The Unfiltered Wine Report by Gren Linn » Fluxar

I Do Love The Label Reader

Fluxar — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:33:42 +0000

Boy do I love the label reader’s. the boys and girls that say hey if it’s Gucci, Armani, Zegna or Ferrari, Bentley, Mercedes or maybe it’s Lafitte, Latour, D.R.C., Leroy it has to be good. Now some might know these labels by appearance, certainly the Automobile fits that description. And designers of clothing can be recognized unless of course it’s a knock off. And many wines have those recognizable labels. You can see them stare from across the room. Or watch how easy it is to make friends when uncorking a so called great label. But are these wines always the best, are they always worth the higher scores? No they’re not and how do I know? Well friends I was once that label reader, and in fact was the worse of the worse when it came to only buying the greatest of Suits, Cars, and yes Wine.

I frequently measure our wines against the world’s highest rated and rarest of bottles. Always within the same vintage, or close. We blind many more times than not and I can tell you the results are striking. I won’t mention any names but recently I opened both a Pinot and Chardonnay from the same producer that scored 98 and 96 points. This wine was made by a highly regarded wine maker and we opened these wines next to mine from the same vintage. I took the liberty of having my co-winemaker, and added to the mix three other people who are on different levels of wine knowledge. One extremely knowledgeable, one in the middle, and one starting out. Since you don’t need to guess, the tasting was not close and in fact the pinot from my competitor was barely drinkable. Barely drinkable for a 98 point wine. Something is wrong in wineville my friends. The ships running without a keel in a circle heading nowhere.

Some of this is from the writer himself who believes if the winemaker is famous the wine has to be good, some of this is from the wine directors who think the same. The wines are not varietal correct in many cases but these folks just don’t know any better. It’s a simple truth that if your told from an early age that black is white and white is black you will believe it, no other point of reference. If your told that a wine that is 13.5% on the label you believe it. But after tasting a while you can bet I’m leery of a label that says 13.5% and finishes hot. I can tell you there are wines that boast 14% and are really 16%. The reason I bring this up again is the wine is no longer Varietal correct, at least not in the case of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. And if a young Sommelier has tasted only high Alc. wines for a long time that’s what he or she thinks is correct. It’s just the way things are! I don’t like being cheated, and if I’m told something it should stand to reason it’s reasonably correct. So 98 should be good, 13.5% should be close, and Gucci should be Gucci?

Look I’m not saying our wine we blinded in this scenario should receive a 98 but I am saying the 98 point wine was terrible and it’s a scam. It is not possible for one critic to judge blind all wines every year next to one another. But I believe a panel of tasters should score all wines blind send in their scores and use the net weighted score. They should never compare notes with each other, and not ever be sent the same wine as another judge at the same time. They should be sent in non labeled bottles and judged then scored as sample numbers. The wine then receives its average score and then revealed. Also by the way it should be tested for Alcohol, V.A., Sugar, Bret., T/A and Ph. also Sulfur.

Being transparent can only help the misinformed, weed out the misleader’s, and help the misfortunate. It will put the brilliant young up and coming wine maker on an equal playing field. It will give our consumers confidence and push the whole industry into better wines on every level. Oh and we might educate the misfortunate who have been told these untruths for so long and bring them to an awakening.

Here’s to the base pads all being 90 feet away and playing the same game,

Tools!

