Wine Club Newsletter - July 2021
At High-Tech Wineries, Robots Prune Vines and Precision Sensors Analyze Disease
BY JACOPO MAZZEO, THE WINE ENTHUSIAST
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Interesting article: Some time ago, Lori and I stayed in Radda, Chianti and right outside our rental was a famous vineyard. We happened to be there at harvest time, and they used an automated grape picking machine to scour the vines. I was intrigued and a bit appalled at the same time, seeing this great vineyard losing the personal touch and observations only a seasoned farmer could evaluate. -- Gary
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Technology has long been applied to grape growing and winemaking. Recent advancements, however, have shown how automation can help growers to ensure the quality and integrity of their wines. These innovations enable growers across the globe to make more calculated and better-timed decisions, and also reduce the labor needed to carry out vineyard and winery operations.
Smart Vineyards
Smart management systems optimize vineyard work through data and reports collected from devices deployed across the fields. These can monitor anything from weather to the amount of water in the soil.
Smart Vineyard can predict grape disease by analyzing the vineyard’s microclimates through precision sensors. This can decrease yield loss, pesticide use and vineyard work.
Terraview provides wineries with real-time data intelligence to tackle challenges like frost and drought. It can also estimate yields and keep track of carbon emissions.
“With Terraview, we can now monitor ripening analysis, have better precision in data acquisition, and cost reduction in sample collection,” says Lluís Coll, technical director of viticulture at Catalonia-based Valformosa Winery.
In Napa, Robert Mondavi Winery took vineyard monitoring to the next level through a partnership with NASA. With remote-sensing technology that scans vineyards from airplanes and satellites, NASA can help Mondavi measure ripening rate, disease incidence, soil drainage and fruit quality.
Sophisticated Robots
Once associated with cheaper products, robots and machines now aid in the production of quality wines.
First trialed in 2017, Ted is a robot designed to remove weeds with precision, which can reduce the need for chemical weed killers. It’s relatively lightweight, so it avoids compacting the soil.
Slopehelper, an autonomous electric vehicle, goes a few steps further. It can perform a range of vineyard operations like mowing, mulching, spraying and side trimming. Slopehelper can also be integrated with the TeroAir system, which can communicate with the vehicle remotely, stream video from the front camera and monitor weather conditions through an on–board weather station.
R2T2 is developing, by motion tracking and data analysis specialist ORME in partnership with Vinovalie Co-op Winery, a pruning robot that can tackle vine-training systems previously only workable by humans.
According to Pauline Laborde-Lacapelle, Vinovalie’s head of research and development, R2T2 “works as well as people” on bush vines.
Symington Family Estates teamed with Germany’s University of Geisenheim to develop a mechanical harvester suited to Portugal’s Douro slopes, where gradients can reach up to 70%, which is twice as much as the gradient of Los Angeles’ Angels Flight funicular.
Production Matters
Technology can also ensure a wine’s integrity throughout the production process, from vinification through shipping.
Cooperage RTonnellerie Baron’s OXOline racking system places each barrel on a set of rollers. This allows the containers to be rinsed, filled, racked, cleaned, sampled, rotated and removed while not touching neighboring barrels. Not only does it save hours of work in the cellar and reduces risks of waste, it also avoids oxidation caused by excessive movements.
“The purpose of using this technique is to have a soft tannin extraction: smooth, dense tannins in the wine, and greater length,” says enologist Giulio Carmassi, who uses the system at Tuscany’s Gagliole Winery.
Packaging and shipping innovations include Stelvin Inside, a closure system that allows for different oxygen transmission rates. With it, winemakers can control the speed of maturation inside the bottle and eliminate the risk of cork taint.
Florent-Pierre Merlier, winemaker at Oregon’s Van Duzser Vineyards, also believes it provides quality consistency.
Once bottles leave the winery’s premises, Italian platform Wenda’s live tracking system monitors shipping conditions, like temperature and humidity. Producers can solve issues in real time to ensure that wine’s integrity is retained up to the final stages of the supply chain.
2019 Domaine Lafage, Miraflors Rose’
Growing Region Languedoc Roussillon, France
Varietal Composition Mourvedre, Grenache Gris, Grenache Noir
Fermentation In Tank with Lees for Three Months
Alcohol Content 12.5%
Suggested Retail $19.00
WineSellar Club Price $17.09
Broad Strokes: 96 Points, Decanter Magazine
Jean-Marc farms (with some help!) 160 hectares of vines located just south of the capital of French Catalonia, Perpignan. Some of his family’s vineyards are situated a few kilometers from the Mediterranean, while others can be found further inland in the foothills of the Pyrenees or near the village of his birth, Maury. This range of sites allows him to make both refreshing whites, rich, concentrated reds, and fortified wines as well. Benefiting from a warm, dry climate, the estate is farmed organically. his craft. Named after an old estate located in the heart of Domaine Lafage, Mas Miraflors, the Miraflors Rosé is sourced from old vines of Grenache Gris and Noir, some nearing 80 years old, planted near the Mediterranean Sea.
