Category Archives: Wineries

Oenology in Long Island: Premium Wine Group–John Leo

Interview with John Leo about PWG (& Leo Family Wines)

on Sept. 27, 2012, updated on Jan. 21 & May 24, 2013

Premium Wine Group is a contract winemaking facility designed to allow an economical way to produce wine without the huge investment in equipment and facility. The individual style is driven by each Producer / Client in the production of their wine. PWG is designed with an array of technologically superior equipment which allows our clients complete freedom in producing wine. Our experienced staff of wine production professionals allows our clients the comfort that their wines are being handled in the highest quality practices.

Both “custom-production” and “custom-crush” services are provided to licensed producers and wholesalers of wine. These services are being utilized by many local wineries and wineries in the Northeast that source fruit from the North Fork of Long Island, see our Producers / Clients

Established in 2000, an initial 545 tons were received, we have steadily grown to 1,000 tons with an ultimate capacity of 1,400 tons. Premium Wine Group’s mission is to continually upgrade plant, equipment and services to allow our Producers / Clients the highest quality environment in which to sculpt their individual wines. This is evident with more than 18 Wineries producing over 100 individual wines each vintage.

NOTE: While Premium Wine Group makes wine for its many outside clients, there are also three employees that work there who are themselves clients: Russell Hearn, Managing Partner/Director of Winemaking, John Leo, production winemaker, and Erik Bilka, production winemaker. While this article is, foremost, about Premium, it also includes sections devoted to the wines of these three producers. (The winegrowing at Lieb Cellars (owned by partner Mark Lieb) and its wines will be the subject of a separate article, as will be the case with Clovis Point, whose wines are made by John Leo.)

It should also be noted that a press release issued on March 28, 2013, states, “Lieb Cellars and Premium Wine Group announced a merger of the two companies. Established in 1992 and 2000 respectively as two separate businesses with Mark Lieb as an investor, the combined companies have received substantial funding through their parent company Southport Lane, a private equity firm focused on growing its portfolio businesses. Southport Lane selected Lieb Cellars and PWG in part for their “custom crush” business, which is the production home of many North Fork wineries and the only one east of the Mississippi. There has been talk of the company going public.”

Because I interviewed John and Russell separately, and the conversations are so extensive, I’m dividing this post into two parts: The first (this one) is based on my conversation with John, and subsequently my interview with Russell, which also includes discussions of T’Jara Vineyard and SuhRu Wines: Oenology in LI: Premium Wine Group–Russell Hearn.

According to the bio of John Leo from Winemakers’ Studio Website, “A native of the Hudson Valley, New York, John graduated with a journalism degree and immediately proceeded to wander slowly around the world. He started working in wine in 1982 and joined the East End wine growing community in the early 1990s, becoming winemaker for Clovis Point, in Jamesport in 2004. John works full-time at Premium Wine Group where he makes the Clovis Point wines as well as Leo Family Red. A journalist by training, traveler by inclination, and grape grower by preference, John believes in honest hard work, natural transformation and the pleasure of sharing a bottle with friends.”

Personally, I found John to be thoughtful, articulate, soft-spoken yet straightforward, as well as clearly professional in outlook and attitude. It was a pleasure to converse with him.

Interview with John Leo (JL):

JM-L: I want to begin by asking you about your client list on the PWG website. I recognize all of the names but on [see below], but there is one that puzzles me, DeSeo de Micheal [sic], but actually that’s Deseo de Michael . . . What’s his full name?

JL: Michael Smith. His wife is Puerto Rican, so I think that she anointed the name.

JM-L: So that explains that mystery. Well, one of the reasons that I called you was because I’d been in touch with Chiara Anderson Edmands, and she’d said that one of the people that I have to speak to is you. So the advantage of speaking to you now is that I can now speak to you of your wine, their wine, and possibly Sherwood House, because I will be speaking to Bill Ackerman, the vineyard manager.

JL: You know, the consulting winemaker for Sherwood is Gilles Martin, so he’ll have more answers about style and things like that, but about the logistics part I can help out with because it all does come in here.

JM-L: So Gilles and Juan—who used to work here—and other consulting winemakers formulate what they want you to do and how do you work with them? How do they formulate what they want you to do?

JL: Well, we sit down to talk about that. I guess that in a stand-alone winery the winemaker is not only making the decisions but lifting the hoses and doing the work. But they usually have assistants, especially around harvest time, so they’re making their own plans about how much tonnage to bring in, how to ferment it, etc. etc., and their usually delegating that to their assistants in the cellar. So in a sense that’s what we are . . . we’re custom production, so the consultant tells us that he will bring in 5 tons of this Merlot, 6 tons of that Merlot, we want you to handle this one way and that another way. So we’re basically the cellar hands . . . we’re the winemaking service for that . . .

JM-L: So you are, in effect, the cellar assistants.

JL: In a sense, yes.

JM-L: Except that you actually do all the hands-on of making the wine . . .

JL: And we have all the equipment—that belongs to us, and the facility belongs to us, and they’re being charged, sort of, per finished case. [See below, From the PWG website: Wine Production; which lists all the equipment they own.]

JM-L: I see.

JL: So we’re the winery with the labor to get the job done that they want, but in terms of how they formulate things, it’s straightforward, just like in any winery, they decide how they want to handle certain batches, what yeasts to use, what temperature to ferment at, how often to pump over, all those decisions they can make to then communicate them to us and we do the work.

JM-L: The thing, of course, is that they’re not being hands-on, so what happens when some kind of issue, say a stuck fermentation, takes place (which I’m sure doesn’t happen too often) . . .

JL: Not too often, no.

JM-L: or, for example, a temperature issue with the tanks, or you find that the amount of pumping over that they request perhaps is not optimum for the wine as its coming out . . .

JL: Right. That last one is a different issue. I might personally disagree with their protocols, but if that’s their protocol that’s what we do. Lots of oxidation, no oxidation, no air at all. They can ask for seven pumpovers a day or no pumpovers. They can demand of me whatever they want. If it seems that out of the ordinary we’ll clarify. We’ll say, “Are you sure that’s what you’re asking for? That’s not the norm.” Maybe we’ll have to charge more for more pumpovers, so we just want to make sure that that’s what you want.” When they confirm it, it doesn’t matter what I like or think is right or wrong for that batch of wine . . . they’re the boss. In terms of stuck fermentations or a little bit of sulfide issues or things like that, Andrew’s very attentive [Andrew Rockwell, the Laboratory Director]. We’re testing everything every day, after rackings, every day’s ferment, so Andrew’s sticking his nose in the tank every day, and he’s got a good nose and palate and he’s very sensitive, so he’ll let Russell or I know, or if the consultant’s already sitting in the room he’ll go directly to them, or we’ll call the consultant and say, “Hey, there’s an issue with tank 1956, there’s some sulfite issue, a little bit of a stink coming out of it.”

Also, a lot of our newer clients, for example Deseo de Michael, say, “I want to bring in my grapes this year, 600 pounds . . .

JM-L: 600 pounds. Well, if you only have a third of an acre . . .

JL: Exactly. So the first thing I explain to him if you want us to press it, that we need more than that because our presses aren’t that small, so we can’t press 600 pounds effectively, so you’re going to have buy some Chardonnay to put in with yours to make it. So he’s so small that it doesn’t make sense to have a consultant, you know, realistically, but the first year I helped him through that and I didn’t charge him anything, and I said, “You know, you can do it this way or you can do it this way. Here’s the decision points now. You can taste the juice coming out of the press, do you want to cut it there? Do you want to keep on pressing harder? You’ll see the change.” So we just walked him through it. So for 2011 he hired Gilles [Martin] to be his winemaker for his one Chardonnay, so now it’s at a more professional level.

JM-L: Good. But the vines must be very young . . .

JL: Sure. So that’s an extreme example of someone who wants to do things right, is willing to pay commercial charges, but he doesn’t have enough volume to get a full-time consultant . . . so we try to be as helpful as we can.

JM-L: Of course.

JL: We have other clients like that, they have a little bit of fruit in their back yard, so we try to avoid it, but when it’s a friend of a friend, we do stuff like that . . .

JM-L: Sure.

JL: You know, Juan [Micieli-Martinez, Manager and Winemaking Consultant of Martha Clara Vineyards], Gilles [winemaking consultant to several vineyards], Tom Drozd—who makes the Baiting Hollow wines, and Erik [Bilka, the other PWG production manager] has his own wine, and other clients who know what they’re doing. So we expect them to make all those decisions, so we’re just backing it up. We do have some non-Long Island clients, but that is just coincidence.

JM-L: So who are your non-Long Island clients?

JL: Well, you know, Silver Springs, up in the Finger Lakes.

JM-L: All the way up there? Do they send their fruit down?

JL: Mmm, no. When they started five or six years ago, they bought Long Island red, so they make some things up there in the Finger Lakes, and that goes for the white, the hybrid stuff, and they wanted to buy some red, so they approached us and said, “We want to buy a few tons, and how do we get it up to us and what can we do?” And, I don’t think they actually have a winery, I think all their production is custom, either here or there. So anyway, that’s how we got started. And now, every couple of vintages they’ll send some white juice down, and they’ll have us ferment it here because it’s going to be part of a bigger blend or something like that.

JM-L: I see. Very interesting.

JL: So they’re one. And then there’s Belhurst, Belhurst Castle . . .

JM-L: Are they also in the Finger Lakes?

JL: Yes, they are. They’re basically a hotel, a resort hotel, and again, they might have a little show winery, but I haven’t actually been there. But we make their wines, sort of for the same reasons, they’re purchasing all their fruit, both red and white, and we’re making the wine for them.

JM-L: Is PWG unique in New York State?

JL: Not any more. We were the first on the East Coast as a custom crush, and I don’t know, but I think that there are one or two in the Finger Lakes now. I know that East Coast Crush started up and it’s connected to one of the bigger wineries. I don’t know if it’s the exact same facility or if they have separate business names to bring in more clients, or it’s a whole new facility. Russell might know that. And I think that I heard of another place, White Springs was, again, doing their own thing but doing a lot of custom work, I think that just changed ownership and might now be all custom.

JM-L: I see.

JL: But, anyway, we started people thinking about it as an option, since they save a lot of money and only pay for what they’re bringing in rather than buying equipment that’s going to cost them two million to put in and they’re only going to use it once a year, so . . .

JM-L: Yes, like Raphael, which spent six million dollars on their own winery . . .

JL: Yeah, it’s a different interest. If you have the money to invest and you want that showpiece, you know, that’s . . .

JM-L: Well, they have that showpiece, there’s no question of that. Pretty impressive! So, when you have a really abundant harvest out here, even the wineries that have facilities of their own may find themselves with more fruit than they can handle . . .

JM-L: So you do take overage, as it were . . .

JL: Yes. If we have the space for it, sure, and it happens where we have one particular client, another winery that knows pretty much that they’re going to have more fruit coming in every year than they have space for themselves, so they’ve been saying fairly consistently that they need a tank of twenty tons, or something, for this overage. There are other wineries where it’s more vintage-related, most years they’re self-sufficient but some years they’re looking for extra space, so as long as we have the room we’re happy to do that. We also do pressing and settling; some Connecticut buyers of wineries, are buying local Chardonnay or other varieties and they’re looking for a place to have it destemmed, pressed, cold settled [chilled], and then they’re taking it as juice so that they don’t have to drive [the purchased grapes] all the way around. So that’s another part of our business that is pretty consistent every year.

JM-L: So you’re just sending them the must?

JL: Yes, either the must for reds or the settled juice for, say, Chardonnay.

JM-L: And then they ferment it.

JL: Yes, and we have fee schedules—so they don’t have to bring things just to bottle; we have a pressing and settling charge, or you can ferment it here, age it here, and then sell it in bulk, instead of selling it in the bottle, and you’re not paying the full cost . . . In other words, PWG has a fee schedule for all its varied services that allow a client to decide whether to take a wine all the way to bottle, or to sell it early in the process as juice (before fermentation) or later in the process as bulk wine.

JM-L: OK. Well, you and Russell, and who else helped found this?

JL: Well, I’m not a partner, Russell is. It’s Russell and Mark Lieb and a fellow called Bernard Sussman—he isn’t located out here. He lives in New Jersey or may have moved to Florida now. They’re the three partners. I’ve been here since it opened. I was working with Russell at Pellegrini Vineyards when he was planning this, and when 2000 was our first harvest he asked me if, when this was done, I’d like to come with him.

JM-L: Now, how many clients did you start with?

JL: Roughly a dozen.

JM-L: Really? So in other words, you first determined that there would be a market out there, you determined that there would be people who would bring their fruit in, if you would just set up . . .

JL: Yes. And, you see, the reason that we knew that—especially Russell—was that Russell, had been the winemaker for Pellegrini Vineyards, at that point, for eight or nine vintages, and people kept approaching him, saying “I have fruit for sale, I’m thinking of starting my own label, do you have room?” So he was doing custom production at Pellegrini, with whatever excess space he had there, for Erik Bilka and everyone else . . . and, you know, people were looking for space. He knew that there were more vineyards coming online, he knew that this would be a growth market. And I think that Russell first approached Mark Lieb—or it might have been vice versa—because Lieb had a forty-acre vineyard and no facility, and he was trying to buy more property so that he could build a winery, and there was some political issue, possibly, and it was taking longer than he expected so they got together and he said, “OK, you build this and I’ll be an investor in it and instead of making it a Lieb winery we’ll make it a custom production winery. And Russell, you’re going to run it, right?” And it was very clever and it was the right time to get something started . . .”

