DECEMBER 2021
DAVID DAOU EXPLAINS WHY DAOU MOUNTAIN IN PASO ROBLES HAS THE GREATEST CABERNET SAUVIGNON TERROIR IN CALIFORNIA
ALSO INSIDE • A Primer on Phenolics Blast from the Past • Upcoming Omaha Branch Events
A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
CORNER
EDITOR’S H
appy holiday season to all! There was no event for October, so there is no Event Report this issue. Only 10 people signed up and the event had to be cancelled. Please use the event registration invite to reply if you are or are NOT coming. It couldn’t be easier. In the place of an event report, we are getting into some interesting education this issue. David Daou, one of the two brothers that founded Daou Vineyards in Paso Robles, gave a podcast interview where he explained why he feels that Daou Vineyards has the greatest terroir in California. I found this to be a very interesting podcast. Why does he make this rather bold and startling assertion? There are numerous great wineries in California, many of which are in Napa and Sonoma, not Paso Robles. However, he is using the wine’s phenolics as the report card on the terroir and wine making process. But what are Phenolics? One of those things you hear winemakers say, but you really don’t understand all that well. I was pretty rusty myself. But when you have a guy going around saying his winery, in a lesser known AOC of California, has the best phenolics out of 600 wineries’ tested, sourced from multiple countries, and that includes the French First Growths, I thought it was time for a refresher on what exactly are Phenolics. Some members have had trouble reading the Gazette on issuu.com, Or, they don’t want to sign in, which means you can’t even read the Gazette at all. They prefer a PDF since all you have to do is click it open. We have decided to offer it in both formats. In your email, a PDF will be sent along with the issuu.com link. The advantage of issuu.com is that you can see both right and left pages, like a paper magazine. Our PDF only lets you view one page at a time.
Tom Murnan Cover Photo: View from the top of Daou Mountain, at Daou Vineyards. Photo by Tom Murnan
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A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
2520 MYSTERY
“In the tombs discovered under the pyramids of Giza, in Egypt, a number is displayed conspicuously, chiseled deep into the numerals of an ancient people. These numerals, interpreted into figures of this day, read: 2520. “That mystic number, 2520, is divisible by any number from one to nine, and, according to mathematicians, you can’t perform that miracle with any other number.” F ro m T he Best of t he Cockle Bur comp il ed a nd edi t ed by H a r ry B Ot is, 3rd P resid en t 1973-1974
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A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
DAVID DAOU EXPLAINS WHY DAOU MOUNTAIN IN PASO ROBLES HAS THE GREATEST CABERNET SAUVIGNON TERROIR IN CALIFORNIA Written by Tom Murnan
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Daniel Daou, Proprietor and Winemaker
aso Robles has become California’s fastest growing wine areas. Napa has virtually maxed out on new wineries because Napa County won’t change the regulations on where you can put a winery. For example, they don’t have mountain top wineries because the county wants to keep the timber undisturbed. But Paso Robles is much less restricted. This Gazette featured Daou Vineyards last November as a winery profile. Family member David Daou is the winemaker and has a lot to say about what makes a great vineyard. Paso Robles has a great series of podcasts about their area hosted by Adam Montiel called Where Wine Takes You. He interviewed David Daou on 9/25/2020. One of the criticisms of the Paso Robles area is that it is too hot for great grapes.
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In 2017 California, and Paso Robles, has a severe heat wave David was not ready for it, and lost 25% of his crop which was all dry farmed. The good news was that the grapes that survived got some extended hang time and were great wines. But he learned a great deal after that trial. He began protocols that saved his 2020 Bordeaux varietals, such as Merlot and Cab Sauvignon, even though the heat spikes were hotter. Since Cabernet Sauvignon has thicker skins, in warm years you get great extraction of anthocyanin (color) and phenolics. In cooler years, it is harder to get the color out of the grapes. That’s why Bordeaux wines don’t have a lot of color. Color has texture as well. >
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< Paso is so good in expressing Bordeaux varietals because of its terroir. Terroir will dictate the quality of your wine. You could be the greatest winemaker, but if you grow grapes in the wrong place, you won’t make good wines. David feels Paso has the greatest terroir in the world for growing Bordeaux varietals. When you are talking about terroir, you are talking about two things: soil and climate.
