A CONCRETE SOLUTION TO WINEMAKING ©

            It has been several weeks since Micah Utter was gracious enough to spend some time with me. I should apologize for taking so long to getting this posted on "Vinewright" but I've been off the grid doing some travel. All I have to say about that is, if you plan to fly - pack a big lunch for all those delayed and cancelled flights.

I recently read about a revival of the use of concrete wine making vessels by some very toney Italian small lot producers. Well, it turns out they aren't the only makers of excellent wines who are riding this wave. Pun intended, since Micah is a surfer who also happens to know a lot about custom shaping of concrete. I heard about him and his Vino Vessel, Inc. (www.vinovessel.com) operation, located on the south side of Paso Robles, during the WiVi trade event that was described here a few articles back.

So, Through the Grapevine sent its intrepid reporter (moi) to get an exclusive on this cutting edge idea. Little did I know that several equally edgy and innovative winemakers have embraced the concept. Small batches of some very nice wines are sleeping peacefully here on the Central Coast and other growing areas, wrapped up like Jimmy Hoffa!

Currently, Vino Vessel has designed and produced forms for eleven various fermenting and storage tanks as an alternative to wood barrels. While not inexpensive (they require extensive design and engineering input), the better oak versions of barrels topped $1,000 each a few years back. Stainless steel storage vats, and certification for fabrication techniques also makes for a serious outlay of capital. You may know that many smaller producers actually rent tank space for storage for larger wineries with excess volume, rather than purchasing those high ticket items. It has been reported that wineries plan to put a large part of winery improvements into increasing that aspect of their facilities in 2013. There are even some tank farms that simply offer a place to keep the juice as a sideline of the wine industry.

Micah's available containers are sized from 70 gallons up to 1,305, coming in an interesting mix of shapes and concepts. The company has the ability to design custom enclosures for nearly any idea with which a winemaker might wish to experiment. But it is hard to imagine a shape or size that isn't available other than bigger versions for larger producers. Examples include a pyramid and the "hippo" model, one of two oval styles, which maximizes the surface area that comes in contact with the wine. Specifically, that relates to skin contact, the more juice surface that is exposed to the cap - primarily grape skins that form a layer when forced to the top of a tank by CO₂ during fermentation - the better the extraction of tannin and color. Ideally, if impractical, a large flat shallow pool would work very well.

The hippo idea was the first style built and beta tested by Peachy Canyon and Chronic Cellars in 2007. It required some special engineering, a special formula for the concrete mix and curing process and, inclusion of reinforcing mesh. The result led to new design ideas and sales that have grown to include local wineries such as Linne Calodo, Epoch and Stolpman.

The Vino Vessel allows micro-oxygenation, a neutral (no extraction) flavor component that helps in the expression of the fruit and are easy to clean and sanitize. "There is no food in concrete", Micah quotes one user. Thus, the tanks are not prone to aid unwanted critters making a home in them. Concrete also has excellent thermal retention, avoids hot spots found in some upright styles, offers a slow rise in temperatures and needs no temperature controls such as those on jacketed stainless tanks.

While not in widespread use, use of concrete as a winemaking option is on the rise and works well for small operations and those liking to try new concepts and experiments. If you have the opportunity, try a wine made in a Vino Vessel and see what you think. In Paso Robles one easily found example is the 2011 Viognier at the Peachy Canyon tasting room at W46 and Bethel Rd. You may also inquire at Chronic Cellars if they have a current sample done in a Vino Vessel.

CENTRAL COAST WINE CLASSIC DETAILS ANNOUNCED ©

            Save the dates for a wine weekend at the beaches, July 11-14. In addition to being one of the longest running (29 years) wine fests it boasts the longest title of any wine appreciation function of which I am aware. The San Simeon, Shell Beach & Avila Beach California Central Coast Wine Classic  (or SSSBABCCCWC, for which I offer no acronym) will be taking place from Hearst Castle on the north (opening night dinner Thursday) to inland areas of Edna and Arroyo Grande Valleys (for the Cycling Classic) on Friday. A pre-release barrel tasting, also on Thursday afternoon, will take place at Avila Beach Lighthouse Suites. The San Simeon dining option on the 11th includes six courses prepared by a half-dozen guest chefs from the Central Coast as well as Yosemite's Ahwahnee Hotel.  

