A visit to Le Clos Jordanne in Niagara!

If someone asked you "where's the next big North American Pinot Noir hot spot going to be?" would you have a good guess? The NY finger lakes, coastal New England, British Columbia and many other places are experimenting with this temperamental grape. But my friend Pierre thinks one of the most exciting new regions is the Niagara Peninsula. With the great lakes providing a moderating influence on both summer and winter temperatures, this region is blossoming with some amazing new wineries making world-class Chardonnay, Riesling and yes, Pinot Noir!

As it happens, Christine and I were planning to take the kids to Niagara Falls for April school vacation this year. So of course I called Pierre Séguin (my wine guru pal) and asked him which winery to visit. He told me that the best Niagara pinot hands down is made by Le Clos Jordanne in Ontario under the guidance of winemaker Thomas Bachelder. So I gave Thomas a call and he agreed to give me a tour of the facility and vineyards one afternoon ("Anything for a friend of my friend Pierre!" he exclaimed.) Le Clos Jordanne does not normally give tours as their new winery is not completed yet and they are operating for the time being out of an industrial building. Nonetheless, Christine and I showed up, with our kids and their portable DVD player in tow for a short tour. Thomas was having none of the quick tour! He suggested we throw the kids car seats in the back seat of his king cab pickup and took the whole family on a 4x4 adventure, touring the various fields of the vineyards. His enthusiasm for the terroir of the region and his eagerness to put the Niagara on the map in the way that Oregon and New Zealand now are was contagious. He repeatedly pointed out where things were on the map, then drove to them, pointing this way and that...explaining how two fields, only 200 yards apart, produced vastly different wines and were as such treated as separate cuvées from start to finish.

Bachelder is a huge devotee of the Burgundy style of pinot and goes as far as to use their model for the various cuvées of wine. They make a "village" wine from a mixture of grapes from all four vineyards, "premier crus" that are single vineyard cuvées (one from each of the four vineyards) and a "grand cru" (their best pinot) which is made from a special, prime section of the best vineyard. Their pinot noirs range from about $35 to over $100. Some people feel that they are making one of the very best pinot noirs in all of North America.

After our tour of the vineyards, we headed back to the winery, set the kids up with a movie to watch in the office and headed out to the barrel room where the 2009 pinots are aging in various age barrels. They use about 30% new oak (all French oak barrels made in Burgundy) and the rest are barrels that are used up to 4 times. Thomas pointed out that they are careful to keep records on how many times each barrel is used. So not only do they carefully control how many new barrels are used each year, but also how many one year old, two year old, three year old and four year old. Bachelder feels that the age of barrels in the right proportions carefully controls the evolution of the flavor of the final blend. (Not all old oak is the same. A barrel used 4 times is a lot different from one used only once).

We tasted 6 pinots from the 2009 vintage and 6 Chardonnays, all from barrel. I'm not that experienced with tasting young wines, but the differences between the different cuvées were readily apparent. I liked the powerful tannins of the Claystone Terrace vineyard and the delicate finesse of the Clos Jordanne vineyard which is only 200 yards away from the former.

After the tasting, we went to the Stone Road Grille nearby, known for it's wide selection of local wines and ordered up a bottle of 2006 Le Clos Jordanne to have with dinner. Wonderful. I think in the coming years you are going to be hearing more about Le Clos Jordanne and the Niagara peninsula in general as a pinot noir producer. Thanks Thomas for the incredible few hours!!

-Jacques

Yesterday, I spent the day at the University of Massachusetts' Cold Spring Orchard in Belchertown, MA for a course in growing and pruning grapes as part of their "Aggie Seminar" series. The course was taught by Dr. Duane Greene who did a very nice job. Wow, what a great time! First, we (about 20 aspiring grape growers) spent 3 hours in the classroom learning about important aspects of grape growing. After lunch we went out into the vineyard where they are growing several varieties of vinifera grapes quite successfully and learned about the art/science of pruning. After a lesson, we all broke out the pruning clippers and practiced with Dr. Greene's advice. I feel much more comfortable pruning grape vines. So in another year when my vines reach the size to be pruned, I'll know what I'm doing!

Lysozyme added....talk to me in May!

