Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot

Ain’t Nothin’ Small About ‘Em

By Christine Go

Does size matter? Well, it does if you’re talking about grapes, namely Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot. These varietals produce big, bold wines, so why are they called “petite?”  Give up? Because of the size of the grapes! Apparently both varietals have small berries, so they have a high skin-to-juice ratio. Since color and tannins come primarily from the skin and seeds of the grapes, more skin equals more color and tannins, which translates to tooth-staining wines with lots of structure.

So Petite Sirah isn’t petite, but is it related to Syrah? There’s been a lot of confusion about the origin of Petite Sirah, and it’s taken about a hundred years to figure out the answer to that question. If you check out the timeline on the “P.S. I Love You” website (an advocacy group for Petite Sirah), you’ll see that Syrah first came to California from France in 1878, but some called it Petite Syrah. Then, a few years later, a French varietal called Durif (named after the grape grower who propagated it) was introduced to California, and it was called Petite Sirah, since that was its common name in France.

We now know that Syrah/Petite Syrah is not the same as Petite Sirah/Durif, but they are related. In 1997, Carole Meredith, a professor at UC Davis, did a DNA analysis of Petite Sirah compared to Durif, and discovered that they are indeed the same. It turns out that Syrah and Peloursin, an obscure French varietal, are the parents of Petite Sirah. Syrah is prone to a fungus called “powdery mildew,” something familiar to gardeners in Western Washington, and originally Petite Sirah was developed to be resistant to it; but in humid climates, Petite Sirah is prone to another fungus called “grey rot.” This is why Petite Sirah does well in drier grape-growing regions. Today the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) recognizes Durif and Petite Sirah as synonyms for the same grape. And just to add to the confusion, some wineries label their Petite Sirah as “Petite Syrah” even though it is not the same as Syrah.

Cork Dork: False Advertisement?

By Chris Nishiwaki

“I was lured to a restaurant with the promise of $5 glasses of wine during happy hour, including one of my favorite Côte du Rhones (Grenache-based blend). When the wine arrived, the glass was merely a third full. Isn’t that false advertisement?”

That’s a great question and one I hear often. Glass pours can be misleading. The fill level of a wine glass is relative to the size of the glass. Some bars and restaurants will serve you a tasting glass filled to the rim that amounts to about two to three ounces of wine. Ideally you would want a large glass about one third full leaving enough room for the wine to release its aromas inside the bulb for maximum enjoyment.

Instead of focusing on how full the glass is, measure as best you can how much wine there is in your glass or simply ask your server or bartender. Pours of five to six ounces for still wine or three to four ounces for sparkling wine are standard. Some establishments may in fact serve smaller pours during happy hour.

One way to ask politely is to enquire how many glasses of wine they pour per bottle. A regular bottle is 750 milliliters, which amounts to a little more than twenty-five ounces. Five glasses per bottle calculates to about a five-ounce pour. Four glasses per bottle equals to about a six-ounce pour.

The Essential Wine Tool Kit

Seven must-haves for optimum wine drinking consumption

By Henri Schock

Our favorite corkscrew. We all have one, and without it we would be lost looking into an empty glass of nothing (unless you find a screw cap, of course). But once that cork has been pulled, what do you do with the bottle? Well, drink it of course! But, what’s the best way to consume this juice? What is the appropriate vessel to put it into? What do you do with half drunken bottle on that off chance you don’t finish it? And, with all this wine you’ve been drinking, how on earth will you begin to remember what each bottle was like?

As a carpenter with his tools, a wine drinker needs the proper gear to guarantee that every experience is a pleasant one. Forget all that gimmicky shit you’ve seen; this is the real deal—your essential tool kit for the everyday wino.

A Pinch of This, a Dash of That

The Importance of Understanding Micronutrients in Grapes

By Brian Charles Clark
wine.wsu.edu

When humans don’t get enough zinc, we can get sick with cancer and suffer immune-system dysfunction. The same is true of plants. Micronutrients such as boron, zinc and copper, although only a tiny part of a plant’s diet, can have a profound effect on the plant’s health.