JM-L: Interesting.

JL: Most of those clients are still with us. I’d say that the only ones that aren’t were the ones that got sold or closed down. But Martha Clara was there the first year, Sherwood House was there, so pretty much everyone who was looking for a place and found us in 2000 has stayed.

JM-L: So Deseo de Michael [aka OR Wine Estate as of 2014] is the just latest . . . ?

JL: Yes, pretty much. Around 2010, in terms of having a license and all of that. But for example, my wine, which is a 2007, and Erik [Bilka], who makes a Riesling from Finger Lakes juice that he brings down, and he started in 2009, and that’s it; it’s not so much new vineyards coming on line anymore, but rather people buying fruit who want to start their own brands.

Leo Family Red: a History

JM-L: I see. So let’s talk about you . . .

JL: I don’t own my own vineyard; my situation is a little different in that I lease two acres. Well, I have a long-term agreement since 1999, with a particular vineyard to lease the two acres and I bring in my own fruit, with the understanding that I’ll do all the handwork. I do the pruning, I do the thinning, I do the harvesting.

JM-L: So you’re not buying fruit, you’re essentially the vineyard manager for a parcel that’s leased to you. So you have complete control of the fruit.

JL: Yes. The things that I didn’t have control over—I started at Martha Clara in 1999–where they controlled the spray schedule, the weed control, anything that had to do with tractor work—I could make suggestions. So in that respect I didn’t have complete control. But I was fine with that. That lasted until 2006, when they decided that they wanted to harvest their own fruit on that plot, so they decided that I was too small to make an exception for . . . so I was all ready to move anyway, and I was fine with that; it was time to move on. So I continued the same arrangement with Pellegrini Vineyards, in their easternmost vineyard, called South Harbor. So there were two acres planted with Merlot there as well, same arrangement as before, so I don’t have control of the spraying schedule. So I worked with the vineyard manager and that worked out nicely. That was between 2007 through 2010. In 2010 I started working for Onabay Vineyard as a winegrowing consultant, working out in the vineyard. So they asked me, would I be interested in leasing a couple of acres with them, and since I was already telling them what to do and hands-on with their whole vineyard it finally meant that it felt like my own vineyard, in that sense.

JM-L: Oh, that’s very nice.

JL: So in 2011 I moved to Onabay. I was very happy with Pellegrini, but at Onabay, where they’ve planted several varieties, I was able to have an acre of Merlot, half-an-acre of Cabernet Franc, and half-an-acre of Petite Verdot.

JM-L: So you were finally able to make a Meritage.

JL: Yes. And I did . . . since 1999 I’ve made wine every year, selling it off in bulk, but bottling a barrel for myself to have something to drink, and. . .

JM-L: I see. So now you’re now making wine in your own way—originally you were only making Merlot . . .

JL: Only growing Merlot. So the early vintages were 100% Merlot, but I started to go to other sources—Premium, for example, and other clients, to get a little bit of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, whatever happened to be available depending upon the year, including Syrah, Malbec, as well. Working here made it easy for me to know what was out there—the quality, the amounts, whatever was available . . . 2007 was the first wine I bottled and labeled myself; up to 2006 it was a just hobby project, what I kept at home for drinking myself and then to cover costs I’d sell most of the bulk; I sell anywhere from 200 gallons to 1000 gallons a year depending on my harvest yield and my blending needs.

[From the Winemaker’s Studio Website, there is this description of the 2007: “The first and so far, only wine released under the Leo Family label. A blend made of sustainably farmed grapes: 80% Merlot, 7% Syrah, 6% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon from the North Fork of Long Island. Aged 18 months in French and Hungarian oak, released spring 2011.”] [NOTE: I tasted this wine on Feb. 2 at a dinner party where venison was the main course. It followed a rather funky Spanish Tempranillo, and it showed beautifully. It was already showing secondary aromas and flavors, including lightly-smoked wood, coffee, lead pencil, and sour cherry. It was balanced and had an agreeable persistence on the palate and a very clean finish. I’d describe it as elegant and somewhat austere–rather like a Premier Cru from St-Emilion (Bordeaux). Its structure suggests several more years of maturation and good longevity. It was very much appreciated by all the guests at the venison dinner, and was a really fine food & wine pairing.]

[The back label—shown at right—tells even more about the wine and how it is made. . . ]

JM-L: And how much bulk are you selling now?

JL: Depending on the harvest . . . it was a lot, anywhere from 500 cases to a 1,000, or 200 gallons, some years there wasn’t very much. The 2007 was a blend of Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot . . . it’s not all Merlot.

JM-L: Which means that it’s more of a Left Bank than Right Bank Bordeaux style of wine.

JL: Yeah, with the Syrah tossed in too.

JM-L: And with the Syrah, which in the 19^th Century, they used in winemaking in Bordeaux.

JL: Yes, I read that too. I’m not going to market it as Bordeaux . . . it’s just was the best that I could do.

JM-L: Of course you’re not going to label it as Bordeaux. Despite all the claims about how Bordeaux-like your wine is, this is still Long Island, after all . . .

JL: Exactly. There’s no French on the label, it’s just Leo Family Red . . .

JM-L: And where is it available? Can I buy it, for example, at Empire State Cellars?

JL: It’s available there; you can also buy it at the Winemakers’ Studio, that’s my biggest outlet . . . Anthony Nappa’s. They pour it and sell it on a regular basis. There’s also a small wine shop right here in Mattituck, called J. Shields. It’s owned by a woman who’s a real oenophile. She just loves wine; I think she studied the sommelier’s course . . . so she took it in a couple of weeks ago. So it’s on the shelf there.

JM-L: What was your aim in making your particular wine?

JL: Honestly, it’s kind of a cliché. I wanted to make a wine that I would enjoy drinking. There are no asterisks. I wanted it to stand on its own on a commercial level. I want make it only in good vintages and have it taste better than what people are expecting. . I wanted to be able say: Taste it and if you like it, buy it, and if you don’t, well, there are no questions asked. I made 420 cases, I think I have about 160 left. If I’m stuck with a hundred cases, fine, I’ll be happy to drink it for the rest of my life.

JM-L: So you’re really saying that the 2007 has great longevity.

JL: Yes, I think it does. Because I released it last year and it’s certainly drinking better this year. It hasn’t shown any signs of fading and improving still.

JM-L: You think that it has the structure to last another five, ten years?

JL: Five, ten years from now? I think so, but I honestly don’t know? It’s hard to say. Two to three years to reach its peak, and how long will it hold?

JM-L: Well, as you know, that’s a sign of good wine and good winemaking. The very fact that there is so much wine being made in Long Island that is age-worthy is, I think, a stunning testament to the level of the winemaking here, and the quality of the fruit and everything else. It’s no secret, after all, that for us, that the quality of the wine from Long Island is, frankly, at times sensational—and, well, times that it’s not— but given how good it is I often to prefer it to that of California.

JL: I’ve come the same way, obviously I’m in the industry and you could say that I’m completely biased, but I’m less and less happy when paying sixty or seventy dollars for a California wine that turns out to be an ordinary red wine, just high in alcohol but without much character.

JM-L: As soon as Robert Parker says “jammy and full of fruit,” I know immediately that that is a wine that I’m not likely to touch.

JL: Exactly. They’re making a style. Good for them. They’re marketing a style and making it work. We’re just not that.

JM-L: The other thing to remember is that everything here is “micro.” You just do not have the production to take on California, you just can’t make enough for a national market.

JL: And that should free us up a lot to experimentation, to be able to focus on quality, which more and more of our customers are asking for over the twelve years we’ve been in the business; at first our clients were just happy to get the fruit in, get it at 22 Brix, get the right pH. It’s got to have flavor. We’re all working on making higher quality wine, we’re challenging one another, we’re raising the bar.

JM-L: And what other vintages have you made since the 2007?

JL: Put into bottle and labeled—just the 2010.

JM-L: And that was a fabulous vintage.

JL: It was very good. At first I didn’t think that it was going to be as good as the 2007, but as I sampled it from the barrel it just got better and better, to the point that I decided to bottle it. Now I think it may even be better than the 2007. Leo Family Red will only be made in the best vintages. And now that we have 2012 in barrel I’m optimistic that 2012 could be another Leo
Family vintage.

JM-L: Well, that’s a good policy.

JL: Well, it’s nice to have a day job!

JM-L: John, you’ve been more than generous with your time, and I thank you for it. I’ll get back to you when I’m ready to write about Clovis Point.

Erik Bilka, who was not interviewed, is the other production winemaker at Premium, and also has his own wine label: Influence—a Riesling made from grapes sourced from Ovid Farm in the Finger Lakes.

From the Influence Wines Website:

“Every vintage a winemaker’s goal is to showcase the best attributes from the fruit he is presented. Fruit intensity, acidity, and sugar balance are all attributes which bring a wine to a harmonious blend of aroma, flavor, and palette impression. The winemakers’ influence determines the quality seen in the glass.

“Once harvested, Influence Riesling is delivered to White Springs Winery in Geneva, NY on Seneca Lake, where the experienced staff led by Derek Wilber crush, press, and cold settle the juice, which is then shipped to Premium Wine Group on the North Fork of Long Island. Upon arrival, winemaker Erik P. Bilka begins the winemaking process. The juice is fermented in stainless steel tanks. Before completion fermentation is halted in order to maintain the natural residual sugars found in this semi-dry vintage. The refining process which involves separating natural occurring sediment from the final product is done delicately in order to preserve the fruits integrity. This minimalist approach by the winemaker influencing only what the juice requires, allows the fruit to be showcased in the final wine.”

Brix at Harvest – 19.8
Ph – 3.10
Titratable Acid – 7.02
Residual Sugar – 22.00 grams/ liter
Aged – 100% Stainless Steel Tank
Bottled – March 31, 2011

To me, the commitment by the oenologists who work at PWG simply goes beyond the normal range of expectation and duty. For each of them is so passionate about wine, and apparently has so much excess energy, that it’s not enough for them to only work full-time at their place of employment, they have a deep need to practice their skills for themselves and their reputations. One can’t ask for more devotion than that. It’s also hard to find better winemakers.

Next, Russell Hearn.

From the PWG Website:

Services Provided

Services provided by Premium Wine Group range from grape sourcing, crush/pressing, fermenting, barrel aging, bottling, Methode Champenoise riddling and disgorging, and Compliance Issues. These services are available to “custom production” clients, Alternating Proprietorship and existing wineries. North-East wineries sourcing North Fork of Long Island fruit may wish to ferment rather than move unstable fruit during harvest. Or those that have exceeded their own production capacity might look to utilize our wide variety of equipment.

The “producer” is to supply at their expense all:

Fruit (delivered to PWG)
Fermentation supplies (yeast, enzyme and tannin, malo-lactic bacteria)
Wooden cooperage or oak additives
Packaging supplies (bottles, corks, capsules, labels and related items)
Winemaking direction (consultation)

Wine Production

With a highly trained staff operating within a State of the Art facility, all wine production services requested can be performed in a timely and professional manner. Additional specialized equipment allows such processes as:

EuroSelect Destemmer-Crusher, the gentlest way of destemming
Tube-in-tube Must Chiller capable of dropping must temperature 20° F. downstream from the destemmer-crusher en route to press or fermentation tank
Reverse Osmosis System to remove water from grape juice
Ozone Machine for barrel sanitization
Lees filtration via Crossflow System
Crossflow wine filtration via Vaslin Bucher FX 8 System

Methode Champenoise

Complete semi-automatic Methode Champenoise bottling, riddling and disgorging equipment
Mainguet Crown capping device
Oenoconcept – Twin cage (1,000 bottle) automatic riddling machine fully programmable for the most complete riddling
Mainguet – Neck freezing
Disgorging
Mainguet – corking and wire hood application
Sick International – external bottle scrubbing/washing and drying unit
Sick International – capsule dispensing and eye sensitive/ orientating automatic double station capsule pleating device

Bottling

Full in-line 4,000 bottle/hour bottling line.
McBrady – cardboard dust evacuating and nitrogen bottle sparging device
GAI monoblock twenty (20) spout vacuum/ gravity filler with double (2) nitrogen sparging and triple (3) head vacuum corker
GAI single head screw capping machine, capable of applying Stevlin and Stevlin Lux screw caps
Automatic capsule dispenser and eight (8) head (reversible) capsule spinner and heat shrink capability
Sick Automatic champagne capsule dispenser and pleating device
Kosme – triple station (neck, front and back) six (6) turret pressure sensitive servo motor driven labeler
Manual inspection and packing station
Top and bottom ‘Little David’ case taper
Lanxess Velcorin DT 6 S dosing unit

Laboratory

Our facility has a fully-equipped laboratory, with a full-time Lab Director and assistant during the Harvest period. A production software system (Winemaker Database) allows our clients’ bulk inventory to be tracked from the time juice or bulk wine arrives at the winery, every movement, addition, chemical analysis and process is recorded and tracked. Our clients have full access to this detailed history of their inventory.

