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September 2007
"He who starts well, is half finished," as they say in Italian. By that measure, we are halfway to an extraordinary 2007 vintage: the weather has been perfect, the skins and seeds of the grapes are ripening evenly, and the grapes taste downright yummy. We haven't started picking yet, but perhaps in the next week (if you want to help, just drop us an email). Once harvest starts we won't have the energy to write a newsletter, but we did want to let you know about our visit to Montemaggiore (Italy), a recent Decanter Article, our latest Wine Lover, the annual Vendemmia party, and a bit of information about choosing harvest dates.
The other Montemaggiore
In August, we visited Vincent's family in Sicily. Since all Italians take August off, it's the best time to visit relatives—although it's a terrible time to see sights and eat in the best restaurants. Luckily Vincent has some amazing cooks in his family (or is it just all Italians?). We had many all-day-long family feasts where the antipasti course alone contained 18 different dishes (a small sampling is at right)! While we were there, Paolo's younger cousins got him hooked on calcio (soccer), Lise got hooked on Catarrato (a Sicilian white winegrape), and Vincent got hooked on true Sicilian Olives (a tree somehow found its way into his suitcase on the way home).
Flirting with Cult Status?
Not knowing how many of you receive Decanter Magazine, we wanted to point out a September article on California Syrahs, "Rhone wasn't built in a day", which opens:
“Syrah may be a cute curiosity in several New World regions, but in California it has arrived bigtime. A number of artisan wineries—Jaffurs, Palmeri, Saxum, Copain, L'Aventure, JC Cellars, Adelaida, Domaine Alfred, Montemaggiore and Terre Rouge—are flirting with cult wine status. Each produces Syrah in garagiste quantity, and new vintages quickly sell out, either on a futures basis or to a mailing list clientele.”
Norm Roby, the author, then went on to describe Montemaggiore's Dry Creek Valley Syrah as "breathtaking"! We definitely love his Syrah description but we're not so sure we want to be cult status because that generally means having a two-page, single-spaced legal form dictating the rules, deadlines, and limitations just to stay on the mailing list! It did, however, bring a grin to our faces!
Wine Lover of the Month: Patti
Hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, Patti epitomizes the modern-day Renaissance woman. She grew up in rural Indiana, but one summer on a farm exchange program in France opened her eyes to the world of fine food and wine. Now she attends wine tastings twice a month, organizes wine educational seminars, and travels the world tasting food and wines (her next stop: Crete). While a PhD in Linguistics and a passion for wine would sustain most people mentally, Patti actively participates in several non-profit organizations, whose missions range from preserving the beauty and character of the Bay Area to improving the reading skills of underprivileged children. Her quick wit and dry humor have served her well in all her endeavors—oh, did we mention that she starts technology companies on the side?
Club Members: Save the date for Saturday, October 27th
Cleanse your palates, Club Members, and get ready for our annual Vendemmia party! On the last Saturday in October all our grapes should be in from the vineyard, fermenting aromatically in tanks—so we'll have lots to celebrate. Gerard Nebesky, Sonoma County's own celebrity paella chef will provide his usual delectable feast, and of course we'll be pouring perfectly matched Montemaggiore wines (including some library wines). Debuting will be the 2004 Montemaggiore Superiore, meaning that this is a great day for local club members to pick up their allocation. We'll also be starting a new tradition: our first annual bocce tournament—don't worry, no experience is required! A formal invitation will be sent to all Club Members in the US mail within the next few weeks. Note that Club members are given two free admissions, while additional guests will be $40 (those under 21 are free). For those Club members who want to get a head start, feel free to RSVP now.
What is the Montemaggiore Wine Club?
For those of you who aren't aware, Montemaggiore has two wine clubs both of which involve two annual shipments of newly released wines (Syrah in the Spring, Cabernet/Syrah blend in the fall). The benefits of membership include:
15-20% discounts on all wines
Ability to mix & match the Club selection from currently available wines
Invitation to annual Vendemmia celebration
Complimentary library and reserve tastings
For more information on the Montemaggiore Wine Clubs, see our website. Note that members as of October 1 are invited to the Vendemmia party, so if you have been contemplating joining, you may want to sign up in the next couple weeks in order to join in the fun!
Winemaking 101: The Optimal Time to Harvest
 While Vincent calls the shots in the vineyard, Lise (the winemaker) determines when to pick the grapes. And choosing the right time to pick is not only a winemaker's first decision, but arguably her most important! Ultimately, it's a subjective decision. While most people could agree when grapes are underripe (they taste like grass) or overripe (they look like raisins, and in fact, they are), a winemaker primarily uses her tastebuds to determine when to pick, taking into account varietal, wine style and past experience.
First we must explain that Lise doesn't use a very common method called "picking by the numbers". Metrics as sugar level (Brix) are objective and easy to assess which is why larger and non-estate wineries often use them to make picking decisions—but we don't think they tell the full story. In California, reaching "sugar ripeness" is rarely a problem, but the critical phenolic (tannin and flavor) ripeness often comes later—and is best assessed by taste.
For Montemaggiore's Syrah and Cabernet, the flavor of the skins and the ripeness of the seeds are critical. We want the skins to be full of fruity, jammy lusciousness without any green, vegetal flavors. We look for the seeds to be brown indicating that the tannins are mature, and we want the pulp and skins to have a fullness or richness of flavor. Lise ends up chewing a lot of grape skins and seeds in order to determine the peak of ripeness!
Wine style also plays a significant role in determining when to pick the grapes. For example, with the fruit-forward elegant style of Montemaggiore, we tend to pick our Syrah on the riper side to get all those blackberry, black cherry, and blueberry flavors we love. If we wanted a leaner, less opulent style Syrah, we might pick a bit earlier. If we sought a highly-extracted fruit bomb we might pick a bit later.
Given the past five vintages with the same vineyards, we recognize the flavors in our vineyard's grapes that lead to certain flavors we desire in the wine. Since we live among the vineyards, we also know how different areas progressed throughout the 2007 growing season: which vines flowered first, and which reached verasion (turned from green to red) first. This helps us narrow down which areas in the vineyard should be riper than others—helping to simplify the time-consuming task of tasting grapes.
Since our season typically consists of five micro-harvests (around four tons each), Lise and her helper (see photo above) taste a lot of grapes to determine the exact boundaries of the areas in the vineyard which are at the peak of ripeness.
Final Note: Montemaggiore wines are available through our website, at select wine shops and restaurants, and of course at the winery. Our winery in Healdsburg is open for tours and
tastings by appointment (707.433.9499 or info@montemaggiore.com).
Caio and have a wonderful Autumn!
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