Fluxar — Sat, 07 May 2011 01:37:29 +0000

So you’re looking for the right tool for the right job. You scramble around and you don’t have the exact tool, but with a little innovation you tweak this, and that and holy shit it’s fixed. Why? Because of wisdom, experience, talent and ability to draw from those things at the right time at the right moment. Well guess what, wine making is like that at least it should be. Now for those who have followed my rantings for awhile you know I’m not much on interference once the job is done in the vineyard. However, the truth is if you did not draw on your experiences then you are a fool, because history and wisdom along with knowledge can serve you well when confronted with a problem.
Let’s delve into wine and throw a few examples at you, shall we? I have traveled most of the major vineyard land in Europe many times. I use this as the start of my example because all wine from Europe, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal etc…, is considered old world. Every other region of the Globe is considered New World, that’s South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Chili, Argentina, Canada, and the United States. There are more but we should be on the same page. It does matter how long we have been making wine we will always be New World because Europe has been making wine for centuries and we have stolen many of their tricks. As I was saying I have been to many of these places, and tasted many of these wines for a long time, and through many vintages going back to the 1800’s. That’s tool 1 Pallet Memory, tasting thousands of wines over a long period of time. I have also made it a point to understand how these wines were constructed, vineyard practices, fermentation practices, and most of all their blending techniques. Think if you will the Non Vintage Champagne. There are sometimes 3 maybe 4 different vintages to come up with a consistent house style. Year in and year out, this my friends is great blending. Or maybe we should talk about Chateauneuf Du Pape in Southern Rhone. Every year they are faced with constructing a house style and are allowed to use 13 different grapes. Five of which are white. Any combination is allowed to make the best, and reproduce consistency year in and year out. So Tool 2 is Construction, what works what has been done before. Then there’s innovation, what has not been tried but you do it anyway. Not a lot has not been tried so we will leave that alone for now. So how does this relate to us? Glad you asked! If you’re faced with a moment and you’re not totally happy with the results and don’t have the experience, knowledge, or tools to fix it then you’re stuck and bottle something that may or may not have been better. Your experience and memory serves well in times like this. I just bottled our 2007 Greg Linn Wines Rim Rock Syrah. As I was putting it together I blind tasted every barrel, 8 in all and they were all great. This is not always the case. Blending can be the most rewarding and frustrating thing we do! I did a bench trial of equal parts of each barrel and although the wine was very good I was not happy with it and put it aside after two days of unsuccessful combinations. I started assembling our new chardonnays. I did not like my initial five blends and soon realized out of 17 barrels there had to be 1 maybe 2 that were just too floral. To shorten this I found one barrel that was getting too much oak and was too sweet from what I like to call (“a run away barrel”) my term. This was a brand new barrel from the greatest forest with what was supposed to be the tightest grain. Although I paid dearly for it the wine was just too sweet from the oak and tasted more like Viognier than Chardonnay. I removed the barrel from the blend and bam the wine was great. This was a week later and then I returned my attention to that Syrah. I decided well, this just needs something, and I started to wish I had some Viognier that is used in many Syrahs of Northern Rhone. Normally in small amount say 1 to 5%. We used some Viognier in our 2005 for example, but we did not have any. Then the light went on, what about a barrel of Chardonnay that tasted like Viognier not Chardonnay. Well 3.5% later we ended up with a perfect blend and our best Syrah to date. Why? Because I remembered that’s why and because even though you might not have the right tool, improvising is allowed. Experience, Knowledge and using what you have to make things better. This is only possible if you taste as much as possible, read as much as possible and there’s no substitute for experience.
To all those fix it men and women out there, you know what I’m talking about!

Greg Linn
www.unfilteredwinereport.com
www.greglinnwines.com

Read The Text!

Fluxar — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 17:41:33 +0000

The subject of this blog is scores! Yes that numbering system that has redefined the quality, approach, mind set, consumption, wine making, marketing, and more when it comes to wine. For better or worse we have all been affected by the rating system and we will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

What is it that allows us to be led by someone we do not know guiding our buying choices so blindly without question. It has always been so, the movie critic, the clothing critic, the art critic, the food critic. So why should wine be any different. We have tried several reincarnations of rating wine. We have had Stars, Puffs, 10 points, 20 points, 50 points and the list goes on. The 1976 Paris tasting was 20 points that I prefer but the most successful rating system in all of wine is the Robert Parker 100 point system. Mr. Parkers rating system has been the standard now for at least the last 20 years. As most of you know he nailed the 1982 Bordeaux Vintage and there was no turning back from there. He has become the most read, and influential Critic of all time in any form.
He is read not only here in the United States but all throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, all of Asia, India, South America, Canada, Russia, China well just about everywhere. To deny his power and influence would be a fool’s folly.

