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WINEMAKING little softer? Every retailer's answer—Merlot. Ah, that's better. But does it have to smell so funny? The roots of pyra-noia When land prices in the North Coast began to skyrocket in the 1980s, producers looked south to Monterey and eventu- ally the Central Coast to find new vineyard sites for premium wines. The Monterey Valley, salad bowl of the Western U.S., was utterly unlike anything California viticulturalists had seen before—a cold, sunny, windy desert. To this they brought their new scientific marvel: the first large-scale planting of disease- free, own-rooted vines. This new, scientifically purified master race of Cabernet and Merlot vines were incredibly vigorous, and the resulting fruit shading played perverse genetic flavor tricks, compelling grapes to express strong bell pepper flavors called pyrazines, which grapes in the wild use to repel birds from fruit with immature seeds. The disaster that ensued left a pyrazine-paranoid imprint on Califor- nia's winemakers that persists to this day. Veg is bad. Like, don't even go there. Unleash the flying monkeys In the late '80s, wineries in California, Chile and the South of France turned to Australian expertise that they believed held the keys to marketable styles. Their technique was simple: Push for even greater maturity. Crop left long enough on the vine loses its reductive strength and mean-spiritedness and softens into fruit- forward, user-friendly wine that "makes itself" in the fermentor. This practice gave rise to the "flying winemakers" who revolu- tionized winemaking in the value segment. Ledcor_Jan11.qxp 12/7/10 2:30 PM Page 1 466 Devlin Road, Napa, CA 94558 Tel: (707)257-5231 Fax: (707)259-1257 www.ledcor.com/napa "Wherever we go, one constant remains: excellence. Time after time, we earn our reputation by delivering quality projects and customer service in an effort to continually exceed our clients' expectations. ' International in outlook. Innovative in approach. Diversified in capabilities. Dana Estates, Saint Helena, CA Recent Davis studies indicate that hang time has no effect on pyrazines. Yet in a sense, the fix works because raisiny aromas mask other flavors including, unfortunately, varietal and terroir expression, making Cabernet, Zinfandel, Syrah, what-have-you, taste pretty much alike. These wines fit the bill precisely for a rapidly growing, unso- phisticated market interested in rich, fruity wines for immediate consumption with no surprises under the cork. Pretty soon, cult producers were hanging $100 price tags on Cabernets left and right, and moneyed consumers were paying those prices as long as the wines delivered a big punch. The hang time cure is a way to destroy the vigor and structure of a red so it behaves like a white wine: simple, fruity, easy drink- ing and pointless to age. But by the late '90s, the practice had spread to the ultra-premium segment where it created some scan- dal. The 1997 Bordeaux, Barolos and Napa Cabernets receiving high initial scores fell apart in the cellar. But so what? With each successive vintage, size has become more and more important. Type cast as blockbusters, California wines began a wet T-shirt contest, eventually morphing into cartoon caricatures of their well-balanced progenitors. Today's blousy, forward Napa cult Cabernets often weigh in above 17%, and when I encounter them, I'm often reminded of Jack Nicholson's choice to risk his reputation as a serious dramatic actor while enhancing his bad- boy image by accepting the role of The Joker. Curdled colloids We have discussed in past articles3,4 the essential role of unpolymer- ized color in structure, texture and longevity. Ripeness is valuable in optimizing production of anthocyanins and the cofactors that help extract them into colloids as well as aiding extraction by liquefying pectins. But monomeric anthocyanins helpful to structure decrease during later stages of maturation, and high alcohol destabilizes copigmentation colloids, thus inhibiting extraction. The field oxi- dation associated with extended hang time deprives wine of depth, energy, soulfulness and longevity in favor of early drinkability. Even for wines of identical ripeness, elevated alcohol levels ac- celerate aging, promote oxidation and both mask and diminish volatility of fruit aromas. Carole Shelton's experimental trials with the same Zinfandel barrel aged at different alcohols showed 50 Wines & Vines DeCeMBeR 2011