Washington State University soil scientist Joan Davenport and her colleagues at the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser are studying micronutrient utilization in Concord grapes. Washington is the nation’s number one Concord grape producer, so understanding what happens with micronutrients is important to the industry’s bottom line. And what Davenport learns about micronutrients in Concords is going to be applicable to wine grapes, too.

Micronutrient availability is an issue in Washington’s grape-growing region, with its high pH soils. The soil availability of micronutrients decreases as pH increases.

“Right now, growers apply micronutrients based on their experience and on what’s commercially available. We want to give them quantifiable data to work with,” said Davenport. “Then they’ll be able to supply plants with what they optimally utilize without spending more than they need to on inputs.”

If the vine doesn’t get enough boron, Davenport said, pollen lands on the flower but doesn’t germinate. “That’s a disaster,” she said, “because if there’s no pollination, there’s no seed, and then there’s no fruit.” Copper and zinc don’t affect the plants so dramatically, but do affect the size of the canopy.

Davenport’s current project is based on one that her doctoral student, Suphasuk “Bird” Pradubsuck, finished recently.

A Nefarious Plot

The juicy story of a chick, a couple of guys and a dog

By Erin Thomas

Heather and Dean Neff really are living the dream, as the signs up to their Chelan estate winery suggest. With the green and flourishing Defiance Estate Vineyard overlooking the rolling hills and glistening waters of Lake Chelan, the folks behind Nefarious Cellars are fully aware and grateful for the thriving luxury known as their life.

“We are just a chick, a couple of guys and a dog striving to blow your mind,” the Nefarious Cellars website states referring to Heather, Dean, and their children, George, 4, and Cooper, 9 months.

“The bonus to being the woman in the group is I do notice I tend to smell things a little better than Dean,” Heather said, “That’s my little asset.”

With a bag full of tricks and assets they bring to the blossoming Lake Chelan Valley AVA scene, the chick and the fathering guy have a longstanding history in the industry and as a couple.

The two met in 1996, both striving to crack into the soils of the wine business after attending Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon for enology and viticulture. They then decided to plant a test block vineyard on Dean’s property in Pateros, Washington. At the Rocky Mother Vineyard, named for its soils, Heather said they got a great sense of what they could grow in the Lake Chelan Valley.

The Neffs returned to Oregon, where Dean started working for a vineyard management company, then to study under the uncompromisingly gifted winemakers Isabelle Dutartre of De Ponte Cellars and later with Tony Soter at Soter Winery in Willamette Valley. Heather managed a small tasting room in Carlton, with the intentions of both retaining every aspect of the business but ultimately wanting to start a winery of their own, Heather said.
With the couple having equal parts of formal grape training, they said it was an obvious decision to split production by colors and ultimately give themselves a niche in the industry among giants.

Top Ten Reasons To Celebrate Wine in The New Year

As we approach the ‘tween years of the new millennium, there are many things to be excited about in the world of wine. Our own Chris Chan has compiled a list of things you should definitely be checking out next year. Hell, do it now.

By Christopher Chan

#10. Tasting Rooms

There are over 100 wineries within thirty miles of downtown Seattle, and that means many, many places to celebrate wine! So much wine, so much time (a whole year) to visit, view, sip and decide before you buy! Just remember to be cool and courteous just like the tasting room staff, and you’ll have a blast. Plus, no glasses to wash afterwards!

#9. Wine Bloggers

There’s an old saying about opinions… everyone’s got a pair and now there’s more than a “million” reviews, recommendations, and write-ups on wine. In fact, this June, Walla Walla will be hosting the 2010 Wine Blogger’s Conference. Read some, write some, heck… don’t cost nothin’. So, get your iPhones ready, and come and get your “blog” on, or if you’d rather…“tweet” this!

