Question: How is the 2020 California wine vintage looking?

Answer: Well as we all know California is now a very diverse region for vines and wines. Even Napa Valley has 16 distinct subregions of different soils and micro-climates.As always there will be some excellent wines produced. However the early general buzz for 2020 is not that encouraging because of the Covid pandemic, heatwaves, and extensive wildfires including possible smoke taint issues. Next week there are wine seminars for trade & media by Napa Vintners as part of the 25th Premiere Napa Valley. On Tuesday June 1 Jeb Dunnuck is discussing “First look at 2020 Vintage Wines” so expect to learn more there. Early days. For comparison purposes on Wednesday June 2 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW has “2019 Vintage Preview – Rich, Plush, and Fantastically Pure.”

Long time followers of this Blog will know your scribe’s fondness for aged white wines made from the Chenin Blanc variety. Chenin is becoming more popular these days with more regions having success with it including especially outstanding examples from South Africa. Also there is more media exposure like Jancis Robinson’s May 15 posting of “Chenin – a transhemispherical marvel” stating it “may well be the most underrated white wine grape in the world”. In the pre-Covid days of travel it was always an exciting adventure for me particularly in Europe to search out restaurant wine lists for old bottles especially from the Loire Valley that hadn’t sold but remained on offer at low
prices. A write-up here on July 17, 2017 while dining in Stockholm pointed out a superb nearly twenty year old 1998 Clos de la Coulee de Serrant that was pure delight but that Joly owned property is now rather expensive. However my experience has been that many Loire whites (dry & sweet) continue to age almost indefinitely.

Fond memories of more reasonably priced old moelleux Anjou Coteaux de la Loire and a special 1928 Coteaux de L’Aubance (best vintage between 1921 & 1937) showing complex orange marmalade. Also those cases of memorable 1933 Moulin Touchais imported for our 50th anniversary of the International Wine and Food Society Festival held in Vancouver in 1983. In fact your scribe since the early eighties has been an avid collector of dry Savennieres, a very small (less than 1% of total Loire vines planted) respected appellation (since 1952) on the north
bank of the Loire on clay, schist, & slate soils with a volcanic base. The two earlier decades had seen some really bad vintages (1963, 1965, and 1972) and several severe frost affected years (1975, 1977, and 1978) so the eighties were optimistically to be the beginning of a new era for the growers. Purchased in November 1986 at the BCLDB for $15.10 some 1983 Savennieres from Chateau de Chamboureau of Pierre et Yves Soulez (also have a share in esteemed La Roche aux Moines) enjoying last week our final bottle with a grilled cauliflower steak and fresh halibut dinner. Also another evening their 1986 matched with steelhead trout & quinoa plus especially well matched to our finishing course of French cheeses. Monitored these collected wines over many years of cellaring and though they started out quite austere still were drinkable early on with interesting young aromas of bright flowers and yeasty vibrant fruit – perfect with oysters. As they aged they came together to a more honeyed dried flowers complex bouquet and concentration of rich creamy flavours yet still dry but held together with that underlying brilliant acidity. Like that distinctive narrow green bottle they use with that identifying unique crest.Underrated wines for aging as the last bottles nearing 40 years of age were the best ones opened yet! Might consider buying some current examples (like 2016 Chateau de Varennes $32.99) to try currently or age longer for an enhanced exhilarating experience. After all that is wonderful assurance to buy a wine you can enjoy early on but still feel confident in cellaring for some time. Certainly looking forward to opening later this year our last bottle of 1981 Clos de Coulee de la Serrant celebrating the longevity of a 40 year old dry white wine!

Question: What are the early reports on the 2020 vintage for wines in British Columbia?

Answer: The Wine Growers of British Columbia (formerly named BC Wine Institute) have posted a detailed report by region on their website at winebc.com. Check it out. Growing Degree Days (GDD) varied from 1616 in southerly hot Osoyoos to 1341 in northerly cooler Summerland. Good diversity. WGBC summarize the year 2020 overall by stating “wines showing natural acidity, moderate alcohol levels, excellent flavour concentration and ripe tannins making for elegant, fresh, and balanced wines.” Encouraging. Already tasted some bottled 2020 whites and Roses with fresh vibrant fruit all under 12 abv lovely for easy early enjoyment but reds still at their early stages of development with an encouraging pinot noir harvest among other varieties.

During this continuing Covid pandemic we have joined the throngs who have been experimenting with homemade sourdough bread. We had rather a good robust sourdough yeast we used in the old days but with our then busy travel schedule it was difficult to keep it active. We finally let it lapse but continued to make and be satisfied with just old fashioned healthy whole grain loaves for toast and sandwiches. However we missed a delicious versatile sourdough! Now being more home bound we got another active sourdough culture going but not without some
difficulty after trying various “donation” starters from friends. Our current vibrant yeast seems to really thrive on good quality flour with a patient baker. After many experimental trials we have hit on the magic formula resulting in big dense moist interior hard crusted heavy boules (around 3 lbs./14 ounces) as shown in the photo attached. Worth all the effort!

We believe some of the credit for our success in sourdough bread making should go to the high premium quality flour we found and are using from FLOURIST. They are supporting Canadian smaller farmers (write-ups on them on their Flourist website) by sourcing only 100% traceable products and stone-milling the flour in 2 kg bags fresh to order. What amazing pure flour they are able to provide! We have discovered that using a mixture of Organic Sifted Red Spring (the one recommended by them for bread) and some Organic Whole Grain Red Fife has brought the best results for producing the fantastic bread we covet. They have lots of other flour treasures too including Rye, Spelt, Einkorn, and Durum “00”. Also like their Linen bread bags (get rid of that plastic that traps moisture & mold) with a beeswax-lining that allows the bread to breathe and stay fresh longer. All hIghly recommended. Otherwise be sure to seek out your own local best flour provider. Worth it.

Question: What is this latest buzzword for describing wine like “rain on dry soil”?

Answer: PETRICHOR. Wikipedia describes this word with growing popularity as winespeak: “Petrichor” is the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. The word is constructed from Greek petra “rock”, or petros “stone” and ichor, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology. The origin is attributed to two Australian scientists who published in the Nature Journal March 1964 the “Nature of Argillaceous Odour” described as petrichor – this smell of rain and oils released from the earth (especially where there are higher humidity conditions). Something interesting and worth investigating further. Perhaps add it to your wine vocabulary together with that controversial one “minerality” for wines from soils with silica or richer in iron oxide.