Gus Clemens on Wine explores and explains the world of wine in simple, humorous, fun posts

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While wine has been an integral part of civilization for at least 8,000 years, it also is subject to the waxes and wanes of fashion. What is rad and fav today can be tomorrow’s meh. Think merlot. Think white zinfandel. Think Milli Vanilli.

In the 1990s and 2000s wine enjoyed the intoxicating euphoria of being the next big thing. Wine sales  grew in double digits. Wine replaced beer as the swell’s sip of choice. The Mediterranean diet suggested wine, especially red wine, was good for you, heart healthy, not just part of the good life but part of a longer life. Baby Boomers were all in to the Elysium zeitgeist of wine as the wonder elixir. Oh, those were the days. Those were the daze.

Every boom busts. Every bubble bursts. And so with wine in the 2020s. Boomers (59-77+) not only grow older and our consumption declines, we are dying off. That was inevitable, even if we foolishly thought ourselves bullet proof and forever the center of attention.

Boomers still dominate the higher end of the wine market. Wine sales may decline, but wine prices are up, creating a sort of balance. We drank Blue Nun, Mateus, and Hearty Burgundy in our salad days. Now, thanks to social security checks and 401Ks, we slurp Jordans and vintage Left Bank Bordeaux. But those days are actuarially numbered—for my fellow Boomers, for wineries.

So, what about Gen X (43-58), Millennials (27-42), and Gen Z (21-26)? Gen X, sandwiched between the larger demographics of Boomer and Millennial, appears to have overtaken Boomers in amount and quality of the wine they consume, but that likely is ephemeral. Millennials and Gen Z loom on the time line inevitabilities, and there the wine world worries.

Millennials are the largest and wealthiest consumer category after Boomers and their predilections, as fads and fashions are wont to do, stray from their progenitor’s penchants. Spirits have overtaken wine in consumer consumption statistics. Millennials fret about environmental impacts, female and minority participation, sustainability, social justice. It is not just the Robert Parker score—and he no longer is tasting and posting scores, BTW—but it is the whole penumbra around wine making that influences Mellennial’s buying proclivities.

And this does not even touch upon the neo-prohibitionists who assert almost any alcohol intake is harmful to health. After heady years of tailwinds, the wine world today is buffeted by headwinds of change. As it has experienced for 8,000 years and counting. Watch this space.

Last round

A group of earsplitting toddlers is called a tantrum. Wine time.

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Porto (port wine) often is mistaken to be a depth-of-winter libation sipped while gazing at a roaring fire, the finale to a robust meal. Porto certainly works in that scenario, but you miss out if you so limit your porto possibilities.

Port can be enjoyed any time, including chilled in summer. In fact, tawny port is best appreciated slightly chilled. Ruby port and vintage port are best around 60-64 degrees. More about port designations in a bit.

Here are the basics. Port/porto is a sweet, fortified dessert wine made in Portugal and identified by the word “Porto” on the label. The name comes from the city of Porto, the second-largest city in Portugal after Lisbon. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.

Porto, Portugal — Creative Commons 2.0

Porto and its sister city, Vila Nova de Gaia, are on opposite banks of the Douro River in western Portugal. Grapes for making porto come down the Douro from vineyards in eastern Portugal. Grape-laden barges arrive in Gaia and go to “lodges,” where porto is made. The wine is made in Gaia, then shipped out of Porto.

Some 80 different grape varieties are permitted in porto making. Five are the most common: touriga nancional, touriga francesa, tinta roriz (aka tempranillo), tinta barroca, and tinta cão. Fermentation starts, but when it reaches six-to-nine percent alcohol fermentation is stopped by adding brandy. That brings the final ABV to some 20 percent. Porto is sweet, but tannins and racy acidity balance things out. Then the defining element of porto commences—aging.