Thoughts on Men, Rosé and Volunteering at Events

By Christopher Chan

Vintus Maximus : Can Cool Guys Drink Pink?

Ahhh…summer in Washington! There are very few places on earth as wonderful as the Pacific Northwest in the summer. Albeit, we suffer through a gray whale of a rainy seasonal affective disorder to get here, but when it’s great, wow is it great! Life is even better when you can select a fantastic and fun wine for the weather—a crisp dry or off-dry white or rosé is absolutely perfect for a hot sunny day in the back yard or on the deck.

What’s that? This bad-boy wine guy who chews on 1st growths and cult wines with beefy tannins and new oak cannot be seen drinking a pink “girly” wine, or he can’t stand sweet? Hold on tough guy. First, let’s get it right; Pink ? Sweet, so chill. In fact, chill is the thrill during these dog days of summer. But Chris, the wine has no oak! Oak’s a joke on hot days as it just weighs down the wine and your palate. Trust me on this one; go find a light, bright white like Oregon Pinot Gris or Washington Viognier, chill it and swill it. Even better, think pink and venture out on the color wheel of flavor with Rosados or Rosatos, depending on the heritage of the grape as in Italy or Spain. Not every wine has to be an introspective breakdown of the structure, aroma and finish. Summertime is for fresh, cold, fruity wines, so put down the decanter and find me an ice-bucket!

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Walla Walla: 21 Reasons to Visit This Year

Last year, we asked celebrity wine reviewer Gary Vaynerchuk what he thought of Washington wines, and in his reply, he told us that Walla Walla, Washington was the most exciting thing happening to wine in the country. It’s true that Walla Walla has cultivated a reputation for wine, leading some to speculate that it’s quickly becoming the Napa Valley of Washington State, but could Walla Walla live up to its reputation? To find out, we headed deep into Walla Walla wine country, exploring like Lewis and Clark, but with teeth just a few shades more purple.

Walla Walla is not what you would expect from an agrarian community. The architecture alone is a huge surprise as you come driving in through the golden wheat fields, a time capsule of perfectly preserved brick and mortar reminiscing days gone by.

In 1805, the Lewis and Clark expedition trampled through the Northwestern edge of Walla Walla, and then came back through the heart of Walla Walla Valley on their way home. Fur traders established a thriving trading post there, and later, in 1836, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman traipsed up the Oregon Trail and established a mission among the Cayuse Indians, which lasted for eleven years before the Cayuse attacked the mission killing the Whitmans and others.

During the gold rush, Walla Walla became a vibrant urban center, establishing the first commercial bank in the

The Attack: Walla2 or Bust

To the Land of Many Rivers!

With every trip we make along the Washington wine trail, it is further reinforced that the wine industry, as far as it’s come and as young as it still is, is one of the most exciting to be a part of. It’s hardly a wonder that that the substance Galileo Galilee once called “sunshine held together by water” can power such a passionate group of producers, growers, merchants and, of course, the consumers. Even amid a recession.

For this issue we finally packed up the car and headed over the hill to the crown jewel of our state’s wine industry, Walla Walla.

Purple Café and Wine Bar

In 2004, The Seattle Public Library opened their spacey new building on Fourth Avenue in downtown, designed by architect Rem Koolhaas, featuring one of the most innovative things to happen to books since the Dewey Decimal System—The Books Spiral. The Books Spiral is like a parking garage for books, a four-tier ramp allowing contiguous access to the 1.5 million nonfiction books in their catalog. It’s damn impressive.

Walking into Purple Café, just a few blocks from the library, you’re met with the same kind of man-made wonder, the Wine Tower. This monolithic structure rising through two stories of vertical space, ribboned with a spiral staircase, is stocked up with countless bottles of wine, making your eyes widen as you step into the café like you’ve just stumbled upon the Holy Grail while window shopping. You immediately wish you could make like Jack and go beanstalking for treasure.

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