tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post2200834869495491125..comments2024-03-18T04:47:16.199-07:00Comments on The Gray Report: Biodynamic and natural wine producers: What's up with French oak?W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-32098979682964949072011-09-28T03:40:52.509-07:002011-09-28T03:40:52.509-07:00In reply to suamw comment. It's easy to tell w...In reply to suamw comment. It's easy to tell who Is sloppy and making bacterial unbalanced wine because they don't sell. My problem with the natural wine movement in America is that it is being portrayed as something that is new and different. Unbalanced ( ie to much bret, va, oak) wines are seem to be acceptable just because they are natural. Making wine without chemicals is not a new Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-45692329812769036932011-09-26T06:58:19.975-07:002011-09-26T06:58:19.975-07:00Funny that it would be an Australian who asked thi...Funny that it would be an Australian who asked this. I was talking with Dave Powell at Torbreck in the Barossa a couple of years ago, and asked him what he thought of Biodynamics. He said he didn't have much time for it, but noted that when it came to a closed, local ecosystem, what the hell was he supposed to do? "Cows aren't native to Australia, and for that matter, neither are Alder Yarrowhttp://www.vinography.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-91791170325885878582011-09-25T15:13:42.299-07:002011-09-25T15:13:42.299-07:00Like the history of mankind, the wine ones isn'...Like the history of mankind, the wine ones isn't static, but it moves across years, across centuries. The barrique is used since 6 centuries in France. Where start the wine's history? With the Persian? With the Greece? After or before phylloxera? Natural (of biodynamic) don't mean without oak or without sulfite at all. <br />It means no abuse of them.WineRolandhttp://storiedelvino.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-38053537194207556602011-09-25T07:55:53.931-07:002011-09-25T07:55:53.931-07:00Blake I quoted your excellent article, really a ni...Blake I quoted your excellent article, really a nice provocation, in today issue of weekly WineWebNews press review I write for A.I.S. Italian Sommelier Association<br />link:<br />http://www.aisitalia.it/winewebnews-25-settembre-2011-produttori-di-vini-naturali-siate-coerenti-perch%C3%A9-usate-la-barrique.aspx <br />Congratulation!<br />FrancoFranco Zilianihttp://www.vinoalvino.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-52103494029443434092011-09-23T02:58:22.961-07:002011-09-23T02:58:22.961-07:00What's in the french oak that gives its distin...What's in the french oak that gives its distinctive character? Is it the wood itself(more or less porous, etc..), or the treatment of the wood (levels of toasting, etc...). If it's the latter, it seems to me quite possible to reproduce it locally. I am part of a blind tasting group and have great difficulty identifying the differences between the two. My palate is not very sensitive to Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-51100524114564716382011-09-22T09:35:33.996-07:002011-09-22T09:35:33.996-07:00Plastic. It's the all-American terroir.Plastic. It's the all-American terroir.Hankhttp://laclarinefarm.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-40030693893442719992011-09-21T08:06:25.868-07:002011-09-21T08:06:25.868-07:00I am a big fan of Paul Draper's method. They l...I am a big fan of Paul Draper's method. They let the barrels air dry for, I believe, two years on the Monte Bello site before they ever see any grape juice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-53250498747696537902011-09-21T06:38:28.576-07:002011-09-21T06:38:28.576-07:00Blake, So while we are at, it in order to make con...Blake, So while we are at, it in order to make concrete tanks I assume cement must be used. Cement clinker production contributes about 4% of global total CO2 emissions. http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/cement-CO2-emissions.html Trees are sustainable cement is not.<br />FWIW we use american oak grown and coopered in PA about 230 miles from the winery. We also use French and Hungarian.Mark Cochardhttp://www.chaddsford.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-44100704127861374992011-09-20T22:21:25.127-07:002011-09-20T22:21:25.127-07:00Nomblot from Burgundy was the first company to pro...Nomblot from Burgundy was the first company to produce the concrete egg commercially.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16389021348635254070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-53638357559145161562011-09-20T16:27:22.949-07:002011-09-20T16:27:22.949-07:00I want a wine that tastes good and doesn't cos...I want a wine that tastes good and doesn't cost a lot. We open a bottle for dinner most nights. I buy from the West Coast, Italy, Spain, and France predominately. I agree with Angelus. The wine is in the winemaker.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05932017258151235078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-77697935407106972942011-09-20T15:49:08.814-07:002011-09-20T15:49:08.814-07:00I would rather see oak trees in France cut down th...I would rather see oak trees in France cut down than oak trees in Sonoma and Napa cut down. Selfish I know. Used redwood and stainless work pretty well don't they?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-91042232787885972742011-09-20T11:57:16.944-07:002011-09-20T11:57:16.944-07:00Oh, Naked Jason and Anon, those are really, really...Oh, Naked Jason and Anon, those are really, really interesting points. <br /><br />John M.: I'd have to go back through my notes to see if I could find one. Maybe concrete is slower to come to traditional Pinot areas, stemming from the fact that Burgundy prefers used oak. <br /><br />The egg, to me, is taking a traditional -- and great -- fermentation idea and making an expensive contraption W. Blake Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-28351493429590901372011-09-20T10:32:52.930-07:002011-09-20T10:32:52.930-07:00NakedJason - I think that would take Europe out of...NakedJason - I think that would take Europe out of the running for making wine as well since most of it's vines are planted on American rootstock.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-4876023169425118912011-09-20T09:46:18.032-07:002011-09-20T09:46:18.032-07:00John. What if the raw ingredients necessary to mak...John. What if the raw ingredients necessary to make the concrete for the concrete egg come from several hundred miles away from AVA where one grows and makes wines?SUAMWhttp://shutupandmakewine.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-75668857337281582752011-09-20T09:33:18.226-07:002011-09-20T09:33:18.226-07:00If we are going to extremes like this, then why no...If we are going to extremes like this, then why not native varietals? Why use vinifera, if you are making wine in the U.S.?NakedJasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08929048000244636193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-81400083112346178382011-09-20T09:33:07.579-07:002011-09-20T09:33:07.579-07:00Blake it's a valid question, but I'm not s...Blake it's a valid question, but I'm not sure the natural philosophy has ever necessarily encompassed the "all and only local ingredients" and "minimal carbon footprint" philosophies. They no doubt all may be held in concert by certain individual producers, but as you point out this may lead to irresolvable conflicts. <br /><br />The concrete egg (locally produced, John M. Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18343670865804216103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-76170246535621803892011-09-20T09:28:21.524-07:002011-09-20T09:28:21.524-07:00So..... once we are using all locally-sourced mate...So..... once we are using all locally-sourced materials and ingredients, how do we know that the finished wine "represents the land from which it's made" - as opposed to microbial contamination, bug taint, oxidative winemaking or other cellar sloppiness?SUAMWhttp://shutupandmakewine.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com