The Grapes of Rand

April 01, 2012

Change of Plans

Contrary to previous posts The Grapes of Rand will stay on ice for the present, but we plan to be back as soon as possible. In the meantime continue your own quest for the wines that are just a little closer to the way nature intended them to be, and as always, keep it natural and keep it interesting!

Cheers,
Rand

March 11, 2012

A brief hiatus, or, Rand decants himself

In the words of that other Seeger guy:

"To everything, Turn, Turn, Turn,

There is a season, Turn Turn Turn"

And for this Sieger guy, your guide through the sometimes treacherous terroirs of Winedom, this is the time to, but for a brief moment, refrain from blogging. A little time to sit back, re-assess, re-charge, and prepare to come back leaner, meaner, and ready to lead you on to new and exciting natural wine adventures. Just look at it as a sort of personal decanting; letting myself rest and breathe a bit while developing clarity, smoothness, and focus.

We will kick things back off on Monday April 2nd with the first ever The Grapes of Rand contest announcement. Then it's on to more great Biodynamic, organic, and natural wine reviews and other good stuff, including our natural wine trip in May (more on that later). Until then browse the reviews, try some of the wines, catch up on the producer profiles, test your wine savvy with the quizzes, and as always, keep it natural and keep it interesting.

And just so you don't forget what it's all about here on the voice of natural wine, here are a few of my favorite quotes from some of my wine-making muses. Cheers!

"A cool climate for me is also an appropriate climate. The grapes come in balanced. You don’t need to acidulate or dealcoholize the wine. If you have to manipulate the wine, this suggests that you are not growing the grape in the right places." - Randall Grahm

"The notion of terroir is the most beautiful idea in wine lore. A true vin de terroir needs a good rooting system. Terroir is a radio signal, and it is a question of the signal to noise ratio. We want to amplify the signal without distorting it. For example, if you restrict yields in a deeply rooted vineyard, you amplify the signal. Drip irrigation dilutes the signal. The ratio of roots to fruit is probably the single greatest determinant of wine quality." - Randall Grahm

"Why is Biodynamics expanding? Modern farming is weakening the system…" - Nicolas Joly

"Is Biodynamics the best of the best? No, it is not a goal, it is a tool! If I plant vines where it is better to plant cabbage, I’ll never have good wine!" - Nicolas Joly

"It is absurd to sell a wine as Biodynamic [on the label]; you sell a wine because it fully reflects the terroir and Biodynamics helps express that terroir at its best!" - Nicolas Joly

"If in the cellar, you don’t use heavy technology, you will have products of nature. Technology in the cellar tries to replace what was destroyed by modern farming." - Nicolas Joly

"If your farming has not destroyed this beauty by stupid actions then in your cellar you have almost nothing to do!" - Nicolas Joly

"There are two families of wine: made by nature, and the other where nature was not considered or respected." - Nicolas Joly

"We want bottles with originality. Sometimes we find them at a flea market from a guy with a terrible French accent, but the wines sing." - Nicolas Joly

“Our main thing is to allow grapes to show their character rather than imposing our will on them.” - Paul Draper

“…find intense, flavorful grapes; intrude upon the process only when necessary; draw the fruit’s distinctive character and richness into the wine.” - Paul Draper

"Traditional viticulture artificializes the vineyards, creating an artificial medium, the result is that the wines are similar to those from other places." - Alvaro Espinoza

"…true quality is that which succeeds in surprising and moving us. It is not locked inside a formula. Its essence is subtle (subjective) and never rational. It resides in the unique, the singular, but it is ultimately connected to something more universal. A great wine is one in which quality is contained. Such a wine will necessarily be uncommon and decidedly unique because it cannot be like any other, and because of this fact it will be atypical, or only typical of itself." - Andre Ostertag

Oh, and just in case you wine-lovers out there think the decanter at the top of the page is as sick as I do, here's the link to get this puppy directly form Rielel: http://www.riedel.com/index.php?article_id=92&clang=0

March 09, 2012

Answers to this week's quiz (Teutonic Trauben Trivia)

1. The common German synonym for Pinot Noir is Spätburgunder, which translates as Late Burgundy.

2. Müller-Thurgau is Germany's second most planted variety after Riesling.

3. Spätrot, also known as Zierfandler is an Austrian white grape variety. The other three varieties are red.

4. Welschriesling is an Austrian grape variety used to make mostly light, dry wines for early drinking and Sekt, but finds its best expression in late harvest wines of Burgenland.

5. Zweigelt, a crossing of St. Laurent and Blaufrankisch is Austria's most planted red variety.

6. The South African variety Cape Riesling is unrelated to true Riesling. It is actually a synonym for the virtually extinct French variety Crouchen Blanc.

7. Widely planted in Germany, Silvaner finds its best expression on the distinctive clay-limestone soils of Franken. It is believed to have made its way there from the banks of the Danube in the 17th century.

March 08, 2012

Grgich Hills Estate 2009 Fumé Blanc Napa Valley

Here's a California Classic from Napa's premiere Biodynamic winemaker.

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