Tag Archive for 'California'

Wine Flaws: Corked?

Published on December 27, 2009 in Wine News. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Wine Spectator’s James Laube explains what a “corked” bottle of wine is in the below excerpt from its extensive website.  Learning to identify a corked bottle of wine comes with some experience, but once you are able to identify the signs and smell of cork taint you will be able to identify it when it presents itself.  

Wine Flaws: Cork Taint and TCA

James Laube, Wine Spectator staff
Posted: January 9, 2007

You’ve opened a bottle of wine that’s supposed to be outstanding. But when you put your nose to the glass, it smells like something you pulled out from a forgotten corner of a damp basement. What’s the problem? Most likely it’s TCA.

What is it? 
TCA stands for 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, a chemical so powerful that even in infinitesimal amounts it can cause musty aromas and flavors in wines. The compound forms through the interaction of plant phenols, chlorine and mold. It most frequently occurs in natural corks (TCA can even form on tree bark) and is transferred to the wine in bottle–which is why wines with these off-aromas are often called “corky.” But the taint can originate elsewhere in wineries, where damp surfaces and chlorine-based cleaning products are commonplace; barrels, wooden pallets, wood beams and cardboard cases are all sources of phenols. If TCA goes undiscovered, it can spread and eventually taint the wines.

How do I recognize it? 
Although TCA taint poses no health concerns for wine drinkers, it can ruin a wine. At higher levels, it makes a wine smell moldy or musty, like cardboard, damp cement or wet newspapers. At its worst, the wine is undrinkable. At lower levels, TCA taint merely strips a wine of its flavor, making normally rich, fruity wines taste dull or muted, without imparting a noticeable defect. This can leave drinkers disappointed in a wine without being able to pinpoint why.

Experts say people vary widely in their ability to perceive TCA in wine, depending on their genetics and experience. Some cork producers claim that levels of 6 or even 10 parts per trillion (ppt) are acceptable, as many people won’t notice TCA at this level. However, research in Europe and at the University of California, Davis, indicates that some tasters can detect TCA at 1 ppt to 2 ppt, and a rare few can perceive it at even lower levels. People with higher threshold levels may perceive an off characteristic without being able to identify it.

There is no legal standard for acceptable TCA levels in wine.

How common is it? 
As with thresholds of perception, estimates of TCA-taint frequency in vary widely. The number typically ranges from 1 percent to 15 percent of all wines, depending on whether it comes from closure manufacturers, vintners or another source. Wine Spectator’s Napa office tracks the number of “corky” bottles in tastings of California wines, and the percentage of defective corks routinely runs at 15 percent. At the magazine’s California Wine Experience in 2004, the team of sommeliers who screened the wines for the seminars reported that the occurrence of “corky” bottles was 4 percent to 12 percent. The cork industry has a different estimate of cork failure: typically 1 percent to 2 percent.

Learning how to identify a corked bottle of wine is an important step in becoming an educated consumer of wine.

Joanie Hudson, Director of National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards

The Impact of Global Warming on Wine

Published on December 17, 2009 in Joanie Hudson. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

The topic of global warming  has some people scratching their heads, some naysayers denying its existence, and some grape growers concerned for the future.  Global warming is occurring, and the consequences could be enormous for all walks of life.  Climate is one of the most influential factors in determining a) the quality of grapes grown in the vineyard and b) what grapes to plant in certain climates.  For example, in the Sta. Rita Hills where Lafond Vineyard is planted, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay flourish in the cool climate, benefitting from coastal breezes.  Up in Napa Valley, where days get hotter, Cabernet Sauvignon is king.  So what happens when temperatures start to slowly creep up?  Everything is thrown off balance, and perhaps valleys or hillsides that were once deemed inappropriate for planting grapes will become the new hot spots.  There is no way to get around the impact of climate change for grape growers.  

