One-Grape Wineries Keep the Faith
When it comes to winemaking, Carrie Bradshaw might muse, is being a swinger really better?
While many ambitious winemakers aim to leverage mercurial consumer interest in wines with a wacky backstory and different offbeat grapes by playing the field and sprinkling their vineyards with a potpourri of varietals, others are too busy mooning over their one, true grape to stray.
Because the notion of focusing on one grape seems so antithetical to the avariciousness with which most business decisions are made – and winemaking, bottled poetry aside is, in the end, a business – we were curious: why do some winemakers put all of their bottles on one grape?
History
For Nik Weis, Riesling defines his 1800-year-old family vineyard in Germany’s Mosel, and vice versa.
"Riesling was first mentioned in records about 700 years ago, but we think it has probably been grown here for much longer," Weis explains. "It was probably an indigenous grape variety that Romans cultivated, but it didn't have a name."
But it wasn't until the 18th Century, he explains, that Riesling was likely produced here as a single varietal. That began to change when prince-bishop Clemens Wenceslaus, Elector of Trier, ordered growers to replace non-Riesling varieties with Riesling in 1787. Around the same time, Weis says, winemakers began using sulfites to preserve their wine, giving varietal wines an opportunity to maintain purity for years. Sulfur, of course, binds with oxygen and other components that can lead to oxygenation, and the eventual dissipation of a wine's unique character.
"Single-varietal wines existed in certain regions previously but, until the 18th Century, winemakers probably weren't motivated to explore the possibilities of one grape's expression," Weis says.
Weis's own family traces its winemaking roots back 200 years, and they have all planted Riesling, because, he says, they believe that Riesling belongs in the Mosel, and is the most authentic expression of everything the land, his family and he himself stand for.
"We have a line of 30 wines just made from Riesling," he says. "We are able to explore a vast range of flavors and terroir expressions by cultivating different vineyard sites with slightly different exposures to the sun. Growing grapes on the 15th parallel, so far north, means a slight difference in slope, altitude or direction can create vastly different flavors in the same grape type."
Weis has seven vineyards, divided into 100 parcels, all of which are treated differently; he tests ripeness every day, and may pick one parcel 30 days before another close by, depending on whether he is seeking a bone dry wine, or a sweet Ttrockenbeerenauslese.
"I recently drank a Trockenbeerenauslese with a group of experienced wine drinkers, and when we learned it was a ’94, we were impressed by its incredible freshness," he says. "But when we learned it was from 1894, we almost couldn't believe it. But that level of excellence, the exact expression of terroir, the freshness is what I aim for with my own attention to detail, which I find by focusing my attention on Riesling."
Transcendence
In the Mosel Valley, Riesling is a manifestation of the region and the Weis family's history, and showcases the grape's extraordinarily broad range of expressions through precise harvesting techniques. In Chile, at Don Melchor, winemaker Enrique Tirado uses Cabernet Sauvignon to shine a light on Maipo Valley’s diverse terroir.
Tirado seems hell-bent on proving that the Maipo Valley's rocky soils and unique climactic conditions informed by the Andes and the Maipo River – which reach their apotheosis, he believes, at Don Melchor's 314-acre Puento Alta vineyard at the foot of the Andes Mountains – are not just a good spot, but the ideal, the best in world, the ne plus ultra place for Cabernet Sauvignon to achieve sublimity.
"Cabernet Sauvignon reaches an outstanding level of refinement in Puente Alto Vineyard," Tirado explains. "The result is a Cabernet Sauvignon that shows the fresh expression of red fruits mixed with mineral notes and graphite, resulting in a complex and diverse expression of its aromas. On its palate, it stands out for the great balance between its refined tannins and its freshness, as well as its good concentration. True to the Cabernet Sauvignon character, it's a dense wine, but incredibly elegant, with a long persistence."
Sure it is, you might be saying. And my pony is the fastest, and my eyes are the bluest and my daddy can beat up yours. But the winery consistently receives delirious praise from critics, if you're into that sort of thing, has placed on Wine Spectator's Top 100 nine times (including three in the top 10), and is the most awarded wine from Chile, so …
But he doesn't just watch the grapes grow and hope Mother Nature takes care of the rest. He monitors the vineyard like a general. Each section serves as a unit in his army, and each vine is a soldier, one of whom might get promoted, as a comrades nearby faces a court-martial.
After joining the winery in 1995, Tirado began mapping the vineyard and studying the intricacies of each section. He divided the vineyard into seven distinct parcels, then subdivided them further so that each row is tended slightly differently. He also dug dozens of tester pits to study the soils types and determine "how many soil types we're working with, as well as their relative depth, and how each contributes to the personality of our vineyard parcels. Ultimately, this has allowed us to work on the very detailed classification of our parcels."
He shared a brief primer on each, and it sounds indeed like a recipe for Cabernet greatness. Parcel 1 he dubs Fresh Sweetness, elegant, soft, sweetness, nut sugary. Parcel 2 is Spice and Structure, restless, more tannins, more structure. Parcel 3 delivers Power and Firmness, intense, great concentration, strength, tannins. Parcel 4 is all about Integration and Delicacy, harmonizing and balance. Parcel 5 comes in with Freshness and Energy, acidity, restless, alive, fresh. Parcel 6 is Structure, with a blend of fresh sweetness and firmness. Parcel 7 brings Youth, intense and red, vibrant, healthy growth.