Mettler Toledo Auto-Titrator, generating pH, TA, and FSO2 automatically for reliable consistency

Analytical

Brix
Total Acid (Automated Titration)
pH
Total and Free SO2
Alcohol
Heat and Cold Stability
CO2
NH3
Enzymatic R.S. and Malate
Volatile Acidity
Specific Gravity
Bottling QA/QC
Routine Wine / Lot Maintenance

Crush Pads

We can receive hand harvested fruit in small half-ton bins, or machine harvested in gondolas. The receiving pad consists of a Weightronix truck scale and printer, two 7-ton Membrane presses with s/s dump hopper for whole-cluster pressing. Two destemmer / crushers: Rauch E20 and Euroselect ES, to ensure uninterrupted receiving capacity. Both presses utilize direct to press systems, if requested, to minimize solids and for “dug-out” red fermentations. Our 50-ton Refrigeration system ensures more than sufficient capacity for rapid cooling of juice. Tube-in-tube must-chiller capable of decreasing must temperature 20ºF. Additionally we have a 700 KW generator to ensure uninterrupted electrical service.

Equipment

Numerous ‘gentle on wine’ Waukesha (twin lobe) pumps.
Pneumatic ‘punch-down’ tool above (18) red fermentation tanks.
(2) in-line tank heaters to maintain warm red ferments, correct malo-lactic temperature in tank, pre-bottling temperature control.
Crossflow filtration system Vaslin Bucher FX 3 with lees filtration add-on capability plate and frame pad filter as well as membrane cartridge filtration capability.
Steam and ozone capability.

Producers / Clients (all of which use only Long Island fruit)

Baiting Hollow Farms Vineyard
Bouké/Bouquet
Brooklyn Oenology
Clovis Point Vineyard
OR Wine Estate (aka Deseo de Michael)
Harbes Vineyard
Lieb Cellars
Martha Clara Vineyard
McCall Wines
Onabay Vineyards
Pumphouse Wines (Scarsdale, NY)
Sherwood House Vineyard
[Leo Family Wines, by John Leo, employee]
[Influence Wines (Finger Lakes fruit) by Erik Bilka, employee]
[Suhru Wines, by Russell Hearn, PWG partner & production manager]
[T’Jara Vineyards, by Russell Hearn]

Premium Wine Group 35 Cox Neck Rd. Mattituck, NY 11952

info@premiumwinegroup.com
phone 631-298-1900
fax 631-298-3588

Viniculture in LI, Part III: Osprey’s Dominion

From the Osprey’s Dominion website:

Bud Koehler was among the first vintners to settle on the North Fork.

After retiring from a job in construction in 1983, the Farmingdale native headed out east with his wife and 11 children and purchased a 24-acre plot of land in Peconic. He planted grapes and founded a vineyard that would be in the company of just three others: Hargrave Vineyard, Pindar Vineyards and Paumanok.

“I’ve always been building and making,” he said. “I wanted to make something with my hands.”

He called the vineyard Osprey’s Dominion Vineyards after the brown and grey bird ubiquitous in the North Fork’s skies. The osprey is a “great, courageous bird,” he said, explaining that it dives into waters to snatch fish to eat even though it can’t swim. He likes to think the large raptors watch over his many rows of vines.

In the early years, Mr. Koehler only grew grapes and sold them to surrounding wineries. His entire family, 11 kids and all, hit the grapevines each October, forming their own harvesting crew. He soon expanded the operation by purchasing 16 additional acres near Locust Avenue in Mattituck and teaming up with a good friend, Bill Tyree. Mr. Koehler and Mr. Tyree together purchased 50 more acres in Peconic and decided that adding a winery would make for a more prosperous business.

They had a production facility installed in a building on the newest Peconic property and bottled their first wine in 1991. They restored a farmhouse on Main Road in Peconic, just in front of the largest vineyard, into a tasting room.

Interviews with Adam Suprenant,Winemaker, 23 April & 8 May 2012, updated on 2 February 2013

photo by Wonny Lervisit

Adam Suprenant, winemaker for Osprey’s Dominion, in Peconic, NY, met with me for an interview near Union Square, in New York City, having just been in the company of Peter M.F. Sichel—the influential and well-known wine executive who, among his many achievements, created the popular Blue Nun wine brand—and whom Adam regards as his mentor in the wine world, having known him for many years.

Adam describes himself as a “champion of what goes into the bottle.”

He had earned a BS degree in Agriculture, from Cornell in 1985. At the time, there was but a single one-semester course on viticulture. His first job as a viticulturalist, in 1986, was with the Banfi vineyard operation in Old Brookville, NY, where he worked under Fred Frank. During the Holiday Season of that year he worked as a salesman for Sherry-Lehmann. For the next two years Adam worked for the wine distributor Joseph Victori (now JV Wines) wearing a Brooks Brothers suit while canvassing the liquor stores in the South Bronx, where the product and the clerks worked behind thick bullet-proof Plexiglas. How it was that he was never mugged and robbed he thinks may be explained by the fact that as a man who was apparently Irish, wearing such mufti, must have suggested to the street thugs that he was a plain-clothes policeman or perhaps a Mafioso. They didn’t dare touch him.

After he left Victori, Adam needed time to work out what direction his career would take next, so he worked as a waiter at well-known New York City restaurants such as La Petite Ferme, Tavern on the Green, and Bruxelles. However, by 1992 he realized that he really wanted to make a career in the production end of the wine trade, so he went to California and earned an MS in Enology with a concentration in sensory science from UC Davis in 1996. His Master’s Thesis was a cork quality-control manual.*

While studying for his MS, he applied for an internship to work at the Château Lafite, the great Premier Cru vineyard and winery in Bordeaux. At the time, Lafite had an agreement with the Agricultural School at Davis to take on one intern a year to work for the harvest season. To get in he went on a “charm offensive, in which I overcame myself.”

While there for the ’95 harvest, he was assigned to perform the task of pumpovers (or remontage) in Frenchin the fermentation vats. (As that kind of work wasn’t deemed suitable for women, female interns were assigned to the lab.) Thirty-five days of this work, without a break, left his hands became so deeply stained that months later the stains still showed, for they couldn’t just be washed away. He also served as an intern at Trefethen Winery, a comparatively small enterprise, where he got to do everything—a real hands-on experience.

Post-graduation, Adam then spent two years working for Franciscan Estate in Napa. It was a very large operation, and in such an operation winemakers don’t exactly get to work hands-on. Rather, it is a large-scale commercial, computerized affair, a kind of agricultural factory. The labor costs for such a vast operation would simply be too high and it can be a challenge to maintain consistent quality, though it’s possible to be managed even when the production is greater than 100,000 cases a year. Given all that, Adam says, “My point isn’t that they can’t make high quality wines, which Franciscan did and still does, rather that there is less of a connection between the winemaker, vineyard and the winery cellar than there is in a hands-on small winery like Osprey’s Dominion.”

He returned East in ’98 and worked as winemaker at Gristina Vineyards, in Long Island until 2001. As he explained, “At Gristina I felt it necessary to deconstruct California winemaking because in New York State full grape maturity happens at lower sugar levels due to climatic factors.”

When he arrived in Long Island it was just in time to see the great transition in viticulture that was taking place. As he puts it: “Old School practices were: no irrigation, no deer fence, no leaf removal, no crop thinning, no spray after the nets went on, earlier harvest, widespread virus and trunk disease in some plantings and inadequate vine maintenance due to cost cutting.” Furthermore, they often harvested before the grapes were fully mature.

It took a realignment of the industry that began “in the early aughts”, as the vineyard owners came to understand the need to bring about the changes that had to take place in standard practice: Leaf removal, green harvesting to thin the crop, reduced use of inputs—especially the high-impact versions—ending their use weeks before the harvest to eliminate toxicity on the fruit before harvest, and allowing longer hang time for the fruit to achieve full mature if possible, weather and climate permitting. (This meant that sometimes the fruit would hang in temperatures as low as 51°F, the point at which ripening would slow down and nearly stop.)

Again, in Adam’s words, “The philosophy is to do the ‘right thing’ vis-a-vis the environment, to be a steward of the land in order to perpetuate its use for generations to come.” However, he goes on to say, “The New School [of viticulture] is the opposite of Old School plus widespread planting or replanting of vineyards with better grape clonal selections/varieties, and higher density plantings. [In other words,] the New School means higher inputs because of more hand labor to remove leaves to thin the crop; more vines per acre equals more rows to spray per acre, more deer fence, etc. The irony is that the Old School was actually more sustainable than now because there were less inputs because of lower planting density, less frequent sprays, etc. Now there is an industry-wide focus on high quality, which can only be achieved with more inputs, not less.”

Weather and climate have always been a challenge along the Eastern seaboard, what with storms and hurricanes, high humidity, and a general unpredictability of weather. (Indeed, Adam points out that the hardest climate for viticulture in America is East of the Mississippi.) In October of 2005, for example, the Merlot was just ripe and ready to be picked. Fortunately, there was just enough warning from weather reports to call in crews to take in the grapes, and they managed to pick 80% of the fruit before one week straight of rain arrived, dropping over 15 inches. After the rain we lost between 30-60 percent of the grapes not picked such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. In 2011, a hurricane hit LI in late August, again resulting in very difficult conditions, such that some vineyards lost a great deal of fruit—California certainly doesn’t have this problem.

With respect to sustainable farming, Adam wrote this in an e-mail:

“Osprey has been a pioneer since 2002 in incorporating green practices into our farm and winery operations. These include:

Biodiesel – We began using 100% Biodiesel in 2004 or 2005 and continue to use it but as a blend of 20% Biodiesel with 80% diesel.
Wind Energy – We were approved for a LIPA pilot wind project in 2003 but could not get zoning approval. Eventually the politics and the zoning regulations at the Town changed and we erected a wind generator in 2011.
Nitrogen Fertilizer – We began using pelletized chicken manure in 2005 to supplement our conventional fertilizers. We also produce nitrogen from our cover crop rotation of clover which captures nitrogen from the air and turn it into plant-available nitrogen. This reduces our total need for nitrogen fertilizer.
Pesticides – Our spray program utilizes between 35-45 percent organic materials. The remainder are classified as “reduced risk” or are not “restricted use” pesticides
Alternative Transportation – I am an avid cyclist and regularly bike commute to work 2-3 times a week.”

As indicated in Adam’s list, true sustainability is more than just the reduction of toxic inputs to the vineyard. The carbon footprint of the machinery used in the field is of major concern, so Osprey’s Dominion was an early adopter of bio-diesel fuel (1. above), which is made from vegetative matter. It turned out, however, that the fuel was rather gummy and began clogging the fuel lines, leading to expensive maintenance of the equipment. They now use B20 fuel, which has a 20% biological component—not as ecologically friendly, but a necessary compromise if the equipment was to function effectively.

According to Adam, from a holistic point of view, “True sustainability is where we need to go.” But for him, the term “sustainable” is terribly plastic and can be used to mean almost anything. As he says, “Sustainable is too broadly defined; for example, the use of fossil fuel is not sustainable, yet is allowed under the program.” Hence a certain skepticism on his part about the Long Island Sustainable Winegrowing program, so he isn’t yet ready to commit to involvement in the LISW. But, he points out, “I have not read the LISW plan so I am not directly commenting on their manifesto but my knowledge of sustainable programs in other wine regions.” For him, what is lacking in other programs includes:

Requiring suppliers to be sustainable as well
Employees/owners incorporating sustainability into their lifestyles
Paying a sustainable living wage to all farm employees

With respect to participation in the LISW project, Adam is taking a wait-and-see position. As far as he’s concerned Osprey’s already qualifies as a sustainable operation given its long commitment to sustainable and organic practices. He’s not sure that the certification will mean that much or be worth the trouble.

Apart from the issue of the meaning of “sustainability”, also troubling to him is the overzealous use of the term “organic.” Given that even factory farms claim that their produce is “organic” it raises the question of just what it means when they use it.

However, the reality is that one of the most effective controls for some infestations, such as mildew, is copper, a toxic metal to which eventual resistance is not possible. Less toxic to the general environment is mined copper as opposed to the industrial product. However, it should be borne in mind that organic copper has same toxicity as non-organic. Its use is allowed in sustainable, organic, and even biodynamic agriculture and it is nearly impossible to avoid applying it in all aspects of agriculture, including home gardening, given its irreplaceable long-term effectiveness.

Osprey’s vines are typically planted in rows 9 feet apart with 4 to 10-foot spacing between the vines. They rotate cover crops every three to five years, alternating between fescue and clover. Since 2004 they’ve also been using pelletized chicken manure from Maryland. They prefer to use organic inputs but when necessary will resort to industrial ones.

When he joined Osprey’s Dominion as winemaker in 2001, he at first worked with Tom Stevenson, whom he regards as one of the finest vineyard managers he’d ever known. When Tom retired so that he could spend more time with his family, Wojtek Majeski took over the vineyard, and the two of them now have an excellent, even symbiotic relationship, for Adam walks the vineyard nearly as much as does Wojtek, conferring with him on when to spray, when to green harvest, how much the foliage should be cut back, and especially, as harvest time nears, when to pick the fruit. It was during Adam’s walks in the vineyard that, over time, he discovered that one of the worst pests is the common raccoon, which comes into the vineyard as the grapes are ripening. The animals don’t just go after the low-hanging fruit, for they are capable of climbing the vines. Bird nets, to ward off avian grape predators, are no impediment to the raccoon, which can easily rip them open to get at the grapes. These creatures can only be control by the use of traps.