Well, now that the wine has been racked and sulfited lightly, today it was time to add lysozyme. Four ounces of 5% solution was added to the carboy. This naturally-occurring enzyme (which can be found in egg whites, among other places) kills bacteria by breaking down the cell walls. The main purpose of using it is to kill off the malolactic bacteria, so they do not become active again later, potentially producing CO2 to pop the cork out of a finished wine in a bottle. In theory, there should be no more malic acid in the wine, so the malolactic bacteria should not "come back to life" but you can never be sure what will happen if you give someone a bottle of wine and they store it in warm conditions (improperly!) and there is a smidge malic acid in there. So the best course of action is to kill off all the bacteria in the carboy with the lysozyme.

Now, I will let the wine sit for 3 months, so don't expect anything new until May!

On the bright side, I just ordered 250 pounds of fresh Chilean grapes from Beer & Wine Hobby in Woburn MA for delivery in May. Who knew I was 20 minutes from one of the largest beer and winemaking stores on the east coast?? I just found it a few weeks ago (thanks Mia!) They bring in fresh Chilean grapes in the spring and fresh California grapes in the fall. So I'll be starting two new cuvées of wine in May--another pinot noir and a malbec!

Jacques

Finally Malolactic is finished!

Well, after three weeks, the malolactic fermentation finally finished. The tiny bubbles trickled off to nothing and it was time to rack the wine off the lees (sediment) and allow it to chill down in the cellar, which is now 55 degrees in the dead of winter. Given the pH of around 3.8, I added 50 ppm (1/2 teaspoon) of Meta (meta bisulfate) to the new, clean 6 gallon carboy, and then elevated the full carboy on a stack of buckets to begin racking. "Racking" is just a fancy name for the process of siphoning off the wine into another carboy, leaving the lees (sediment composed of dead yeast cells, grape chunks, etc.) behind. Of course as you leave some of the sediment behind, you also end up with a new carboy that is not totally full. That's the reason I was cultivating another half-gallon jug of the excess wine that didn't fit into the carboy after fermentation. It is used to top off the new carboy.

Christine helped with the process and took some pictures (note shot of the lees at the bottom of the carboy). Then we had an opportunity to taste a little bit of the wine. It's good! Fruity, quite drinkable, and simple as we have not used any oak yet.

Now, we have a few months of cellaring in the carboy before the next step....

Malolactic Fermentation continues...

Well, it has been three weeks and malolactic fermentation is still underway. Tiny bubbles continue to be produced, although they are getting pretty small. I expect that MLF will be done within a week. Keep checking back!

Malolactic Fermentation begins

Well, about a week ago I inoculated the wine with a Malolactic fermentation bacteria. This is an important step in many red wines. While the primary fermentation is accomplished by yeast, converting the sugar into ethanol, this malolactic ("secondary") fermentation is accomplished by a special kind of bacteria. The bacteria converts harsh malic acid into softer lactic acid. It releases CO2 at the same time so the wine bubbles as it does with primary fermentation. Malolactic fermentation ("MLF") makes many wines taste better because the malic acid present in the wine is very tart (think of the crisp acidity of an apple). Many wines (mostly white wines) benefit from this acidity, but in a red wine, the taste is usually considered undesirable. The MLF process naturally converts this tart malic acid into a soft and buttery lactic acid. The pH doesn't change, because you are just converting one kind of acid to another, but the taste changes.

Depending on the fermentation temperature and the amount of malic acid present in the wine, the MLF process can take from a few weeks to a few months. I have it from a reliable source that many of the 2008 Burgundys underwent MLF that took nearly a year!

I expect my MLF to take around a month. For now, I just need to keep watching the bubbles to see when the process slows down.

Jacques

Still fermenting...

Well, we are 9 days into the fermentation, and it's still bubbling a tad in the carboy. It's wrapped in the electric blanket and sitting right at 75 degrees. I'm thinking tomorrow it will be far enough along to start malolactic fermentation. Not very exciting compared to the daily routine of punching the cap of the must, but the wine is alive and coming along....

Meanwhile, my wife and I went on a very nice tour and tasting at Turtle Creek Winery last weekend and I learned a lot about larger-scale wine production, as well as vineyard management. We tasted a half dozen of their wines, mostly stuff sourced from California grapes but we did taste an excellent Riesling and Cabernet Franc that were produced from his estate grown (in Massachusetts!) grapes. What I admire about Kip is his absolute determination to grow classic vinifera varieties in Massachusetts. He has a lot more patience than me. Hence the reason I'm growing Marquette (a cold weather hybrid) in my yard!

Stay tuned!

Jacques