Steve Heimoff, of Wine Enthusiast Magazine, has one of my favorite wine blogs on the web right now.  He has some interesting notes on this topic in today’s post (see below and visit his website for the full article).  If you are a reader of wine blogs, make sure to check his out.

The climate change deniers, bless their dumb little hearts, are getting lots of buzz lately, but I’ll side with the scientists, the majority of whom are absolutely sure that warming is occurring and that it’s getting dangerously too late to do anything about it.

The latest — as if we didn’t have enough evidence — comes from Stanford, where UPI is reporting that a team led by Noah Diffenbaugh “say they’ve determined global warming could significantly negatively impact U.S. wine and corn production.” (I’m not going to write here about corn except to say that I love it when it’s ripe in the summertime and will miss it if it goes away.) They go on to say that “global warming could reduce the current U.S. wine grape region by 81 percent by the end of the century” due to hotter and hotter days in wine country like California’s, which, in places like Napa Valley, is already pretty hot.

(Diffenbaugh presents his formal study today at an American Geophysical Union held in Moscone Center and I’m sure it will be widely reported.)

It’s not just that excessive heat could make even coastal valleys inappropriate for delicate varieties, like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. A warming climate could upset the ecosystem in much more fundamental ways. Science Daily describes how,“if spring-like weather arrives earlier than usual, and flowers bloom and wither before the pollinators [like bees] appear,”then wines might not even produce fruit. Earlier, scientists had calculated that a rise of only 2-4 degrees Celsius in grape regions could cause “losses [to be] be as high as 40 percent by mid-century.” In a previous study, Diffenbaugh determined that temperatures “from the principal wine regions of California, Oregon and Washington” already have risen in recent years by nearly 1 degree Celsius, and that was before some of the hottest years on record were yet to come.

Click Here for the rest of the article

Joanie Hudson, Director of National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards

Home for Monster Wines as Crowd-Pleasers

Published on December 11, 2009 in Chardonnay. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Here is a fun article that mentions and recommends our 2007 Santa Barbara Winery Chardonnay…

Find a Home for Monster Wines as Crowd-Pleasers

Big, chewy monster wines have a place in just about any wine lovers repertoire. These high-alcohol, jammy wines might not be your best friend at the dinner table, but wines that sport a decent whack of oak and the palpable richness to handle it can be critical to two efforts that wine geeks face regularly.

First, they make for excellent conversion wines — wines that’ll get your “beer only” friends to consider alternatives to their adult beverage of choice. Second, what they generally lack in terms of complexity and food-friendliness, they more than make up in their role as crowd-pleasers — or wines that you can serve at a party that are sure to maximize the enjoyment of as wide a subset of your friends and family as possible. Think of them as grenades of happiness. Toss a big bottle of Aussie Shiraz or California Zin into a crowd of people and you’re more than likely to make the vast majority of your crew happy. And, with just a teeny bit of effort (like, say, reading the rest of this column), you don’t have to completely sacrifice depth and balance when you’re serving these goliaths.

When it comes to turning heads in a diverse crowd, few whites can compete with the whiplash potential in a good bottle of Chardonnay. It’s a bit of a cliche to bash California chards for their oak, butter and richness, especially because there are just so many examples that aren’t oaky, buttery and rich. But for our purposes, that’s exactly what we want.

Buying a wine like this can be a little tricky. It’s easy to find one that drinks like a butter-coated cedar chip. Doesn’t sound too pleasant, does it? We need a wine with just a bit of restraint. I tend toward bottlings from the Central Coast instead of northern appellations like Napa where ripeness is amplified and winemakers tend to try to mask it with oodles of new wood.

I’ve been drinking way too much of Santa Barbara Winery’s juicy 2007 Chardonnay. This wine retails for about $15/bottle and delivers big time quality for the money. It has terrific richness and shows off bits of vanilla, caramel, pear and pink grapefruit. This is a key conversion wine for me. When somebody tells me that either A) “I don’t like Chardonnay,” or B) “I don’t drink white wine,” I try to force a bottle Central Coast Chardonnay on them…

Click Here for the full article at Burlington Free Press

Joanie Hudson, Director of National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards

The Impact of Wine Reviews

Published on December 8, 2009 in Reviews. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Wine reviews are an important aspect of any winery’s marketing program.  The impact of a great rating on a wine is huge for both winery and indivudual bottling and has a direct impact on sales.  Consumers see this designated number assigned by a wine expert and are attracted to the highly scored wines, not surprisingly. 

