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WineEast Sunny Wines, Cloudy Wines i am a strong advocate of calibrating the palate in order to gain a sense of relative quality and value not only for one's own wines, but also the progress of our emerging Eastern North American wine regions. In Pennsylvania, with its diversity of climates and, if you wish, terroir, the comparisons can come from around the globe. In the warmer and wetter southeast quadrant of the state, it is easy to see similarities to Bordeaux and Tuscany. In the Endless Mountains and even the higher elevations in the Lehigh Valley, the aromatic white wines are reminiscent of Burgundy, the Rhine and Danube. The point is, there are benchmarks with which to compare our wines, most often in Europe, where it also rains during the grow- ing season. No matter what kind of wine you make or drink, it's good to have a sense of what the best practitioners are doing in your field. In 2010 I attended the Wine Spectator Grand Tour wine tasting event in New York City. Wineries from around the world came to pour their wines, and many notable names were present. It was an ideal opportunity to calibrate my palate to what others consider the bench- marks in our profession. Among the 200 wineries in attendance were four of the five Bordeaux first growths, as well as many great second H&W_Dec10.qxp 10/12/10 10:59 AM Page 1 Winemaking Winemakers should taste what the best practitioners are producing and learn from their styles By Mark Chien and third growths. There were Napa Cabernets, greats from Barolo, Tuscany and many other regions. It was my goal to taste wines that could be compared to what we are growing in Pennsylvania and around the Mid-Atlantic region in order to get a general impression of how our wines compare to theirs. I was glad to have the opportunity to compare and contrast di- rectly, at a single event, wines from vastly different terroir. The easy and stark comparison is the difference between, for example, the Left Bank first growths and the Napa Cabernet crowd. I can only describe it as the difference between wines that display a lot of sun versus those grown in less sunny conditions. The Napa Cabs were big, fat, sweet, ripe, high in alcohol and overtly fruity. It is very easy to see why Napa wines are so likeable. They are approachable and easy on the palate. French wines showed considerably more restraint, complexity, balance and, if you will, elegance and refinement. To say that one is better than the other is foolhardy; it all boils down to a personal preference, and the argument about who makes the "better" wine is exasperating and really misses the point. Other "sunny wines" in- LakewoodCork_WE_Oct08.qxp 9/8/08 2:20 PM Page 1 GÜLTIG® CORKS The benchmark of quality for over 40 years 1953 – Gültig revolutionizes bottling with "Sterile Corks", PE bags injected with SO2 now an industry standard. 1986 – Gültig introduces the Hydrogen Peroxide cork with no residual H2 O2 1995– ISO NORM 9002 Certification monitored Quality Assurance. 2001– VISION® synthetic stoppers introduced. 2002– Quality control assuredwith GC/MS testing for TCA on every batch. 2004– Introduction of the HACCP system in the cork production. Always– Fast, knowledgeable service. East Coast Gültig® Sales Representatives: Chris & Liz Stamp • Lakewood Cork 4024 State Route 14, Watkins Glen, NY 14891 607-535-9252 or 607-426-4551 • Fax: (607) 535-6656 Oenoman@onlineimage.com 62 Wines & Vines FeBRUARY 201 1 –