This Blog is not about Robert Parker Jr. However, this lawyer from a small town in Maryland illustrates a bigger point. You can lead by example and he certainly does! Many have taken unfair shots at him, that’s what happens when you become a success. My father once told me that the higher up the flag pole you fly, the more your ass becomes a target! There will always be those that are envious of his success but even his biggest detractors cannot deny his overall contribution to the wine world One man has single handedly gotten so many people to pick up a glass of wine and has helped numerous people to understand the greatness of this beverage. I for one would like to thank him! He is a kind decent and honest man. He takes no advertising dollars and he plays no favorites. His 100 point system is used by Steve Tanzer, Allen Meadows and many others. So why do I spend so much time on a blog that’s not suppose to be about him, this is why,

READ THE TEXT!

Mr. Parker, Mr. Meadows and Mr. Tanzer like so many other critics have encouraged you from the start to stop being mindless and start making your own choices. I wrote a blog long ago about your own pallet, about how only you can tell what you like. That it’s alright to disagree with the self proclaimed expert in the room who pretends to know more than everyone else. He may know more Regions, Producers, History but he can’t tell you what to like, unless you allow him or her too! If the wine has a strong influence of say mushroom or bacon fat and you don’t like mushrooms and bacon fat then even if it scores 100 points it’s all right not to like it. See the point, the text will guide you as to what the critic is tasting! Now you may not taste the same things but I would guess if he is animated about a certain flavor then it’s likely there. You could have bought one bottle instead of several and if you taste the same thing and if you don’t like such things then you don’t have to buy that wine again. Also if that critic is found to be similar in his recognition of flavors you are not in favor of then you can avoid ever buying another bottle that might be offensive. That is if you read the Text! Sometimes the Critic if honest will say something like, I prefer wines of lower acid but no doubt those that prefer these style wines will no doubt score this wine much higher. This is why the critic almost unanimously asks you to Please read, to a point of begging.

I do believe the 100 point system that was suppose to allow a little more flexibility then the old 20 point system has gotten a little top heavy. I mean it was suppose to stop the 17.5 scores! That was the intent, but many wines have gotten slammed together and it’s a little crowded near the top. But that brings me back to the key phrase of the article, if you want to unwind two 90 point wines, READ THE TEXT!

May be I’ll start the 1000 point system, NAW!

Next time you clean your wine glass, clean your reading glass also,

Greg Linn
www.greglinnwines.com

Robert Parker Jr. Notes

Fluxar — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 20:19:29 +0000

As most Santa Barbara cognoscenti know, Greg Linn is a huge fan of Burgundian wines, and has dedicated his projects in Santa Barbara to making potentially long-lived, elegant, flavorful wines in a more European style – at least from an alcohol perspective as rarely do these wines exceed 14%. All of the above wines are ageworthy, including some impressive whites.

2008 Greg Linn Wines Sauvignon Blanc White Hills Vineyard – 92 Points RP
The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc White Hills Vineyard is a classic Sauvignon with more stoniness and minerality than most California examples. Crisp honeydew melon, lemon grass, and fig notes emerge from this medium-bodied, impressively concentrated white. It should continue to drink well for another 2-3 years.

2007 Greg Linn Wines Chardonnay Grangerville Vineyard – 94+ Points RP
Also 100% barrel-fermented, the 2007 Chardonnay Grangerville Vineyard reveals a light medium gold color along with aromas of nectarines, white peaches, crushed rocks, creme brulee, and honeyed lemon. Fresh, full-bodied, rich, and structured, with little oak in evidence, I would not be surprised to see this Chardonnay age for a decade or more.

2007 Greg Linn Wines Pinot Noir Hudson Vineyard – 90+ Points RP
The 2007 Pinot Noir Hudson Vineyard (from a site further north in Carneros, is 100% destemmed. This wine has undeniable elegance, crisp sweet and sour cherry, red currant, pomegranate, and spring flower notes, medium body, and silky tannins. Drink it over the next 5-6 years.

2007 Greg Linn Wines Pinot Noir le Bon Climat Vineyard – 93+ Points RP
The stunning 2007 Pinot Noir Le Bon Climat Vineyard was fermented with 100% whole clusters. Its dark plum/ruby color is accompanied by a sweet bouquet of damp earth, forest floor, fresh porcini mushrooms, black currants, sweet cherries, and spice. Deep, full-bodied, rich, and long, this wine is still tightly coiled, but it should unfold over the next 10+ years.

