned is that if the Jet Stream is below you,
prepare for a little arctic influence in your ripening curve.
This concept is known as
hangtime and has been missing from the Willamette Valley for the past few
vintages. As you will notice from about the 6th of September and
throughout the end of the month, below average daytime temperatures keep sugars
in check. Then toward the end of the month, the evening temperatures drop,
helping to preserve our natural acidity.
Or, as Ernie would tell you,
this is when the vintage took a turn for the best. We experienced slow and
steady aroma, flavor and texture development without having to worry about
excessive sugar accumulation and the resulting high alcohol potential.
What a welcome relief from the
days of the Jet Stream to our north filling the Willamette Valley with all the
misbegotten heat from the Central Valley. Note: Heat expands to fill the space
available.
We think of a vineyard
construct in terms of acreage cut into blocks comprised of rows of vines
constrained by a trellis. All very well and good and serves our purpose of
growing wine. But for today’s FLOG let’s just think of a vineyard as a big East
Coast city. One that has been around awhile, maybe a century or so, harkening
us back to the 20’s. Man what a time to be alive, Speakeasies and Alphonse
Capone were alive and well. The unintended consequences of Prohibition were to
be seen all around, including your prescription for medicinal wine.
Like most big cities, our vinous
city has neighborhoods and boroughs. Boroughs because we also have gophers that
burrow under the walkways and roads, always trying to undermine our good faith
efforts by eating the roots off of our vines. Occasionally, we have the
opportunity to confront these rival gangs and dispatch them forthwith. And yes,
Ernie has a “grease gun” but not the kind you may be thinking about.
Welcome to the neighborhood.
In our city there are several neighborhoods mostly defined by where they are
located. Pockets of vines that face east or south, or southwest. We also have
the east side, as any representative city would have. Some of these neighborhoods
are very diverse, home to Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, or Pinot Noir and
Chardonnay. Others are more isolated, such as the Gewurztraminer grafted onto
the old rootstock block. And then there is the Syrah and Viognier quarter. They
are transplants from Northern Rhônia.
They keep to themselves and are rarely seen in other parts of our vinous city.
A year in the life. As these
neighborhoods have matured, they have started to gift the city a bountiful
harvest. Not of tax dollars or intellectual ingenuity, but of wine berries. Each
neighborhood provides a unique contribution depending on their geographic
location and indigenous population. Let’s have a look at one family in
particular.
Introducing Gluc and Fruct
Ose. Gluc and Fruct are closely related by genetics. Each wine berry that is
harvested has a similar Ose family. The acid family is well represented within
the wine berry collective by Tartaric and Malic. (Note, these families were
gender neutral way before it was nouveau.) And then there are the Saccharomyces
cerevisiae (aka Yeast). Growing up alongside the wine berry, but never welcomed
inside the outer membrane. These are the main actors in our neighborhood. Then
there is Cousin Como T. Ose, more on that one later on.
In a genetic experiment that
went horribly wrong, High Fruct Ose corn syrup was invented. Much like GMO
crops and their associated pollen, once released into our environment they are
hard to control. Legalization of previously restricted compounds, processes and
procedures can have unintended consequences. Fortunately, these products do
have ingredient labels.
And some products do not have
warning labels but should. Consider the vegan wine dilemma. Their thing is they
would like to not consume animals, parts thereof or anything with animal
residue. Fair enough, but why does this have anything to do with wine berries, Gluc
and Fruct, or Saccharomyces cerevisiae? In our city it doesn’t, but every city
has its underworld. More on that to follow, ya follah?
Right, so on harvest day Ernie
rolls up with the tractors and harvest bins and we collect the bounty from each
neighborhood. We try and get there before the other unregulated factions do,
but those birds and deer are fairly cunning in their approach. Nonetheless,
there is plenty for everyone.
All of the wine berries are
sorted in case they have been turned against us by mildew or Botrytis. Those
compromised wine berries are sent to compost collectives where they will be
repurposed to nourish the land and positively contribute to a future vintage.
Everyone must do their part, to do the best at what is expected from them.
