The Next Challenge
At 8:03 AM on January 2nd, a new era began at Lowrey Vineyards. As the sun peeked over the escarpment we welcomed the dawn of our very own “Ice Age”. After an evening of perfect freezing conditions (-12 degrees Celsius) it was decided to harvest five rows of Cabernet Sauvignon, our first foray into the world of Icewine. A beautiful morning unfolded before us, with a light snow gently filtering the weak rays of winter sun. It soon became clear that picking the fruit and braving the cold are the easy part, and actually quite enjoyable.
To understand the travails of pressing frozen grapes to yield minute amounts of juice, I want you to imagine trying to squeeze a tray of ice cubes in an effort to produce water. It takes equal amounts of pressure and patience I assure you! Too much of the former and not enough of the latter can lead to problems…big problems. Less than a minute into the second press load I cranked up the pressure and was horrified to hear the sickening hiss of a slow leak in the press bladder. Luckily we had a back-up bladder on hand, but the subsequent dismantling of the press load and bladder re-assembly really set us back. In the end, patience prevailed and the luscious Cab juice began to flow. It was thick, sweet and full of super-concentrated flavours of ripe strawberry and raspberry.
At this stage the plan is to make a traditional Icewine, but I could be persuaded to ferment it a little longer for those seeking more of a drier, “late harvest” style. Initial feedback tells me that Icewine is often perceived as being “too sweet” for some palates (including mine at times), but I challenge those people to try Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc Icewine with dark chocolate or strong cheeses. Simply delectable!
Christmas Packaging
Just a couple of quick Five Rows announcements as we head into the Holiday season. First off, we’ve added our three newest releases to the bottle registry section of the website. I would like to make a personal request to all those who have recently enjoyed a bottle to please share your comments. This will help a great deal as I decide stylistically which way to go with upcoming vintages.
We’ll be open for the next two weekends (December 12-13 & 19-20) before concluding our weekend retail hours until Cuvee in February (19-21). As always, we are happy to see visitors at any time over the winter by appointment. For those looking to find the perfect holiday gift, my mother has been busy putting together special Christmas packaging and thus far it’s been a big hit. Please call or email soon if you’d like a case delivered by Christmas. I’d be happy to personalize the box label, just let me know.
A Time to Reflect
As the harvest of 2009 comes to a close I find myself in a nostalgic state of mind, reflective of the intense year that we’ve just experienced. In this time we nervously launched a winery, opened our barn to visitors, sold out of our first vintage and managed to carve ourselves out a small niche in the local wine scene.
In a recent radio interview, I was asked to shed a little more light on this experience. You can listen to it here.
2008 Sauvignon Blanc
2008 Sauvignon Blanc:
Crafting aromatic white wines requires good fruit, patience and above all temperature control! In small wineries like ours we aren’t afforded the luxury of temperature-controlled tanks to aid in maintaining the ideal fermentation conditions. Instead, my barrels of 2008 Sauv Blanc went on a merry-go-round tour of our barn for about a month until ferment was over. First outside to settle after pressing, then inside to warm for yeast inoculation, quickly into the cold room as the the ferment really starts to rock, back out of the cold room to finish-up as yeast start to become stressed, finally back into cold room at 4 Celsius to stop ferment at the desired sugar-acid balance.
I decided to use a yeast called X5 for this wine because it boasts to “help reveal varietal aromas rich in citrus, boxtree and tropical fruit while contributing light fresh floral notes”. In the early stages it was apparent that X5 was the right choice. I was impressed with the lychee and pineapple aromatics that got stronger with each successive day. There was still some classic cool-climate Sauv Blanc citrus (lime zest) detectable as well, with hints of vanilla, fig and flint. The use of older French oak barrels was most evident on the palate, softening the edges of this zesty wine. Bottled on September 14th, 2009.
Cases: 64 Alcohol: 12.0% Price: $25/bottle
Vinification Notes
When you get to a point where the line between work and life is so blurry that the majority of your day seems like filler between fixes of caffeine, and what little sleep you do get is haunted by images of Multi-coloured Asian Lady Beetles and under-ripe Cabernet Franc…it’s best to step back, focus, and re-consider exactly why you do what you do.
