Berries hold by the stem
Dear wine lovers,
Since I am right in the process of buying cellar equipments for the coming harvest of our vineyard, there is a debate that is really important to understand nowadays and which concerns the stem of the grape.
This green or yellow part of the grape which holds the berries contains in itself lots of minerals which eventually participate to the tannins of the wines, besides the skin of the berries. If the winemaking of a white or rose naturally separate immediately the stem from the berries since the maceration between the juice and the solid part is very short, the red process poses the problem of how long this solid should stay in contacts with the must.
Before men event machines to separate the stem from the berries, there was no way of considering it. True is, the stem can bring green flavors to the wines, especially if the grape are harvested before maturity and if the wine is drunk young. But 40 years ago, the red wines were much more aged before being put on the market than now and eventually, this green and acid addition brought by the stem would melt.
With the explosion of wine consumption and a new generation of drinkers, it has been necessary to smooth down tannins in order to be able to drink red wines when they are still babies. I remember a visit to Château Margaux a few years ago where the winemaker, in order to give us a message of old tradition, told us that they have always de-stemed...which is not true since it was not technically possible 50 years ago. But in order to be able to offer the market a 1,000 Euros bottle of wine that can be drunk and enjoyed young, that's nowadays the only way to do it.
I am not saying here that a de-stemed wine is not good. Some of them that I love like Mas de Martin for example do it 100%. But in the long run, I think those wines will not hold on the same way they would have if the stem would have been kept during the fermentation.
4 years ago, I have been lucky enough to drink a Château Rauzan Gassies 1961 (surely one of the best vintage of the century) and 10 years ago, I was also enjoyed a Châteauneuf du Pape with an unreadable label 1957. Those wines which had not been de-stemed had kept an outstanding freshness. On the other hand, when I drink now some great vintages 1989 of Bordeaux or even a Beaucatel 1990, I find those wines in their end of life...
So, here is the dilemma I now have to face. The way I will solve it is with using a manual de-stemer if the stem are very green, which happens most of the times with young vines. But when the grapes are very mature and when the vines are old, the stem is yellow brown, brings all the sediments and acidity that the wine needs for a good balance and this tannin addition is compensated by the alcohol level.
Like always in the wine, each year is different and if you want to make the best possible wine, you have to be flexible...and that's what I will try to be.
Cheers,
Jean-Marc
Any comments, edits are very welcome at [email protected]
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Update on our vineyard project....
last week, I have continued to prune our vines and we finished the 2,5 Ha of old Grenache parcel. I also had the pleasure to be proposed to maintain another 2,5 Ha of the same parcel which had been divided in two a few years ago. These 51 years old Grenache will definitely form the base of the future vine which insures even more its quality.
This week will be exciting since we are buying the tanks. As a commercial, I have always sold and buying can be fun sometimes...More on this next week.
