Text 9851, 86 rader
Skriven 2007-01-01 11:34:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av HAP NEWSOM
Ärende: adelaide hills 800
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 HN> Now I have another "learning" question; How much of the character of
 HN> the  wine is contributed by the winemaker? Isn't the process pretty
 HN> much "set in  stone"? and how much is determined by the grapes
 HN> character, the soil and  weather cobinations?

The factors you cite are relevant but will be allowed for by
an experienced vintner, whereas the fresh out of school guy
who thinks the process is set in stone will make terrific wine
out of one batch of grapes and then swill out of the next, and
he'd darn well better figure out how to even out the production
or at least improve the bottom end, or else.

Starting with grapes of a certain ripeness and potential alcohol
content, it's the winemaker's job to regulate tons of things -

varieties in the crush (seldom is someone going to want a 100%
anything)

amount of extraction

amount of time spent in contact with pomace

wild or cultured yeasts

fermentation speed and temperature

fermentation length (and thus residual sugar)

type of vessel used for fermentation

fining or not, and if so, vegetarian or other

filtration or not

type of vessels used for aging

introduction of additional oak (at Cline, the winemaker
showed us this purple-stained plank that he apparently
uses to add depth to wine that he thinks needs a kick)

length of aging.

Then there's the variation in every batch, so it has to
be decided how that's to be dealt with when producing
a consistent product for the market.

You might figure that there is a cut-and-dried aspect to
grapes+yeast = wine, but the devil is in the details, as
they say.

 For example on the pinot
 HN> grigio 05 above you said it  was milkiness on the palate (what does
 HN> that mean?) and rather  uninspired....what would have made it inspired
 HN> and how (who) would have  made that difference?

Better grapes and more time on lees would have made
a difference. How the winemaker managed to get malic
sharpness and the signs of malolactic together in one
wine I don't know, unless there was some unwanted
variety of bacteria in the fermentation mix. As I
intimated, I rather liked some of the other wines
made at Chain of Ponds, so it's likely this was the
stray introduction of a contaminant in the batch
rather than a bad stylistic choice by the winemaker.

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
cat: sauce
Serves: 2 to 4

1/2 c butter
1 T lemon juice
2 egg yolks
1 pn salt

Dice the butter, melt and bring to a boil in a small sauce pan over
medium heat. Add juice, egg yolks and salt to a food processor or
blender and mix one minute. With the machine running, add butter in a
steady stream. Blend one minute. If you're concerned about possible
salmonella poisoning from raw eggs, substitute grated hard-boiled egg
yolks or pasteurized eggs, available at most markets.

Raford House, Healdsburg, California

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