2007 Greg Linn Wines Pinot Noir Rimrock Vineyard – 95+ Points RP
Only 1,080 bottles were produced of the 2007 Pinot Noir Rimrock Vineyard (100% whole cluster fermentation was utilized). It exhibits copious aromas of tobacco leaf, red cherries, fresh mushrooms, and black currants. The earthy character, full-bodied mouthfeel, stunning concentration, and fresh acids result in a wine that requires several more years of bottle age. It should age effortlessly for 10-15 years.

2007 Greg Linn Wines Pinot Noir Grangerville Vineyard – 90+ Points RP
Greg Linn’s love affair with acidity appears to have gone over the top with the 2007 Pinot Noir Grangerville Vineyard from the Santa Maria hills. Fashioned from 100% whole clusters, it displays a dense ruby/purple color. The proprietor believes this may be the greatest wine he has ever produced, and perhaps it will prove to be that in ten years’ time. At present, the acids are higher than most. It is a pure wine with plenty of interesting aromas, but it is virtually impossible to penetrate. I think it should turn out to be outstanding. Those who like pure native acids in their Pinot Noirs will undoubtedly rate is higher than I did.

2006 Greg Line Ambullneo Vineyards Rim Rock Vineyard Syrah – 94 Points RP
The prodigious 2006 Syrah Rim Rock is pedal-to-the-medal Syrah with great balance in addition to great power and precision. From limestone soils, this wine offers up notes of black raspberry, black currant, blackberry, licorice, and graphite. The wine is dense, full-bodied, yet combines power with a sense of elegance and equilibrium. Very layered in the mouth, with silky, sweet tannins, but a sense of structure and delineation, this is a beauty that can be approached now or cellared for 10 or more years.

2007 Greg Linn Wines Ambullneo Vineyards Chardonnay Big Paw – 93 Points RP
The 2007 Chardonnay Big Paw from Ambullneo Vineyards is Linn’s attempt to produce a full-bodied, Chablis-styled Chardonnay with no oak aging. Aged 16 months in stainless steel tanks, with full malolactic fermentation (indigenous as well), this beauty offers up aromas of lemon and lime zest intermixed with honeyed nectarines, orange rind, white currant, quince, and crushed rocks. This light straw-colored Chardonnay has a greenish hue (which I consider to be a good sign), excellent acidity, and a full-bodied, intense style. It should drink nicely for 3-4 years, possibly longer.

2007 Greg Linn Wines Ambullneo Vineyards Chardonnay Fang Blanc – 94 Points RP
Although the 2007 Ambullneo Vineyards Chardonnay Fang Blanc (100% barrel-fermented) is tightly coiled at present, there is no doubting its terrific potential. Tart acids underlie this light straw-colored wine that offers up notes of honeyed pears, tropical fruits, nectarines, and white peaches. Full-bodied, fresh, and crunchy, it is a total delight to smell and taste. Enjoy it over the next 5-7 years.

2007 Greg Linn Wines Ambullneo Vineyards Pinot Noir Bulldog – 93 Points RP
Ambullneo Vineyards’ 2007 Pinot Noir Bulldog (named after his affection for both the English and American Bulldog breeds) is a serious winner meant for connoisseurs. Made from at least seven different Pinot Noir clones, and including 75% whole stems in the vinification, it boasts a dense ruby/purple color as well as a tight but promising nose of white chocolate, black cherries, raspberries, and forest floor. Full-bodied with bracing acidity, moderate alcohol (13.4%), and an exceptionally long finish, this cuvee will benefit from another 1-2 years in the bottle, and should last for a decade thereafter.

2006 Ambullneo Vineyards Syrah Howling – 92 Points RP
There is nothing oafish about the 2006 Howling Syrah, a wine that screams blackberry and exotic flowers, with a full-bodied, fleshy, multi-layered personality. Fat and densely purple, it displays a big, sweet kiss of blackberry and cassis with that hint of 2% Viognier present in the background. The luscious texture and seductive style make for a Syrah to drink over the next 7-8 years.

