This column is written by the team at Arrowine & Cheese (4508 Cherry Hill Road). Sign up for the email newsletter and receive exclusive discounts and offers. Order from Arrowine’s expanding online store for curbside pickup or in-store shopping. Have a question? Email [email protected] arrowine.com.
I’m trying not to bore you by getting too technical. But it is critical to your enjoyment of wine to understand how straightforward yet complicated wine-making is.
Something to keep in mind: remember, in grade school, the three reading groups? Accelerated, on-par, and the group needing extra encouragement and or attention? Let’s say you were born in the Village of Pommard. Of its 300 souls, the vast majority have something to do with the wine trade. If you are lucky enough to be landed and the offspring of a wine-producing family, guess what you will do as a career?
Now go back to my grade school reading group illustration and think about it. Wine-making is one of the world’s most complex occupations, and if “Jean-Claude” isn’t in the accelerated reading group, Mom and Dad may start to worry. They might decide to sell the Domaine. But there goes the “family legacy.” A legacy can be a burden.
Now back to decisions that must be made, often on the fly and under duress. The growing season determines everything. First, do you inoculate with a select strain of laboratory-cultivated yeast (a sure thing, but it imparts a “flavor profile”) or use the indigenous yeast from your vineyard?
If you work organically or biodynamically, you have been cultivating your native yeast population to the point that it should be healthy enough to carry the fermentation to complete dryness. But there are no guarantees. I think native yeast is more transparent and yields a more complex wine. If you bottle and have unresolved sugar, the wine could become “sparkling wine,” or the bottles might explode!
The all-important maceration time with juice on the grape skins isn’t something you can look up on Wikipedia. You have to make the call: too much extraction and the wine is coarse, too little, and it’s wimpy. So you want to pull the wine off and press at the sweet spot. Then off to your barrels.
New wood is expensive, as much as $1,200 or more per barrel. Most of my folks are at a 20-33% rotation, meaning you replace that percentage of your barrels yearly. And not all barrels are the same. The forest dictates the kind of oak, the tightness of the grain, the porosity, and the actual “flavor” profile. You can even request a certain toasting level or degree of internal char. Decisions, decisions.
Most winemakers experiment with anywhere from two to five or more barrel makers until they are satisfied with the mix and the results. And you better be friendly with your barrel maker or broker, or you could end up with the barrels that were going to go to Outer Mongolia.
Once the wine is in the barrel, you monitor its progress through alcohol (we are talking about a fine wine here) and then malolactic fermentation. I will explain the difference at a latter-date.
So let’s see, you have many barrels in the cellar, 200? Guess what you will be doing? Tasting, topping off every barrel regularly, and being vigilant. You watch every barrel like a hawk, tasting, smelling, and testing for and fixing any problems.
Wine of the week, you asked for an Autumnal suggestion, and boy, do I have a delicious one.
I adore this wine, and it will surely be on my Thanksgiving Table! With 1/2 hour of air, Eclat exhibits a super-sexy silkiness. Its 100 Gamay is an absolute joy to drink. It pumps out ultra-pure flavors of raspberries, strawberries, and mineral spice with a long palate cleansing finish. It’s brilliant!
Photo (top) by Vince Veras on Unsplash
Good Friday evening, Arlington. Today we published 6 articles that were read a total of 4027 times… so far. 📈 Top stories The following are the most-read articles for today…
Skate Night is coming back to Thomas Jefferson Community Center, marking its 30th year. The family-friendly program is returning next weekend, on Saturday, Oct. 29, and going back inside for…
Only minor injuries were reported after a vehicle overturned on S. Walter Reed Drive this afternoon. The crash happened around lunchtime, just north of the intersection with Four Mile Run…
Know of a majestic maple, terrific tulip or winsome willow tree deserving of recognition? Don’t leaf it until the last minute to nominate a tree for Arlington County’s recognition program…
Improve balance, strength or lose weight without leaving your home!
On the Go Fitness pro is a personal training service that comes to you. We work with seniors to help them get in shape and improve their overall fitness levels. Our programs focus on preventing falls, improving overall health and safely getting you in back in shape.
We bring all of the equipment to your home so you don’t have to worry about going to the crowded gym.
We specialize in working with seniors, so we understand the challenges they face when trying to get fit. We’ll create a personalized workout plan that fits your abilities and goals.
Submit your own Announcement here.
Do you struggle with anxiety, depression, stress, grief, trauma or anger? Are you ready to make a change? Lauren K. Nickum, LCSW, CSAC from Peaceful Mind Solutions is now taking new clients for psychotherapy. Lauren has over 10 years of experience treating mental health disorders and general life stress in adults and adolescents. For more information visit peacefulmindsolutions.com.
Submit your own Announcement here.
Unequal housing systems didn’t just emerge from natural economic and social forces. Public policies enacted by federal, state, and local governments helped create and reinforce the bad housing outcomes endured by too many people.
Join us, in-person or online, as
Join Cody Chance and Dick Nathan of Long & Foster at their office on Cherry Hill Rd. (formerly Lee Highway) in Arlington for a free (and very entertaining!) Appraisal Roadshow event on Monday, October 24 from 5:45-7:00. We’ll be joined