We like to simplify things as much as possible when making decisions about what products to buy, and to be able to quantify quality through a single number is an appealing aspect of wine reviews.  But here’s the problem, high scores don’t mean that you are going to like or love the wine because everybody’s palate is different. 

I think wine reviews are very important to our industry, but at the same time I try not to think about the number assigned as the wines score because that is somebody else’s palate, not mine.  Wines can get different scores from different critics, which makes the number somewhat arbitrary and abstract.  I love to read descriptions by critics and writers while tasting a wine.  Although it’s important to make your own opinion before reading these descriptions…

Here is a great article from the Wall Street Journal on wine ratings and their flaws:

Given the high price of wine and the enormous number of choices, a system in which industry experts comb through the forest of wines, judge them, and offer consumers the meaningful shortcut of medals and ratings makes sense.

But what if the successive judgments of the same wine, by the same wine expert, vary so widely that the ratings and medals on which wines base their reputations are merely a powerful illusion? That is the conclusion reached in two recent papers in the Journal of Wine Economics.

Both articles were authored by the same man, a unique blend of winemaker, scientist and statistician. The unlikely revolutionary is a soft-spoken fellow named Robert Hodgson, a retired professor who taught statistics at Humboldt State University. Since 1976, Mr. Hodgson has also been the proprietor of Fieldbrook Winery, a small operation that puts out about 10 wines each year, selling 1,500 cases

A few years ago, Mr. Hodgson began wondering how wines, such as his own, can win a gold medal at one competition, and “end up in the pooper” at others. He decided to take a course in wine judging, and met G.M “Pooch” Pucilowski, chief judge at the California State Fair wine competition, North America’s oldest and most prestigious. Mr. Hodgson joined the Wine Competition’s advisory board, and eventually “begged” to run a controlled scientific study of the tastings, conducted in the same manner as the real-world tastings. The board agreed, but expected the results to be kept confidential.

There is a rich history of scientific research questioning whether wine experts can really make the fine taste distinctions they claim. For example, a 1996 study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology showed that even flavor-trained professionals cannot reliably identify more than three or four components in a mixture, although wine critics regularly report tasting six or more. There are eight in this description, from The Wine News, as quoted on wine.com, of a Silverado Limited Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 that sells for more than $100 a bottle: “Dusty, chalky scents followed by mint, plum, tobacco and leather. Tasty cherry with smoky oak accents…” Another publication, The Wine Advocate, describes a wine as having “promising aromas of lavender, roasted herbs, blueberries, and black currants.” What is striking about this pair of descriptions is that, although they are very different, they are descriptions of the same Cabernet. One taster lists eight flavors and scents, the other four, and not one of them coincide.

Click here for the rest of the Wall Street Journal article

Joanie Hudson, Director of National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards

California Travel – Happy Canyon

Published on November 12, 2009 in Articles on Wine and Vineyards and Joanie Hudson. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Santa Barbara County’s newest AVA, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara, has long been a source of high quality fruit for us here at Santa Barbara Winery.  Check out this fun article (‘Near Santa Barbara, California’s New Wine Country’) on our newest wine country destination.

From California Travel Girl website

I know why it’s called Happy Canyon. It’s because this little corner of Santa Barbara wine country, in the east end of the Santa Ynez Valley, has just become California’s newest AVA (American Viticultural Area). On the Los Padres side of Highway 154, this broad, sunny cleft is home to horse ranches and hillside vineyards.