2007 Greg Linn Wines Zito Chardonnay – 90 Points RP
The 2007 Zito Chardonnay reveals plenty of fresh, poached pear, crisp lemon zest, and nectarine characteristics in a medium to full-bodied, fresh, lively style with no evidence of wood. It should drink well for 2-4 years.

2007 Greg Linn Wines Zito Pinot Noir – 89+ Points RP
The least expensive Pinot Noir is the 2007 Zito Pinot Noir. Its dark ruby/plum color is followed by a sweet kiss of cranberries, pomegranates, and ripe currants presented in a seductive, lush (by Greg Linn’s standards) style with decent acidity and a plush, richly fruity mouthfeel. It should drink nicely for 4-6 years.

Integrity

Fluxar — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 18:46:53 +0000

When I was a consumer of wine, long before my adventures into winemaking, I was always amused at the next “vintage of the century”.

It was rare indeed to find a winemaker or winery owner who honestly evaluated any of his vintages until they were long sold through. There are exceptions to the rule such as Angelo Gaja, mentioned in other blog posts. Yes, this man, who put a town of 650 people on the world map and took over in 1961, has bulked out four vintages since he took the reins. That means he did not produce four vintages, selling the juice on the open market, because he felt it not worthy of his name. No need to ask him about a current vintage because actions speak louder than words and this sacrifice is done because he has more integrity in his little finger than most do in their entire body.

Our little winery has faced similar decisions and I always refer back to what this great man taught me. If you’re going to represent the very best then give nothing less. With that I will give you some recent vintages and sacrifices we have made. In 2006 we had a vintage that had a lot of rot. We threw out any fruit off of the sorting tables that remotely had any rot at all. That means if there were even one or two berries with rot the entire cluster was thrown to the ground. Why not just pick off the berries that are infected, because inevitably some in the middle of the cluster would get through. So we made the wine with fruit on the floor up to our ankles and waited to see how the wine ended up. Fast forwarding, we eliminated 20 barrels that went to bulk only keeping the barrels that we felt were good enough to wear our name. That was 25% of our production.

In 2007 we had a perfect vintage; these are classic wines. They can be cellared, in some cases, for 20 years. There was a little sacrifice but the yields were very low and so there are not a lot of these wines by Mother Nature’s design.

In 2008 the wines were subject to a cool season but ripened evenly. However, the wines are much more forward because the pH is out of balance in many of the wines. There was a heat storm in June of 2008 that few talk about. Temperatures exceeded 110 degrees in a place that averages 74 degrees through the growing season. A freak, you must agree. This is very early for us to have such a thing happen, if to happen at all, and the prevailing wisdom from those in the vineyard I trust agree that the vines went into prevention mode. Prevention from what you ask? Well, death! The vines sucked from the ground any moisture they could find but as important, potassium. When this happens, the pH in the vineyard will be higher and acids lower as the potassium acts as a deacidifier. This causes the wines to be much more approachable with a shorter shelf life and some so out of balance and not very good. We were also in the last year of a drought and because of this the aquifers were very low. This again allows the vineyard to get an over abundance of dissolved minerals and will also cause the acids to drop and the pH’s to rise. We picked early and made a gallant effort to bring you great wines. In the end we will not release any whites and only 350 cases of reds. A great sacrifice, but one that I believe is necessary.

In 2009 we had a very long and even growing season. The aquifers were replenished from fall and winter rains and the initial reports are the wines will be grand!

And to the 2010 vintage! I’m here to tell you the word of the day, rot. Yes, the same problem as 2006 but this time it’s on steroids. There will be many wines with bacteria problems, and other problems in flavor development. Sugars moving at a rate of 1 brix a day and you can bet there will be many over ripe wines. It’s much too early to condemn all the wines of this vintage but I must say my optimism is not high. We will not be bring a wine to market from the 2010 vintage.

I will keep you posted but the buy light is on for the 2007′s and 2009′s, and some 2008′s!

All the best,

Greg!