5 minute read
Chasing the Sun
By Sylvia Jansen, DipWSET, CSW, Sommelier
In early September in Priorat, about an hour from breezy Barcelona, we were standing in the baking sun, with heat from the rocky vineyard radiating through our shoes, making it twice as hot. The grapes looked ripe, but in fact the old vine Garnacha and Carignan grapes for Priorat’s powerful red wines would still need a few weeks or a month before being harvest-ready. Luckily the forecast showed more than enough time for warm, dry temperatures to ripen these beautiful vineyards over the coming month.
Climate is just one of the measures of ideal terroir for big red wines. Grapevines grow between 30° and 50° north and south latitude (see map); in general, the closer to 30°, the warmer the climate and the longer the growing season. Oceans have a moderating influence, cooling hot places and elsewhere warming cool places. Altitude, air movements, winds, and soils all play their part.
Heat-loving, late-ripening varieties with thick skins (for tannin, colour, and flavours) and high sugar levels at ripeness (resulting in higher alcohol) are an important component of big red wines. Among these varieties are the famous Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as Aglianico, Carignan, Mourvèdre, and Petit Verdot. Other varieties that can also produce heady, fullbodied wines in the right conditions include Grenache, Malbec, Merlot, Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Syrah/Shiraz, Tempranillo, and Zinfandel/Primitivo.
A few regions are famous for this special combination of temperate latitude, long summers, sun, great vineyard plots, and the right varieties. These are not necessarily big swaths of land, but in a few cases, they nudge up close to vineyards that produce very different styles.
France’s southern Rhône Valley is a big place with a spectrum of wine styles. In the pocket of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, more than a dozen varieties are planted, including heat-loving Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is sometimes in this mix, but winemakers are careful to select vineyard sites that are less sweltering. The best vineyards here could pass for sandy gravel beds or rock gardens, helping drainage and heat retention. Châteauneuf-du-Pape reds show characteristic full body balanced by beautiful concentrations of flavours.
The rocky vineyards at Alain Jaume in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France.
Winemaker Dean Hewitson and son Henry tasting red in their family-owned Barossa Valley winery.
The vineyards of Australia’s warm Barossa Valley, inland from the city of Adelaide, are renowned for concentrated, rich, ripe, and spicy Barossa Shiraz. Here, too, are some of the world’s oldest Garnacha vines, providing beautiful, ripe fruit, and Mourvèdre (known as Mataro here). This trio is also Australia’s tip-of-the-hat to the Châteauneuf-du-Pape blend, referred to as GSM (Grenache–Shiraz–Mataro). The fruit is intense and concentrated, with wines that offer remarkable complexity.
For some wine lovers, California’s Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and blends (often with its Bordeaux partners Merlot and Petit Verdot) are quintessential full-bodied red wines. Those big, rich, structured Cabernet Sauvignons we tend to associate with Napa have generally been products of vineyards from the skinny (only 5 by 50 km), sunny, warm valley floor between the towns of Napa and Calistoga. Up from the valley floors are hillside vineyards benefitting from cooling influences that produce full-bodied wines that are decidedly elegant and less blockbuster-style.
The touch of the grape grower and winemaker are important factors for wine quality. Marta Rovira of Mas d’en Gil in Priorat explains that although sun and heat are good, they need to avoid grape sunburn. Even for the latest ripening Carignan, too much sun can cause damage, “so the only way is to have herbal covers on soil and leaves covering the grapes. We need natural umbrellas!” In regions where a mix of varieties is traditional, vine site placement is critical. Diego Bonato of Reassi in northern Italy says that Cabernet Sauvignon needs to be on sites with plenty of sun and warmer temperatures.
These storied wine regions are anything but huge swaths of land: these are relatively small pockets. Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Barossa, and Napa Valley all produce beautiful, big red wines, but just down the road from each of them is a different wine story, created by changes in the land, waters, and air. To find those special pockets of vineyards and fruit, chasing the sun is a good recipe for a big, beautiful red wine.
Dried Grape Wines: Amarone della Valpolicella
Most people who love full-bodied wine find their way to Amarone della Valpolicella, the distinct dried-grape wine from near Verona in Italy. Amarone is rich and powerful, often tipping the scales at 15% or 16% alcohol, with structure, concentration, and balance. It is a special treat from a special process of drying the fruit before making the wine.
While the same region produces light- and medium-bodied Valpolicella from a blend of varieties (both usually led by Corvina), the best Amarone wines are drawn from choice plots and beautiful fruit. The heart of Amarone is in the method as well as in the fruit, however: appassimento, drying grapes after harvesting, increases the flavour, colour, and sugar in the grapes. Special drying sheds or even outdoor breezeways hold stacks of small crates of grapes, kept scrupulously clean (to avoid moulds) during the drying time. Pressing and fermentation begin only after December 1, following the harvest, when the grapes are on their way toward raisins. (Ripasso uses the leftovers of skins and Amarone wine after racking for a wine bigger than regular Valpolicella.) Drying the grapes also softens tannins and metabolizes acids, resulting in the big, rich, concentrated Amarone style. Shop carefully: the winemaker’s approach and attention to quality matter.
