The oldest winery in the world

The oldest winery ever found is 6,100 years old. It was recently discovered inside a cave in Armenia, near the country's southern border with Iran. Archeologists were able to date the winemaking installation to approximately 4,100 BC. That's the Copper Age, a transitional period between the Stone Age and the Bronze Age. In the cave, they found winemaking equipment, including a rudimentary wine press, a clay vat probably used for fermentation, a cup and drinking bowl, as well as remains of pressed grapes and grape must. They found no device to actually crush the grapes so they think that people stomped the grapes with their feet. The installation was surrounded by graves, which suggests that the wine may have had a ceremonial role.

After examining the seeds, paleobotanists were able to identify the grapes as vitis vinifera vinifera, which indicates that the winegrape had already been domesticated at the time. This is an important milestone in Human Evolution.

“Deliberate fermentation of carbohydrates into alcohol has been suggested as a possible factor that prompted the domestication of wild plants and the development of ceramic technology,” said Hans Barnard, one of the archaeologists who teaches in the UCLA Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures.

Until now, the oldest wine production site was dated to around 3150 B.C. and was found in the tomb of Egyptian king Scorpion I.

You can read the whole article here, it's fascinating.

Technorati tags: wine food & drink

Can technology help make better wines?

I recently received an email announcing the launch of UC Davis' new high-tech winery. It is a $15 million teaching-and-research facility and is expected to be the first winery to earn a LEED Platinum certification.

The project is impressive. The winery's eco-friendly features include onsite solar power generation and a system for capturing, storing, and recycling rainwater. The ultimate goal is to operate the facility independent of the main campus water line and be self-sustainable in both water and energy. Moreover, an innovative system of plastic tubes running up to the ceiling from the fermenters is designed to capture the carbon dioxide produced during fermentation. There are also plans to sequester that CO2 in order to work in a carbon zero environment.

The winery has also a new high-tech fermentation system that was donated by T.J. Rodgers, chief executive officer of Cypress Semiconductor and a winemaker himself. 152 stainless-steel fermentation tanks automatically control temperature during fermentation. In each tank, a brix sensor measures sugar levels and transmits the data across a wireless network. With this high-tech system, UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology plans to conduct data-intensive studies, hoping to understand how different variables such as grape-growing practices, vineyard location and choice of yeast strains impact the character and quality of wines.

“No other viticulture and enology research organization has a facility with these capabilities,” explains David Block, vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology. “And when it is fully implemented, it will contain one of the largest wireless networks in any fermentation facility in the world.”

To me, it is not clear how all this data analysis will really help winemakers. “A lot of information is great,” acknowledges PlumpJack Winery General Manager John Conover, “but the great thing about wine is that there is no recipe.”

By contrast, I remember my recent visits to Oregon wineries and the discussions I had with the local winemakers. Their main focus is to grow the best fruit in the vineyard. Viticulture science helps them select the best soils, microclimates clones, crop size, and grow more healthy grapevines. However in the cellar, most of them believe in minimal intervention and to just let the grape shine.

Technorati tags: wine food & drink

Winemaking step #10: bottling

Last week was the last step of our winemaking journey: bottling. We first had to decide that our Inkgrade Cabernet was ready: dark purple color — actually noir d'encre, or black as ink, like the name on the label —, impressive nose of currants and blackberries, definitively tannic on the palate, some good acidity, long finish. “That's obviously a wine that is going to age well” acknowledged Crushpad winemaker Camille Benitah who was tasting the final version of the wine with us.

Then we moved to the bottling area where cases of double magnums were waiting for us. Yes, my friend Rick wanted most of his share of the barrel in double magnums! “Double magnums are great for aging,” he explained, “and what a treat when you open one in front of your guests!” (if you have any doubts about large size bottles, read this piece). The only problem was that these bottles were too big for the bottling equipment therefore filing and corking had to be done by hand. This process was rather time consuming and unfortunately, we had to leave before the end.


Bottling equipment for standard size bottles and magnums only


Filling the double magnums


Inserting a wine cork

We are now moving into the next stage: resting and aging. I foresee that this one will last for a while.

Related posts:
•  Winemaking step #9: fining
•  Winemaking step #8: blending
•  Winemaking step #7: barrel tasting
•  Winemaking step #6: after the malolactic fermentation
•  Winemaking step #5: pressing the wine
•  Winemaking step #4: getting ready for the pressing
•  Winemaking step #3: monitoring the fermentation
•  Winemaking step #2: inoculation of the must
•  Crushing at Crushpad
•  2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Ink Grade Vineyard Howell Mountain

Technorati tags: wine food & drink

Winemaking step #9: fining

Earlier this week, we had another meeting with Crushpad chief winemaker Mike Zitzlaff. The objective was to determine the appropriate amount of egg white in order to remove the proper amount of bitter tannins in our wine. We had learned at our previous meeting that the albumin contained in the egg white was particularly effective at removing aggressive tannins without affecting the other desirable flavors of the wine.

