The Controversy over Wine Scores
For many decades now, wine critics have been reviewing wines, and wine consumers have been following their guidance. This fact is hardly surprising given the sheer number of wines on our supermarket shelves, and the high prices we encounter when walking down the aisles. None of us likes to make a $30 mistake, and there seem to be an ever-growing number of opportunities to do so. Hence wine consumers often rely on the so-called experts to recommend good bottles to take home and quaff.
For decades there was an indisputable king of wine reviewing, Robert Parker, who dominated the winescape for decades with his 100-point rating system - a system which has now been adopted by most other wine publications. A high-scoring wine usually earns 90 points or above. The criticisms of this method of scoring are numerous, however, especially from within the industry.
“If you were designing a bridge,” asks Peter Neptune, Master Sommelier, “would you trust the engineering to a college-level science student, or would you insist on having an actual engineer?” Neptune makes a valid point: the most influential wine critics do not hold any degrees in their field. Of course, buying an inferior bottle of wine isn’t as serious as a bridge collapsing, but we get the point. Who are these people that we are trusting to fill our wine glasses each night?
Placing complete faith in one person’s palate has consequences. All of us have different opinions when it comes to wine. Some of us prefer balance over strength. Some of us love big, jammy reds; some of us like crisp, fresh whites; and some of us prefer finesse and harmony over all else. Robert Parker’s palate tends towards the former. Some say he has a smoker’s palate; he likes big, heavy, intense red wines that feel like they are socking you in the teeth. Many of us, however, would rather not stain our pearly whites purple every night (myself included).
The first time that Lane and I had to submit our wines for evaluation came just a few months ago, and I must admit I was nervous. Our wines are not fit for Bob’s palate. They are fresh, lively wines, and not big fruit bombs. Luckily, its seems that the tides are finally turning - critics seem to be valuing a style of winemaking that many of us thought was history. This was something I always admired about my partner, Lane Tanner: her winemaking has always been honest and dedicated to making wines of impeccable balance, no matter what Bob may think.
Needless to say, we didn’t send our wines to Mr. Parker - but instead The Wine Enthusiast - and I am pleased to report that our scores were good: for the 2013 vintage, our Chardonnay earned 92 points, our Pinot Noir 91 points, and our Grenache 92 points. While we don’t necessarily need assurance that we are making good wine, a little pat on the back doesn’t hurt at all. Now our fans can all trust that the Lumen bridge is safe to cross.
- Will Henry
Thoughts on the Most Exalted of Drinks
In the wide world of alcoholic beverages, wine gets a lot of attention. While craft beers, ciders, and spirits take more of the spotlight, wine nonetheless seems to hold onto an infallible center position. To many consumers it is the holy grail of what can be swirled, sniffed and tasted. No matter how peaty a single-malt whiskey, or hoppy the finest barrel-aged ale, wine seems to remain in a class by itself. Which begs the question: is all this hype about a beverage justified?
This past harvest, to satisfy my curiosity, I brewed a small batch of hard cider in my garage, made from fresh Gizdich Ranch apples and a dose of freshly pressed organic ginger. Alongside it I fermented a half-barrel of Grenache rosé wine, sourced from Martian Vineyards in Los Alamos. I wanted to see if apples, with help, could rival a fairly simple (single vineyard and single varietal) representation of wine. The verdict became glaringly obvious after a few months, as both beverages sat in their respective barrels. The wine was disappearing much faster than the cider.
The rapidly-sinking level of the rosé was not due to a higher evaporation rate; it was simply because I was thieving the wine with far more frequency. It’s not that the cider was bad - it was actually quite good. But the rosé was far more appealing to my palate, and a better companion to my cheese plates and home-cooked meals. I had an obvious preference for the wine, which held far more depth and complexity than its apple-based cousin.
I came to the same conclusion that many generations of drinkers had before me: that wine grapes provide, without question, the most complex fermented beverage on the planet. There is a reason why wine is the most exalted of liquids: there exists no greater expression of what sun, soil and weather can produce. Wine may just be a beverage, but it is in a class by itself. Proof can be found by swirling a healthy dose of Lumen in your glass!
- Will Henry
Wine Enthusiast Magazine, February 2015
Why Getting Old Isn't That Bad
There aren't many things in life that get better with age. Cars lose thousands in value once they drive off the lot. Houses get termites. And food? It eventually gets moldy. Wine, in this regard, is almost in a class by itself.
The history behind wine and its aging potential is rooted in the distant past, when we humans were constantly trying to invent new ways to preserve our food. Think about cheese, or smoked salmon, or muesli - these are foods that were designed to last without refrigeration. After all in the Dark Ages, refrigerators were damn hard to find.