The aging regimen prescribes categories of porto:

• Vintage Porto. Sits atop porto hierarchy. Made from best grapes in quality vintages. Very age worthy—coming into their own in decades rather than years. Oak influence is somewhat muted because they only spend two years in barrel, but then they spend years in bottle before release.

• Late-bottled. Wines spend four-to-six years in oak. Oak aging smooths things out, but the wine is less sophisticated—and less expensive—than vintage.

• Tawny. Experiences long aging in wood—10 to 40 years. The number of years usually is prominent on the label. Mellow, nutty, woody, dried fruit. Features oak more than quality grapes, although there are many examples that feature both.

• Ruby. Entry level porto. Usually ages two-three years in oak. Often blended with older wines to create a consistent house style.

Tasting note

• Warre’s Vintage Porto 2016: Plush dessert in a glass with alcohol oomph (20%). Elegant, balanced, charming. Sweetness deftly paired with excellent acidity, fine-grained tannins. $100-110 Link to my review

Last round

Home is where cat hair sticks to everything but the cat. Wine time.

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More interesting facts and trivia about wine:

• World wine production averages around 6.5 billion gallons a year.

• Portugal has the most wine consumption in the world at 13.7 gallons per person per year.

• Italy drinks 12.3 gallons, France 12.2, Switzerland 9.4, Austria 7.9, Australia 7.3, Argentina 7.3, Germany 7.3, Sweden 7.1, Netherlands 6.4, Spain 6.3.

• Although the U.S. consumes more wine than any other country, we rank 16th in the world in per-person consumption at 3.2 gallons. Russia is next at 2.3 gallons.

• Wine is produced in all 50 states in the U.S.

• There are four wineries in Alaska. There is very little wine grape production, so wineries mostly import juice for grape-based wine, but they also make wine using Alaska-grown blueberries, strawberries, and rhubarb.

• California produces 85% or more of U.S. wine—685 million gallons a year.

• Washington State is the second-most U.S. wine producer with 36 million, followed by New York State with 28.5 million, Oregon with 11 million, Texas with 4.3 million, Michigan with 2.8 million, North Carolina with 2.4 million, Virginia with 2.4 million, Illinois with 2.4 million, and Pennsylvania with 2.2 million.

• There are 269 American Viticultural Areas (AVA) in 34 states. Augusta, Missouri, was the first, in 1980. The number of AVAs steadily increases, so the count likely is higher since the last survey.

• Eighty-five percent of the grapes must be grown in the AVA to include the designation on the label, and the wine must be produced in the AVA.

• Ninety-five percent of the grapes must be grown in the same year to include a vintage date on the label.

• In 2022, wine’s value to the U.S. economy was estimated to be $275 billion.

• The U.S. wine industry employs 1.8-2 million people, with a wage impact of $96 billion.

• There are 50 million wine tourists visits in the U.S. each year, and they spend $17 billion.

• The U.S. wine industry pays close to $16 billion in federal taxes and $16 billion in state and local taxes each year.

Tasting notes:

• Herdade do Esporão Monte Velho White, Vinho Regional Alentejano, Portugal 2021: Balanced, elegant. Excellent alternative to quality chardonnay at half the chard cost. $11-12 Link to my review

• Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay, Sonoma County 2021: Rich, round, smooth-creamy, buttery, built to please from initial attack through medium-length finish. $16-20 Link to my review

• Three Sticks Origin Durell Vineyard Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast 2021: Rich, complex, vibrant from high-quality vineyard. Mouthwatering, fresh. A stunning wine. $70-73 Link to my review

Last round

There is no one quite as clever as someone who has opinions you agree with. Wine time.

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Some interesting facts and trivia about wine:

• The Bible mentions wine 247 times. Forty of those mentions are negative, usually warnings against abuse. There are 145 positive mentions, usually in the context of meals, blessings, and worship. There are 62 neutral mentions, mostly describing situations.