A. SOIL. Every great vineyard has the same
kind of soil, whether it be from Burgundy, the Rhone, South Africa, the Loire, Tuscany etc. They all share calcareous clay. This is great soil to grow grapes on for three reasons: 1. These soils allow you to dry farm. When you dry farm, you have more intense fruit, more concentrated fruit and higher phenolics. Historically, higher pehnolics have always been associated with superior wine. What’s the difference between a good and a bad vintage in Bordeaux? A good vintage has better tannin structure, more color, more aromas, more flavors. The lesser vintages are more diluted, more abrasive and austere. Greater phenolics are associated with higher quality wines, so those soils allow us to dry farm, which leads to higher phenolics. Of course, you can over do it and stress the vines too much and make them raisins, which doesn’t release the phenolics because the skin thickens and holds back the phenolics. So you want to get it just right, and not under or over stress the vines. 2. If the wines are great, they go beyond just fruit and alcohol. If that’s all you want is fruit and alcohol, have a martini. It is a lot cheaper. But if
you want to taste the earth and its nuances (basically the minerality), then properly grown grapes on the right soil will get you to dream and get romantic when you drink a bottle of wine because you are tasting the earth. These calcareous soils are known for giving the minerality you are looking for. 3. Many places, like Bordeaux, are trying to make up for what Mother Nature has not given you. So for example, in Bordeaux they add sugar. They chapitialize or concentrate the juice and raise the alcohol level. In California, it is very common to raise the tartaric acid level. Why? Because most of the soils in California will shed the acids, so by the time you harvest, you’ve lost the acid. So these soils are so unique they allow you to make natural wines. All the best wines are made with natural yeast and nutrition for the yeast to finish fermentation so you can have a natural wine. This means you’ve made the wine with a minimalist approach. You didn’t adulterate the heck out of it and turn it into a lab experiment. Daou uses natural yeast. The yeast needs some nutrition to have enough ammonia and nitrogen to finish the fermentation. These are all organic products. The bad news about these soils is you don’t find them in California that much. You find them a little bit in the Central Coast by Livermore and down south. The majority of these soils you find in Paso Robles, mostly on the west side, and east by Templeton as well. >
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A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
< B. CLIMATE. Probably the most misunderstood subject is climate when it come to Paso Robles. People keep telling the same lie. Everyone keeps saying Paso is too hot. David hears this every week from critics and others. He wanted to get down to the point. The Paso Robles AVA can be 6 miles from the Pacific Ocean in spots. It’s so cold that people who grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay get so much shatter [failure to mature caused by climate, editor] that their yields are so low it’s ridiculous. You could be 35 miles from the ocean and it’s so hot you can’t grow anything. Take 2019. The number of 100° days, which is the most important indicator because anytime you get to 100°, the vine starts shutting down. It no longer produces sugar, you get sun burn, and you really degrade the quality of the wine. In 2019 there were 27 days of 100° or more, and that was a cool year. It ranges around 35 or 40 days, like in 2020. Napa had 11 days of 100° or more. Calistoga had about 20 days. Even in Bordeaux, Pauillac had 4 days of 100°. On Daou Mountain they had zero days of 100° or more. In 2020, they are trending 5° to 6° cooler than Napa on this mountain. The elevation is everything. Daou Mountain is 2,200 feet elevation, 14 miles from the ocean. So you get the maritime influence, you have the Templeton Gap—it’s always windy out there, always a wind blowing. The combination gives us an incredible climate to achieve ripeness without cooking the grapes or being under ripe. So it’s a perfect climate.