To become an AVA, a wine region has to be significantly different from other winegrape growing areas, and Happy Canyon qualifies: hotter temps, less fog, and a mineral terroir (serpentine soil lace with high magnesium content) make it distinctive. It’s also pretty small, with just six major vineyards and two active wineries (a third is due next year), but note: none offer public tasting.

Still, you can make your own tasting tour of their wines (mostly Bordeaux-styles), by visiting winetasting rooms like those listed below. Or visit the better known area Santa Barbara wine regions. And don’t miss Santa Barbara’s downtown Urban Wine Trail, with stops at eleven wine hotspots. Happy now?

Zinfandel / Primitivo Article

Published on October 19, 2009 in Harvest, Joanie Hudson and Primativo. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Check out this article on Zinfandel and Primitivo, referring to the two grapes as “Identical Wine Vino Cousins…”

Zinfandel wines denote California grown, yet DNA tests reveal that the variety is of European descent with “the same DNA as the Italian grape Primitivo.”  

Also interesting in this article is the discussion of the uniqueness of Zinfandel grape clusters, which states that the berries in the clusters do not ripen evenly, producing “unique flavor dynamics… There is bright acidity from slightly underripe grapes, perfect fruit flavors from the ripe berries, and concentration and depth from the slightly withered or overripe ones.”  

We used to have Zinfandel vines planted at Lafond Vineyard, until as recently as 2004, but as we get to know our vineyard site better with each year, we have discovered that the Sta. Rita Hills are a bit too cool to successfully grow consistent quality Zinfandel.  Replantings of Pinot Noir is a result of this key cool climate (warm days, cool nights, and a long growing season) aspect to our vineyard.

Joanie Hudson, Director National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards
To order Santa Barbara Winery Primitivo

Upcoming SBW & Lafond Tasting at East Beach Wine

Published on June 19, 2009 in Lafond Winery, Santa Barbara Winery and Special Events. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

If you live in or close to Santa Barbara, perhaps you have visited one of the Friday night tastings hosted by East Beach Wine Company.  I love attending because they put together a fantastic line up week after week of interesting wineries, themes, or distributor hosts.  June 26 they will feature Santa Barbara Winery and Lafond Winery hosted by David Lafond and George Fakinos (Local Wholesale).  Pop in, say hi, and taste anytime from 4-7pm at East Beach Wine Shop on Milpas St.  Here is how it is advertised on their website.

June 26 – Lafond Winery & Santa Barbara Winery

Hosted by David Lafond, George Fakinos, and others

Featuring the Lafond wines and our best-selling Santa Barbara Winery wines.

Bruce McGuire, Winemaker Lafond Winery and Santa Barbara Winery. President of Santa Barbara Winery. After graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in entymology Bruce spent several years working for wineries in Northern California before coming to Santa Barbara Winery in 1981 as winemaker. In that time his wines have received numerous awards and his abilities national recognition.

Bruce was one of the pioneers in the developement of Pinot Noir and Syrah in Santa Barbara County and in California. When Bruce first arrived at the winery he asked that we plant Pinot Noir in our Lafond Vineyard, which we did. Pinot Noir, largely ignored in most of California, has found its true home in Santa Barbara County. As winemaker Bruce controls the total process, from the selection of varieties and clones to plant in the vineyard, to farming practices, cultivation, pruning and when to pick. Accordingly the wines reflect his style and philosophy of winemaking. Bruce lives in Santa Barbara.

David Lafond, General Manager Lafond Winery and Vineyards. David, a native of Santa Barbara, has for many years been a General Contractor. He was, in fact, the general contractor for the new Lafond Winery overseeing the construction and installation of equipment for more than a year. David has been involved with the winery since childhood and will now manage the operations of both the vineyard and the Lafond Winery.

www.eastbeachwine.com
8.00 per person
201 S. Milpas St.

Joanie Hudson, Director National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards

Santa Barbara County Panel

Published on June 19, 2009 in Joanie Hudson and Other News. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

On Wednesday night, June 17, in Santa Barbara, the MIT Enterprise Forum of the Central Coast hosted an informative panel focused on “Winemaking in Santa Barbara County – A World of Entrepreneurs,” at the Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center.  