The Avila Beach Golf Resort is the central location for many of the tastings and symposium offerings. Dolphin Bay Resort & Spa will be the site of a winemakers dinner, featuring Justin Vineyards' wines on Friday evening. Also on Friday, an outdoor VIP dinner dance, hosted by Napa and Central Coast vintners will be the main draw at Avila Beach Resort. On line information and a full listing of events (www.centralcoastwineclassic.org) is available and advance registration and information is available from Archie McLaren at 805-544-1285 or by email to archie@slonet.org.

SANTA BARBARA VINTNERS' FESTIVAL 2013 INVITES YOU ©

            Santa Barbara is a deservedly popular relaxation destination for the those close by and from far away. Looking back some thirty years, to my early days in the wine trade, there wasn't a lot to see when I first visited the region. Things had changed a great deal within five years and grown exponentially by the time I worked in the area a dozen more years down the road. Even then (pre Sideways) I could enjoy a glass of Frank Ostini's selection of homemade Pinot Noirs and a slice of local ostrich at Hitching Post II  while nearly alone at the bar. Now, about 40% of the nearly 700 wineries on the Central Coast are located in Santa Barbara County. And 40% of the tourists are lined up for a picture in front of the Hitching Post! It seems like the Buellton to Lompoc corridor sprouts a new Pinot Noir brand every other week. But that's not bad.

Even better, the wines rarely disappoint and are often wonderful. I was able to taste a few of the newer (and established) brands at the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association (www.sbcountywines.com) tasting table at the WiVi trade show recently. I look forward to a greater exposure at the upcoming Vintners' Festival , April 19-22nd. Billed as the Ultimate Spring Wine & Food Festival, over 100 wineries will be pouring, local cuisine will be center stage and live music will be offered in a vineyard setting. All this, plus the fun of meeting new wines and making new friends for only $75 pp. The ticket also gives you access to a four day "visa" pass to a dozen area wineries over the entire weekend for only $25 vs. the regular tasting fees. 

The location is the  Santa Ines Mission grounds in Solvang, marking the return to the site where it first began thirty years ago. But there are is a long list of related events. From special tasting to winemaker dinners, something is happening all over the county. Details and tickets are available on line at the address above as well as information links to many of the local vendors involved. Head to The American Riviera for a long weekend of  wine, food & fun.

GOOD NEWS FOR GROWERS & VINTNERS FROM 2012 ©

            The incoming reports point to last year as having been one of the most successful  vintages ever. From a business standpoint this has led to much optimism about the future and additional investment in both wineries and vineyards. There has also been an uptick in transactions of both real estate and winery brands. It has also seen upward movement in popular pricing as consumers seem to be willing to experiment with new brands and less well known varietals at a bit higher retail sticker. The "reluctance" ceiling for a daily quaff is now more in the $11 to $20 range than the previous $6 to $11.

Some thumbnails from the crush report show that; yield was up, total tonnage was 20% higher than 2011. Price per ton was 21% higher than last year. Growers and estate style winery operators translate this as; last year I grew 100 tons and got 120 in 2012 with an increase in price from $1K/ton to $1,210 for a total of $145,200 this year vs. $100K, a 45% bigger bottom line, than 2011.

Sounds good but causes some to recall 2005, the former record holder which started a cycle of juice glut that hurt pricing. But last year the demand resulted in California wineries importing nearly 600K gallons of bulk wine. Meanwhile demand continues to grow and in the segment mentioned above, meaning buyers increasingly seek the better growing areas rather than staying with brands that are supported by Central Valley plantings.