As the sorting and processing
function occurs, the wine berry families are deposited in sanitized 3,000 pound
containers (fermenters) along with several of their neighbors. A small amount
of sulfur dioxide is incorporated to keep any nefarious actors from corrupting
the group. Slowly but surely the wine berries start to release Gluc and Fruct
out of their wine berry skins and across the membrane. The Acid clan Malic and
Tartaric go with them to provide some microbial protection, and that is when
they meet Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the first time.
Gluc is the more gregarious of
the Ose family and is first to undergo the transition to Ethanol with the help
of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This is a big day for the Ose family as they will
become part of a new adult recreational beverage called wine. Sometimes a few
grams per liter of the Fruct remain in the final product and accept the moniker
of Residual Sugar, but for the most part in our city all of the Ose family will
convert to Ethanol and become wine. The process can take up to 4 weeks, as we
do not introduce any foreign Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We want the yeast that
grows in our neighborhoods to transition the Ose family to Ethanol. Gotta support
the home team.
Now the Acid clan takes a different
path to wine. Tartaric and Malic will not be swayed by the charms or coercion
of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In fact, Tartaric does not transition at all, but
moves from the wine berry family to the Ethanol based wine unchanged. Malic has
less of a constitution than Tartaric and falls victim to the sweet and sultry
calls of Malo-lactic bacteria.
Once the Ose family has been
converted to Ethanol, the Malo-lactic bacteria start to convert Malic to Lactic
acid. It is a gentle conversion and only occurs when the cellar temperature is
around 60 degrees Fahrenheit. While the Malic acid is wholly consumed in this
process, the resulting Lactic acid is a softer acid and more approachable in
the wine. Consider that as humans develop, we lose our primary teeth to more
permanent teeth. Or you could consider this process more of a pubescent
experience. Wine being an adult recreational beverage, this may be a more apt
analogy.
Except for Chardonnay.
Sometimes Chardonnay likes to hold onto its Malic acid. Linus has his blanket,
and that works for him. And despite our best cellar efforts to induce Malic to
become Lactic, it’s just not going to happen. And so, from time to time our
Chardonnay will have Malic present. Some kids refuse to grow up and they retain
a little wild streak. So be it.
Experience is what you get
when you don’t get what you want. Let’s focus in on our flamboyant friend Saccharomyces
cerevisiae. Yes, quite a character to be sure, but like everyone else there are
limits. Gluc and Fruct are willing participants in the transition to Ethanol,
but only to a point. Once the Ethanol level reaches 15.6% our friend Saccharomyces
cerevisiae dies. Everyone feels bad, especially the person who has to sell the
resulting (sweet) wine. There is no further conversion to Ethanol and it is usually
Fruct left on the outside looking in at the Ethanol party.
How can this be, you may ask.
Well, in these past few West Coast vintages there has been some serious heat
units resulting in an over concentration of Gluc and Fruct. When Saccharomyces
cerevisiae hits the scene, there is a limit to the Ethanol conversion. This is
the result of external forces interacting with our neighborhood. The dastardly
villain Climate Change has been here!
And yes, we have made a Fruct
filled wine. Actually, a pretty good one too. Viognier, that masochistic wine
berry provided an opportunity in 2015. Ernie picks on flavor and that is how
the way it is. No flavor, no harvest. And so, the Viognier was not giving it up
in 2015. Ernie walked away and pressed his Pinot Noir to barrel, ignoring the
Viognier.
Eventually the aroma, flavor
and texture did come around and it was as beautiful a juice as we had ever
seen, but at a cost. The Gluc and Fruct were so concentrated that they
conquered Saccharomyces cerevisiae. But not until the Ethanol had reached a
concentration of 15.6%. That is the outer limit for Saccharomyces cerevisiae
and it was death by Ethanol poisoning. They went off to meet cousin Como T.
Ose.
But the wine was something
very special. All of the Viognier goodness you could handle. It was 5 by 5!
Aromas, flavors, and textures permeated the frontal lobe, not to mention a few
compromised sensory membranes along the way. And yes, Fruct was there to
experience it all. It was a marvelous wine darling, just marvelous.
And that is a teachable
moment. Do not let your neighborhood get out of control, especially those
Pinots. Gluc and Fruct are necessary, but there is such a thing as too much of
a good thing.