Thankfully, success breeds perseverance. The following are two reasons why I still choose life as a winemaker:
2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
A severe winter led to an average of 50% bud damage in the Lowrey Vineyard. This Cabernet Sauvignon was sourced from vines that were shouldering a much lighter load than they were used to, hence a greater opportunity for ripening was in the cards. Thankfully, the growing season weather co-operated and the resultant fruit was as good as has ever been produced on our farm. The St. David’s Bench microclimate really strutted its stuff, with even the later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon reaching optimal sugar and TA levels. Like our first “Five Rows” vintage in 2004, we took equal portions of Young and Old Cab Blocks to maximize clonal complexity. Following traditional small batch punch downs, the wine was aged in a 50-50 blend of American and French Oak with an average age of 1.7 years per barrel. A comparative barrel tasting took place on July 5, 2007 and as with previous years, the highest rated wines were housed in two-year old wood (a 2003 Barrel Associates & 2003 Berthomieu). These two superior bottles were bottled on July 18, 2008. This wine showcases the potential of minimally-cropped Cabernet Sauvignon from warm vintages in the Lowrey Vineyard. Aromatic highlights include wild blueberry, ripe cherry and vanilla. Very ripe and jammy on the palate with soft, mature tannins and excellent length. Although hard to resist its youthful charm, this Cab is only entering its prime.
Barrels: 2 Cases: 45 Alcohol: 13.4% Price: $50/Bottle
2008 Pinot Gris
In an effort to instill confidence, I tell my wines that it is never fair to compare themselves to their predecessors. For that reason we won’t speak further of the effusive praise garnered by the 2007 Five Rows Pinot Gris. Some shoes are just too big to fill.
Harvested on September 19, 2008, this Pinot Gris began its life fermenting slowly in stainless steel and older French Oak. The oak component was added in an effort to further enhance mouthfeel and increase aromatic complexity. A nice cool ferment, dotted with periodic lees stirring, was complete by mid-October. The finished wine was blended, then fined with bentonite for protein stability.
Early tasting sessions showed strong notes of McIntosh apple and anise, while one panelist was sure he could smell “catbox” (depending, of course, on the type of litter you prefer). The French Oak and lees stirring helped create rounder texture and seemed to lend tropical nuances such as star fruit. The wine was left with just enough residual sugar to balance the acidity. Lemon-lime citrus flavours are predominant. Bottled September 14th, 2009.
Cases: 57 Alcohol: 13.3% Price: $25/Bottle
Both wines are now available for purchase!
A Great View
Lead up to harvest is a time of frayed nerves and long hours. In many cases you are playing a game of chicken with the weather, and usually I’m the first one to flinch. I get so tied up worrying about making the right decision that I rarely stop to enjoy the moment. That would soon change.
Earlier this week we harvested our first fruit of the year, and as I stood awaiting a load of fruit atop the bins of the receival truck, I was struck by the view. From this vantage point I was overwhelmed by imagery and memories. The stress of harvest suddenly melted away and the bigger picture came into focus. The green rows of vines looked resplendent contrasted against the fall colours adorning the trees. A harvester slowly chugged its way down a row of Sauvignon Blanc, driven by one of my early childhood heroes – “Big Ernie”. When I was just old enough to remember, Ernie let me ride with him on the big harvester, a memory I will forever cherish. I also suddenly recalled the time my Grandfather fell from the exact position I currently stood, landing hard on the road below. Miraculously he wasn’t seriously hurt. I made a point be extra careful negotiating the narrow bins for the rest of the day!
Huddled around a thermos of coffee were my father and “ever-ready-with-baked-goods” mother, Rob the Creekside winemaker, John our truck driver, and Henry the tote bin driver. It really put my stress and worries in perspective to see the interaction of these people who had been through so many vintages together. They laughed and exchanged stories from the old days of Ventura’s and Concord’s, then debated some of the more heated issues facing our industry today. Their collective experience both humbled and inspired me. At the root of our farm and it’s history are people like them…people like me. Crops come and go, weather is always going to be a problem, wine will be made and sold, but the tradition and land lives on. From my perch I smiled and wished some moments could last forever.