Adam and Tom Stevenson worked to incorporate greener growing practices. Wojtek has continued on the path that Tom and he started. From the beginning of Adam and Wojtek’s relationship they worked closely together to maintain the sustainability standards of the vineyard.

For example, Osprey’s was among the very first vineyards to use pheromone ties to help control one of the scourges of a vineyard, the Grape Berry Moth (GBM). (Adam explains that “pheromones are mating disruptors, which can only be effective if there is industry-wide application in the vineyard as part of an IPM program supported by the Cornell Extension Program.) But these are expensive, especially given the amount of labor needed to tie the bait in the vicinity of the vines. However, it eliminates spraying insecticide and is therefore a truly sustainable practice. A less costly alternative to the ties is the use of BT, or Bacillus thuringiensis, a rudimentary neurotoxin that is an effective biological pest control, but the moth can and will eventually develop resistance to it. Thus, “We currently control Grape Berry Moth using organic insecticides. An industry-wide program to use pheromone disruption could theoretically negate the need for any insecticide use.”

GBM have been a growing problem since 2007, and the only way to effectively control them is with pheromone ties, which are expensive. The vines need continual scouting since the moths produce several generations in the span of a growing season. In other words, calendric spraying doesn’t work under these circumstances. One consequence of the moth problem has been an increase in botrytis due to the nature of the damage made by them.

What is further needed, then, is a trapping and monitoring system with support and help from the Cornell Agricultural Program. Vineyards can’t afford to deal with this on their own.

So Adam sees himself as an “extra set of eyes and knowledge base; Wjotek and I confer on important vineyard decisions to utilize our over 50 years of combined experience growing grapes. [We] are continuing the work that was largely implemented by Tom Stevenson (who retired from Osprey’s and now owns and operates a no-spray, naturally-grown berry farm in Orient, NY, called Oysterponds Farm).”

Some of Osprey’s property was originally part of Alan Barr’s Le Rêve vineyard. When it was first planted with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the 1980s, the rows were 9 feet apart and the vines were at 8-foot intervals in the rows, with posts set 6 feet high. However, in terms of solar exposure the ideal height should be equal to the width of the rows, or a one-to-one ratio. Consequently, in 2000, trellis extenders were added (see picture above) so that the post heights are now 7 ½ feet, and hedging the foliage at the top wire means that the vine heights are now 8 ½ feet, nearly the ideal ratio and means that the more northerly rows are still not shaded until the late summer sunsets. In other words, the height was increased to maximize sunlight capture by the vines, theoretically leading to better quality. The difference may not huge but it might be enough to capture that elusive last 5-10% of maximum quality potential.

100% of the original La Rêve vines were replanted by us between 2003-2007.

The Le Rêve Chardonnay vines were not clonally selected, or as Adam put it, they were the “give me anything” clones. Since Osprey’s purchased the property additional Chardonnay plantings were done using Davis clone 4 and Dijon 95. Although most of the original Pinot Noir vines were pulled to make way for other red varieties, there are still 1 ¾ acres left, made up of four different clones, but the winery only makes red wine in warm years. If, by the third week in September the Pinot has reached 22º Brix then it is made as a red wine; if it only reaches 19º, then it will become a sparkling wine.

There are three acres of Gewürztraminer and an additional three of Carmenere, the latter having been made into a varietal for the first time on Long Island. There is also some Petite Verdot, as well as one hundred vines of Tannat (a red variety native to SW France and widely planted in Uruguay) that are being grown as an experiment.

Adam also has his own wine label, Coffee Pot Cellars, which he started in 2008, since, he said, “I thrive on challenge.” He buys the fruit from Osprey’s, while his Chardonnay comes from Sam McCullough’s vineyard; the wine is made at Osprey’s. Coffee Pot is an “in-the-know” kind of brand. About 750 cases per year are currently being produced and are divided among four wines, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, and a Meritage blend. Regardless of whatever comes in the future, as far as Adam is concerned, he will always have a relationship with Osprey’s Dominion.

Bud Koehler, Bill Tyree, owners, and Adam. Photo from Adam’s FB page

Indeed, according to the Osprey’s website, Bud “praises his winemaker, Adam Suprenant, and vineyard manager, Wojtek Majewski, for producing quality wines. A recent success was the 2007 Reserve Merlot, which was named best Merlot at the 2011 New York Wine and Food Classic.” As a matter of fact, in 2010 Wine Spectator gave the 2007 Merlot a high mark, 90 and described it thus:

This red is balanced and dense, with ripe plum and black cherry framed by smoke and mineral notes. Sleek, focused and expressive.

Also, the 2009 Pinot Noir was named the “Best Pinot Noir” at the 2012 New York Food and Wine Classic competition. In fact, the awards list is a pretty long one. After all, they grow thirteen varieties and make twenty-three different wines. Visit the website and see for yourself.

44075 Main Rd. • Peconic Long Island, NY 11958 • Toll Free: (888) 295-6188 • Local: (631) 765-6188 • Fax: (631) 765-1903

http://www.ospreysdominion.com/

Viniculture in LI, Part III: Channing Daughters Winery

Channing Daughters Winery, in Bridgehampton, founded in 1996 by Larry Perrine—soil scientist and oenologist—and Walter Channing—venture capital executive and gifted wood carver—is one of three Hamptons AVA wineries; the others are Wölffer Estate, in Sagaponack and Duckwalk Vineyards in Watermill. In 2012 Channing Daughters was one of the four founding vineyards of Long Island Sustainable Winegrowing, Inc. (LISW), offering the first independently-assessed certificate for sustainable viniculture in the East. As of 2016 it has grown to 17 members.

There are a total of 73 producers and wine brands in Long Island, most of them located on the North Fork, a separate Long Island AVA. Of all of them, Channing stands apart from all the rest by its choice to produce wine from varieties that almost no one else on Long Island, let alone the United States, have planted or made into wine. These include Muscat Ottonel, Malvasia, and Tocai Friulano among the white varieties, and Blaufränkisch, Dornfelder, Refosco, Teroldego, and Lagrein among the reds. There are, of course the more usual grapes—Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Viognier, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir, often sourced from other properties, particularly Mudd Vineyards. Its wines may bear The Hamptons, Long Island, North Fork of Long Island or Long Island AVA. French, American, Hungarian, and Slovenian oak barrels are used to age many of their wines, while many see only stainless steel. In other words, there is nothing standard about what they do at this winery. From all of this one can divine that Channing Daughters is fond of experimentation. Thus, in the very capable—let’s say gifted—hands of winemaker Christopher Tracy, Channing Daughters makes unique blends and varietal bottlings, a total of thirty in all.

Larry Perrine (rhymes with terrine), was a consultant when he and Walter Channing founded the winery. He became its founding winemaker and partner with Walter Channing, and is now CEO of the enterprise. He heads the team that actively runs the winery. These include not only winemaker/partner Christopher Tracy, but also partner/general manager Allison Dubin, vineyard manager Abel Lopez, Jacqui Perrine, Anthony Persico and Debbie Huneken.

Larry, born in 1951, grew up in Southern California, but by the time he graduated from high school he was ready to peregrinate. While still in California he earned a BA in English and thought to teach, but it turned out that the California school system at the time was retiring teachers faster than it was hiring them. In the meantime he took jobs in wine shops and took to gardening, which he liked so much that he decided that it would be very nice to make money doing it. Hence his decision to go back to college and major in soil science at California State Polytechnic University. Studying soil science wasn’t exactly the same thing as earning an agronomy degree, which is really about how to farm. Soil science involves hard-core chemistry courses and two years of Calculus, among other things. He did so well that his professors urged him to go on to graduate school. Three schools offered him positions, including the University of California at Davis, Cornell University, and the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities. As Minnesota was the only agricultural school located in an urban setting and Larry had always wanted the experience of living in a city, he chose Minnesota. It was a good choice for him, as it turned out. He studied advanced soil science and microbiology. As part of his studies he worked on soybeans and their nitrogen-fixing capacity (a trait shared with other legumes and even the locust tree).

While living in Minnesota in the late 1970s, Larry came upon a small Minnesota winery that was pioneering cold-climate viticulture and worked a few harvests with them. Another grower, Elmer Swenson, was busy breeding his own cold-hardy grape varieties, setting the stage for what would become a formal University of Minnesota grape-breeding program. Eventually it developed into today’s well-respected grape-breeding, viticulture and winemaking program for new hybrids able to withstand the very cold Midwestern winters.

Early in Larry’s life, while still in California, his partner at the time (she later became his wife) turned him on to wine in a serious way, as a result of trips to Europe. Nevertheless, his work in soybeans and agricultural development led him to involvement with local food cooperatives which in turn resulted in his becoming engaged in politics—food politics, with all that that entailed, including working on political campaigns, raising money, and helping to elect progressive politicians. He did this for three years, after which he wanted to return to work in agriculture.

It was a New York Times article published around 1980 about the rise of quality wines in the Finger Lakes that persuaded Larry that he should move to upstate New York to return to agriculture. So began Larry’s stint at a Finger Lakes winery and vineyard on Keuka Lake with a grand stone house in Greek Revival style that was, sadly, in very run-down condition. It turned out that the wine operation was in the same shape. There was no wine lab, despite the fact that all the equipment for one had been purchased years before and was left lying around. It was, in Larry’s words, “a macabre operation.” He was hired to install the lab with the available equipment—a job for which he was well-suited, given his work as a research scientist. Dana Keeler, a protégé of Hermann Wiemer, had been recently hired as a winemaking consultant and he and Larry went through the cellar to determine which wines were salvageable and which were not. It was a good way to learn about wine faults.

In 1983 Larry was admitted to the Food Science and Technology graduate program at Cornell’s New York State Agriculture Experiment Station at Geneva in the Finger Lakes. He did his Masters program from 1983-85, working on viticulture issues on Long Island. After Cornell, Larry moved to Long Island and worked for the Mudd family, viticulture pioneers on Long Island, during 1985-86. This led to his getting a job at the Long Island Horticulture Research and Extension Center in Riverhead as a Research Associate in viticulture, working with the viticulture team at the NYSAES/Geneva, which included Robert Pool, Tom Burr, Roger Pearson, Bruce Reisch and Alan Lakso. Larry worked as a viticulture researcher for three years focusing on bird control and Botrytis bunch rot management. His tenure as a Cornell viticulture researcher overlapped with the arrival of Alice Wise, the new Fruit Extension agent (which, of course, included grapes). When Larry left Cornell in 1988, Alice Wise took over a newly-consolidated viticulture position working for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County as the grape research and extension specialist, a position she still holds today.

He then went on to work at Gristina Vineyards in the fall of 1988, so that he participated in its first vintage. He stayed with Gristina as winemaker and general manager for six years, but left in early 1994 to pursue his expanding viticulture consulting career. Larry became a consultant to more than twenty wineries and vineyards in New York State (including Long Island), Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Michigan, for five years.

In 1995 he met Walter Channing, who was looking for a consultant to advise him on improving his vineyard property he’d started planting in 1982. Tom Drozd, then winemaker at Palmer Vineyards, told Larry about Channing’s search and put them in touch. So, in 1995, Larry—who had an attorney friend staying with him at the time—went with his friend to meet Walter at his farm. Walter and Larry immediately connected with one another. The lawyer then suggested that they formalize a contractual relationship between them. Within the span of a year Larry went from being a consultant to helping Walter found Channing Daughters Winery in 1996 (a reference to his four daughters), becoming its winemaker and a business partner.

Walter started with a one-acre vineyard planting on his farm in 1982, planted 3 acres of Merlot in 1987, and an additional eight acres of Chardonnay vines in 1991. There is now a total of 28 acres planted to wine grapes. About 60 acres of farmland (including the vineyards) are permanently protected through a conservation easement held by the Peconic Land Trust. Channing Daughters Winery has grown into a 12,000 case winery from 1996 to the present.

About Vineyards

The cover crops between rows include a mix of fescue, clover, and rye, and during the growing season these are always kept mowed.

The first wine grapes of the modern era were planted on the east end of Long Island in 1973, and the industry is celebrating its 40^th anniversary this year. Basic planting decisions include vine spacing. Vine spacing on Long Island is various, but most of the earliest plantings from the 1970s-1980s were planted 9’ X 8’ (9 feet between rows and 8 feet between vines within a row). That was the initial recommendation coming from Cornell and was the typical Concord vine spacing. Over the last 20 years, most new planting are spaced more closely—commonly 8’ between rows and 4-5’ between vines within a row.

As an academic in the 1980s, Larry used to wake up at night pondering the prevailing theories of “vine competition” and the notion that close vine spacing stresses vines, leading to better fruit quality. Did vines really compete with each other, thereby reducing vine vigor and promoting fruit ripening? In Bordeaux, for example, vines have traditionally been planted as close as 1 meter by 1 meter, producing modest-sized vines, good yields and ripe fruit (depending on the vintage). The traditional popular notion, even in Bordeaux, at the time was that the close spacing produced smaller vines and riper fruit.

It even reached the New World. Opus One, the famous collaboration between Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild, planted its vines according to the spacing that was used at Mouton-Rothschild in Paulliac, a commune of Bordeaux—1 meter by 2 meters. The result in the fertile and fairly deep Bale Loam soils (up to 48” rooting depth) was a jungle in the Napa vineyard. Too much vigor, thus too much growth. The close spacing that is de rigueur in Bordeaux is not as practical in the flatter and richer soils of parts of Napa Valley.