Wine was considered for many centuries to be the safest form of drink. In the days before modern water supplies and chlorination, water sources were often more than a little suspect. It wasn't just a matter of taste, either - drink a bad glass and you die. Wine by nature was wisest choice of beverage, as it was cleansed by fermentation (and drinking and driving on a horse wasn't considered dangerous). The fact that some wines stuck around longer was an added bonus.
At some point people began to figure out that some wines actually tasted better with some bottle age. Certain wines tasted a whole lot better after 20 years or more, but not all of them. Wine lovers started to understand that certain varietals, vineyards and winemakers produced age worthy bottles, while others did not. Fast forward to the modern age and we are still trying to figure out what makes one wine age better than another, especially in California, where we don't have the history like that in Europe. What is the secret? Tannin structure? Acidity? Maturity of the winemaker?
I have had the luxury in my life of tasting a large amount of older Californian wines. The best older wines I have tasted include Napa cabs (no duh), but other standouts have been old California Pinot Noir, as well as the occasional shocker like a 1974 Grand Cru Chenin Blanc. A surprising number of Napa cabs that have huge reputations (and price tags) have not aged well at all. Same goes for Zinfandel. To a wine collector this presents a huge challenge. The wine critics don't seem to know what constitutes a well-aging wine, so do we have to make our choices by trial-and-error?
One thing that I have noticed is that many of the wines made prior to the mid 1980's seem to have held up better than their younger cousins. So that begs a question, did winemaking or viticultural practices change between now and then? The answer is yes, some winemakers have altered their winemaking styles to suit the palates of wine critics, who have tended in the past to prefer big, juicy red wines. The drift towards this style has caused many wines to be made in a "drink-me-now" style, where they show lush, plump fruit flavors upon release, causing wine critics to oh and ah and write glowing reviews. The problem with this is that they (and the public) are being duped; most of these wines, like a fresh glass of milk, will only get worse with age.
Over the past few months I have poured Lumen at a number of tasting events, alongside some old Lane Tanner wines. My favorite was pouring our 2013 Pinot Noir alongside a 1995 Lane Tanner Sierra Madre Vineyard - same winemaker, same vineyard, same style - to get a preview of what the Lumen Pinot Noir will taste like in 19 years. Every single one of Lane's older wines are remarkable. They age as well as any Burgundy, and if you put one in a blind tasting, that is what most wine experts would think it is.
And what is Lane's secret? Well, without giving away too much, I would have to say that Lane's wines age well because she makes them in an honest way. They are not "futzed with"; they are made in the same exact style she made them 20 years ago. She has also figured out what vineyards produce the best fruit - and she has told me that Sierra Madre Vineyard is her all-time favorite. The fruit is brought in at an earlier stage of ripeness than most other winemakers, and we end up with a wine that is fresh and lively in its youth, although tightly wound. The wine then develops over the years, and is gorgeous through every stage of that development.
One fun trick I like to perform is to open a bottle of Lumen and drink a glass, then recork it and sample a little over the next few days. I have found that the wines (especially the Pinot) get better and better each day I try them, up to about five days. This can be a good test for age ability in most wines, and I can tell you that most wines won't pass this test.
As we head into yet another holiday season, let's not focus on ourselves getting older, but rather celebrating the fact that Lumen will taste even better next year when we open the same vintage.
- Will Henry
Blanc Follows on the Heels of Noir
The sheer number of wine grape varietals must be overwhelming for most wine drinkers to contemplate. Even an experienced winemaker can be stumped when you ask them about Italian varietals, which in some regions can number in the hundreds of obscure clones that are only known regionally. And let's not even start talking about Hungary or Croatia. Consumers are more used to choosing between a few flavors of soft drink, not the multitude of options available in the wine section of their grocery store. So with that in mind, here we go again.
Lumen brought in its very first load of Grenache Blanc this morning (pictured above in the vineyard before it was picked). Grenache Blanc is a close relative of Grenache (or Grenache Noir as it is known in France), and like its cousin, originated in Spain but found more fame across the Pyrennees in France. Here in California, it seems to have found a suitable home on the Central Coast, most notably in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. The varietal produces a rich, full-bodied white wine with crisp acidity and bright fruit flavors.
Lane and I fell in love with Grenache Noir last year with the 2013 harvest. This was the first time that Lane had ever worked with Grenache, and its subtlety and mysterious qualities intrigued her. Lane loves a challenge, and Grenache has provided her with one. Grenache Blanc seemed like an obvious next step. It's a great Chardonnay alternative, just like Grenache Noir is a great Pinot alternative.