Acid Reflux
Without fail, every vintage brings forth an unforeseen challenge. This year that head-scratcher is the acid levels in our grapes. Sugar levels in vineyards across the peninsula are sky high, usually the indication that grapes are ready to harvest. However, upon a quick taste and further laboratory analysis, most growers and vineyard managers are finding that their fruit remains quite tart and not quite balanced as of yet. It seems as if the warmer daytime weather has spiked the sugar content, but the cooler nights have stalled the acid conversion.
Those who choose to harvest their fruit primarily on high sugar levels will surely pay for it in unbalanced resultant wines. One major problem within our industry is that grape growers are paid mainly on tonnage with a bonus structure for sugar levels (degrees brix). Clearly, this does not tell the whole story when it comes to the quality of fruit that it takes to craft premium wines. Titratable acidity, flavour production, seed and tannin ripeness, colour, berry size, nutrient levels and cleanliness are all key components that a winemaker must take into consideration when evaluating incoming fruit.
Consider the plight of a grower who thins his vineyard to lower tonnage, but their fruit is above average in all the other ripening components at the base sugar level. They get paid the same per tonne as a grower who overcrops underripe fruit at the base sugar level, which is fairly easy to do. I’m of the opinion that we need to better reward the grower in the first scenario. If we could come up with some kind of “ripening coefficient” that takes all the important parameters into consideration, perhaps more growers would be inclined to crop at the lower levels needed to ensure premium wine quality.
Thankfully, while we wait for the acid levels to drop, the grapes keep accumulating sugar and flavours. If we can keep them clean (and that is one nervously typed “If”) the fruit should round out nicely, giving us the ability to craft great wine in 2009.
Better Late than Never
Just when you thought mother nature had rendered 2009 a complete write-off…she goes and TOTALLY redeems herself! The last couple of weeks could not have been more ideal for ripening grapes. We are by no means out of the woods yet in our task of ripening later varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, but things are definitely looking up.
Sugar samples that I conducted today confirmed what I’ve been tasting for the last few days, the early varieties are sweet and ripening in a hurry! Pinot Gris leads the way at 20.1 degrees Brix, while the Pinot Noir are sitting at 18.7 and the Sauvignon Blanc at 18.0. That puts us roughly two to three weeks away from the commencement of harvest, should the weather hold.
I want to take an opportunity to thank both Glen Hunt and Randy Hemphill of Hunter Bottling and the good folks at Creekside for helping us bottle our 2008 whites this past Saturday. Glenn and Randy provided the mobile line while Creekside lent us their facility and some elbow grease. Our wines went into bottle without a hitch and should be ready for release in a couple of weeks. Thanks to all for a job well done!
We’re Still Open!
I treasure the many great acquaintances we’ve made over our inaugural summer. So why stop the fun? We’ve decided to extend our weekend retail hours until the New Year. I do caution that now more than ever, you may need to venture out to the vineyard to find us. We may leave a large bell for you to ring outside the barn, or failing that a car honk should alert us to your presence. If your search leads you down a row of Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah, please make sure to knock off any green bunches you encounter!
In other news, if you find yourself within earshot of a radio this weekend, please tune in to 610 CKTB on Saturday at 3pm or Sunday at 1pm for the wine show “Uncorked” with Stephanie Sabourin. Excitingly, Five Rows will be featured in an interview segment off the top of the show.
New Release Update
With harvest approaching quicker than I’d like, the pressure is on to clear the tanks and make room for the 2009’s. I can now report that our 2008 Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris will be bottled on September 14th, making the tentative release date around September 28th. Generally, I like to let the wines adjust to life in bottle for a couple of weeks prior to release, just to make sure they get all their kicking and screaming out.
In related news, we’re down to the last few cases of 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, so the timing of this release should work out just about right. After 18 long months spent maturing in bottle, our 2005 Cab Sauv is drinking well and ready to debut alongside the 2008 whites.
It occurs to me that we’ve never really had a “Grand Opening” for our winery, and I guess that’s just not our style. Instead, we’ve decided to celebrate our new release with all the people who have generously supported us since our inception. We’ll be emailing the details of this intimate event to those on our mailing list in the coming weeks, so keep an eye on your inbox!
Lucy patiently awaits the New Release…