Busting a Myth: The Theory of Vine Spacing and Competition

When visiting Bordeaux Larry once asked Gerard Seguin, a soil scientist who worked at the INRA (Institut National de Recherche Agricole) about the question of planting density in the region and he replied that the vines were planted closely in order to fill the trellis due to the rather low vigor soils in much of Bordeaux. Not to devigorate the vines. In other words, high vine density has less to do with stressing the vines to improve the resulting fruit. It has more to do with filling the trellis and keeping yields up on less vigorous soils. So the theory of vine competition appears to be a myth, though a very-well entrenched one. Another point to bear in mind is that in Bordeaux as well as in other traditional vine regions in France as well as much of the rest of Europe, close planting also reflects the fact that when vineyards were first planted centuries ago there were no machines, which require wider rows; a person, a horse, an ox, could easily pass along closely-spaced rows.

Larry also explained something about vine canes. A cane is a series of buds on a hardened off shoot that grew last year. These buds produce new shoots upon budbreak. In wide vine spacing (8’ between vines) if there is a four-foot cane (fairly long), for example, you’d find that the vine will, physiologically, provide more nourishment to the proximal and distal buds on the canes, leaving the middle ones less nourished and less likely to produce fruitful shoots. In this case it would be better, then, to have a second two-foot cane and let them overlap the center of a 4 ft cane from the same vine, so that one has a double cane for a short distance and the entire length of the trellis is filled. With two-foot canes one has, in effect, eliminated the middle buds. As Larry points out, overlapping canes is a growers’ technique that is not found in textbooks. However, with closer spacing between vines, this issue is mitigated.

Early Variety/Clone and Rootstock Work on Long Island

In 1977 a non-replicated varietal grape planting was installed at the LIHREC in Riverhead. That planting was subsequently replaced in 1982 by a replicated wine grape varietal/rootstock experiment known as the Dyson Trial . The focus was on Riesling and Chardonnay, two vinifera varieties that had been grafted to six separate American rootstocks. Additional varieties were also included. The Dyson Trial was also undertaken in three other viticultural areas of the State—the Hudson Valley, the Finger Lakes and Lake Erie. Over a lifetime of at least a decade, these trials singled out specific rootstocks as preferred because they produced smaller vines and promoted earlier fruit ripening.

According to Larry, “In the early 1990s, there emerged an interest in evaluating the performance of different ‘clones’ or sub-types of commercially important wine grape varieties on Long Island. This led to the planting of a new experimental vineyard at the Riverhead station by Alice Wise and Libby Tarleton. The focus was primarily on Chardonnay and Merlot, but also included numerous other varieties. This clonal and varietal evaluation trial is still yielding results as it gradually evolves to eliminate some varieties.

“This ongoing trial on Long Island is an outgrowth of work done in Burgundy in the 1950s and ‘60s by Raymond Bernard, a research viticulturist in Dijon, Burgundy. His group discovered then that there were many types and subtypes of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in Burgundy. These different ‘clones’ produced different aromatics, cluster sizes, levels of acidity, and amount of fruit sugar.

“New grape vines are produced by selecting dormant cuttings or ‘budwood’ from a known planting of a specific grape variety. New vines are ‘cloned’ from ‘mother vines’ to keep the genes identical and the varieties ‘true’. Seeds are not saved as they, if planted, would not produce the same grape variety.

“Traditionally, vineyard managers used mass selection (an arbitrary harvest of budwood from of a varietal planting) of cuttings to produce new, baby vines. These cutting were then grafted to resistant rootstock.

“However, Raymond Bernard, who was asked by his industry to determine why the region’s vineyards were in long-term decline (it turned out to be caused by grape viruses), saw differences in the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines that had been newly planted. He not only helped ‘clean-up’ Burgundy’s new vine supply system, he also began identifying and selecting what he saw as clear subtypes or ‘clones’ with the most desirable wine characteristics for different conditions and terroirs. (Some clones, for example, were unsuitable for Burgundy but would fare well in Champagne—a much cooler region with a shorter growing season, thus needing the right amount of acidity at harvest.)

“Finally, in the 1980s, New World viticulturists became interested in these sparingly available Old World clones. Initial imports of the clonal cuttings ended up spending years in quarantine upon arrival in the United States until they could be certified virus-free and safe to plant in American soil by the UC Davis Plant Material Services program. Over time agreements were made that facilitated the import of the clones and by the mid-‘80s, numerically identified clones of were being offered for sale by American vine nurseries.

“For example, Channing Daughters has a block of 8 ½ acres planted to ten different Chardonnay clones, including Burgundy clones 95, 96, and 76. One of the advantages of using many clones is genetic diversity and potential wine complexity. The clones that are in the field have been selected for their wine quality, and include not only the three Burgundy clones, but clones identified in California (e.g., at UC Davis), and there is also a Muscat clone of Chardonnay with distinctive flavors and quite aromatic. Chardonnay Daughters makes a field blend out of the mixed clonal plantings and calls it Clones.”

[End of Perrine interviews]

Christopher Tracy, the winemaker, is proudly non-ideological in his approach, and will make some wines with wild yeasts, others with inoculated ones. Some wines are filtered, others not. Everything depends on what he perceives to be the best way to work with a particular batch of juice. Varieties can differ widely in what kinds of treatment they will best respond to. In consequence of making so many different wines—often only differentiated on the label by a vineyard name—it’s very evident that the philosophy of this winery is strongly terroir-oriented. It also means that all the wines are made in relatively small batches. Since production of each wine is small, there is a likelihood that they will sell out sooner than later.

On the other hand, Christopher is very firm about his preference for corks over screwcaps. It has to do with a strong romantic streak in him—a love of the process of extracting the cork and hearing that satisfying ‘pop’ as the cork comes out. He’s convinced that cork taint has been largely—though not entirely—vanquished, thanks to new technology and treatment of raw cork, which one must remember is the product of the bark of a living tree.

The winery website describes Clones as:

“a barrel-fermented chardonnay with a skin-fermented twist! Clones is an exotic white blend that is based primarily on ten distinct clones of Chardonnay and also includes three other grape varieties. The 2010 version is composed of 89% Chardonnay, 8% Gewürztraminer, 2% Tocai Friulano and 1% Pinot Grigio. The wine was fermented and raised in Slovenian and French oak (7 hogsheads and 3 barrels) of which 11% were new and 89% were neutral (17 months in barrel). All of the wine was fermented with ambient/wild yeast and went through a ‘natural’ secondary or malo-lactic fermentation.”

Some Other Channing Daughters Wines

A selection of some other interesting wines in the Channing portfolio includes the following (with the descriptions taken from their Website):

2010 Due Uve “Due Uve from 2010 which is just a fabulous red wine vintage to boot. Here is a new vintage, a new blend (more Syrah), and a new experience. Our 2010 Due Uve (two grapes) is a blend of 84% Syrah and 16% Merlot. The Syrah comes from the Mudd West vineyard in Hallocksville and the Merlot comes from Sam’s Vineyard in Aquebogue. All the fruit was hand-harvested, de-stemmed into one ton bins, stomped on by foot, punched down by hand and fermented with naturally occurring wild yeast. After primary fermentation the wine was racked to all old neutral barrels, where it spent sixteen months before being gravity bottled without fining or filtration.”

2007 MUDD “The 2007 Vintage, along with 2005 and now 2010, is considered one of the best growing seasons for ripening red grapes on the East End of Long Island, ever. We believe our 2007 MUDD is a scrumptious reflection of that great 2007 vintage. Not only is it delicious now, but because it is just a baby, it will improve in the bottle for at least six to eight years and drink well for a solid dozen! Our 2007 MUDD is composed of 60% Merlot, 21% Syrah, 9% Dornfelder, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Blaufränkisch. All the fruit was hand-harvested on the North Fork and de-stemmed into small one ton bins where it was stomped on by foot and punched down by hand. After primary fermentation, the wine was racked to a variety of barrels, hogsheads and puncheons (42% new oak, 23% 1yr old, 16% 2yr old, 16% 3yr old and 3% 4yr old) where it spent twenty-three months before being bottled by gravity without fining or filtration on September 22nd 2009.”

2010 Mosaico “Mosaico is an exotic field blend that comes from a complanted block in our Sylvanus vineyard on our estate in Bridgehampton. Our 2010 Mosaico was fermented with naturally occurring ambient yeast and is composed of 32% Pinot Grigio, 29% Chardonnay, 14% Sauvignon Blanc, 10% Muscat Ottonel, 7% Tocai Friulano and 8% Gewürztraminer. This is a dry white wine where all the varieties were grown, harvested, pressed and fermented together in a stainless steel tank (86%) and a new French oak puncheon (14%). All the fruit was hand-picked and whole cluster-pressed, except for the Muscat and Gewürztraminer which were fermented on their skins and blended back in. . . . All the fruit was hand-picked and whole cluster-pressed, except for the Muscat and Gewürztraminer which were fermented on their skins and blended back in. . . . The 2010 Mosaico spent a year on its lees and was bottled by gravity on September 13, 2011. . . .”

As one can see from the description above, each wine, including the single-varietals, has some judicious blending to add complexity and balance, making the wines even more interesting. (The notes are very technical, testifying to the seriousness of the winery.) Channing also makes eight different rosés, each distinguished by choice of varieties and vineyards—for Channing believes in terroir and seek to express it in each of their wines. There are no wines made like this anywhere else—but then, it could be argued that each and every winemaker and every winery take pride in making wines distinct from all others. That, of course, is what making wine is about. And that leaves us, the consumer, with thousands of choices, thirty of which come from Channing Daughters.

There is one other thing that distinguishes Channing Daughters winery from all others, and that is the charming and witty sculpture by Walter that is seeded in the vineyard and public spaces. To wit (pun intended):

This carving, made from a tree stump, adorns the area around the winery.

And this one greets a visitor to the tasting room. How can one not like a winery like this?

Sadly, Walter Channing shall carve no more, for he died on March 12, 2015, after a long illness.

Patrick Mata of Olé Imports and a Tasting of Rare Riojas

Olé Imports/Peninsula Wines

Interview with Patrick Mata, 1 May 2012

Olé, a word heard in the bullrings of Spain and meaning roughly the same as “bravo,” is a shout of approval, and thus an apt name for this young importing firm, founded in 1999, and which has been receiving accolades from critics like Robert Parker and the hard-to-please “Wine Curmudgeon” (see quotations from both, below). The company was founded by two men then in their twenties, Patrick Mata and Alberto Orte, starting with three bottles of wine.

Patrick’s father was a malagueño, his mother Belgian. Patrick was born in Málaga in 1978, but his father’s family came originally from the town of La Mata, Soria in N. Spain but his great grandfather moved to Andalucía, taking with him the surname Mata, after the town. A winery was established by him in Málaga, where in addition to Malaga wine, Rioja, Priorato and Jerez wines were produced, under the name of Compañía Mata. Their wines were sold in Spain and abroad, including Russia, Switzerland, Germany, the U.S., and Cuba.

When José Mata, the grandfather, died in the late 1960’s all the family-owned wineries were sold. Patrick’s father had worked in the wine trade for six years, but once the wineries were sold he went into the real state development business. Meanwhile, Patrick remains fascinated by his family history and its involvement in the wine business. He’s been seeking Mata wines and found an 1816 Málaga sweet wine (rather like Madeira in style), but the owner wanted $32,000 for it.

He studied at the University of Madrid at the Escorial and it was there that he met Alberto, whose family had also been in the business of wine.

Alberto, Patrick’s partner in Olé Imports, is a madrileño and, like Patrick, attended the University of Madrid, where they met. Alberto studied Law and Patrick business afterwards formed a partnership and started an advertising company by the name Olé Marketing, in Madrid, which would be the foundation later to the wine company Olé Imports. At 19 years of age, Patrick went to Miami to attend the University of St. Thomas, while in college; Patrick audited a wine class at Florida International University (FIU). He ended up taking a one-semester course with Chip Cassidy on the subject of the distribution of wine and spirits in the US. Patrick called Alberto in Madrid to tell him that he needed some wines for Prof. Cassidy to taste, so he was sent three bottles, including a sweet Montilla. He met Cassidy—who in addition to being on the faculty of FIU was also a buyer for twenty-five wine shops—on a Saturday at 10:00, along with some of his distributors. Upon tasting the wines one distributor, Carlos García of Iberia Wines, ordered 400 cases. He wanted to then place a second order after the first one had sold out, and at this point Alberto had to seek out other wines to export.

After graduating, Patrick moved to New York and, after six months searching for a distributor, Martin Scott Wines was recommended, so he signed a distribution agreement with that firm. He also traveled to Connecticut, Vermont, Ohio, Rhode Island, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, to drum up business for the wines that Olé was offering.

By 2006 Alberto, staying behind in Spain, decided to enrolled in the master program of Oenology and Viticulture at the Politecnic University of Madrid. He then went on to start making wine—not found in the US—in different regions throughout Spain. A Rioja wine priced under $10 and a Priorat wine at $15 are two examples of 25 different wines that Alberto is now handling and distributing throughout Spain and now in the United States.