Appearance:
An absolutely stunning package! Of course, I like the clear bottle in the simple yet elegant presentation of the label. Had a hard time removing the capsule. Maybe it was just me and after struggling for a while I found myself getting a little annoyed. The wine has an excellent copper pink twinged hue to it.
Nose:
The aromatics were great. Got some springtime fruit, with melon freshness, like watermelon and cantaloupe . . . almost like a little ripe strawberry cherry. Note a little touch of Salinity in there as well.
Texture:
The wine has a lovely even smooth texture edged by some bright acid. It is medium bodied for Rose’, and it has a nice refreshing feeling to it in the middle palate. It finishes clean, long and pleasant.
Flavors:
The fresh scent of the nose translates perfectly to the palate, giving us the wonderful fresh summer fruits of melon strawberry raspberry and watermelon. It’s a beautiful refreshing wine that has a great line of acid to it which will bode well for food. Notes of red cherry, passion fruit and citrus acid.
Serving Suggestions:
Well, it’s summertime so you should have this rose’ in your refrigerator and on the ready!
2015 CruX Zinfandel, Russian River Valley
Growing Region Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, Ca.
Varietal Composition 90% Zinfandel, 10% Petite Sirah
Fermentation 20% New French Oak
Alcohol Content 15.6%
Suggested Retail $40.00
WineSellar Club Price $35.99
Broad Strokes: 91 Points, Wine Enthusiast, only 156 cases produced
Crux Winery owners Brian Callahan and Steven Gower craft small lots of Rhone varietals–Grenache, Petite Sirah, Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache Blanc and Viognier–as well as Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc. They focus on wines that capture the unique characteristics of Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley, where we live. Their wines are rich, complex and balanced, without excessive alcohol levels or overripe fruit flavors.
As grape growers and winemakers, they farm in a sustainable and earth friendly manner. The grapes are sourced from their own vineyards and other select vineyard sites owned by growers with a similar philosophy who have likewise embraced environmental practices in vineyard management.
Appearance:
Great packaging! Using the word “CRU” and adding an “X” to the end is a genius way to describe their property as being on the “CRUX” of Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley and Chalk Hill. There is lots of sediment at the neck, and we had to clear it out best we could. The wind is dark garnet with a black core and is dark on the edges.
Nose:
LOVE IT!!! Your old typical old vine Zinfandel with kind of a rhubarb fruit to it. You can smell the oak treatment some new oak. Kind of luscious and quite enjoyable, with spices cloves and nutmeg, and a distant hint of prune/rhubarb. Wild blueberries, smoke, cigar.
Texture:
There’s a lovely creaminess to the texture especially in the middle palate. Has a well-defined line of acid to it which keeps everything in check, which is perfect with the really ripe fruit.
Flavors:
Mulberry and rhubarb fruit flavors are strong and those fabulous notes of vanilla oak as well. Black and red licorice with a touch of balsamic wrap the wild, intense blueberry fruit, kirsch-like, smoke, roasted hazelnuts . . . it dances on the palate!
Serving Suggestions:
It’s so fantastic to drink wine at six years old and still fresh and young and complex. 10 years.
2019 Meadowcroft Pinot Noir
Growing Region Anderson Valley, California
Varietal Composition 100% Pinot Noir
Fermentation Barrel Fermented
Alcohol Content 13.9%
Suggested Retail $42.00
WineSellar Club Price $22.49
Broad Strokes: 91 Points, Only 900 cases produced
From the Winery: Meadowcroft is the namesake of Winegrower Tom Meadowcroft. The meaning of Meadowcroft is a fertile field or meadow and croft refers to a cultivated area that has been nurtured over time. The honeybee on the label symbolizes this conscientious work and the process of transformation from wine grapes into outstanding wine. My hope is to create wines with a Sonoma pulse that express the complexity found in European varietals. I invite you to raise a glass of Meadowcroft and wish you bountiful gatherings and many happy toasts!
Appearance:
It has a muted red/gray-red color at the core with a black tea hue on the edge. I like the overall package, though it’s not striking enough to be put on a shelf in the grocery store. I am thankful for that, this is not a grocery store wine, it is much more soulful. And I love the screw cap.
Nose:
The nose has solid Pinot Noir fruit with hints of red and black licorice. There’s some gorgeous stone and mineral complexity to it. Overall quite intriguing. It makes you want to stick a nose into the glass again and again, which I have done. Spicy red apple freshness.
Texture:
It is medium to medium light in body for Pinot Noir. It has an appealing textural sensation that just loves to be in your mouth. Smooth and even feel throughout. Given a bit of time airing, it gets a dairy like cream to it. It is difficult to tell that this wine is so young, it just has it all together, acid fruit, balance, flavor. Elegant.
Flavors:
White cherry fruit which I love you don’t see that too often. Stately notes of white and black pepper, roasted red peppers, truffle, mushroom, and topsoil (if you know what I mean). Toasty oak, more cherry, red and white, raspberry and a marvelous notion of a sophisticated black tea. Bravo!
Serving Suggestions:
Lovely to drink now, and check out the price we have for it. Nearly 50% off from the winery! Get 6-12 bottles and be proud to serve this to friends and loved ones. Will keep 6 years.
