Moderators: Jenise, Robin Garr, David M. Bueker
michael dietrich
Ultra geek
246
Wed May 10, 2006 5:09 pm
West Linn, Oregon
Mike Filigenzi
Known for his fashionable hair
8187
Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:43 pm
Sacramento, CA
Robin Garr wrote:Interviewd in the Salem <I>Statesman-Journal</i>, though, Southern Oregon producer Earl Jones, with Abacela Winery, said he's unable to make the best use of his 20 acres of Spanish Tempranillo grapes. To sell it as Tempranillo under current law, he'd have to put 90 percent in a blend. But, he said, "In Spain, Tempranillo is a 55 percent blend. I'd like to do what the Spanish do here in the States ... The Spanish figured it out 1,000 years ago."
Steve Slatcher
Wine guru
1047
Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:51 am
Manchester, England
Peter May
Pinotage Advocate
3811
Mon Mar 20, 2006 11:24 am
Snorbens, England
To sell it as Tempranillo under current law, he'd have to put 90 percent in a blend. But, he said, "In Spain, Tempranillo is a 55 percent blend.
David M. Bueker
Riesling Guru
34358
Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:52 am
Connecticut
Peter May
Pinotage Advocate
3811
Mon Mar 20, 2006 11:24 am
Snorbens, England
David M. Bueker wrote:Where do I start? .
David M. Bueker
Riesling Guru
34358
Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:52 am
Connecticut
Peter May wrote:David M. Bueker wrote:Where do I start? .
I don't know, David. You seem to be saying that winemakers can put any variety name on their wine and it doesn't matter how much of that variety is in the bottle.
So, in your opinion, how much Tempranillo should a bottle labelled as Tempranillo contain? 85%, 75%, 51%, 1%, none?
James Roscoe
Chat Prince
11014
Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:43 pm
D.C. Metro Area - Maryland
David M. Bueker wrote:Peter May wrote:David M. Bueker wrote:Where do I start? .
So, in your opinion, how much Tempranillo should a bottle labelled as Tempranillo contain? 85%, 75%, 51%, 1%, none?
I don't really care. I am not concerned with the blend, as long as the wine does the job I expect it to do. I guess my only concern is that a tempranillo taste like it's made from tempranillo. I've had wines where the blend partner dominated the base (greater than 75%) variety. That does not generally work for me.
Peter May
Pinotage Advocate
3811
Mon Mar 20, 2006 11:24 am
Snorbens, England
David M. Bueker wrote:
I don't really care. I am not concerned with the blend, as long as the wine does the job I expect it to do. I guess my only concern is that a tempranillo taste like it's made from tempranillo. I've had wines where the blend partner dominated the base (greater than 75%) variety. That does not generally work for me.
David M. Bueker
Riesling Guru
34358
Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:52 am
Connecticut
Peter May wrote:David M. Bueker wrote:
I don't really care. I am not concerned with the blend, as long as the wine does the job I expect it to do. I guess my only concern is that a tempranillo taste like it's made from tempranillo. I've had wines where the blend partner dominated the base (greater than 75%) variety. That does not generally work for me.
I cannot believe you are serious.
You blog on Riesling, so presumably you buy a wine labelled as Riesling because you like Riesling.
But what you are saying that, if the winery feels it makes marketing sense it can label anything as Riesling? Its got some Columbard it can't get rid of, no problem stick a label on it calling it Riesling....
Steve Slatcher
Wine guru
1047
Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:51 am
Manchester, England
David M. Bueker wrote:The chance that a producer I give a rat's you know what about will blend in Colombard is so infinitessimally small that I really don't care. What Fetzer (or Gallo, or their ilk) does means less than zero to me.
David M. Bueker
Riesling Guru
34358
Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:52 am
Connecticut
Bob Henrick
Kamado Kommander
3919
Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:35 pm
Lexington, Ky.
Gary Barlettano
Pappone di Vino
1909
Wed Mar 29, 2006 5:50 pm
In a gallon jug far, far away ...
Bob Henrick wrote:Just throwing this out there Robin, but wouldn't a national law requiring full disclosure settle all this. If it is within the law to label a wine as chardonnay, and it must have 75% of that grape, then simply make it mandatory that the other 25% be labeled accurately. If the other 25% is Thompson seedless, than make them say so. Seems simple to me.
David Creighton
Wine guru
1217
Wed May 24, 2006 10:07 am
ann arbor, michigan
David M. Bueker
Riesling Guru
34358
Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:52 am
Connecticut
creightond wrote:"This would confuse people. We've built a reputation based on 90 percent purity.
when i read about this in winebiz it was the first tme in my 35 years as a hobbyist and industry person that i'd heard about thier 90% rule. was i the only one to miss this 'reputation building' news?
steve.slatcher wrote:Riesling still has something of an image problem as it tries to differentiate itself from all the crap that used to be sold as Riesling sound-alike wines.
steve.slatcher wrote:To a large extent I do not care what percentage legislation dictates can be sold as a varietal wine. But I do care about consumers being mislead - I'd like to see some sort of back label information with a more precise breakdown, or a generic "This wine may contain upto 25% of other varieties" warning.
Ultimately a wine stands or falls on how it tastes. There are great varietal wines, great blends, bad varietals and bad blends. Let wine makers do what they feel comfortable with according to market demands and/or tradition.
I do take issue a bit with the chocolate sauce and icecream anology. Chocolate sauce and icecream have markedly contrasting flavours. Any varietal differences are a LOT more subtle. Even experienced tasterss have difficulty in identifying varieties in wine. Blending may put in small amounts of chemicals that dfevelop into different flavours, but I think it woudl be difficult to argue that blended wines are generally more complex than varietals. Neither do I hold with the idea that varietals have a purer flavour than blends - though perhaps the grapes traditionally used in vaietal wines have a flavour that is purer in some sense (I am thinking mainly of Pinot Noir).
Blending does of course have practical advantages when dealing with certain varieties that are lacking in one or more obvious dimensions in wine - tannin, acid, fruit or whatever. But I think that is different to saying that blending adds complexity. They are also useful to hedge bets in marginal climates, which is I suspect the real reason they came to be used in areas like Bordeaux - the appreciation of the taste came later, and the blend became traditionally accepted.
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