• The country of Georgia, at the intersection of Europe and Asia, is the most likely place humans began making wine at least 8,000 years ago. I say humans began making wine, because fruit turns into wine all by itself with no human intervention—which is likely how Georgians got the idea to help Mother Nature along in the first place.

• Humans produce wine in 60 countries. Twenty-eight countries produce 85% of the world’s wine.

• Half of the world’s wine production comes from four countries: Italy, France, Spain, and the U.S.

• Wine grapes grow from 30 to 50 degrees latitude—the temperate zones—in both the northern and southern hemispheres. This also is where most of the world’s food is grown.

• There are some 18.2 million acres of vineyards on earth. Of those, 49% are planted in wine grapes, 43% in fresh table grapes, and 8% in raisin grapes.

• Grapes are the most important commercially grown fruit in the world.

• There are some 10,000 different grapes. Italy has at least 1,368 different wine grapes, France 204, and Portugal 77. Cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay are the most planted.

• There are eight different categories of wine: red, white, rosé, orange/amber, sparkling, fortified, ice, and dessert.

• The concept of an “appellation” was first mentioned in the Bible, when it references wines from different regions.

• Chianti, Italy, created the first formal appellation in 1716. The Côtes du Rhône was the first French appellation, created in 1937.

• In 1880, some 80% of the Italian population relied on the wine industry for a living.

• It takes 600-800 grapes—equivalent to 2.5-3 pounds—to make a standard 750 ml bottle of wine.

• There are 49 million bubbles in a bottle of Champagne.

• There are roughly 435 species of oak trees, but only 20 are used to make wine barrels.

Tasting notes:

• Gary Farrell Russian River Selection Chardonnay, Sonoma County 2021: Impressive complexity; brisk, exciting; engaging tartness, especially from mid-palate through delightfully prolonged finish. $38-40 Link to my review

• Black Stallion Estate Winery Transcendent Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2018: Rich, balanced, elegant, integrated, powerful without being overbearing. All you wish—and pay for—in a significant Napa cab. $135 Link to my review

Last round

I went to visit a psychic. I knocked on her door and she replied: “Who is it?”

So, I left. Wine time.

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Wine has enjoyed quite a run. Consumption up for decades. Quality up—the best in the 8,000 year history of wine. Availability up, thanks in no small part to elimination of antediluvian restrictions on direct-to-consumer wine sales.

Nothing, however, lasts forever. Consumption has leveled off. Quality remains, but now the problem is too much wine. For consumers, nice problem given the old supply and demand equation. For wine makers, a problem, given the old supply and demand equation.

Australia estimates it has a surplus of 2.8 billion bottles of wine. Enough for more than 100 bottles for every man, woman, and child in the country. France allocated 200 million euros to distill excess wine into industrial alcohol. Spain and California face similar, if slightly less dire, situations.

Reasons are not obscure. During the wine consumption surge, lots of people wanted to jump on the bandwagon. Even if they did not make money off their winery, they coveted the lifestyle. Existing growers and makers did not hesitate to respond to the increased demand.

Now, in the autumn of those heady times, actuarial reality. Baby Boomers fueled the boom. Alas, our time is passing. Those still around sip less wine. Those no longer around are sipping in another dimension where corkscrews are not needed.

The wine industry prays Millennials and follow-on generations will discover the Elysium joys of fermented grape juice, but that is not certain. Boomers considered themselves bullet proof. Their progeny observed the results of that folly. They simply do not drink as much alcohol as their parents, they may not drink alcohol at all, and—even if they do—there are not as many of them. Boomers are the bolus working its way through the spreadsheet. Most wine drinking countries are in an era of population decline.

If you are a Boomer like me, take it all in and continue to enjoy the ride. We’ve got access to the best wine ever made and winemakers desperate to sell it. What happens next? That is a problem for my children and grandchildren to deal with.

