Hooray for 2007 from Terry and Ben

You can safely ignore any rumblings you may have heard about Oregon’s 2007 vintage being less wonderful than 2006.  We did have rain in September last year, and there are some people who think rain in September spells disaster for a vintage, but as I said back on October 5, Oregon winegrowers know how deal with threats of rain.  Ask any Oregon winemaker about 2007 and he or she will tell you, it was a classic Oregon vintage, a real winemaker’s vintage. And if you don’t believe the winemakers, here is what Jay Miller had to say about it in the October issue of The Wine Advocate:  

The vast majority of [Oregon’s] 2006s are enjoyable now, but Burgundy fans who prize elegance will have to wait for one more year when what looks to be a superb 2007 vintage is released . . . Although there was never a clear window for picking, with some growers continuing to harvest well into October, the results were terrific.  This was not immediately apparent but after malolactic fermentation was complete, almost everyone was thrilled with what they achieved.  These wines will be lower in alcohol than the 2006 but with better concentration, more elegance, and very good aging potential.  In other words, it will be a vintage to please both the intellect and the senses. 

Bethel Heights current releases from the 2007 vintage, ready to please both the intellect and the senses!

The sun is shining in Bordeaux with temperatures about 22 degrees C in the middle of the day and everyone is smiling. This sunshine has lasted for a week or so now. The mornings are cold (about 10 degrees) but the days soon warm up and the grapes are basking in the delicious Autumn sun. The wine producers are waiting. Every once of sunshine benefits the grape’s ripening, increasing polyphenol levels (tannin ripeness). Acidity levels are high still so the wise are waiting. A few weeks ago there was a lot of rain which served to swell the grapes and dilute the sugars.

There is some problem of grey rot but for those who have leaf pulled efficiently during the summer and green harvested the bunches of grapes that were too close to eachother - rot is minimal.

It is true we have not had the Indian Summer of 2007 which saved the day last year. Saying that quantities of grapes are reduced this year due to bad flower setting in May due to cold spells and rain. Many properties are estimating a 25% drop in yield this year across the board - dry and sweet whites and reds.

For the moment it is a waiting game.

I stopped by Raphael on the way to work Friday to pick up a couple of cases of sauvignon blanc to sell by the bottle. It replaces the Lieb Pinot Blanc, which always sells well. The Raphael barely had time to chill before people started ordering it.

Winemaker Rich Olsen-Harbich had packed up some samples and then gave me a tasting of the 2007 reds he has in barrels. The cabernet franc is going to be delicious. We tasted some out of new American oak, made by French coopers and one from old French oak. The fruit got so ripe that the cab franc has a richness and little of that greenness that often is what cab franc is about. Rich said his cab franc was the best from Raphael’s vineyard, but that other growers and winemakers are saying their merlot was the best. “Every vineyard’s different,” he said.

What was really wild was the malbec. It had what I called a sachet and Rich said was lilac, flowery nose. But the tannins were really high. What he had learned from Paul Pontallier, said Rich, was to wait and not be afraid to leave wine in oak longer than you think you should. The tannins will drop out and become more mellow with time.

The 2007 cabernet sauvignon was surprisingly light. Almost as if one would have to add some merlot to give it structure.

Rich showed me merlot from three barrels. One contained wine made from Petrus clones that Rich said with eyebrows raised smells like a “wet horse.” He wasn’t kidding. The wine is brett infected and will definitely provide a small element to some blends. Which I got to try. He added some merlot from a new oak barrell and then some from aged oak and soon the wine was coming together.

He invited me to come over when they start blending. “I could use your nose,” he said. Some guys have said worse to me …

Of course, I’d be delighted.

We talked about the 2002 merlots, which are really drinking well, and doing better over time than the 2001s, which got a lot of buzz when they came out. “They’re under the radar,” said Rich.

He gave me a bottle of his 2002 merlot, which has a small percentage of malbec, and will soon be released by the winery. I opened it for a regular customer, Mark, who is a tried-and-true Bordeaux fan and gave it to him blind. The wine has that barnyardy smell, which identifies Rich’s wines, smooth tannins, a graphite middle that winemakers in cool climates are after and still fresh fruit on the finish.

Mark was wowed. “This is Bordeaux, right?” he asked. “It’s the best Long Island wine I’ve had.”

Another 2002 merlot to check out is Osprey’s Dominion’s Reserve. It has that chocolately, minty Pomerol smell that I love.