Olé now has 150 different Spanish wines in its portfolio, including the 25 created and made by Alberto. The style of wines that they make and sell are of relatively low extraction. Many wines are aged in concrete tanks which, like oak, actually breath, impart no wood characteristics, and are inexpensive by comparison with wood barrels. Furthermore, Alberto also rescues varieties that have on occasion been on the verge of extinction, such as the mere six hectares (about 15 acres) of Tintilla de Rota in the DO region of Cádiz, in southwestern Andalucía. He is perhaps the only person to be making dry red wine from this variety.

Olé presently distributes its wines in forty-three States. In addition, they have also created a new portfolio category, Peninsula, which includes many more boutique wineries than those by Alberto. It is a more special vehicle for wines that are not known even in Spain, perhaps barely in their own regions. Furthermore, the demand for the overall range of wines that Olé offers comes from ten countries so far, including Japan, Germany, Italy, as well as other countries, including the USA.

A prize for the best Spanish wine firm was awarded on May 9, 2012 in Madrid: among the finalists were Torres, the Catalan wine producer that helped revolutionize the production of wine in Spain; Marqués de Cáceres, a Rioja producer that changed the way that Rioja wines are marketed and perceived outside of Spain; and Olé Imports, by far the youngest firm among them.

Wine Tasting at Instituto Cervantes, New York City, 15 October 2012

A wine tasting for the trade was held at the Instituto Cervantes and included not only the regular portfolio of Peninsula Wines but also ten rare Rioja wines that were part of a collection called El Panteón del Vino—The Pantheon of Wine—that came from a renowned restaurant, Los Tamarises, in Getxo, just north of Bilbao. Four generations of the Lazcano family, owners of the restaurant, have assembled these wines over the years. The Pantheon wines have been stored in the underground cellar of Los Tamarises since 1930 onwards. When the restaurant closed earlier this year, its collection was sold at auction. It included many vintages of the fabulous and legendary Vega Sicilia, in Ribera del Duero, all of which were purchased by the owner of the winery for its library. The Rioja wines were nearly ignored by comparison, so that Patrick’s partner, Alberto, was able to successfully bid for them. Among the treasures that were part of the collection of Riojas was a single bottle of 1881 Marqués de Riscal Reserva—it can be had for about $1,440 retail. Other wines included a 1926 Marqués de Riscal Reserva, a 1928 Reserva Especial de Martínez Lacuesta, and so on, with the latest bottles including a Bodegas Federico Paternina Gran Reserva of 1982. Following are the ten wines that were selected for the recent tasting (all having been decanted and then poured from carafes):

Bodegas C.V.N.E. “Imperial” Gran Reserva 1935 – the oldest of the rare Riojas in the tasting, it exhibited the typical color of an old red wine: pale, brownish at the core, not yet oxidized. On the nose it offered terciary aromas of old leather and tobacco, in the mouth it came across as harmonious, with good acidity, well-knit tannins, and moderate alcohol (12%), showing tobacco, wet leather, and spicy notes. This wine was originally created for the English market in the 1920s—bottled as an Imperial pint (500ml) and is now C.V.N.E.’s top wine—today made with a blend dominated by Tempranillo, followed by Mazuelo and Graciano. The blend for the 1935 is not known. I went back to this wine several times over a period of two hours and it continued to hold up with no hint of fading. It is interesting to note that this was from the last vintage before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War—a very good vintage, in fact. A long finish as well for a remarkable wine. It turned out to be my favorite of the tasting, a sentiment concurred in by several other tasters. (The grapes come from old vines in the Rioja Alta, the region that produces the most elegant wines.)
Marqués de Riscal Reserva 1945 – its color was a bit deeper than the 1935, mature, giving out terciary aromas with a balsamic character that suggested aged Cabernet Sauvignon, which in fact was the result of the 70% domination of that grape in the blend, which also included Tempranillo, Graciano, and possible even some Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Viura. That would be a remarkable blend, and it is the 1945 that has the most dominant Cabernet Sauvignon of any vintage of Riscal. In the mouth it offered aged balsamic, wet leather, and hints of tobacco and cedar, medium-bodied. It had been aged for 48 months in barrel. A very fine old wine. (The Cabernet, by the way, was planted at the time of the founding of Riscal in 1858, as it was then conceived as a winery that would be making Bordeaux-style wines.)
Marqués de Riscal Reserva 1952 – its color has a very pale raspberry hue. Its nose was, of course, fully developed, and it also offered aromas of balsamic and rather fruity—old leather is not evident in this one. Like the ’45, it has a large portion of Cabernet (though not as much) in the blend and had the benefit of being of an excellent vintage year in Rioja. It had very good structure which was reflected in the sensations it produced in the mouth—acidity, alcohol, and tannin all harmoniously integrated, with notes of balsamic, leather, vanilla, spice. Very nice indeed.
Bodegas C.V.N.E. Viña Real Reserva Especial 1952 – Not as aromatic as the 1935, more subdued, with some fruit and old leather, fully mature. Medium-bodied, with a good balance of alcohol, acidity, and integrated tannins.Quite lovely.Its grapes come from old vines in the Rioja Alavesa.
Viña Pomal Reserva Especial 1952 – from a winery established in 1908 and renowned for its reserve wines. A very pale brick color, this Reserva seemed closed and tired after a few hours in carafe, so I was disappointed when I tasted it, thinking that it offered little, but apparently it needed nearly six or seven hours of aeration before it really opened up and showed its stuff, according to Patrick. I regret not having been able to taste it at that point myself.
Bodegas C.V.N.E. “Imperial” Cosecha 1955 – – this wine was remarkably like the 1935, which is high praise, and it had the benefit of coming from an exceptional year in Rioja. Pale brick color, with a subdued bouquet, with notes of wet leather, tobacco, spice. In the mouth, medium-bodied, almost sweet. Though 20 years younger than the 1935, it actually offered less length and not so long a finish as the older wine. Still, a really good example of an old vintage.
Viña Pomal Reserva Especial 1955 – Embarrasingly for me, I have no tasting notes for this wine, though I had definitely tried it.
Bodegas C.V.N.E. “Imperial” Cosecha 1956 – its color was a pale, brick red, and on the nose I detected a hint of VA (volatile acidity) which gave it a prick, but it was clearly mature, with leather and tobacco notes. In the mouth it was acidic, but with well-integrated tannins and the mature notes of leather and tobacco with a hint of vanilla. Fragile, I’d say.
Marqués de Riscal Reserva 1960 – by this vintage, Riscal had abandoned its Cabernet and in fact produced a wine that was 100% Tempranillo. A medium-pale reddish-brown, the wine evinced tobacco and vanilla on the nose, but with hints of autumn in the air—a sign that the wine, while still good to drink, was already in decline—not necessarily a bad thing if you like the autumn air. In the mouth, I found it a trifle tired, a bit acidic, but that the tobacco and leather flavor was still in evidence. It came from a good vintage, but it seemed even older than the ’45 Riscal or the ’35 Imperial.
Marqués de Riscal Reserva 1969 – this was a pale brick-red color showing brown hues, but the nose was still fresh yet developed; in the mouth it was balanced, exhibiting subdued tobacco-leaf and vanilla flavors; clearly mature, but the finish was somewhat short.

NOTE: One must always bear in mind that very old wines pose special challenges, such as the condition of the corks, which if not replaced after 15 years or so can turn bad. In fact, none of these wines had been recorked, so the oldest cork went back 77 years. All of the corks broke apart upon opening the bottles, so the wines were decanted through a mesh filter to keep the cork from going into the decanters, but amazingly none of the wines were “corked,” that is, affected by TCA, which spoils the wine. Ullage, or the amount of the air in the bottles, was mostly at the lower neck, with only one at high shoulder, so, as all the corks were intact before being pulled, none of the wines was already oxidized upon being opened. That speaks extremely well of the storage conditions of the restaurant cellar. Old wines can also vary considerably from one bottle to the next.

From the regular portfolio of Peninsula wines that were also available for tasting, the following stood out for me:

Pinyolet Garnacha 2010 (DO Montsant; 100% Garnacha from fifty-year-old vines, dry-farmed and organically grown) – with a $16 suggested retail price, this wine has to be considered a bargain, given its deep ruby color, youthful, aromatic nose loaded with minerals and black fruit; in the mouth well-balanced, with good structure, and plenty of flavor. It was aged for six months in a stainless-steel tank on its lees. It was made by Carles Escolar. Quite special.
Blanc d’Orto 2011 (Village wine of Masroig; DO Rias Baixas) – this wine, a clear, medium lemon-gold color, proffered aromas of tropical fruit with a citrus edge, and was youthful and fresh in the mouth, with good acidity, a medium body, and flavors redolent with tropical fruit and citrus. It had spent seven months in a stainless-steel tank. Made by Joan Arsens for Orto Vins, it is delightful and well worth the suggested price of $43 a bottle.
Leirana Albariño 2011 (DO Rias Baixas) – everything that an Albariño should be, this is. Clear, with a light lime-gold hue, it has a perfumed, racy nose of tropical fruit and lime, and it adumbrates the taste perfectly, with a very tingly finish that is long for a youthful white wine. Raul Perez made this wine for Forjas del Salnes—which you’ve certainly never heard of (nor I), fermenting it with ambient yeast, no malo, and aged in stainless steel. No wonder it tingles. All this for only $37.
DSG Phincas 2009 (DOCa Rioja, Biodynamic® without certification—blended from five parcels) – Its youth is attested by its color: deep ruby with a purple core and narrow pink meniscus; the nose is suffused with primary aromas of black fruit, cedar, and tobacco; in the mouth it has wonderful balance, and flavors mirror aromas, with a rich body and good length. Made of 70% Tempranillo, with 15% Graciano, 10% Garnacha, and 5% Viura (the white grape of Rioja), this blend reflects the ones made back in the first half of the last century. With a long maceration and fermentation on indigenous yeast and fourteen months in French oak, this is a wine definitely to lay down—if not for 77 years, then for at least 7 or longer. David Sampedro Gil (DSG) made this with almost maniacal care. So treat it with TLC.

These wines are, I think, a good representation of the wines in the Peninsula Portfolio, and attests to the exceptional tasting acuities of Patrick and Alberto, and well as their own fanatical devotion to offering really quality wine at a wide range of prices. It’s an amazing achievement for a company that’s only been around for thirteen years. I’m not alone in this assessment, too which I add my own “Olé!”

The Wine Curmudgeon blog, which advocates the Drink Local movement and also makes a point of seeking affordable yet excellent wines has this to say: “Ole Imports . . . not only brings in quality wines, but quality wines that are terrific values. Ole [sic] products are often candidates for the $10 Hall of Fame, and they get terrific reviews — not only here, but from people like Robert Parker. Most importantly, they’re honest wines, tasting like they’re supposed to taste. Mata’s producers make Spanish wines, not Spanish wines made to appeal to U.S. palates.”

He goes on to say, “There are a couple of importers whose wines are so trustworthy that the Wine Curmudgeon will buy them regardless of what’s in the bottle. Kermit Lynch, of course, for French wine, and Ole Imports and Patrick Mata for Spanish wine.” This is exceptionally high praise from the curmudgeonly reviewer (Jeff Siegel), who tends to be a skeptic about many things vinous, particularly when dealing with the mainstream press and mass-market wines.

There are two interviews on this blog of Spanish winemakers whose wines are imported by Olé: The first is with Pablo de Villar, who specializes in wines made from Verdejo; the second is with Tom Puyaubert, who makes wines with a difference in Rioja.

(For Robert Parker’s evaluation of the Peninsula Portfolio of 2005, for example, please read Parker Press on Ole Imports, July 2005.)

In fact, the Olé Website greets its visitors with the heading that you see below:

1- Very old vines trained ‘en vaso’—from the Olé Website

Below the image Patrick has written a footnote: “My dear friend and partner Alberto Orte and I have searched the Spanish peninsula for wines that share four fundamental elements: terroir, quality fruit, exceptional winemaking, and last but not least, wines that present an exceptional value.”

At present there are three employees working in Spain, and ten in the United States.

56 Harrison St. Suite 405, New Rochelle, NY 10801, 914-740-4724

A Conversation with Louisa Thomas Hargrave

Louisa Thomas Hargrave is the doyenne of the Long Island wine business, having established the very first wine vineyard, Hargrave Vineyard, in 1973 with her (then) husband, Alex Hargrave. They were true pioneers, determined to plant vinifera grapes where they had never successfully grown before, even in the face of well-meant advice against taking on such a risky venture. Neither of them had ever farmed until they planted the vineyard.

At the time she was a recent college graduate, having gone to Harvard, earning her BA in Government at Smith, and thence to Simmons College to earn a MAT (Masters of Arts in Teaching). But she and Alex had caught the wine bug, and became seriously interested in starting a vineyard and winery of their own, with the idea of producing quality wine from V. vinifera grapes in the styles of Bordeaux and Burgundy. Consequently, Louisa next went to the University of Rochester to study Calculus and Chemistry, and further studied the latter at Stony Brook University with the idea that she could apply what she had learned to the making of wine.

Louisa & Alex Hargrave, 1975

After planting vines of Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Sauvignon Blanc in the original 17-acre field of the old potato farm that had become Hargrave Vineyard, Louisa went to the Cornell Cooperative Extension program to earn a Certificate in Land Use Planning in 1974, an ongoing interest of hers as Suffolk County and New York State developed new laws and regulations that had an impact on her ability to farm. By 1998 Louisa had been awarded a Doctor of Science, honoris causa, from Dowling College, in recognition of her contributions to viticulture in Long Island.