Both Cabernet and Chardonnay, already the mainstay grapes by demand, continue to sell at higher numbers of cases. Pinot Noir has not slowed, seeing a 45% growth in tonnage harvested while Malbec went from under 9K to more than 18K tons. Even that wasn't enough as sales also grew for the competitive Argentinean brands. Another red that is being planted in hotter regions is the Nero d' Avola (popular in Sicily) where its use in proprietary Italian labels has been successful for off-premise stores. The big surprise is the Muscat/Moscato segment seeing huge demand and requires South American and European import of juice to satisfy consumers. That despite the 15% increase in California tonnage (177K) crushed in 2012.

January is usually a soft month for retailers and on-premise traffic. Yet stores report a 7% dollar increase year-over-year and the direct to consumer efforts saw a 4% gain. I should point out the data is polled from large food and drug store purveyors and doesn't necessarily reflect smaller markets and the fine wine segment. Those stores, which don't exist in all states, reflect an 80% bias for domestic wines and 20% import sales. Again, in their pricing model, imported wine is not the value priced competition in the prized "fighting varietals" market as they once were. Well made inexpensive wines from California have closed the gap in the .750 and upper tier mags and boxes in terms of the price to quality relationship. The lowering in the value of the dollar has also helped our export sales and American wines are finding new markets, such as China.

WiVi WOWS AT MARCH GATHERING - DAY TWO ©

Yes, there is more to report on WiVi and I'll attempt to focus on the items of general interest to you, the consumer.  First up was the Keynote speaker. Peter Faricy runs the entire Amazon Marketplace operation and told us all about a new place for you to purchase wine. They have opened a Wine Store on the site and are rapidly signing up wineries who offer you the opportunity to shop at Amazon and add a bottle or two of vino to your book, music or other selections and check out a single cart vs. going to multiple sites. From the activity at their trade show booth, interest is high in this new way to sell direct to consumer. They currently may ship wine purchases to seventeen states (the winery fulfills the shipping order) and are adding more as the needed paperwork is completed.

The morning general session was a panel discussion of "Quality vs. Quantity" among a winemaker, viticulturist and vineyard manager. For my audience, the important message was a caution re: tons per acre. The cachet of low yield making better wines does not hold up in research. As one presenter noted, "If low yield is good, is no yield better". Given the vast differences in vine density and vigor of the vines from rootstock choice, soil and moisture, pounds per vine is perhaps the best new measure. Filling the trellis, i.e. maximizing the area of cultivation, is key to a balanced vineyard and that is a product of canopy management. That provides the proper combination of sun and shade/air circulation that allows individual clusters of grapes to evenly ripen. So, now you are armed with some "stump the tasting room" staff questions.

Sessions on pests, and vineyard practices from the ground up to the canopy (viticulture) and new product demonstrations were held in the afternoon. The final enology session was the fun one for this writer and of interest to you, the wine drinker. It also gave me a chance to catch up with panel moderator Lance Cutler. Former winemaker at Gundlach-Bundschu, a wine I represented at wholesale, he now contributes to the hosting Wine Business Monthly publication. I'd also worked with Justin's wine production guru, Fred Holloway, in the past and had met another panelist, Guilliaume Fabre of L'Aventure, during a professional wine society tour a few years back.

It was a comparative tasting of similar blended reds from three regions. Look for Lance's article on this in a future edition of WBM. The group ran from 2006 to 2010 in vintage and $40 to $95 at retail. Primarily blended reds of the Bordeaux style, L'Aventure added a significant (and glass coating) amount of Syrah. One set was from Paso Robles. This included Isosceles '09 from Justin, L'Aventure  Estate Cuvee '10 and Robert Nicolas' (RN Estate) Cuvee de Trois Cepages '09. As with all the wines tasted, extensive notes on every aspect of production, soils, barrels, crushing and fermentation etc. were provided and discussed.