At last the sun is shining in Bordeaux after a very wet spring. The vines are about two weeks behind normal with the lack of sun and wet conditions but so far the infant light green leaves are healthy and growing.  Lot of greenery and vegetation which will be trimmed back in time during ‘le rognage’. 

Most of the soil is gorged with water however so all it will take is a hot, sticky few days and mildew may start. This forms a white powder on the underneath of the leaf. This small mushroom feeds on vegetation (and grapes later in the year) reducing the vine’s ability to photosynthesize, produce sugars and feed itself. Leaves dry out if left too long. It is important to be vigilant and spray with fungicides before the vine suffers from the effects of this fungus.

What is next in the vine’s life?

Vines have all been pruned some time ago (in advance of the sap coming up from the vine’s roots), buds have burst and crunched up leaves like the tight hands of a newborn have slowly unfurled to reveal light green and pink hues. The next most important phase of the vine’s life will be the flowering which happens in June. The period of flowering from the onset through to the end helps to indicate the date of harvest and sometimes how uniform the maturing of the grapes will be. Traditionally this was said to be 100 days from the start. With later harvesting to benefit from riper tannins, this is now sometimes stretched to 115 days depending on the year’s climate conditions and the vine’s terroir.

The potential of the year, in terms of how many grape bunches can be produced, is actually set during the summer of the year before. The effects of the wet and mild summer of 2007 is not only having its effect on the wines produced in the autumn of 2007 but also 2008! Let us hope that we do not have a repeat of last year and hope for 2008 to be a sunnier one. The sun is still shining outside so keeping fingers crossed…

2008 Poor Flowering: Cold periods during the flowering period meant that flower setting was poor and not uniform. Vines suffered from ‘coulure’ and ‘millerandage’ which serves as a natural and early ‘green harvest’. Could reduce yields somewhat.

This en primeur game is quite a laugh- thunderbirds! Parker was  not too complimentary about the 2007 vintage but said it was better than what he expected and only awarded 100 points to two wines, both white and both my favorites agreeing that the whites were the overall winers this year; Haut Brion Blanc and Pape-Clement Blanc and Laville (La Mission’s white) was awarded 93 to 96.

Amongst his top reds were my favorites Cabernet Sauvignon dominated Margaux and La Mission Haut Brion.

The sweet wines were this year tasted by Neal Martin who works with Robert Parker on his website. He awarded Ch Climens (98-100), Yquem (96-98) and Denis Dubourdieu’s l’Extravaganza (97-98) the best marks.

See my separate entries for my tasting notes.

It is scientifically proven that we all taste differently. The appreciation of wine is subjective. How can one person describe a wine for another? They don’t. All a wine critic can do is describe what they taste, what their olfactory system is telling them. This differs depending on their sex, age, culture, diet, time of the day …. the variables are never-ending. With something as complicated as wine (which itself is changing every second) we have to start somewhere.  The opinions of an informed experienced wine expert is a good start but only if they taste in a similar way to you. It is like a film critic. You need to find the guy that has a similar taste to you. If you can find someone that is.

I tasted three 2007 wines blind from St Julien all fourth growths and ranked them in order of preference. Here are my notes;

Wine 1: Fragrant florale nose. Very soft and fresh ripe fruit. Freshness key impact.

Wine 2: Smokey, sweet cherry nose. Very soft melted fruit on the palate. Light but elegant but bitter short finish.

Wine 3: Toasty blackcurrant nose. Smooth and rounded on the palate with good structure and volume. Potential.

In order of being served my preference was 2, 3, 1.

The opinions of Jancis Robinson (JR), Stephen Brooks (SR) and Revue de Vins de France (RVF) and Parker (P)

                                     JR        SB          RVF          P

Beychevelle                 16.5    14.5       15-16     87-90

Brainaire                      15        16         16-17    90-92

Talbot                         14.5    16.5       15-16    84-86

My favorite was Brainaire like Parker and RVF. My second choice was the Talbot, Stephen Brook’s favorite and my least favorite was the Beychevelle. As you see no-one agrees!

Besides this picture, which I thought captured a certain attitude towards the well-reported Montalcino scandal at this year’s VinItaly, one of the things I came away with from the event was the excitement many growers and winemakers feel towards their 2007 wines. You can read a brief report I wrote about tasting wines from this vintage at VinItaly over at Wine & Spirits.

Picked up a 4 pack at TW in Raleigh. $8.99.

Served a little warm…probably close to 55. Poured into a challis. Redish Brown. Small to no head. Nice balance but seems a little hot…almost like a barelywine. I think a little aging might do this some good.

score:85