The first good Californian Grenache Blanc that I ever tasted was in the early 1990's, when my father and I visited Tablas Creek in Paso Robles. Tablas had made a small amount of 100% GB as an experiment, and we thought it was the best wine of the tasting. Later on I had the pleasure of swirling Kris Curran's Grenache Blanc and realized what potential the varietal has here in Santa Barbara County. I was hooked.
Grenache Blanc is a slight genetic variation on its red counterpart, much like Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris are variations on their famous cousin Pinot Noir. Lane and I sourced our grapes from the same vineyard that Curran produced many of her famous vintages: Camp Four in Los Olivos. The vineyard site has perfect conditions for growing this grape, with warm days and cool nights, allowing us to pick with lower sugars than is normally characteristic of this varietal, along with bright acidity.
We know that wine can sometimes be confusing, because there is so much to learn and so much to choose from. It's not always black-and-white. Just trust that Lumen will provide your senses with a pleasurable experience. We will most likely release our new white in the spring of 2015, so don't miss out!
- Will Henry
Introducing California's First Pinot Alternative
Grenache is a very interesting and challenging grape. A wine made from 100% Grenache can have the weight of a Pinot Noir: a medium to light bodied red. I t doesn't normally lend itself to making big, tannic wines. (Side note: a lot of the Grenache that you see in stores is blended with Syrah or Mourvedre in order to fatten it up). This is what attracted me originally to the varietal: it has a lot of the food versatility and grace of a good Pinot, but possesses a completely different flavor profile. A Pinot alternative, if you will.
The first eye-opening California Grenache I had was made by Angela Osborne under her Tribute to Grace label. I tasted the wine on a tasting menu at Cyrus in Healdsburg and it floored me. Hence in 2013 Lane and I set out to make our own version from this fickle grape. The result of our labor - 2013 Lumen Grenache - will be available in January 2015.
2014 marks our second vintage of working with Grenache. We have sourced fruit from two prominent SB County vineyards. Our first load came in a few days ago, from Martian Ranch in Los Alamos. The fruit was beautiful, showing about 24 degrees brix sugar (perfect sugar level for ripe fruit), and beautiful, small, red berries.
Grenache is one of the most widely planted wine varietals in the world. It originated in Spain (under the title Garnacha), where it typically produces a big, rich red wine. Grenache (pronounced gren-ah-sh) is also very popular in Southern France, particularly in the Rhone, where it makes its way into many blends (most prominently in Chateauneuf-du-Pape). There seems to be a growing interest in this varietal in California these days - and we hope to be riding the first wave.
When Grenache goes through the de-stemmer, the differences between this grape and Pinot Noir become instantly noticeable. Grenache has a much thicker skin (unlike some humans), but when the skin breaks, the juice is very light in color. The big challenge is that its skin really doesn't like to break. When we pour it into our bins, they drop like a ton of ball bearings and yield almost no juice. This presents a huge challenge, because our winemaking technique depends on the presence of some juice to punch-down and to inoculate with yeast. What this means for me specifically is that I do a lot of grunting and sweating on top of our open fermentation vats, punching down the cap and hoping to break a few berries.
The Martian Ranch Grenache will certainly be a beauty. The property is located just above the town of Los Alamos, in a site that is relatively cool for Grenache, but warm enough to adequately ripen the fruit. The site is biodynamically farmed and the yields kept very low. 2014 will mark our first from this vineyard, so stay tuned for more notes from harvest!
Why Smaller Can Sometimes Be Better
The quality of a wine is not always dictated by the sweetness of the juice. Many winemakers make decisions on when to pick by simply measuring the degrees brix (percentage of sugar) in their grapes, and generally pick when the sugars are at their highest possible level. Lane and I, however, pick when the flavors of the grape are at their peak, regardless of sugar content. That's not to say that we ignore sugar - we do test for it, as well as acidity - but our main decision to pull the trigger is based mostly on what our palates tell us.
The 2014 Chardonnay has now gone from vineyard through the crusher to barrel, and has completed its fermentation. As I mentioned in our last newsletter, we brought in two clones of Chardonnay from Sierra Madre Vineyard this year: Robert Young and Wente 15. Robert Young looked as he always has - handsome, debonaire, and a bit plump - but the Wente 15 clone behaved completely differently. What was most striking was how small the berries were. And small berries make for better wine.
Why, you may ask? Because more skin means more flavor. So many flavors are locked up in those crunchy little grape skins. If the skin-to-juice ratio is high, so will the concentration of flavors in the wine be. Wente 15 has such small berries this year, the skin-to-juice ratio is off the charts.