Tasting notes:

• Boschendal The Rose Garden Rosé Wine, South Africa 2022: Soft, juicy, light, enchanting red fruits. Straightforward, easily approachable. $12-15 Link to my review

• Barton & Guestier Les Petites Parcelles Vouvray 2021: Delightful iteration of chenin blanc. Touch of sweetness will pleasure many palates; balancing acidity keeps things in check. $15-18 Link to my review

• Maison No. 9 Rosé 2020: Light, lilting, red-fruit-tasty Provence rosé. Sensuous, engaging, unique bottle typical of rosés from French Riviera. $19-23 Link to my review

Last round

A man threw a milk bottle at me today. How dairy. Wine time.

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Valentine’s Day, the inspired capitalist fabrication of greeting card makers, florists, and chocolatiers, happens next Wednesday. Here are some notions about wine to titillate your cherished someone.

This is something of a sweet and soft day, so shy away from dry, acidic whites. Sauvignon blanc is a splendidly versatile food wine, but anything that sometimes is described as a razor on the tongue is anything but soft and cuddly. Same goes for monster cabs. Brusque masculinity does not play well on Valentine’s day.

So, what does play?

• Rosé is almost a cliché. A dozen roses and a bottle of Provence rosé—classic. There is a palette of choices to suit your sweetheart’s palate—dry rosés, sweeter rosés, or even a white zinfandel (which is a rosé/blush wine).

• Kinder, gentler reds:

Lambrusco is among the lightest reds, has a bit of bubbles, and tastes of strawberries and blueberries.

Pinot noir is the benchmark light red wine.

Gamay is similar to pinot noir, tastes of cherry and banana.

Cinsault has meaty, savory elements; show off, and maybe be suggestive, by pronouncing it correctly: “sin-so.”

Primitivo/zinfandel—primitivo in Italy, zin in California, same grape. Relatively light wine. Raspberry jam flavors. Often high alcohol for what its worth on Valentine’s.

Grenache/garnacha—light body, strawberries, major component of Provence rosés

• Sparkling wine. You can go big bucks Champagne, or dial it back with a domestic from California, New York Finger Lakes, west coast in general at half the price of Champagne. Gruet from New Mexico is splendid with a range of styles, most under $20. If you must go cheaper, cava from Spain or prosecco from Italy come into play. Sparkling prosecco has a blush of sweetness and its affordable cost helps offset the cost of the dozen roses.

• Sweet wines for your sweetie. If your sugar likes sugar, consider moscato wines—Moscato d’Asti is sparkling. Look for sparkling wines labeled demi-sec. Gewürztraminer, chenin blanc, viognier, riesling all come in sweeter versions (caution, they also are made dry). Ice wines, sauternes, tokaji can be rich and sweet, also expensive. Wines labeled “late harvest” can be counted on to be sweet—winemakers harvest early for dryness, late for concentrated sugar and fruitiness. The best sweet wines are balanced by acidity.

Final thought: if you know your darling and her taste in wine, you can never go wrong by pouring what she/he loves.

Last round

“She tore my valentine into two pieces,” Tom said halfheartedly. “Fortunately, I had not given her the rosé wine yet, so I drank the whole bottle myself.”

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Terroir is that baffling French term you often encounter with wine. There is another French term that sums up the meaning of terroir—je ne sais quoi [something that cannot be fully described or expressed].

In broadest terms, terroir means an entire combination of factors—soil, climate, sunlight, people working the vineyard and the winery, natural yeasts, water, the kitchen sink. That confusing combination of factors makes wine from one place different than wine from another place. Typical wine snob nonsense, right? Well, it turns out hard science has proved there is something to it.

In a recent report in the journal Communication Chemistry, Dr. Alex Pouget, a computational neuroscientist and his colleagues at the University of Geneva, decided to test if a computer could pinpoint estates in Bordeaux based only on a particular wine’s chemical makeup determined by gas chromatography, a method for breaking down substances into their molecular components.

The scientists trained an algorithm to seek common patterns in the chemical fingerprints from a database of 80 wines of various vintages from seven Bordeaux châteaus. The results shocked the scientists. The model identified wines in distinct groups that nailed their exact locations in Bordeaux. Voila! Terroir!

