Showing posts with label DIAM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DIAM. Show all posts
Saturday, October 2, 2010
A Striking Silvaner and a Solid Stopper
When last I wrote of Klaus-Peter Keller's Gruener Silvaner on these pages early this spring it was about his 2007 vintage, which I paired with simply prepared, fresh caught trout — a pretty classic pairing (even if I do say so myself). I've enjoyed the current release (2009) since then but I was surprised when hunting through my over-packed, under-organized wine closet for something to imbibe with dinner earlier this week to find a bottle of the 2006 vintage. My first thought was, "Oops, this one got away from me."
Mind you, I do realize that Silvaner can in some cases be quite age worthy. Consider Franconian Silvaners from producers such as Hans Wirsching, for example. But I've always thought of Keller's Silvaner as being intended for relative immediacy. For one, it's a basic level qualitatswein — a silly prejudice, I know, but one that's not entirely irrational. For another, it's fairly inexpensive; the current release goes for around 18,ドル while the 2006, when it was still on the market, was closer to 15ドル. Yeah, yeah, another silly prejudice; I do know better. And third, it's sealed with an alternative in-neck stopper, generally a pretty strong (if not universal) signal that, from the producer's perspective, the wine is meant to be drunk young.
Rheinhessen Grüner Silvaner QbA trocken, Weingut Keller 2006
16ドル. 12.5% alcohol. DIAM. Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ.
Four years is hardly old by wine standards, but then one must bear in mind that plenty of wines out there, both white and red, start to sag, droop and develop age spots in as little as one or two cycles of the calendar. I didn't think it unreasonable to expect Keller's '06 Silvaner to have slipped into that kind of decline. And I was pleased to be proven wrong.
Certainly, there's been some development. The wine now shows yellow tones in the glass, darker than its hay-tinted mineral water appearance in youth. It's also taken on some richness, both of aroma and flavor, curving much more into the Riesling-esque end of the spectrum than when young; less forthright pear fruit and salinity, more dark minerality, truffle, and citrus oil characteristics. Still, though, it remains completely vital. What surprised me most was that the element of residual carbon dioxide, so typical of the wine in its youthful stage, still had not dissipated; morphed, yes, but completely dissolved, no. Rather than a refreshing prickle on the first touch, that CO2 now expressed itself via a sense of active energy, like a wave breaking gently across the rear palate. Now I'm left wondering how it would be another year or two down the road. Alas, as is so often the case in such scenarios, this was my last bottle....
On a related note, the alternative closure I referred to above was a DIAM. As I've mentioned here in the past, the DIAM is my favorite of the alternative in-neck stoppers on today's market. Again, while four years is hardly old by wine standards, at three-and-a-half years in bottle, this might be the longest "under-cork" DIAM sealed wine I've yet had the opportunity to sample. As should be obvious from the above note, the experience was a positive one. The stopper itself was in good shape and had not — at least not to my palate — imparted any discernible flavor to the wine, something I can't say for the various plastic/polymer closures currently in use. Also, though I have heard of a report or two from others, I've still yet to encounter a TCA-tainted wine sealed under DIAM.
Mind you, I do realize that Silvaner can in some cases be quite age worthy. Consider Franconian Silvaners from producers such as Hans Wirsching, for example. But I've always thought of Keller's Silvaner as being intended for relative immediacy. For one, it's a basic level qualitatswein — a silly prejudice, I know, but one that's not entirely irrational. For another, it's fairly inexpensive; the current release goes for around 18,ドル while the 2006, when it was still on the market, was closer to 15ドル. Yeah, yeah, another silly prejudice; I do know better. And third, it's sealed with an alternative in-neck stopper, generally a pretty strong (if not universal) signal that, from the producer's perspective, the wine is meant to be drunk young.
Rheinhessen Grüner Silvaner QbA trocken, Weingut Keller 2006
16ドル. 12.5% alcohol. DIAM. Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ.
Four years is hardly old by wine standards, but then one must bear in mind that plenty of wines out there, both white and red, start to sag, droop and develop age spots in as little as one or two cycles of the calendar. I didn't think it unreasonable to expect Keller's '06 Silvaner to have slipped into that kind of decline. And I was pleased to be proven wrong.
Certainly, there's been some development. The wine now shows yellow tones in the glass, darker than its hay-tinted mineral water appearance in youth. It's also taken on some richness, both of aroma and flavor, curving much more into the Riesling-esque end of the spectrum than when young; less forthright pear fruit and salinity, more dark minerality, truffle, and citrus oil characteristics. Still, though, it remains completely vital. What surprised me most was that the element of residual carbon dioxide, so typical of the wine in its youthful stage, still had not dissipated; morphed, yes, but completely dissolved, no. Rather than a refreshing prickle on the first touch, that CO2 now expressed itself via a sense of active energy, like a wave breaking gently across the rear palate. Now I'm left wondering how it would be another year or two down the road. Alas, as is so often the case in such scenarios, this was my last bottle....