This time, Michael had prepared three samples with three different dosages: the first one had 1 gram of egg white per 1 liter of wine, the next one 0.8 gram per 1 liter, and the last one 0.6 gram per 1 liter.

Tasting these samples was eye-opening: the first one seemed to have lost most of its body — too much egg white —, the third one had a harsh finish — not enough egg white —, and like Goldilocks finding Baby Bear's porridge, we found that the second one was just right.

Everybody was happy with the 0.8 dosage, which means that we could move forward with the fining. And then, the wine will be ready for the next and final stage: bottling!


Related posts:
•  Winemaking step #8: blending
•  Winemaking step #7: barrel tasting
•  Winemaking step #6: after the malolactic fermentation
•  Winemaking step #5: pressing the wine
•  Winemaking step #4: getting ready for the pressing
•  Winemaking step #3: monitoring the fermentation
•  Winemaking step #2: inoculation of the must
•  Crushing at Crushpad
•  2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Ink Grade Vineyard Howell Mountain

Technorati tags: wine food & drink

Winemaking step #8: blending

After being in barrel for almost 18 months, it is almost time for our 2006 Crushpad Cabernet Sauvignon Ink Grade Vineyard to be bottled. But first, we had to decide on the final steps: blending and fining.


Our Cabernet Sauvignon in its new oak barrel

So last week, we met with Crushpad's Chief Winemaker Mike Zitzlaff who had prepared for us some blending wine samples: a 2006 Cabernet Franc, a 2007 Merlot, and a 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon.


Wine samples for the blending

First we tasted our wine: dark, intense nose of black fruit, thick, with a strong oaky finish. Mike explained that at this point the wine was unbalanced and had too much oak for the amount of fruit — maybe it stayed too long in its new oak barrel. Therefore, the purpose of blending would be to add more fruit to the wine.

Then, we tasted the other wine samples. The Merlot was soft and fruity with blueberry flavors, the Cabernet Sauvignon was ultra ripe and pruny, and the Cabernet Franc was somewhat herbal. We all agreed that the merlot was the best.


Assembling different blends

We started with a 5% Merlot blend: the Merlot had brought its blueberry flavors to the Cabernet but the oak was still very present. The 10% Merlot blend was very fruity but lacked backbone. The 7.5% was a good compromise: good fruit and nice backbone although the finish was still oaky. “Don't worry,&rdquo said Mike, “We are going to use egg whites and this will soften that harsh finish&rdquo.

Egg whites are a traditional fining agent used to reduce the amount of harsh tannin and soften the texture of red wines. The albumin contained in the egg white absorbs tannin particles, thus reducing astingency in wine.

Our wine is now in a tank, blended with 7.5% Merlot. We'll come back next week to do the fining. In the meantime, we're working on the label and trying to find a name. What about Noir d'Encre?

Related posts:
•  Winemaking step #7: barrel tasting
•  Winemaking step #6: after the malolactic fermentation
•  Winemaking step #5: pressing the wine
•  Winemaking step #4: getting ready for the pressing
•  Winemaking step #3: monitoring the fermentation
•  Winemaking step #2: inoculation of the must
•  Crushing at Crushpad
•  2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Ink Grade Vineyard Howell Mountain

Technorati tags: wine food & drink

Winemaking step #7: barrel tasting

It's been more than six months since our 2006 Crushpad Cabernet Sauvignon Ink Grade Vineyard had been aging in a new Sylvain barrel and it was time to check how the wine had evolved. So last Monday, I had an appointment with our winemaker Kian Tavakoli to taste the wine.

Wow! Six months in new oak and the wine had turned into a truly magnificent teen with a deep, inky purple color and an intense nose of blackberry liqueur. The palate was concentrated, woody, and tight with tannins. After five minutes in the glass, the rich dark fruit aromas became more peppery, spicy. Kian was also very pleased with how the wine had aged so far. And then we tried another Ink Grade Cabernet from an adjacent barrel, a wine with a different set of winemaking parameters and that had been punched down. Surprisingly, the wine was very different. The nose was minty, more herbal than fruity. On the palate, the oak seemed less integrated, with a noticeable acidic finish. I am glad to say that so far, ours was the best!


Technorati tags: wine food & drink