Napa offered Cain Five '07, a Howell Mountain (88%) Cabernet from Robert Craig and a red blend that included Sangiovese - Bacio Divino '06. From Washington came Baer Winery's Merlot and Cabernet Franc focused Ursa '10. Also, Rasa Vineyards '09 In Order to Form a More Perfect Union and Two Blondes Vineyard Red '09 from Andrew Will.

The drill for the tasting was to identify regional character. The short version of the consensus was that Paso and Napa differed in structure, primarily from the acid and tannin evident in them. Both areas had moderate to deep coloration and generally shared anise and dark berry notes to the nose. The Napa wines had distinctly more tannic attack, a drier and more aggressively chewy texture than those from Paso Robles. Paso showed softer tannins but also a hold on the acid balance that made them more accessible. They retained aging potential but were approachable for being youthful. All the wines were provided pre-poured with about two hours of air time.

The wines from Washington (to me) seemed to have less central defining character than the other regions. They were interesting, well made and differed individually within the group. They were also much nicer than many of the attempts I recall from earlier days of red wine experiments from that area. Maybe Lance's article will tie them together after more thought. But at this point, I saw them as different from Napa and Paso wines yet doubt I would carry over a true recollection that would lead to me identifying a Washington wine based on these varieties in a blind tasting.

All in all, the inaugural WiVi Central Coast was a fun and informative success. I look forward to the 2nd Annual version and believe it can become an important part of the wine trade calendar.

WiVi WOWS AT MARCH GATHERING, - DAY ONE ©

Under the co-hosting umbrella of Wine Business Monthly magazine and Precision Ag Consulting, the first annual WiVi, Wine & Viticulture Symposium and Tradeshow, more easily known as WiVi , kicked off the two day event bright and early on March 19th. The event was also supported by nearly thirty businesses who were participating sponsors. Held at the Paso Robles Event Center, the trade show and sessions filled the two main commercial display buildings with additional exhibitors in a central tented area. Another building housed the finale comparative tasting event. Attendees filled most of the remaining space!

The (paraphrased) stated mission of the effort - which is already in planning for the second annual version - is to present region-specific content and problem solving information via the resources and knowledge available from industry experts and educators as well as Wine Business Monthly and Precision Ag Consulting staff. That includes a wide range of experts in all aspects of the wine trade, from dirt to marketing, primary and continuing educational options and a statistical database on all things wine-ish.

While the focus of this blog is consumer and travel based information, much of the event was related to production and wine making products and services. It was not an event that many of my readers would be likely to attend - but I'll give you some reasons that might change your mind. It is a great way to better understand what all goes into the bottle you open as well as to rub elbows with grape growers and winemakers. There are also tasting events and seminars of more general interest. Even some of the tech based education seminars may relate well to home gardeners who are battling bugs and birds.

This format does not lend itself to long descriptions, though there is a lot to discuss. So, here are some highlights and sound bites of interest to my usual audience. Day one started out with a panel overview of what is happening on the Central Coast in terms of business. Gallo's Sr. Director of Marketing talked about how that company has been increasing brands, production facilities and vineyards in the region. This relates to you, the end user, in ways of which you are probably unaware. First, Gallo is a far different company than the one your parents knew. But they remain the 800 pound gorilla (albeit a more friendly-fuzzy one) in terms of leading trends and marketing, including research and data collection. They have the boots on the ground to do so and have many "graduates" of the system spread throughout the wine world. FYI, Gallo is now 65 brands and growing, covering most market sectors in terms of styles and pricing. Of the thirty largest wine producers, only six make in excess of 10M cases annually and Gallo (72M cs) sells 25% of the 284M cases those thirty represent. It is not uncommon for people to drink and enjoy a Gallo product and not even know it.

So, when Gallo says we on the Central Coast have a long way to go in becoming a market presence, people listen. Simply by reading this blog, you are among the cognoscenti in terms of wine knowledge by regional style. The take-aways of note were; east of the Mississippi, "Central Coast" may mean Tampa or Hilton Head; Syrah is fruit forward, inexpensive Australian wine in a box; California is more label sexy (could be Napa/Sonoma) than Central Coast; they have heard of Monterey (golf) and Santa Barbara (kid looking for cool college), but not Paso Robles or know that the entire area between the first two towns is covered in grape vines - and great wines.