We expect a rocking good year for the 2014 harvest. All of our Sierra Madre Pinot came in over the last two weeks as well, and is fermenting away in open-top bins. Needless to say, it looks (and smells) awesome, but more on that later. The 2013 vintage is almost ready for release as well, so look for stellar new Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, as well as a few new surprises! Stay tuned…. more harvest stories to come!
- Will Henry
Lumen Crush is On!
The first fruit of the season came roiling into the winery on August 19, when we picked Chardonnay Wente Clone 15 from Sierra Madre Vineyard in Santa Maria. Following it this week were both Dijon clones of Pinot Noir, 667 and 777, also from Sierra Madre - marking one of our earliest harvests ever here in the valley. This morning was cool and foggy, and looked like normal harvest weather. But for most of the year, the weather was far from typical. What has been fun is how it has illustrated the variances between clones of viits vinifera.
Vines come in all shapes and sizes. Each varietal of wine, such as Pinot Noir or Chardonnay, has numerous different clones that behave uniquely according to soil type, climate, and rootstock. The origin of some of these clones is as muddled as the family tree of a mutt at the pound. There's no telling who its parents were, or how it got here. Some clones came over in vintner's suitcases - others came in through the front door (i.e. legally), or were brought over long before the USDA was even an agency. Differences in clones can range from subtle to drastic. We usually pick and ferment our clones of Pinot Noir separately, because they yield such different wines. They can be next to one another in the same exact vineyard, yet taste as different as two wines from across the world.
Last year we brought in both clones of Chardonnay - Wente 15 and Robert Young - at exactly the same time. Yet this year we left the Robert Young clone hanging for an additional two weeks. The clones ripened very differently from each other this time around. No one is exactly sure why this year's harvest has been so different. One theory is that we have had unusually warm nights, which perhaps has caused acidity to drop in the fruit without a consequential lift in sugars. In a normal year, sugars will go up as acids drop. We try to pick when both are in good balance, and the fruit is super tasty. This year, the acid dropped out far too quickly, the sugars lagged behind, and we had to pick on flavor alone. Thankfully, our taste buds work pretty well!
Clone 15 Chardonnay had unusually small berries this year, which will certainly help, because the skin-to-juice ratio will be unusually high. This will mean super-concentrated flavors from Clone 15. Robert Young clone looked pretty much normal, however. Go figure. This is why we use a variety of clones every year; because in the end, we end up with a more consistently good bottle of wine.
We will send you more news as harvest progresses!
- Will Henry
SMV is Ripe on the Vine
When Lane puts on her magic yellow boot, we know it's almost time for harvest. Lane has donned this fine piece of footwear ever since 1982, early in her wine career, and damn near the infancy of Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir. "I lost the other boot somewhere along the line," she says with a smile, "but thankfully I only need one." And what is the boot's purpose, other than the obvious fashion statement it makes? This boot crushes grapes. When it comes out of the closet, it means we are awfully close to pickin' time. Lane uses it to make juice from fruit samples in the vineyards, which we test for sugar content and acidity. It's a pre-crush crush of sorts.
The Sierra Madre Vineyard Chardonnay checked in at 21 degrees brix yesterday. What that means that is that we could see the earliest harvest on record in the Santa Maria Valley this year. "Clone 15 already has a gorgeous flavor profile," states Lane, "and I think we could be picking as early as this coming weekend." We thought last year's harvest was early - picking started on Labor Day Weekend - but this year is something else entirely. The grapes are sweet and ripe almost a month earlier than normal.
The most common question we hear is: why did the grapes ripen so early this year? Does it have anything to do with the drought?
The answer is really quite simple: harvest is early because we barely had a winter last year. The winter of 2013-14 was so dry and warm that bud break came a month early. (Bud break is when the vines come out of their winter dormancy and shoot buds out of their bark). The early bud break resulted in early flowering, and once flowering occurs, the vines basically are setting their clock for harvest, assuming there are no abnormalities with summer weather patterns. Given that the 2014 summer season has been warm and fairly normal, harvest is already upon us.
"The earliest I have ever picked is August 21," says Lane. "Unless something weird happens, that record is about to be broken."
The fruit looks healthy, and the crop slightly smaller than 2013. With our 2013 wines now in bottle, our barrels stand at the ready. Two new wines are in the mix for release this fall: 2013 Lumen Grenache, and the 2013 Lumen Sierra Madre Vineyard Pinot Noir, made from our best barrels from our favorite fruit source.
With Lane's boot leading the way, we will be bringing in new fruit from Camp 4 Vineyard and Martian Vineyard this year, so look for it down the road in our Grenache and Grenache Blanc.
Wish us well during the 2014 harvest, and thanks for putting Lumen in your glass! More updates to come...
- Will Henry