Maturation and the path to
bottling or, in the brave new world we find ourselves in, getting canned. The
final step of winemaking is packaging the said wine for distribution and sale.
And this is where the vegan lifestyle meets the winemaking world head-on.
The vegan wine conundrum is
really hard to conceptualize. Wine berries being naturally fermented with the
yeast they rode in on, into an alcoholic beverage seems to be as vegan as you
can get. How did wine come to be so controversial in the vegan home world?
At a wine dinner recently,
Ernie was confronted with this question: “I bought a box of Chardonnay the
other day, and it said, “May contain fish parts. What the Hell is that all
about?” This question, while not specifically vegan, brings the issue front and
center.
First of all, if we want to drink
wine or any other fermented beverage, like beer, or enjoy certain fermented
foods such as soy sauce or kimchi, we have to accept yeast as vegan. Until Star
Trek becomes real and we have Synthehol, we need yeast to make fermented
beverages. And typically, the yeast among us are quite happy, if not
pre-programmed to perform this service for mankind.
We consider grapes to be vegan.
If you walk through any of our neighborhoods at harvest time, from Chardonnay
to Viognier, and eat wine berries, they are as vegan as the day is long. If you
put a few pounds of wine berries in a bucket and they begin to ferment with
wild yeast that are already on the grape skins, then that has to be vegan as
well. The resulting wine that is produced? Gotta be considered vegan, and a natural
wine as well.
The additives (fining agents)
are the issue – egg whites, fish bladders, ox blood, horse hooves etc. Sometimes,
these fining agents are added to improve the sensory experience of the wine, be
it aroma, flavor or texture. And that process of adding fining agents is as old
as wine itself.
Fining agents are mostly old
world remedies that resolved issues from old world methods and techniques. As
the human population has gained greater knowledge, we have in many cases moved
from old word techniques and associated remedies to new world processes that
require less intervention. The relatively recent discontinuation of leaches in
the medical field is a case in point.
Wine is a luxury good and
should offer a pleasurable experience. An adult recreational beverage to be
enjoyed with a meal and friends, or with a trusted companion by the fire as the
case may be. In the case of Champagne, when you are in love, or equally so,
when you are not.
But for goodness sake, let’s leave
the chemistry experiment to the energy drinks business, or the upcoming
cannabis industry, or some other product where we expect manipulation.
But there is one old world
fining agent we use that has stood the test of time and that is Bentonite clay.
Bentonite is a (common) clay used for clarification and it is vegan. We use
Bentonite to clarify our white and rosé
wines, so they are considered vegan. Our reds fall clear in barrel and we add
no fining agents whatsoever, so they are also vegan.
So at this point of the
program, we have vegan wine to put into a container for distribution and sale.
Fortunately, no one uses goat skins anymore - especially fortunate for the
goats. Metallic closures such as cans and kegs contain no animal residue, so
they are vegan. Glass, which is melted sand is also vegan, so far so good.
That brings us to the stopper
that goes into the bottle. Traditional corks and the new glass stoppers with
silicone O rings are vegan. We use natural cork for all of @AmalieRobert wines,
so our entire portfolio of wines are vegan. The technical closures are next.
Technical closures are made
from all manner of things. One in particular could be of issue with vegan wine
and that is a closure made of cork bits and bound with some form of glue. As everyone
knows glue can and has been made from several binding agents. One such binder
could be honey, or milk based. And then there is our school days friend Elmer’s
glue which was made from equestrian components.
While many wines could be
considered vegan, the packaging could eliminate the vegan status by using a
closure that contains animal parts or residue thereof. @AmalieRobert we use
natural cork, for all of our wines and that is always a safe choice. Good to go!
So as you read this, admiring
your natural @AmalieRobert (vegan) cork wine stopper, you can rest assured that
in vintage 2019 Gluc and Fruct have left the building. Malic has been smitten
and is becoming Lactic. The neighborhoods are all getting pruned back, in order
to deliver a spectacular bounty for vintage 2020. In case you missed the first
go around, enjoy the “Roaring 20’s”.
Kindest Regards,
Dena & Ernie
Free (vegan) natural cork in
every (melted sand) glass bottle.