Master Sommelier and Kimpton Hotels wine program director, Emily Wines seconded much of the above. Many of the company's restaurant operations are located in the east. She had surveyed her staff and related some of the responses to, "What is your impression of Central Coast wines". A few were on point and others brought a laugh. But it was obvious that they were neither well known nor thought of as a major factor in their primary market. Both of these presenters provided a good view of what needs to be done to ensure the Central Coast stands out among the 30,000 different wines (by bar code indicators) already on the shelves.

Overall, the state of the business is sound. Last year was generally good across California and saw continued growth in the Central Coast. The area is now at nearly 700 wineries with the state pushing through the 8,000 level being possible this year. Wineries indicate they are putting money into their operations and buying equipment, especially storage and fermentation tanks. They also saw significantly increased sales and profitability in 2012, which looks back to prior vintages, and the year itself was considered a great vintage for quality and quantity.

If wines released in 2012 are an indicator, with more area Wine Spectator Top 100 rated wines than Napa, last year's offerings should be worth the wait. What was grown here for you to enjoy in 2014? Chardonnay was 40% of production with Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir tied for 2nd at 21% each. Further down the line, and even behind Syrah for reds, was Zinfandel. I would recommend you continue to keep that variety from this area on your radar. Also look for Rhone whites and increasingly available experiments with lesser known reds (Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Barbera and Tempranillo) , and whites such as Albarino.

Then, lunch was served! Offered within the trade show space, it added to the chance to learn more and network with vendor representatives. Since my background is hospitality, I need to give some kudos to local "Cahoots" catering for an excellent job of handling the morning coffee & pastry, delicious (and plentiful) on site lunches and tasting time yummies.

Afternoon sessions were divided into a viticulture series on water usage and an enology section of problem solving in the winery. Panel participants included a well known and respected group of educators and scientists. Many came from the extensive California university system, which presented the PM kick off session "Beautiful Minds" with presenters from several of the schools offering "V&E" (viticulture and enology) degree programs and led by local legend, winery (15th largest) owner, Jerry Lohr. Lowell Zelinski PhD of hosting Precision Ag Consulting also led a general session on the 2012 growing season.

The day ended with a two hour reception and wine tasting. The set up allowed you to taste by AVA, with seven growing areas having pouring tables. Often the labels were changed out as bottles were emptied, allowing the crowd to return for new selections and get a great overview of the wines available and contrast them by growing locale.

AVA UPDATE ©

            A sidebar to WiVi attendance was the ability to speak with many representatives of various winery promotion & marketing groups. This allows me to update information previously provided, so I can help readers link to sources of information on places they might want to visit. One such, the Creston Wine Trail, was mentioned in a prior post re: upcoming events.

Of significance, the Santa Barbara area has added the Happy Canyon AVA (American Viticultural Area) designation to those (four) already in place. The area NW of lake Cachuma on the  east side of Santa Ynez Valley is a warm climate area that has seen recent vineyard development. It is likely to provide a region for growing Cabernet Sauvignon and other heat loving or late ripening varieties. This adds to the range of offerings, currently the cooler clime happy Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, for which the area is best known. This will also strengthen the "Diversity Perfected" tag line of the Santa Barbara County Vintner's Association (sbcountywines.com). That group now boasts 107 members from Alexander & Wayne to Zotovich Cellars and most letters in between.

Paso Robles AVA, currently the largest in California, may also see as many as eleven subsets in the future. Since the original formation of the existing AVA, there have been some minor adjustments (adding west side plantings) but it became evident that both soil and climate variations were too great to consider the entire region as one similar or specific growing area. The necessary paperwork is in the government pipeline. Stay tuned for more.