Between the very solid academic credentials that Louisa has earned over the years and the deep and long experience of establishing and maintaining a vineyard for twenty-six years, as well as making wine and running a successful winery, Louisa has perhaps the most sound credentials of anyone in the Long Island wine world. Furthermore, after selling Hargrave Vineyard in 1999, when she and her husband agreed to separate, she went on to establish Winewise LLC, a consulting firm for the wine industry. She was director of the Stony Brook University Center for Wine, Food, and Culture from 2004 to 2009, and is continuing to work as a writer on the subject of wine, viticulture, and winemaking for various publications, including her own blog, www.vinglorious.com.

Louisa has also written a well-received memoir, The Vineyard: The Pleasures and Perils of Creating an American Family Winery (Viking/Penguin, 2003), about the joys and challenges of running a family winery and vineyard. Earlier, in 1986, she had contributed an essay, “The History of Wine Grapes on Long Island,” to the Long Island Historical Journal. Most recently she wrote about the terroir of Long Island in an article for Edible East End, “The Dirt Below our Feet.”

Given those credentials and that experience, I cannot think of a better-qualified person to speak to about some of the issues bearing on the viniculture of Long Island. To meet Louisa is to encounter someone who is direct, forthcoming, very well-informed, and definitely opinionated. She is petite, bespectacled, and wears her silver hair long. She has no pretensions or airs, but she does not suffer fools. Given her high profile in Long Island, she frequently has requests from schoolchildren or their parents for an interview so that they can write a paper for school. Her response is simple: “When you’ve read my book, The Vineyard, get back to me and we can talk.” So far there have been no takers.

Fortunately for me, I had read The Vineyard, so that made getting my interview with Louisa that much easier.

Louisa initiated the conversation by making the point that there are two types of wineries in Long Island: those that cater to the tourist trade and those that focus on making quality wines. (Several do both, but most emphasize one or the other). Of the top quality wineries, she cited Bedell Cellars, Channing Daughters, Lenz Winery, Paumanok Vineyards, and Peconic Bay Vineyards. Given that all of the Long Island wineries depend on retail sales for a major part of their income and nearly all have tasting rooms for the wine tourists who are a significant part of their business, I inferred from what she said that some of these wineries seek to attract tourists and tourist groups with large tasting rooms, provide access for buses, and offer space for parties, weddings, and so on. While some of these are serious about their wines, such as McCall, The Old Field Vineyards, and Pellegrini, a handful is really focused on the tourist trade, perhaps to the detriment of the wines they make—good enough for the tourists, but certainly not world-class.

One way to judge a winery is by looking at their containers—the smaller the container, such as an oak cask (typically of 225 liters, the size of Bordeaux casks) the more serious is the winemaking, as it costs more time and work to manage. Large containers tend to be used for large-scale production and do not allow for the blending of batches for refining the way the wine tastes and smells the way that small ones do.

She also made clear that there is a fundamental difference between vineyards that seek to grow the highest quality fruit possible by practicing ‘green harvesting,’ which means removing bunches of fruit in the middle of the growing season—sometimes as much as third to a half of the developing crop, in order to improve the quality of the fruit that remains. The result, of course, is a smaller crop, but wines made from such fruit will be richer, more flavorful, more interesting. This will not be true of vineyards that primarily grow and sell their wine grapes to wineries. These vineyards seek to maximize their grape production, as they sell grapes by the ton and they would receive nearly the same price regardless of whether or not they practiced ‘green’ harvesting. In this case, quantity trumps quality.

I had a few prepared questions for Louisa, to wit:

When you started your vineyard there was no concept of ‘sustainable’ viticulture, although ‘organic’ and Biodynamic agriculture was already being practiced in some places. Was there a point at which you and Alex decided to move towards sustainable viniculture, and if so, how did you go about it?

“Ecology was very much a part of the vocabulary when we planted our vineyard, and we had stayed at an organic farm some years before. Still, it was fungicides that made it possible for us to plant V. vinifera vines in our vineyard. Historically, those who had attempted to grow these European wine grapes had failed because they had no tools to combat the fungi and other pests indigenous to North America. We recognized that techniques like grafting and amendments like copper sulfate and other fungicides developed after 1870 now made it possible to successfully grow these plants that previously had not survived here. We also perceived that cold-sensitive vinifera might survive on the North Fork of Long Island, due to the moderating effects of the Gulf Stream and Peconic Bay, when they had failed to survive in the more continental climates of other parts of the east coast.

“We even planted some Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc on their own roots, because the sandy soils of Long Island made it difficult for root pests (like Phylloxera) to establish themselves. Nevertheless, we really didn’t want to use sprays except to the extent necessary. Although we did use herbicides at times, when weeds became excessive, we always tried to control them mechanically (which usually meant hand-hoeing and weed pulling in areas that the side-hoe on the tractor could not reach). Late sprays before harvest can affect fermentation, so we did not use fungicides after mid-August. The fact of the matter is that wrestling wine to the ground is very, very complex.

“We embraced the estate approach from the very beginning—in other words, our wines would be made only from the grapes that came from our vineyard, as is the case with Bordeaux chateau. In later years, we did purchase some fruit for our second label, Chardonette, in order to be able to offer a less-expensive, entry-level wine.

“Our wines were made with no residual sugars; malolactic fermentation was complete in all our wines, and we applied minimum sulfites—none at crush time—because we did not want to destroy the indigenous microflora. The natural acid in wine, at a pH lower than 4.0, makes it impossible for bacteria harmful to people to survive, but some sulfites were needed during aging to protect the wines from yeast or bacteria that harm wine by creating vinegar or off-odors, especially after the malolactic fermentation, when the pH would rise to a less protective level, as high as 3.7 in Pinot Noir especially.

“I am interested in biodynamic techniques but have never practiced them. There are pros and cons to every agricultural practice. Recently, I visited a biodynamically-farmed vineyard in Champagne that was using horses to work the fields. The idea was to avoid the hardpan that can develop after running a tractor over the vineyards many times and compacting the soil, as the hardpan that results is virtually impenetrable and can harm the nourishment of the vines. However, the vintner who showed me the horses commented that, while using horses was good for the soil, it was not good for the horses—the soils were so dry that the horse could go lame. That, then, is not really a good option for sustainability.

“With respect to Biodynamic sprays I should point out that these need DEC [Department of Environmental Conservation] approval, as does anything that is applied to crops. All must have a seal of approval and licensing from the DEC. DEC guidelines are not always clear and are subject to change without notice. Because the DEC is funded by fines levied against farmers in violation of their guidelines, it behooves its inspectors to find violations and levy what can be very heavy fines. It’s a real problem, and it has to be fixed by providing financing for it by New York State. In my memoir, I describe an untoward incident we had with the DEC that illustrates how this agency has, in the course of implementing laws intended to protect the environment, veered off course in a way that persecutes unwitting and well-intentioned farmers like ourselves.”

Looking back on how you went about establishing Hargrave Vineyards in 1973, how would you start up differently as a pioneer, given what you know now? For example, would you plant Pinot Noir again, or something else? What about preparation of the soil?

First, Louisa said, “I’d start with a south-facing slope, and then I’d use compost with biodynamic elements to maintain the vineyard.” “You said ‘biodynamic’ but did you mean ‘organic?’” “No, I said ‘biodynamic,’ meaning that the soil amendments would reflect the concept of the farm as a unified system of life forces, cycling between times of birth, growth, fruition, decay, and rebirth.”

We had discussed Biodynamics at some length, and Louisa said that she agreed with other viniculturalists, like Sam McCullough and Kareem Massoud, who think that some aspects of Biodynamics may actually work, though it may not need all the mystical components to be effective. While she does believe that there can be something that could be called “energy” in wine, perhaps due to the level of acidity—it has to do with what makes the wine appealing, or exciting, or perhaps there’s something else to which people respond when they drink it. Whether or not there is some kind of cosmic energy that comes from the planets and the stars, or that has to do with affinities between horns and earth or anything like that. It may very well be that the biota that is in the compost teas is really healthy for the vines. [As an aside, I would like to note that that this has not been borne out in any scientific tests that I know of, but it’s clear that even viticulturalists who would not seek to enter the Demeter program for Biodynamic Certification are open to the possibility that the compost teas have some efficacious attributes.]

Louisa further remarked that, “although growing and making wine from Pinot Noir proved to be most challenging, I would do it again. I learned more from my efforts to ripen this “heartbreak grape” and to tame its hard tannins than from any other variety. Success with it is not assured, but when it comes, it makes extraordinarily wonderful wine on Long Island.

Do you think that the Cornell VineBalance program has made a real difference in the vinicultural practices in LI? It doesn’t have many actual members—about six, I believe.

“The VineBalance program only has a few members because participation requires detailed record-keeping and a lot of paperwork, which are time-consuming and costly. This doesn’t mean that VineBalance isn’t important to the rest of the vineyards. It provides all kinds of guidance. Vineyard managers can and do take courses on sustainable viniculture, including pesticide use, which requires certification. Cornell provides many seminars and brings experts from other regions here to discuss many aspects of viticulture, including organic interventions and sustainable practices. So VineBalance, under the direction of Alice Wise at the Cornell Agricultural Extension station in Riverhead, does play a significant role in the viniculture of Long Island.”

Louisa concluded our conversation by saying, “Agriculture in Long Island must be kept alive, even if eventually grapes may have to give way to cabbages. That’s fine, as long as the farms remain.”

With that remark, Louisa speaks in a way that is characteristic of her and her deep commitment not only to growing wine, but sustaining agriculture. The East End is a beautiful area, and the North Fork still retains a quality of the bucolic and rural thanks to its working farms and vineyards. The Hargraves sold development rights to their vineyard to the Suffolk County Land Trust years ago. That is also part of her commitment. Long Island owes her many thanks for all that she’s done and continues to do.

Viniculture in LI–Part III: The Old Field Vineyards

Based on an interview with Perry Weiss, and Rosamond and Christian Baiz, 12 May 2011

Upon arriving at the vineyard, which is just off the main road going through Southold, the old barns and house give little clue as to where to go, and there may be no one there to greet you. Still, you approach the likeliest suspect, a low, long barn which, it turns out, has a sign reading “Tasting Room” near a kind of logo confected out of a ring of old wine corks encircling a painted tin rooster that hangs on the barn siding. Still no one there and the tasting room was closed, because everyone is out in the fields pruning, removing vine suckers, or spraying the vines. This is a very small family operation, and the day I arrive, by appointment for the interview, there is too much to be done to have someone greet me upon arrival. It is, after all, mid-May, early for visitors but timely for the vineyard.

I phone Perry Weiss, the winemaker, on her cell and she arrives shortly from the vineyard. She is direct, engaging, and very polite, the while giving me all the time I need to conduct my interview with her. When done, she takes me into the fields to meet her mother, Rosamond Phelps Baiz, the vineyard manager, who is removing any suckers growing from the base of the vines with a gloved hand, nearly caressing each vine as she rubs the base in a careful but swift motion. Then we go to the house, where I meet her father, Christian Baiz, the vineyard factotum, who is briefly on a break from spraying the vines to refill the machine. In fact, Perry has taken over the duties of winemaker from Ros, who replaced Perry in the vineyard. The truth of the matter in an operation so small is that everyone has to pitch in everywhere, so all three of them are jacks-of-all-trades.

This is wine-growing and wine-making writ small—a true family operation that is not sustained by deep pockets but rather by passion, enthusiasm, and caring about what they do. It came into existence as a vineyard because the property has been in family hands since 1919. The first vineyard was established in 1974 by Chris using cuttings of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir that they bought from Alex and Louisa Hargrave, who had themselves just started up their own vineyard the year before—the very first one on Long Island. More Pinot Noir vines were added in 1985, and then Merlot and Cabernet Franc in 1997, just after Chris and Ros purchased the property from his family. They had to pull up the Chardonnay when it became clear that it wasn’t doing well at the site. In all they’ve now planted a total of twelve-and-a-half acres to vines, which produce about a thousand cases of wine every year. At the time they acquired The Old Field, they were living in Bronxville, just north of New York City, and decided to make a go of running a vineyard and so moved permanently to Southold and the farm.

Like the Hargraves when they started, the Baiz family had little notion of how to run a vineyard and make wine, but they were determined not only to succeed in the vineyard but to make quality wine as well. Also like their predecessors, they didn’t start with a large amount of capital. Unlike them, however, they had the experience and knowledge of the Hargraves themselves to draw upon, as well as of other wineries and vineyards that had gone into business before they did, such as Bedell Cellars, Lenz Winery, Peconic Bay, and others. Still, Ros had never driven a tractor, for example, and much had to be learned from scratch.

Now, they work as a team, though the one hired hand they’d once relied on was no longer available, as he was denied a visa to return to the US to work in the vineyard, though son Ryan does join in the work when he visits. Working over twelve acres means nearly 12,000 vines that need to be tended, which is a great deal of work to be done manually. There are six contiguous plots, including Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Pinot Noir. Recently they also planted 250 vines of Sauvignon Blanc by the Bay to see how that will do. For now, lacking significant wine-making capabilities, they make wine from their own grapes at the winery at Lenz Vineyards, where Perry works with master winemaker Eric Fry to create varietals with their own distinctive signature of the Old Field.