The research showed particular qualities of vineyard locations dramatically influenced the wine’s chemistry. Terroir worked on the molecular level, just as winemakers and wine writers have been noting for centuries. In fact, all the wines tested were part of the 1855 Bordeaux classification system that was based on—wait for it—terroir.

The scientists anticipate replicating results elsewhere, given large enough databases and strict controls. Many wines are made from grapes from several different vineyards, so terroir is not a factor, and no winemakers or wine writers claim such. But wine made from grapes from a specific place? That can be specifically identified according to folks with white coats, advanced degrees, and a gas chromatograph.

It remains to be tested what, if any, bottle age may affect results. But now, if you believe in science, there is hard, empirical proof that “terroir” is not hoity-toity wine hokum.

Tasting notes

• Comtesse de Malet Roquefort Bordeaux Rouge 2020: Supple, sauve, soft, juicy, fresh Right Bank mostly merlot. $15-18 Link to my review

• Bryn Mawr Vineyards Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon 2019: Delicious, delicate—as superb pinot noir should be. Excellent, affordable example of Oregon pinot. $27-32 Link to my review

• Dutcher Crossing Proprietor's Reserve Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel 2018: Smooth, balanced, delicious celebration of dark fruits and zin personality. Significant alcohol. $36 Link to my review

Last round

Dogs prepare you for babies. Cats prepare you for teenagers. Wine time.

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You likely have seen the description “old vine” on a wine label. What exactly does that mean and is it  important?

“Old vine” does not have a legal meaning, but generally in the wine world an “old vine” is a vine that is 35 years old. Thirty-five may not seem old, but in the wine world vines are their most productive between age three and 35. After that, vines produce looser clusters with thicker skins. If your goal is quantity, that is not a good thing. It is common practice in many vineyards to replace vines after 35 years.

Oldest vine in the world

Old vines, however, trade quantity for quality. Wine growers experience benefits from that tradeoff. Old vines have much deeper root systems, enabling them to survive water shortages. They are more resistant to weather, insect, disease and other stressors.

With climate change a major concern throughout the wine world, those qualities of old vines make them increasingly attractive. Thicker skins help buffer the effect of global warming. Deeper roots help in drought. And, with premiumization and the shift toward quality, old vine grapes become more valuable because they often make better wine.

The Old Vine Conference is a London-based international organization dedicated to celebrating old vines and building an international database of old vines. It began with efforts by Jancis Robinson, England’s premier wine writer, and has U.S. support from Jackson Family Wines. I recently participated, via Zoom, in their annual conference attended by wine professionals from all over the world and included presentations by wine experts from all over the world. Much of my old vine content in this column derives from the eight hours of that conference and that organization.

Some interesting old vine notes:

• The oldest producing wine vine in the world is more than 400 years old. It is in Slovenia and was planted against the town wall at the end of the Middle Ages during the Turkish invasions.

• The age of the vine’s roots qualify it as old vine. On the Greek island of Santorini, new shoots are grafted when production declines, but they are grafted onto roots that are well more than a century old.

• The Lodi, California, AVA is the best-documented and likely has the highest concentration of old vines—mostly zinfandel—in the United States.

• Australia, Argentina, Chile, and South Africa have high numbers of documented old vines. Old World vineyards surely have many old vine vineyards, but reporting to the Old Vine Conference lags behind the rest of the world.

Last round

How did Viking ships communicate with each other? Norse code. Wine time.

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Laura Catena interview Part Five 1-17-2024

Dr. Laura Catena, managing director of Bodega Catena Zapata, is considered the face of Argentine wine and a major spokesperson for wine in general.

After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard and earning a medical degree from Stanford, she practiced medicine in San Francisco for 25 years while also helping run the family winery, Bodega Catena Zapata. Laura now is in charge of the winery. Here is another excerpt from my interview with Dr. Catena.

