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VintnersSupply_1-3v_VSC_Dec10.qxd 11/10/ WINEMAKING edge here or a whiff of Brett there. Serious wine lovers may appreciate the complexity brought on by these artifacts of winemaking, but everyday wine drinkers don't. Beringer Vineyards and other brands ™ A DIVISION OF MOECKLY ENTERPRISES, INC. FILTRATION & SEPARATION under the Treasury Wine Estates umbrella are still developing their approach to the bustling sweet red market. I got my inside look from Lee Miyamura, a senior wine- maker responsible for the Beringer Found- ers' Estates line and the Meridian brand. Beringer's foray into sweet Moscato was so successful that the company had to turn to sources in Chile to meet the demand. Pink (8% sugar) and red (6.5%) Moscato soon followed, gaining their color mainly from the addition of concentrate. (These shades of Moscato must be working out, too, since I found both temporarily unavailable for purchase on the Beringer website.) Meridian recently introduced its Chill- able Red (around $6 a bottle), a blend of Zinfandel, Syrah and blush wines, with a very modest 10.2% alcohol and a tooth- some 6% residual sugar. Miyamura says the Chillable has more red wine texture and character, though it is clearly in the soft and sweet category. At the same time, Beringer released in its Founders Estates tier a Smooth Red, a bigger, bolder blend Depth Media Sheet Filters Membrane Filters Lenticular Housings Cartridge Filter Housings Cross-flow Filter Systems Recessed Plate & Rotary Drum Vacuum Filters Replacement Press Membrane and Filter Cloths Pumps, valves & fittings VINTNERS SUPPLY COMPANY P.O. Box 153 St. Helena, CA 94574 Toll Free 800.366.6809 Fax 707.584.7955 www.vintnerssupply.com 50 Wines & Vines JUne 2012 Zinfandel Advocates & Producers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. ZAP is dedicated to advancing public knowledge of and appreciation for American Zinfandel and its unique place in our culture and history. You know how good your Zinfandel is... Promote your wines to leading Zinfandel enthusiasts and extend your winery's relationship in the market. Join Us! We are champions of Zinfandel— America's Heritage Wine Become part of our proud legacy SUPPLIERS OF QUALITY VIRUS CERTIFIED GRAFTED GRAPEVINES Deadline for Custom Grafted Order For Spring Planting is January of Previous Year zinfandel.org • 530-274-4900 For Further Information & Pricing Please Call or Write 1912 Concession 4 R.R. #2 Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario, Canada LOS 1J0 Phone: 905-468-0822 Fax: 905-468-0344 of Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot for around $11 per bottle. The Smooth Red contains nearly 14% alcohol and a modest but perceptible 0.6% sugar. "Just a bit of sugar," says Mi- yamura, "to smooth the blend out." The Chillable Red was put together as a kind of experiment, using lots of wine that were already around, including both blush wines and low-tannin reds. The Smooth Red is a somewhat more intentional effort, em- phasizing grapes from vineyards and growing regions not high in phenolic content. The Syr- ah gets a fairly cool fermentation; the other elements are monitored for tannin accumula- tion, in case adjustments in pump-over sched- ules or press timing are needed. Some lots of both the Chillable and the Smooth were aged in oak; some benefited from micro-oxygen- ation and oak adjuncts; some went through Flash Détente, with mixed results. In other words, Beringer and Meridian are not aiming to unload wine that would have gone to the bulk market by adding sugar; they're throwing every piece of fan- cy technology they have access to (within the constraints of the price point) to meet an apparent consumer demand. It's not just the high-volume producers Mori_Nov05.qxt 9/19/05 3:29 PM Page 1 who are working this trend. Quintessential