Vincent,
In 5 days, you have sent 60, yes SIXTY posts, most of which are badly spelled, badly written, inconsequential and abusive. Those that haven't been whining, self justifying, ill spelt and badly written that is.
le/on Thu, 08 Apr 2004 14:14:49 GMT, tu disais/you said:-
alcohol wines.
So we're getting somewhere. You work for a winery in California (probably the central valley) and are responsible for several million bottles a year. You feel that wine snobs (whom you define as people who think they know more about wine than they do) think they know more about wine than they do. You define what your winery is doing as "the trend" in California, and then argue from a very small and insignificant particular (in terms of quality wine making) to the general as if it were accepted practice throughout the rest of the world.
You can't make up your mind whether you're arguing about sulphur dioxide in wine or added acid. When challenged on one, you say the other is more important. I have answered very clearly, your allegation about what french winemakers say about SO2. ALL (bar one) I've ever visited (and that is well into 3 figures for the ones whose estates I've been to) or spoken to in shows etc another set of WELL into 3 figures, are completely open about their use of sulphur dioxide or sulphites. It simply isn't an issue for them, so why should they seek to hide it?
As for acidity in very ripe grapes, I've given you specfic information over which areas in Europe have wines with both high residual sugar content AND adequate acidity. No, I can't give you some grape juice to analyse, because its the wrong time of the year. But in many parts of Europe, analysis is compulsory throughout the process, and in some areas acidification is illegal except by special dispensation. But YOU know better because your californian grapes (probably grown with irrigation in the Central valley) don't have much natural acidity when fully ripened. And you presume to tell ME that this means winemakers are lying to me.
That's Riesling, by the way.
Do you? How do you know?
Oh gee, wow, I never knew that. (sigh... )
Try a Wehelener Sonnenuhr Auslese from a year like 2001 from Dr Loosen or JJ Prum, and you'll find out. Try an Ockfener Bockstein Spätlese from a poor year and you'll see what natural acidity is all about. You'll also understand why in that part of Germany the debate is about whether and when to add sugar, rather than acid.
You're at least admitting that you're making assumptions. And they're entirely wrong. You see, these wines are not made with irrigation, many are made from grapes planted on hilsides so steep that all work has to be done by hand. The conditions are so marginal for the vine that some years the grapes barely ripen at all, and the yield is tiny by Californian standards. The Riesling under these conditions gives wines with VERY high natural acidity, and even when they ripen fully, this acidity remains. There's SO much tartaric acid in many of them, that when chilled suddenly, the tartrates deposit out as crystals. Didn't you know any of this? Because if you didn't, your initial criticism of wine snobs as being ignorant is extremely ill placed, it seems to me.
Have you heard of Botrytis cinerea? Did you know that in some circumstances it can be beneficial, and give must with initial sugar content of over
700gms per litre, god alone KNOWS what that would be in Brix. AND with sufficient initial acidity to give a balanced wine that (on the few occasions I've been privileged to taste it) has left me speechless with wonder.Have you made wine from the Chenin grape? That's another grape which when grown in the right place, has a huge natural acidity EVEN when very ripe. But it's possible that when made in Californian sunshine and irrigation at huge yields you can't perhaps. I don't know. I'm not really very interested in wines made under such conditions. (which no doubt makes me a wine snob - so be it). But the problem then isn't so much that you CAN'T get the acidity, but that in the conditions under which _you_ grow _your_ grapes you can't.
You stop behaving like a troll, and I'll stop calling you one.
In the meantime, you've entirely exhausted my patience and have earned your way into my kill file. If and when others tell me you've learnt how to behave, you may be allowed out. So, don't bother to reply. I won't read it.