Unlike most other vineyards on the Island, The Old Field has had no need to adjust the acidity of the soil, for the site was—before English settlers purchased the land over 370 years ago—occupied for perhaps 500 years by a large Corchaug Indian village of about 170 huts. The inhabitants evidently fished and harvested tons of shellfish every year (the field is right on Southold Bay). The shells were cast in the field and over the years became part of the soil, making it rich in calcium and keeping the pH high at 6.8-7.1. The vineyard also enjoys a high water table, so there is little need to irrigate, except for very new plantings. This alone makes for a unique terroir.

In this bucolic setting there is a pond which is a source for frogs and insects, including dragonflies that are natural insect predators. The space between the rows has cover crops of grasses and legumes, including clover and fescue, which also encourage a diversity of insects. They have a wild-flower patch as well, which also promotes the presence of ‘good’ insects in the vineyard. And then there are the red-tailed hawks, the great horned owls, and always the chickens. Here, IPM seems to take care of itself.

Indeed, the commitment to sustainable viticulture also includes “hand-harvesting, hand leaf-pulling, hand pruning” and so on, “which keeps the tractor out of the field, lessening soil compaction and diesel usage.” They also flail-chop vine prunings, thus adding mulch back to the soil. They use a tractor only to handle needs that cannot (or ought not) to be done manually. For instance, they employ organically-approved sprays where possible, delivered by a trailer-sprayer designed to focus on specific parts of the vine, as they cannot afford the far more expensive and effective tunnel-recycling sprayers used by more affluent vineyards. (Therefore, as drift is inevitably a factor under windy conditions, they also try to confine spraying to windless days.)

Old Field Vineyard is an enthusiastic participant in the Cornell University VineBalance Program, and do not mind that they are regularly checked on to ensure that they are in compliance, which is what is required of those vineyards that participate in the program. They do not, however, at least at this time, think of converting the property to organic farming, though they will use organic viticulture where it is practicable for them.

One of the reasons that the Baiz family purchased the property in 1996 was to keep it from being developed. The one thing that they will not do is sell the development rights to the fields as some other vineyards have done. There is a problem with that, after all, insofar as land values have risen exponentially to the point that an acre of land can cost over $100,000 while the rights can fetch a few tens of thousands at best—in other words, they cannot afford to, though in principle they are in favor of a Land Trust.

Thus, this fifth-generation family on the Old Field is working to sustain the what is the second Long Island vineyard and its land for more generations to come, practicing sustainability, hand-harvesting their fruit, and producing wines red and white wines, including an unusual white that is made from Pinot Noir, two Chardonnays, a Cabernet Franc, and two Merlots, not to speak of a Blanc de Noir sparkler that had earned 90 points from the Wine Spectator. It begins in the vineyard, along with a great deal of sweat.

For those who wish to see just what’s involved in farming sustainably, The Old Field Vineyards offers a Sustainable Agriculture Tour on Saturdays at 11:30am, as well as a Sustainable Agriculture Tour with Tasting and lunch on selected Saturdays.

The Old Field Vineyards

59600 Main Road
PO Box 726
Southold, NY 11971

Phone: (631) 765-0004
Email: livinifera@aol.com

Christian F. Baiz and Rosamond Phelps Baiz, Proprietors
Eric Fry, Master Winemaker
Christian F. Baiz, Tractor/Lawnmower operator
Rosamond Phelps Baiz, Assistant Vineyard Manager, Winemaker, Assistant Tasting Room Manager
Perry Weiss, Vineyard Manager/Tasting Room Manager/ Assistant Winemaker
Ryan Weiss, Grounds and Structures

The Old Field Vineyard website

Aythaya – 1st Myanmar Vineyard Estate

Myanmar Vineyard is the brainchild of a German entrepreneur who had no experience in the wine trade, but a good sense for a business opportunity. Bert Morsbach brought the first 3,000 vines of European grape varieties to Myanmar in 1998 and had them planted in Loikaw, in Kayah State. The next year the vineyard was relocated to Aythaya, in the Southern Shan State and an additional 10,000 vines were imported and planted. The varieties included Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah.

Aythaya Vineyard is located at the edge of the small town of Aythaya, near Taung-gyi, only 40 minutes by car away from the famous Inle Lake, surrounded by the famous Blue Mountains of the Shan Plateau. It’s situated at an elevation of 1,300 m. (4,270 feet)–in fact, the highest vineyard in all of Asia. This high altitude affords the vineyard a much cooler climate than its subtropical location would otherwise enjoy, with temperatures in the dry season (October to May) that range as low as 5 degrees C. (41 F.) at night to 30 C. (86 F) during the day, with minimal rain and humidity and ample sunshine. The soils in the region are of calcareous origin–not unlike the soils of Chablis—contributing to the generally excellent terroir of Aythaya wines. Geologically, the hilly slopes of the Shan States are the Southern extension of the Himalayan Mountains.

My wife, Vals, and I arrived at the winery by car, unannounced, about mid-day, and found the director of the winery, Hans-Eduard Leiendecker, free to speak to us for about an hour and give us a tour of the winery.

Leiendecker, who is German, had been technical director for Weingut Dr. H. Tanisch (which produces Bernkasteler Doktor, the storied Mosel wine) for 16 years, and in the four years prior to his departure, had won medals for the winery. Late in his tenure there he set aside a hectare on which he planted Blauburgünder (Pinot Noir) to show that the slopes of the Mosel could also produce first-class red wine. Of course, the wine laws for the Mosel do not acknowledge wines made from varieties other than Riesling or Müller-Thurgau, so if produced, it would have had to have been as a Deutscher Tafelswein, but it never went beyond the demonstration stage. After his departure in 2005 the vines were ripped out and replaced with Riesling. Still, this was a demonstration of Leiendecker’s zest for experimentation and challenge, and most probably that zest, combined with a certain Wanderlust, led to his replying to a help-wanted ad in a trade journal for a winemaker to work at a vineyard in Myanmar.

The winery faces many challenges that are unique to South-East Asia, and particularly to Myanmar. As Aythaya has only 25 ha. of land leased from the Ministry of Agriculture (on a 20-year lease, as ownership of land by foreign companies is not permitted in Myanmar). While the Ministry (particularly the Myanmar Agricultural Service) has been very helpful and coöperative, but there no further land available to lease, and farmers are not allowed to lease their own land. The winery has therefore turned to contracting growers who had already been producing table grapes, so that they could increase overall production to a more viable commercial level. However, there has been a growing demand for table grapes, and removing land from table-grape to wine-grape production has the effect of raising prices for table grapes, moving the growers to request higher fees for the use of their land, thus increasing costs for the winery. A pretty Catch-22.

Several years of working experimental plots of the different varieties helped the winery determine which vines would best work in this particular terroir. Herein lie some of the most difficult challenges. For example, the Chardonnay vines, which ordinarily travel so well to so many places around the globe, have done poorly here. In fact, the usual problems of mildew, fungus, insect pests exist here, and in the hot rainy season are especially devastating. Still, good results from the resulting crops are very promising.

Labor in Myanmar poses problems of its own. As Leiendecker puts it, “The workers certainly work hard, but it is the training that is difficult. You train them in a chore one week, they do it well for that week, and the next week they’ve forgotten what they learned and have to be trained again.” Vine pruning and training are innovations in Myanmar, and it will take time for the workers to get used to the disciplines.

According to him, new Tempranillo plantings produced ripe fruit for two years running, but strangely, in the third year, there was no fruit-set. This was not only true at Aythaya, but also at another vineyard down by Inle Lake. At present there appears to be no answer for why this has happened, as there was no evidence of disease, mildew, insect attack, or anything else, and it did not occur with plantings of other grape varieties. Other varieties that are presently being experimented with include Dornfelder and Sémillon.

As of 2008, Aythaya produced a red cuvée of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, vines brought from France and planted at the vineyard in 1999. The 2006 Shiraz-Cabernet blend that we tasted was vinified in stainless-steel tanks, and in order to impart some oak flavor and tannin structure to the wine, wood chips were used in the aging of the wine. The result speaks for itself—though well-made, and the wine has good Shiraz typicity, it lacks a good tannin backbone and is meant to be drunk young. However, at $9.00 a bottle at the winery, it is good value (at Myanmar restaurants it sells for $20 to $40).

The Aythaya white wine, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, suffered from a serious lack of acidity in 2006, no doubt due to very quick ripening as a result of so much sun (in winter and early spring there are almost no clouds and very little rain). Over-ripened grapes will tend to be high in sugar and low in acidity, so that while a high alcohol will be obtained from such grapes, if fermented to dryness the result will be flabby, a strange condition for a Sauvignon Blanc. The 2007 that we tasted was much better, and was a more than adequate representative Sauvignon Blanc. (That was also the first vintage produced under Leiendecker’s guiding hand.)

There is also a Rosé based on the red Moscato grape (from Italy), that has a perfumed aroma entirely typical of the variety, but nevertheless dry and very appealing to local tastes—it is Aythaya’s most popular wine, even though it would be deemed peculiar to the Western palate. In addition, there’s a white ‘Blanc de Noir’ (not sparkling), made from the first pressing of red Muscat, actually resulting in a deep straw-colored wine, hence the “Aythaya Golden Wine.”

A Holstein 3-step distillation unit built at the Bodensee in Germany was shipped to the vineyard in 2005. An excellent grappa-type of spirit is made from the Moscato and is called “Aythaya Grappino.” We found it to be very well-made as well as tasty and agreeable—very much a grappa, and its flavors are clearly those of the Muscat grape.

Among the other challenges of producing wine in a subtropical region is that vines can produce two crops a year. Thus, the vines are always green and productive, with no period of winter dormancy, but the only useful growing season takes place in winter & spring, when the weather is coolest, the sun at its lowest zenith in the sky, and there is the least amount of rainfall during the period of flowering, fruit-set, and fruit development. The danger, as mentioned above, is that under these conditions the grapes can ripen hastily and result in fruit with inadequate levels of acid. However, once that crop has been harvested the vines will immediately set to producing a second crop in a much warmer and much more humid season that includes a higher solar zenith and monsoon rains. This crop is unusable for the production of wine. A factor to be considered is that European vines with two growing seasons a year do not enjoy the usual winter dormancy that they enjoy in more moderate climes. It is not yet known how this may affect the quality of the fruit, or the eventual tendency of the vines to develop long-term fungal disease, root-rot, or other conditions.

Leiendecker ordered and now has in place two oaken Fuders of 1000 l. capacity each in which to age his red wines, thus obviating the need for wood chips. His choice of Fuder over barrique may be based both on his familiarity with the Fuder from his days as winemaker in the Mosel region of Germany, but also the economics of buying barriques of 225 l. every few years, or using Fuders for a much longer period of time, thus amortizing the cost of oak containers over a longer period. This is driven, of course, by the high cost of shipping from Europe.

The tour of the winery was quite interesting, as the plant is still evolving, and new equipment is still being installed, including a high-pressure, high-speed bottling system with screw-cap machinery (the winery has, until now, used plastic corks). The wine is fermented in temperature-controlled stainless-steel vats, of which there are now a total of six. All this should be ready for production in time for the next vintage, in May of 2008.

It remains to be seen whether or not Aythaya Vineyard can live up to the expectations of its founder, Bert Morsbach, or its vineyard director, Hans-Eduard Leiendecker. Certainly the investment wherewithal has been provided, the technical talent is very high, and its early results look very promising—better, in fact, than wines that we’ve tried in Thailand, Vietnam, and India. The challenges are unique and demanding, but we expect that with time a very good reputation will be established not only in Myanmar, but perhaps globally. Subtropical winemaking is being experimented with on several continents, but here, at a nearly mile-high winery, the promise looks like it can be fulfilled.

Meanwhile, the winery has been gearing itself for visitors, and has put in a swimming pool, a restaurant, and a wine bar for tastings. Accommodations nearby can also be arranged by the winery for those who wish to stay overnight.

As of late 2009, the founders now claim that it is possible to produce quality wines in the Southern Shan States of Myanmar. Its development to that point was quite rapid, starting with the first viticulture research in 1997, bottling the first wines in 2004, and preparing to export their wines by this year.

As of 30 December 2015, Aythaya has updated its Website, which now has numerous links to articles in the press and on the Web. Of particular interest is one posted on 29 August by Jessica Muddit for Mizzima, a Website devoted to “News from Myanmar”: “Local Winery Goes from Strength to Strength”

Aythaya – 1st Myanmar Vineyard Estate
Htone Bo, Aythaya
Taunggyi, Southern Shan States
Phone (+95-81) 24 5 36
Hans-Eduard Leiendecker, director, technical operations
leindecker@myanmar-vineyard.com.mm

(Myanmar Vineyard Management Co. Ltd.)
38G Myitzu Street, Parami Avenue
Mayangone Township, Yangon, Myanmar
Phone (+95-1) 66 43 86 or 66 47 56
info@myanmar-vineyard.com.mm
http://www.myanmar-vineyard.com

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A Conversation with Louisa Thomas Hargrave

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Viniculture in LI–Part III: The Old Field Vineyards

The Old Field Vineyards

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Aythaya – 1st Myanmar Vineyard Estate

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Wine Tasting at Instituto Cervantes, New York City, 15 October 2012

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The Old Field Vineyards

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