Topics of a struggling economy, growing competition, and challenges of the wine business were at the forefront.  I was out of town and unable to attend, but the Daily Sound did a great job in covering some of the highlights.

Despite the troubled economy and growing foreign competition, a panel of Santa Barbara County wine experts said while the industry is faced with problems, it will follow a cycle and rebound as it has over the past four decades.

The MIT Enterprise Forum of the Central Coast hosted the Wednesday night panel, titled “Winemaking in Santa Barbara County – A World of Entrepreneurs,”at the Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center.

While the fourth quarter of last year “was the worst ever” for California’s 2,700 wineries, Central Valley and Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo sales continued to rise even though Napa and Sonoma counties declined, said Rob McMillan, executive vice president and founder of Silicon Valley Bank Wine Practice.

However, Santa Barbara County’s 90 wineries have only 20,000 acres of wine grapes planted while Napa has twice that, he said. And, vineyard land costs about $50,000 an acre while Napa land goes for $250,000 an acre.

Historically, Napa and Sonoma were once considered the state’s “wine country”since regions such as Santa Barbara did not start large-scale production until 40 years ago when only 200 acres were planted with grape vines.

Several of those wineries are of commercial Napa Valley size. The rest are entrepreneurial enterprises founded by winemakers, growers, retired chief executive officers, gentlemen farmers and others in a bizarre collection of interconnecting relationships.

Making a profit

To make a profit, McMillan said, Santa Barbara-area wineries must sell their products for $25 a bottle. That will yield about a 12 percent profit. Most premium California wines sell for about $15 a bottle. But the biggest problem is getting the wine to the consumer, he said.

Read the Full Article

Joanie Hudson, Director National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards

Chardonnay Article

Published on June 13, 2009 in Wine News. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Here is a relevant article on where Chardonnay stands today in many consumers minds… I found it interesting mainly because even when Chardonnay is unpopular in the mind of a specific consumer, it is still talked about and never forgotten.  For example, it seems that consumers tend to compare other white varietals a lot of times to Chardonnay even if it’s not a wine that they drink anymore.  It forever stays in the mind of the consumer…

Chardonnay vines thrive in most wine producing regions around the world due to their ability to adapt to various soils, weather and cultivation practices. The grape itself is delicate and is easily influenced by winemaking techniques and growing conditions. Chardonnay can have a range of flavors, from the typical California style that boasts flavors of butter and oak, to the un-oaked, where crisp flavors of green apple and citrus dominate. Due to the many different styles of Chardonnay, it has enjoyed international fame as both a cocktail wine and a food wine.

In the 1990s, California Chardonnay became the most popular white wine in the United States, and wine consumers grew accustomed to the rich, buttery, oaky style of Chardonnay that California winemakers were known to produce.

Over the past few years, with the popularity of Sauvignon Blanc and other crisp white wines, a trend started with white wine aficionados to drink ABC — Anything But Chardonnay. What many failed to realize was it wasn’t the Chardonnay grape that they didn’t like, it was the heavy, buttery flavors that the oak barrels impart to the wine. Winemakers responded to this trend, and many California producers began to use less oak in their winemaking, and white wine drinkers began to rediscover the world of Chardonnay.

As a wine drinker, I have been enjoying rediscovering Chardonnay. I was never a fan of heavy, over-the-top, oaky Chardonnay. I understood the popularity, appreciated the style, and tasted as many as I could to keep informed, but I wasn’t one to drink that specific style of Chardonnay. I like Chardonnay that has a hint of oak, but not enough to make the wine heavy and rich… Full Article

So, whether or not Chardonnay is a favorite or not so favorite wine of yours, make sure that you at least try a few different styles before you give up.

Joanie Hudson, Director National and International Marketing
Santa Barbara Winery/Lafond Winery & Vineyards