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The only place David could go where it had the soils of Bordeaux and the climate of Napa in one location was Paso Robles. In Paso we can deliver incredible Cabernet Sauvignon for an affordable price. Consumers today want to have value. They don’t mind spending money but they want value. Daou over-delivers. David calls it affordable luxury. You can’t get the phenolics for the price anywhere else. He got a lot of insults at first: “Go back to where you came from;” “Go up north;” “What are you doing here? You guys are idiots, you don’t know what you are doing;” “You’re planting the wrong varietals;” “You have beautiful views but your wines are terrible.” We’ve heard it all. It’s the most misunderstood thing. I’ve learned one thing. I’ve never chased money. I’ve always chased my passion. I was passionate when young about computer programming. I did the same thing with my wine making career. I’ve been on both sides of the coin: broke and wealthy. The French say, “The dog barks but the coach keeps going.” I don’t get moved by people throwing insults at me. I’m following my passion. I’m making the best wines I can and that has never stopped. Source: pasowine.com/where-wine-takes-you/
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A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
A Primer on
PHENOLICS By Tom Murnan
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haven’t thought about Phenolics in wine for a long time. But I was listening to a short YouTube video from Daou Vineyards co-owner, Daniel Daou, (https://www.napacabs.com/daousoul-of-a-lion-paso-robles-cabernet-20181-5l.html),who stated that the phenolics from Daou’s mountain was the highest on the planet for Bordeaux varietals. He was saying Daou wines have better phenolics than Napa Valley superstars. Out of 600 wines they tested, none had the phenolics that came from Daou’s Estate Soul of a Lion, a more than 75% Cabernet wine (with some Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot) that is their flagship offering. That got my attention. But what exactly are phenolics? Well, it is actually a complex subject. To get deep into it, you need to be a chemist. But that is beyond the scope of this article, so I will give you the layman’s view of phenolics.
Polyphenols, otherwise known as Phenols or Phenolics, are everywhere in the plant kingdom. They serve to protect the plant from ultraviolet rays of the sun and from predators, as well as attract propagators, such as bees to pollinate and birds to eat ripe fruit and spread the seeds. Specifically, in wine, phenols are responsible for: 1. Color, 2. Tannin, and 3. Aromas. But these three things are responsible for so much sensory pleasure / dislike in that glass of wine. The more you pay for a wine, the higher your hedonistic expectations are. Things like sensory experience, age ability, color and hue in the glass, oxidization are all tied up in the phenolics. They can change the taste from green and bitter to pleasingly astringent and finally to ripe tasting and soft. Scientists can analyze a wine’s phenolics similar to a person’s DNA and come up with the variety of grape. Your top wines have the best phenols. Scientists have been seriously studying the complexity and mystery of phenols for a quarter century or more. >
The process of maceration or extended skin contact allows the extraction of phenolic compounds (including those that form a wine’s color) from the skins of the grape into the wine.
Fermenting with the stem, seeds and skin will increase the tannin content of the wine.
Phenolic compounds like tannins and vanillin can be extracted from aging in oak wine barrels.
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< Grape phenols can be broken down into Flavonoids and Non-Flavonoids. a. Flavonoids are from the skin and seeds of the grape. It also includes Anthocyanins, which produces the color. Flavonols are a class of flavonoids that protect the grapes from the ultra violet light of the sun. Flavonols are also antioxidents, an important portion quality of a wine. b. Non-Flavonoids come from the pulp of the grape, and are mostly found in white wines. 1. Color is probably the first sensory clue we have when we look at a glass of wine. This comes from a class of flavonoids called anthocyanin. Anthocyanin binds a molecule of sugar and acid with other compounds to create a stable pigment or color. There are 6 different kinds of anthocyanins, the mix of which depends on the grape variety. The hue ranges from red to purple. Pinot Noir lacks an acid molecule (called acylated anthocyanin), which reduces the deepness of its hue compared to grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, which has the acid molecule. Grenache, Sangiovese, Nebbiolo and Gamay also are light colored because they have only a portion of this acid molecule. 2. Tannin. The quality of a wine is determined by its tannin. Too bitter and astringent and the wine will be rejected by the consumer. Tannin is present as a defense mechanism to prevent insects and animals from eating the vine, unripe fruit, and leaves. Tannins come from the stems, seeds and grape skins. Red wines typically have the most tannins, but since there is little skin contact in most white wines, they have much less tannin. When you tan a piece of leather, you soak it in oak bark. Tannin comes from flavan-3-ols, the chemical length of which determines the strength. Seeds have Catechin, which adds bitterness, roughness and unripe notes. But there is a Galloylated flavon-3-ol which is riper and velvety. Tannin astringency is often confused with bitterness. Bitterness is a taste, while astringency is a mouth feel. It is the feeling in your mouth, a tactile sensation, a feeling of roughness. Tannins combine with proteins in your mouth to give this rough sensation, this lack of lubrication. Tannins have a wide range of sensations, ranging from ripe and fine grained to coarse and drying. Skin tannins are perceived as astringent and riper, while seed tannins cause the palate to perceive bitterness.