2018 Peake Ranch, Bellis Noir Red
Growing Region Santa Rita Hills, California
Varietal Composition 60% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 10% Pinot Noir
Fermentation 100% French Oak, 30% New Oak
Alcohol Content 14.8%
Suggested Retail $40.00
WineSellar Club Price $35.99
Broad Strokes: 94 Points, Vinous
From the Winery: “Our connection with the Santa Barbara wine world began about ten years ago and has grown stronger ever since. We fell in love with the beautiful countryside, the amazing hospitality of ‘wine’ people and, of course, the wonderful wine made in this magical region. Our commitment to the area was sealed when we purchased Peake Ranch and decided we wanted to build a winery and a small house on the property.
Peake Ranch has a wonderful history full of special people who roamed the land. We respect that legacy and plan to honor it in every way we can; from the way we grow our grapes, to the people we surround ourselves with and the hospitality we plan to extend. We are excited to become part of a very special community.
Appearance:
Overall, it has very nice packaging, but the label is somewhat muted . . . it’s really kind of hard to read, so it’s not really a great shelf grabber. The wine is dark in color, kind of like a garnet black, and is quite viscous.
Nose:
The aromatics have lots of wood bark and forest floor, crushed herbs, all backed by a black raspberry balsamic note that I found quite interesting. I also enjoyed a bit of root beer and cola as the wine opened up over a few minutes.
Texture:
The wine is medium to medium in body, perhaps a touch lightened by the 10% Pinot Noir. It has a lot of lively acidity and it’s structured vertically. It’s built for aging, with an ample, round, core of dark fruits and tight acids. I can see the wine improving over the next five to ten years.
Flavors:
The flavor profile brings in some bright cherry, hot stones, black pepper. Wood bark and wood notes bark dominates a little bit which is fine because I like that element in my wines. There are some dark red fruits most notably a black raspberry flavor as well as the balsamic! YUM!
Serving Suggestions:
This one probably has 5 to 12 years to go in our cellars and I would keep it in there because I think it’s going to develop a lovely complexity as time goes on.
2017 Dark Water, Paddler
Growing Region Happy Canyon, Santa Barbara, California
Varietal Composition 65% Zinfandel, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon
Fermentation Barrel Fermented 38 Months in Oak
Alcohol Content 14.5%
Suggested Retail $70.00
WineSellar Club Price $62.99
Broad Strokes: Only 75 Cases Produced
From the Winery: “Dark Water was a vision shared amongst two friends while enjoying a glass of wine. With a desire to produce fatto a mano (handmade) wine, readily available for the wine community, Reggie and David began their journey. Reggie Pagaling, a native entrepreneur, began exploring the wine industry in the early 2000’s. Reggie’s deep roots in his culture led him on a path to meet David, the winemaker, who brought his extraordinary skills to the forefront.
A descendent of an Italian wine making family, David’s love for wine has taken him to three continents. While in the Toronto area of Canada, David honed in his skill and achieved Level 2 Sommelier recognition, further enhancing his winemaking ability before bringing his talent to California.”
Appearance:
A very heart-warming story is depicted on the label, and I love this personal touch. Look it up on the internet. The wine is black at the core, bleeding out to a dark reddish black, with clear edges. Very viscous, dripping down the glass slowly.
Nose:
Potent dark fruits, including bramble, black berry, tropical elements of papaya and mango, along with a touch of prune. Good vanilla oak treatment, giving way to black pepper, Indian spices, and fresh herb.
Texture:
The wine is medium full in body and richness. It has a sharp edge to it on initiation, but levels out and develops into a quasi-creamy middle sensation that dances across the palate. The finishing impression is full throttle fruit, lasting for a long time.
Flavors:
The flavor profile seems masculine, you know, muscular strength. The power is in the black fruits, ripe, with solid wood treatment that delivers a dollop of smoke. Tasting like a great Zinfandel, with sweet tobacco, spicy plum, strawberry, vanilla, bacon wrapped dates, hoisin, baking spices, and a bit of prune.
Serving Suggestions:
I love this wine with summer BBQ, rich, especially well-fatted meats like lamb rack, venison rack, or T-Bone steak. Get some!
Roasted Pork Tenderloins with Rhubarb BBQ Sauce
Summer is here, and of course the BBQ must be lit and used until at least September+!
This is a simple recipe, unique, and you can make it days ahead of time. In fact, you can make a lot of extra, freeze, it, und use it at will. Serves four.
Ingredients:
- 4 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 cups of thinly cubed or sliced rhubarb
- 1/2 cup ketchup or tomato sauce
- ¼ cup brown sugar or maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- ½ cup orange or tangerine juice
- ¼ cup chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 pound pork tenderloin
Method:
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
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Heat ½ of oil in large saucepan over medium heat.
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Add onion and garlic, cooking until they get soft.
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Stir in rhubarb, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire orange juice, chicken stock and pepper.
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Stir until soft, 10-12 minutes, reducing it to about 66% of original liquid.
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Cover and remove from heat.
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Lightly coat the pork with salt, pepper, and cooking oil.
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Grill on BBQ until you reach approximately 140 degrees in the thickest part of the meat.
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Slice and serve with slightly warmed sauce.