Reproduced from Year 5, Issue #28 of Spirito di Vino Asia...

The humble grape, where it all begins…

It may seem obvious that without grapes there would not be wine. Yet, the issue is a little bit more complicated than it appears at first. When it comes to influencing style and quality, the factors to consider go beyond simply color and aromatic profile. As we have seen, to define the style of the wine, we should consider its weight, structure, texture, aromatics, and its specific character induced by wine making or market position. To define quality, we should consider the wine complexity, its balance of components and the length of its finish. And so, how does the humble grape influence both?

Firstly, each grape variety has a different behavior in the vineyard starting with its individual growth cycle, the ripening process, which starts with budbreak in early spring, evolves to fertilization in late spring and then moves to veraison later in the summer to finally reach the final stage of maturation in early fall. Some cultivars are slow ripening and need all the heat, sunlight and water it can access to. Some are fast ripening, and the viticulturist must find ways to slow down this process to accumulate as many aromas precursors as possible and achieve the correct balance of components. Some grapes are vigorous while others are not. Too much or too little can have the same effect in that the grape will not ripen to their optimal extent. Another factor is how each variety reacts to drought and or pests and diseases. Some are resistant; others are not so. Since the Phylloxera crisis at the end of the 19th century, European vines are now grafted to American rootstock to ensure the louse does not attack their roots and kill its life. Unfortunately, not all varieties react in the same way to all rootstocks, and some are even incompatible with any grafting at all. Therefore, the way a vine behaves in the vineyard can greatly affect its style and quality in that more of less ripening can greatly affect weight, structure, aromatic profile, and complexity.

Not only that each grape has a different growth cycle, but each also has different requirements concerning the key ripening conditions necessary for health and optimal ripening, the two fundamental factors influencing style and quality. Each variety needs different quantities of heat, sunlight, water and nutrients to behave as it should during its growth cycle. Any lack or excess can disrupt the ripening process and thus influence the resulting style and quality. Viticultural techniques are focused on optimizing the conditions to encourage ripening and ensuring the health, but technique alone is not sufficient against the whims of mother nature.

Lastly, each grape variety also has its own structural character which can be influenced depending the growth cycle and the ripening conditions on site and during the season. The key elements of the structure are acidity, ability to accumulate sugar, skin thickness and anthocyanins composition, and aromatic profiles. Some cultivars are more aromatic than others, think Moscato Bianco, others are more tannic, think Sagrantino, while others have a high ability to produce alcohol, think Pinot Noir. If the growth cycle of a particular grape is forced to accelerate, let’s say because it is too hot, it can great derail its natural ability to reach a balanced structure and greatly affect its resulting style and quality.

Many winemakers today state that the work begins in the vineyard. However, this is only part of the story. The key decision, in fact, is how well the grape variety matches to the ripening conditions of the site in relations to its natural structure and the ripening conditions of the site. Only when these conditions are compatible with the variety’s behaviors and requirements it can produce the quality that is necessary for the style that is desired. Unfortunately, today, especially in many areas of the new world and those of the old where they have succumbed to the international grape varieties fever, many grapes are planted in the wrong sites giving us wines that are mere caricatures of their true character.

In our next issue, we will review up and come Italian grape varieties and how their style and quality potential makes them so exciting.