3. Aroma. After about 6 months to two years of aging, anthocyanins, which gives a red wine its color, begins to bind with tannin. The deep purple or red color starts turning towards brick-red. This causes the wine’s tannic structure and mouth feel to improve with age as the tannins soften as a result of binding with anthocyanin. But the tannin could also join with other tannin instead of anthocyanin, increasing the tannic mouth feel. Anthocyanins can also bind with other compounds, like acetaldehyde and pryuvate. These compounds stabilize the wine’s color. But malolactic fermentation removes acetaldehyde and pryuvate, so some winemakers will wait until the process is complete before they do a malolactic fermentation. As a wine ages, so does the color. The purple color of youth work towards red brick and orange. Tannins soften, become finer, and become better integrated. Astringency reduces as well. Anthocyanins are involved in this aging process. Other Concerns. The winemaker needs to understand how the fermentation process works during fermentation with both anthocyanin and tannin. The selection of the correct harvest time is intimately involved in understanding how the whole process works. During spring and summer, the grapes are making tannin and flavonols. With Veraison, (when the vine turns to ripening the grapes, resulting in a color change from green to purple for red wines or yellow for whites, and larger berries), the process switches over to producing anthocyanin, or color, and with it ripeness. The winemaker will take tests of the grapes to follow how everything is progressing. Some winemakers just taste the grapes. When Phenolic Ripeness is reached, the harvest will start. The color, acidity, tannin, and other factors are at their peak.
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During fermentation, anthocyanin begins to extract immediately. This takes from 3 to 5 days. Skin tannins also begin as soon as fermentation begins. Seed tannins begin to extract later. A long maceration will allow seed tannin to contribute to the must. The concentration of phenolics is at its highest right after pressing. The wine maker must be observant to drain off the wine from the must when the desired level of tannin is reached. Warmer temperatures can increase extraction. That’s why modern fermentation uses temperature controlled steel tanks to get just the right temperature. Pinot Noir tends to ferment rapidly, so cold fermentation is used to slow the process down to get better extraction. Punching the must cap down also increases tannin. The Vineyard. As is often said, wine is made in the vineyard. The quality of the phenolics depends on the quality of the vineyard. The French call this Terroir. Calcareous clay is one important soil component, but also limestone, loam and volcanic soil are good as well. A good vineyard also needs good draining, so sand, schist, and limestone assist good drainage. The best soil depends on the kind of grapes you are growing. Cabernet Sauvignon likes clay or sand, while Pinot Noir likes loam or limestone. Sources: www.winespectator.com/video/ play/id/OG3vhWfJ/title/when-is-a-graperipe-ripeness-phenols-acid-perception; www.winespectator.com/articles/what-isphenolic-grip-52344; www.winefrog.com/ definition/515/phenolics; www.etslabs. com/library/34; www.decanter.com/learn/ wine-terminology/phenolic-ripeness-ask-decanter-296358; www.guildsomm.com/ public_content/features/articles/b/jennifer-angelosante/posts/phenolics; wine.wsu. edu/2007/07/07/grape-and-wine-phenolicsa-primer; www.napacabs.com/daou-soul-ofa-lion-paso-robles-cabernet-2018-1-5l.html
A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
Photos from Mike Dunn & Roger Peterson
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A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
UPCOMING OMAHA BRANCH EVENTS Mark Your Calendars!
DEC
HOLIDAY EVENT Happy Hollow Club Producer: Duke Matz
JAN
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FEB
BARREL & VINE Valentine’s Day Theme Combined CB and Omaha Branches Producers: Todd Lemke & Mike Wilke
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A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
December 2021 Purpose: To meet communication and service needs, to broaden participation and understand and to be an information exchange for the membership of The International Wine & Food Society in the Americas. Publisher: Todd Lemke Editor: Tom Murnan Graphic Designer: Omaha Magazine, LTD.
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