On a related note, the alternative closure I referred to above was a DIAM. As I've mentioned here in the past, the DIAM is my favorite of the alternative in-neck stoppers on today's market. Again, while four years is hardly old by wine standards, at three-and-a-half years in bottle, this might be the longest "under-cork" DIAM sealed wine I've yet had the opportunity to sample. As should be obvious from the above note, the experience was a positive one. The stopper itself was in good shape and had not — at least not to my palate — imparted any discernible flavor to the wine, something I can't say for the various plastic/polymer closures currently in use. Also, though I have heard of a report or two from others, I've still yet to encounter a TCA-tainted wine sealed under DIAM.
Posted by David McDuff 0 comments @
Labels: DIAM, Grüner Silvaner, Keller, Rheinhessen, Wine Closures
Monday, February 22, 2010
On Obscure Vines: Elbling
Story has it that Johann Peter Reinert, most of whose estate is situated in the town of Kanzem along Germany's Saar river, travels by tractor along the main road from Kanzem to the Upper Mosel in order to work a small plot of vines he owns on the hillsides above the town of Igel. It's his only plot of vines not situated in the Saar. Traffic backs up for miles, all in the name of keeping an old, increasingly rare tradition alive.
The chalk based soils in Igel are inhospitable to Riesling, which won't properly ripen. Reinert instead makes the long, slow drive to tend his tiny plot of Elbling, a vine that has been planted there since Roman times yet today wallows in relative obscurity — as Jancis Robinson describes it in her Guide to Wine Grapes, "a [vine] to appeal to viticultural archivists." Outside of the Upper Mosel, Elbling's only other major plantations are to be found in Luxembourg, where it is known as Räifrench.
Most of the approximately 1,100 hectares of Elbling planted in the Saar is destined for inclusion in sparkling wine, where its natural tendencies toward high yields and high acidity serve both economically and structurally useful purposes. It takes dedicated farming to turn out still wines of any character from Elbling and the effort yields little in the way of financial return. As a result, very few producers make the effort. Reinert is one of a tiny handful doing so; only six are listed on CellarTracker and I doubt there are very many more. For Reinert, though, working his plot of Elbling is something of a labor of passion. The vines came to him through marriage from his wife's side of the family and he perseveres with production of his Elbling trocken to produce a "summer wine" evocative of his wife's childhood memories.
Mosel Igeler Dullgärten Elbling trocken, Weingut Johann Peter Reinert 2008
14ドル. 12% alcohol. Diam. Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ.
Light as mineral water in the glass, with just a bare suggestion of green-gold hue. The nose is at first a little grapey, then give up scents of white peaches, followed by a dash of szechuan peppercorn and fresh-ground ginger. First and foremost, this is refreshing wine, driven by a raspy, mineral-faceted texture and a very dry, slightly tart finish. With any but the simplest, mild flavored food — I think this would be at its best with filets of trout sauteed in butter, nothing else — the subtlety of its fruit is more or less washed away, leaving behind a vigorous, entirely refreshing mineral wash.
In its second day, the wine took on a little more flesh, showing some green pear fruit, but at the expense of diminished vigor and minerality. A background whiff of egg-y sulfur that I hadn't noticed on day one emerged and it also became clearer, perhaps too due to a slightly warmer serving temperature, that 12% alcohol was a bit heavy for the wine's wiry frame. In both cases, though, these quibbles were not so strong or obvious as to render the wine unpleasurable. Indeed, though much simpler and more direct than Reinert's Saar Rieslings, his Elbling is quite the satisfying thirst quencher. Just right for ice-cold summer quaffing. Of course, I chose to drink it on a couple of ice cold nights in February....
Reinert also alternates between using natural corks and the Vinolok for his various Rieslings. I couldn't think of many if any other producers that — various qualities of cork aside, and not including sparkling wine stoppers — are using three entirely different closure systems. The fact that he's working with so many closure types while farming a total of only 4.2 hectares of vines makes me wonder if he'll eventually choose to stop with natural corks entirely or, conversely, to move exclusively to either the Diam or the Vinolok for his alternative closure of choice.
The chalk based soils in Igel are inhospitable to Riesling, which won't properly ripen. Reinert instead makes the long, slow drive to tend his tiny plot of Elbling, a vine that has been planted there since Roman times yet today wallows in relative obscurity — as Jancis Robinson describes it in her Guide to Wine Grapes, "a [vine] to appeal to viticultural archivists." Outside of the Upper Mosel, Elbling's only other major plantations are to be found in Luxembourg, where it is known as Räifrench.
Most of the approximately 1,100 hectares of Elbling planted in the Saar is destined for inclusion in sparkling wine, where its natural tendencies toward high yields and high acidity serve both economically and structurally useful purposes. It takes dedicated farming to turn out still wines of any character from Elbling and the effort yields little in the way of financial return. As a result, very few producers make the effort. Reinert is one of a tiny handful doing so; only six are listed on CellarTracker and I doubt there are very many more. For Reinert, though, working his plot of Elbling is something of a labor of passion. The vines came to him through marriage from his wife's side of the family and he perseveres with production of his Elbling trocken to produce a "summer wine" evocative of his wife's childhood memories.
Mosel Igeler Dullgärten Elbling trocken, Weingut Johann Peter Reinert 2008
14ドル. 12% alcohol. Diam. Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ.
