Wine, cheese and chatter
Blog: Winemaker's Journal
April 27, 2011
I had a couple of friends over last night and opened a couple bottles of wine from Jones of Washington. The two well-crafted wines — a chardonnay and a cabernet — and a selection of aged cheeses and crackers made for an enjoyable evening of delicious tastes and chatter.
I traveled to Jones' wine processing plant in Mattawa last week for a story in an upcoming issue of Foothills magazine. Sales manager Allan Williams introduced me to Jones winemaker Victor Palencia and drove me around some of the expansive Jones family vineyards spread between Quincy and Mattawa.
Most of the grapes from 1,600 acres are made into wine for some of Washington's finest wineries, Palencia said. But a small portion of the best grapes are reserved for Jones' own line of wines, something that was evident at my little wine get-together.
The Jones 2009 Estate Chardonnay I sipped with my friends last night was fermented 50 percent in stainless steel tanks and 50 percent in Hungarian oak puncheons for 30 days before transfer into smaller oak barrels for another two months. Williams had told me no malolactic fermentation was used in the process. The result was a buttery and full-bodied wine with a hint of oak with sacrificing acid and lots of fruity pear and apple aromas.
The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon we drank was a nice example of a refined young Columbia Valley red, with plenty of cherry, cranberry, plum and clove flavors. Just a hint of oak.
Both wines were silver medal winners at California wine competitions.
What's nice is that both of these wines are served by the glass at reasonable prices — as well as several other great local wines — at many restaurants in Wenatchee, Leavenworth and Chelan. That's a great way to sample some of these wines before selecting a bottle.
Not that they're terribly expensive. Moderately priced wines — $12 to $15 — are now available from Jones of Washington, Saint Laurent, Ryan Patrick and Stemilt Creek. All are excellent, approachable wines perfect for that cheese and crackers event or a simple meal in celebration of spring's arrival.
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alex39 2 years ago
Wine, cheese and chatter
Rick, I've been intending to make that trip with Allan for about a year now and still have yet to plan a time to do it. This article give me greater incentive...thanks.
Here's my favorite explanation of the malic to lactic process: Malolactic Fermentation
The winemaker may encourage the growth of other microorganisms to further change the wine. Often a key goal here is (malolactic fermentation) where the malic acid is altered by natural means into lactic acid; an organic process performed by naturally occurring bacteria that feed on wine's malic acid. This process effectively reduces the wine's overall natural acidity, and therefore removes certain undesirable flavor components.
My only complaint with the explanation is the misuse of the word 'reduces'. While it is true that malic acid is the principal acid in grapes (as it is too in apples) it is not a true statement that acidity is reduce by this process. More accurately, one should write that the acid types are changed. The malic acid is altered structurally into lactic acid.
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