The obsession doesn't end in the vineyard; each year, after the grapes are hand-harvested section by section depending on taste and scientific analysis, then processed and fermented separately section by section, Tirado flies to Lamarque in Bordeaux to meet with Eric Boissenot, son of legendary Bordeaux consultant Jacques Boissont, to taste up to 150 micro-vinifications to determine how much of each vinification belongs in the final blend. Once the blend has been determined, the wine is vinified in French oak barrels harvested from the woods of Allier, Troncais and Nevers. Two-thirds of the barrels are new, one-third has been used once previously. In addition to the Cabernet Sauvignon, up to 9 percent of a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot, also grown on the estate, are permitted in the final blend.
Flexibility
An almost existential quest for authenticity and a grape's truest expression seems to pervade the perspective and approach to winemaking of every varietal-infatuated producer. But there is also a feeling, akin to the idealized notion of marriage so many of us grew up with, that they "get" this one grape more than others do, and it's their job to not help this grape achieve terroir transcendence, but also explain away some of its less-appreciated personality tics to the rest of the world.
Janie Brooks Heuck, the managing director of Brooks Winery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, inherited the winery from her brother Jim Brooks in 2004, when he passed suddenly. But in addition to running the winery, she felt compelled to become the voice of Riesling in Oregon, for the grapes have no tongues.
"When Jim started Brooks, he simply couldn't understand why more people in the Willamette Valley weren't producing Riesling," she says. "People were ripping out their Riesling and replanting it with Pinot Gris and Chardonnay, which felt so wrong to him. He really felt that this was the perfect terroir for Riesling and Pinot Noir, which of course we are now much more known for."
Brooks grows other grapes – including Pinot Noir of course – but the winery’s soul, arguably, resides in its line of 23 Rieslings. Over the years, Heuck has come to not just drink the Riesling Kool-Aid, but make it.
"Until 2008, we just had a dry and a dessert Riesling, but then we began exploring the full range of the expression," she says. "Every year, depending on the weather and harvest conditions, our range of 23 is different. The vintage has so much influence on the style, and we love being able to express that. Usually 17 or 18 of the 23 are single-vineyard Rieslings."
She's on the board of directors of the International Riesling Foundation and, in 2008, helped launch the Riesling Sugar Scale, which producers use to explain to consumers how dry or sweet their wine is by measuring the sugar to acid ratio and the pH. Around 26 million bottles domestically now use the measurement and, while there isn't a formal auditing system, she says: "Every time we've grabbed a bottle off the shelf and tested it, it's been correct."
Granbazan, one of the first wineries founded along with the establishment of Spain's Rias Baixas DO, is also hell-bent on showing off the flexibility of his inamorata, Albariño. Winemaker Diego Rios explains that Granbazan was created with "the single idea of developing a product with the essence of the place, with a territory identity, using culture and tradition as the main competitive advantages".
The only grape, he felt, that ticked all the boxes was Albariño, a variety "deeply rooted in Galician society, where it represents one of the most important agricultural activities".
The vineyards, planted in the 1980s, grow 15 different varieties of Albariño, and Rios has learned, through such singular focus on the grape, how to tease out wildly divergent profiles from the variety. Depending on the grapes, the time of harvest and method of aging, he knows how to tease out "a very expressive aromatic profile, where fruit plays the main role, going from fresh apples, citrus, passion fruit and guava, to white flowers and fine herbs, all the way to ones with riper stone fruits, fennels, white chocolate, toffee and candied fruit. Yet each one is crispy, salty, elegant and complex."
Devil may care
Petite Sirah, first grown in the mid-1800s in France, is one of the most controversial grapes out there, equally beloved and hated, as passionately divisive as cilantro or Kanye West. It requires a special kind of advocate, a relaxed, quick-to-laugh type with thick skin. The type of person who will shrug when they hear certain people declaim its sometimes burly, meaty, even bloody expressions. No, Petite Sirah isn't for everyone, they might say, shaking their heads sadly at the number of ignoramuses in the world.
"We actually discovered Petite Sirah's potential by accident," says Heidi Scheid, executive vice president of Scheid Family Wines, under whose umbrella sits Petite Sirah showhorse Stokes’ Ghost. "We started growing Petite Sirah for a client in the Hames Valley, an inland enclave at the southern edge of Monterey County. There's a wild 50-60 degree temperature swing between day and night, alluvial, well-drained soils and what can I say? It is the perfect place to grow Petite Sirah."
Petite Sirah's more-robust edges are softened by the wild diurnal swing, which prevents it from developing some its more screamingly bold characteristics. Scheid says they also seriously watch cropping levels and prune aggressively. They're so happy with the results, they made the – in retrospect, Scheid admits, financially questionable— – decision to invest an additional 60 acres nearby in Petite Sirah.
"We kind of put the cart before the horse in our excitement," she says. "We already have 100 acres in Petite Sirah. Most people would have planted, say, Cabernet Sauvignon, which we could sell for a lot more. But we love Petite."
Dance with the one that brung ya.
John Eudy, owner of the five-acre labor-of-love Petite Sirah estate Aix Sponsa Cellar in Murphys, California, doesn't have even attempt to market himself to the Petite Sirah lily livers.
"If you want a smooth red wine then Petite Sirah isn't for you," he says. "We work to accentuate the grape's robust personality, as a testament to not only its true nature, but also California's historic dependence on the grape. I'll tell you there's something about this grape – its bold spirit, its fruitiness, the sense of adventure you get in the glass – to me, it's the most American of grapes. We grow it on our ranch 1500 feet above sea level, above the fog, below the snow, but with their influence, and then letting it take its time, about three years in barrel. It's special, unlike anything else."
All these winemakers reject the wiggle-room multiple grapes give you in an increasingly unpredictable climate and variable consumer preferences in an increasingly unpredictable market, in favor, they say, of authenticity. For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'til bottle do them part.
We may not all covet their valentine, but their dedication to delving deep into the exploration of a grape's idiosyncrasies, and the potential within, has made wine arguably more delicious for even the most resolute swingers.
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