Dr. Laura Catena, the face of Argentine wine

• What is Catena’s position on lighter glass bottles?

We have reduced our overall bottle weight by 30% over the last 10 years and we are in the process of reducing by 15-25% our remaining bottles.  We are working with the local manufacturers to reduce weight.  We are lucky in Argentina to have an efficient and well functioning glass-production industry with several manufacturers, which means that 100% of our glass is locally sourced.

• What decision gave you the most satisfaction/pride operating Catena?

We recently received the #1 World’s Best Vineyard in the world award from World’s Best Vineyards.  I was completely surprised. It is an award given to a winery for a combination of extraordinary wines and original/top level hospitality. I took the scarf (given to me at the award ceremony) and the trophy around the winery and to the vineyards and took photos with all the staff at Catena. I am also going on a tour to visit customers and take the photo with them, because they are part of our success. It made me very happy to be able to celebrate with all the people who work so hard every day and should be recognized for their efforts. It was also very satisfying when we got our first 100 point rating for Adrianna Vineyard River Stones Malbec. It was a milestone in my father’s vision to make Argentine wines that could stand with the best of the world. I’ve written three books about wine and each time I had a lot of doubt about it because of how time consuming it is to write a book (especially when I had my two jobs, wine and medicine, and a young family). But I learned so much while writing each book, and each book became a powerful tool to tell the stories behind Argentine wine, especially the last book Malbec Mon Amour, which was a bestseller in Argentina and got a wonderful review from the New York Times.

Last round

What do you get if you cross a lion with a watchdog? A terrified postman. Wine time.

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California’s Goldilocks vintage 1-10-2024

It is a new year and time for some good news.

Recent history has not been kind for wine. Demand, after decades of euphoric gains, has been flat. Mother Nature has not been kind to several regions with drought, hail, spring freezes, fires, bugs. All the usual suspects.

California, however, enjoyed a Goldilocks year in 2023. And we should enjoy the results for years to come. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

California’s 2023 grape harvest abounds in quality and quantity. “One for the ages,” several winemakers ventured. Quality paired with quantity is wonderful news, even if it may not be unequivocally wonderful for winemakers.

California quantity puts downward pressure on grape prices. Joyously, quantity did not happen because more vines were planted. In fact, growers have dialed back in recent years. Quantity happened because this was a year when everything came together. Water early and a long, steady, cool summer meant grape vines produced bunches larger and heavier than expected. Good harvest weather.

With demand relatively flat and quality grape supply up, the juice going into $15-30 wine will be better than ever before. Hallelujah. You will not have to be a trust-fund baby to enjoy this. The west coast joy juxtaposes with a global harvest that is almost 10 percent smaller than 2022, and almost eight percent smaller than the average of the past 10 years.

Wine is an agricultural product. Every farmer knows to savor good years and survive bad years. After years of fires and drought, California in 2023 enjoyed the immense blessings God and his handmaiden Mother Nature can bestow.

Karen MacNeil, author of The Wine Bible noted: “Every century, every place has its legendary vintages. I have no doubt that 2023 will go down as one of the most phenomenal vintages ever in Napa Valley. Every vintner I’ve talk to about 2023 has been nothing short of ecstatic.”

Adjectives about 2023 in Napa and the west coast in general: elegant, lush, generous, consistent, delicious, dynamic, balanced, graceful, complex, fresh, age-worthy, silky, voluptuous, miraculous. We will discover in the coming years if this effusive enthusiasm is justified, but for now, after Covid and wildfires and drought and bugs, we are due for the wondrous magic wine can provide.

Meghan Zobeck, winemaker at Burgess Cellars, told MacNeil: “I’m not sure there will be another vintage quite like this in our lifetime.”

Something wine lovers can look forward to. Thank God.

Last round

I’ve always thought a murder mystery in a textile factory would make a good yarn, Wine time.

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