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WINEMAKING having flash in place saved the winery by providing tools for under-ripeness and rot. This year Monterey's normally cool cli- mate became impossibly chilly, pushing harvest into a rainy October and fighting rot pressures to get anywhere near ripe. But with flash, under-ripe fruit was able to fully extract anthocyanins normally blocked by pectin, while pyrazines were discarded along with extracted rainwa- ter, with the result of re-concentration of flavor and color and a substantial Brix bump. "Pretty decent wines can be made from marginally ripe Bordeaux varieties," McIntyre confides. For grapes that hung longer and suffered Botrytis attack, laccase enzymes that other- wise would cause uncontrollable browning and destroy anthocyanins pigments were in- stantly denatured. Moldy aromas were vac- uumed away, and unwelcome spoilage or- ganisms were pasteurized by heat. Monterey was headed for an economic disaster, and flash helped the winery dodge the bullet. Would you like to hear our menu specials? The biggest choice winemakers should consider is whether, post-flash, to ferment on the pomace. Although flashed skins are translucent ghosts, their physical proper- ties may make some difference. Seed tan- nin is completely absent from liquid phase fermentations, giving the wines a creepy hollowness that challenges us tradition- steeped codgers to keep an open mind. Ferment this same wine on the pomace, and the hollowness doesn't happen. The wine is fruity, to be sure, but it possesses a traditional mouthfeel, and the fruit is much restrained—a classic demonstration of the postmodern principle of aromatic integration through structure. For my money, the variety that benefits the most from flash is Syrah. Although well-loved by winemakers, growers and critics for its rich color, complex aromas, ample structure and soft tannins, Syrah has never made it to prime time with con- sumers for one simple reason. It doesn't taste very good. Syrah does not generally possess a sweet core of fruit. It's a movie with a brilliant cast of supporting actors but no lead character. Flash fixes that by dragging a nice plummy aroma out of the skins and dropping it squarely onto the center of the palate. ScottLabs_Dec10.qxp 10/21/10 10:39 AM Page 1 Same old same old Does flash, as Roger Boulton of UC Davis asserts, make all wines taste the same? Patent # 7357069 Well, yes and no. "An experienced taster can spot a flash wine easily," Jones says. "There is a characteristic stamp." The ear- marks of the process include clean, frankly fruity aromas, absence of vegetal aromas and air-oir oddities, rich color, fine, soft tannins and generous mouthfeel. Cabernet vineyards lining Highway 29 drink up fumes from millions of tourists. Within the world flash creates, however, I believe there is as much unique variation and probably more diverse regional grape expression than conventional winemaking achieves. Flash wines are very distinctive. The amylic fruitiness they bring forth is not a standard note as the nouveau anal- ogy implies, instead it is drawn from a complex orchestra of possibilities. "Flash wines are cleaner and require less fixing," Gnekow says. "Winemakers are more inclined to let the fruit speak for it- self, rather than supplementing and mask- ing with oak and other tricks." Inspired Design Our spirals made from Premium, American or French Oak deliver 100% new barrel flavor (8 months) in as little as six weeks. Now you can boast authentic oak flavor using neutral barrels or tanks – with rapid, controllable and predictable results. www.InfusionSpiral.com (800) 201-7125 West Coast–New York–Texas Len Napolitano (805) 712-4471 len@thebarrelmill.com 72 Wines & Vines FeBRUARY 201 1 Four toast levels Economical Sustainable Time-saving