“I love the way this viognier tastes,” said one of the VOMDES (Valley of the Moon Dilettante Enological Society) members on a recent winery tour.
A group of 40 home winemakers met at Cline Cellars to tour the winery. Our host was Charlie Tsegeletos, director of winemaking. Charlie is a highly regarded winemaker and well thought of in the industry. Before Cline, he was at Glen Ellen Winery, and then Benziger Family Winery. We wanted to get his perspective on winemaking and hoped he might share some of his secrets with us.
We met at the tasting room and were quickly given a glass and tasted Cline’s 2006 Viognier and 2005 Live Oak Zinfandel. Charlie arrived shortly and we began the tour, glass in hand. As we followed him, he explained the historical significance of the property that goes back to the 1860s; the natural spring and many ponds, one that was the original fish farm for European Carp brought over to Sonoma from Germany in the late 1800s. Cline Cellars is eco-friendly, in that it has a solar power system that sustains all of their power requirements, uses no pesticides and takes advantage of natural resources to farm the vineyards.
You could see some of us were anxious to get into the winery and ask some winemaking questions. We all strive to improve our hobby or profession and home winemakers are no different.
“When do we get to see the real stuff?” someone asked.
Almost upon cue, we were led into the winery and our first stop was the laboratory where all the in-house testing is done. Then the “real” questions started coming, and Charlie became the professor.
Winemakers like to share information with each other, but are careful to maintain their “trade secrets.” There is always a nugget of information that can be gotten and used when making the next batch. Each of us has our own taste. Home winemakers search for information to help them to be able to make the particular taste they like. Lots of questions started coming. “Where do you do the punch-down?“ “We don’t,” came the reply, “we do pump-over.” During initial fermentation, a cap is formed from the grape skins, stems and seeds that float on top of the wine. “Punching down” is the process of breaking up the cap and pushing it back down into the wine.
More questions.
“Why do you maintain a temperature of 64.5 degrees Fahrenheit?”
“We usually maintain it between 58 and 62 degrees. It is just a little high right now but is well within our specifications,” Charlie replied.
We moved over to one of the large barrels and got a sampling of Cline’s Small Berry Mourvèdre that had a hint of eucalyptus.
Charlie went on to explain, “These grapes come from a small vineyard in Oakley that is surrounded by eucalyptus trees. The vines are over 100 years old and are dry-farmed in phylloxera-resistant sandy soils. You can see how the grapes take on the taste of eucalyptus.”
“That is the best demonstration I have ever had in explaining terrior,” came a reply.
“Terrior” is a French term expressing a wine’s sense of place, the physical environment in which the grapes are grown. My immediate thought was, “Where can I find some unique grapes for my next batch? Wouldn’t it be great if I could find a small dry-farmed old growth vineyard surrounded by some old oak or possibly cherry trees?”
Off to the next barrel for a sample of 2006 Pinot that is still young and not ready for bottling.
Charlie explained that we were tasting a “wine in progress.” I swirled my sample in the glass for some time to aerate it to see what would happen. After a few minutes, the fragrance was a bit different and something I would definitely like to taste when it finished aging.
After an hour and half of touring and asking questions, we were all ready to go to the picnic area and sample some fine Cline Cellar wines with the picnic we brought. After staying there until sunset we marveled at how sharing Charlie was and what “nuggets” we were able to find. One thing we all agreed upon, there is no right or wrong taste. As one lady said, “Taste is as personal as your choice of underwear.”
Jack Bertram is a Sonoma resident and brings a unique prospective to home winemaking. He is the President of the Valley of the Moon Dilettante Society (VOMDES.org) and can be reached at jrbertram@comcast.net.
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