Light as mineral water in the glass, with just a bare suggestion of green-gold hue. The nose is at first a little grapey, then give up scents of white peaches, followed by a dash of szechuan peppercorn and fresh-ground ginger. First and foremost, this is refreshing wine, driven by a raspy, mineral-faceted texture and a very dry, slightly tart finish. With any but the simplest, mild flavored food — I think this would be at its best with filets of trout sauteed in butter, nothing else — the subtlety of its fruit is more or less washed away, leaving behind a vigorous, entirely refreshing mineral wash.
In its second day, the wine took on a little more flesh, showing some green pear fruit, but at the expense of diminished vigor and minerality. A background whiff of egg-y sulfur that I hadn't noticed on day one emerged and it also became clearer, perhaps too due to a slightly warmer serving temperature, that 12% alcohol was a bit heavy for the wine's wiry frame. In both cases, though, these quibbles were not so strong or obvious as to render the wine unpleasurable. Indeed, though much simpler and more direct than Reinert's Saar Rieslings, his Elbling is quite the satisfying thirst quencher. Just right for ice-cold summer quaffing. Of course, I chose to drink it on a couple of ice cold nights in February....
* * *
On a related note, I couldn't help but notice that Reinert's Elbling was sealed with a Diam.Reinert also alternates between using natural corks and the Vinolok for his various Rieslings. I couldn't think of many if any other producers that — various qualities of cork aside, and not including sparkling wine stoppers — are using three entirely different closure systems. The fact that he's working with so many closure types while farming a total of only 4.2 hectares of vines makes me wonder if he'll eventually choose to stop with natural corks entirely or, conversely, to move exclusively to either the Diam or the Vinolok for his alternative closure of choice.
Posted by David McDuff 2 comments @
Labels: DIAM, Elbling, Johann Peter Reinert, Mosel, Saar, Wine Closures
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Name That Wine
Yessiree folks, it's time for another episode of "Name That Wine." Anyone care to hazard a guess as to what I enjoyed with dinner over the last couple of nights?
And by the way, did I already mention that the DIAM is my preferred alternative in-neck closure? Why yes, yes I did.
And by the way, did I already mention that the DIAM is my preferred alternative in-neck closure? Why yes, yes I did.
Monday, August 17, 2009
TCA and Other Questions about the DIAM Closure
“Garanti sans goût de bouchon.” Guaranteed not to be corked. Really?
Jamie Goode, one of the industry’s authorities on the science behind wine closures, seems to think so:
”DIAM is a "technical cork" made by combining small granules of cork with synthetic microspheres to form an in-neck closure that performs very similarly to a high-grade natural cork, but without the inconsistency and taint issues. DIAM avoids the problem of cork taint by incorporating a special washing process using carbon dioxide in its "supercritical" state, when it has properties of both a liquid and a gas.
This state is achieved by a combination of pressure and temperature, and it renders the cork granules, for all intents and purposes, completely free of any musty taint. This is no mean feat, and developing this process required some serious investment in both research and plant development, but the need for such a cleaning process was made clear by the failure of DIAM's predecessor, Altec. Altec was constructed in a similar fashion to DIAM, and it looked to be a very good closure; however, the process of breaking cork down into small granules merely distributed any trichloroanisole (TCA) taint evenly among all the granules, and at such a level that an alarmingly high proportion of wines sealed with Altecs were tainted. DIAM, however, has proven to be taint-free….”
– From Wines & Vines, August 2008
As with twist caps, synthetic corks, VinoLok, and any other wine closure for that matter, the possibility of environmental cork taint – that is, TCA infection stemming from the winery itself, from timber used in construction or from corrugated packing materials – remains. Aside from that, though, I still can’t help but wonder if it’s truly impossible for any TCA to remain after the natural cork used in the DIAM goes through its cleaning process. I can say that my experience thus far seems to support Dr. Goode’s claims, as I’ve yet to have a DIAM-sealed wine that was corked. Have you?
I also can’t help but wonder whether that slogan, “Garanti sans goût de bouchon,” which I was surprised to find on a DIAM drawn from a bottle of the 2008 Languedoc Blanc from Château des Hospitaliers, is a marketing campaign sponsored by the producers of DIAM or an effort on the part of the winery to make its customers feel more accepting of an alternative closure. I’m guessing the former, but it may well be intended to work in the latter respect. Has anyone seen the same slogan on a DIAM used by any other producer?
The producers of DIAM are addressing other primary questions faced by the alternative closure market, such as oxygen exchange/oxidation failure (more on this from Jamie Goode), reduction and suitability for aging, and now offer several composition options designed for various cellaring/drinking windows. The only concern I’ve heard expressed by a winemaker is whether the synthetic cementing agents used in the DIAM may, over time, have a detrimental influence on the flavor/aroma profile of wine in the bottle. I’m convinced I’ve had wines sealed with synthetic plastic stoppers that taste of plastic, so I’m curious about that question as well.
For now, suffice it to say that the DIAM is my favorite and seems to me the most promising of the in-neck, natural cork alternatives. I’ll be interested to see how it performs on the market over the next few years.
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