Let's start this article with a definition of the word terroir (pronounced tare-wah, or tare-wahr depending on how French you want to be). I was extremely surprised when I found that no such simple definition exists. It is a French loanword that when translated literally refers to “soil” but can also mean “local”. I did find one apt translation that interpreted it as “a sense of place”. As it has entered the English lexicon it has taken on the denotation used by the international wine community: Terroir refers to, in this case, the unique convergence of every minute environmental factor that the vines are exposed to. You can think of the grape as the sum of all those parts and all of those parts combined are terroir – the concept is that the harvested grape is  a crystal-clear reflection of the environment that produced it. The composition and drainage of the soil, the temperature throughout the day, the slope of the hill and the amount of direct sunlight it receives, the amount and timing of rainfall. Anything, however miniscule, that in some way impacts the development of the fruit can be said to be an aspect of terroir. These are components of terroir but so too is a lone eucalyptus tree in the vineyard, or a particularly crafty murder of crows. A skilled winemaker makes wine with respect to the terroir, capturing the flavor of the vineyard. It struck me as I watched Deerfield's vines beginning to bud in late April that certain blocks of grapes seemed to be on a slightly different schedule than those adjacent to them. There is a great deal of talk in the wine industry about micro-climates, those tiny pockets of geography where there are significantly different environmental factors that can have a dramatic impact on the grapes. It is possible for there to even be several different terroirs in one vineyard. Maybe one part of the vineyard receives early morning sunlight while the rest does not. Therein lies the winemaker’s challenge, to perceive these differences and create a wine that embodies them. I think that is why tasting wines at the winery is such an amazing experience – it connects you to the land. Every time I open a bottle of Deerfield's estate syrah I am transported to the vineyard, with the black soil beneath my feet and the smell of freshly cut straw and the warmth of the sun on my neck.

Not only is every place that grapes are grown unique, but each year offers new variables that can change the equation. That is why wine is beloved like no other food or drink - because each bottle is a reflection of a specific time and place. Next week I’ll talk about why each vintage is unique.

Coca-cola always tastes the same. Year after year, bottle after bottle, the same flavor. Diet or regular? That's why wine is so unique - because the complexity of flavor and its infinite variation. Each year brings us a new crop of grapes which are different from the ones that preceded it, sometimes dramatically so. Are some years better than others? Maybe the weather conditions during some years are better suited to the certain varietal's needs, but in this brave new world of California winemaking, technology and technique can often trump the whim of nature. I think it has become necessary to dispel the notion of a "bad vintage" because of the damage that can happen to the wine drinking community when a particular year gets a bad rap. "Oh, I heard 2006 was a bad year... I try to avoid anything from that vintage." I’ve tasted some fabulous wines from that year, including Deerfield’s own ’06 Organic Syrah and I can tell you that myth holds little water. 2009 is a perfect example: Northern California experienced some heavy early rains that occurred just before many grapes had fully ripened, causing the berries to swell with water, diluting the flavor and driving the brix down. The only solution is to let the grapes hang on the vine until the ground (hopefully) dries and the berries lose some of the extra water but that in turn poses the risk that mold will develop on the wet leaves and berries. Much of the grapes we processed after the rain were problematic and sometimes the sorting table was reduced to a crawl to make sure no moldy grapes were present in the wine. Yet all of the grapes that were ready to harvest before the rain were excellent. In fact, I remember more than one grape grower commenting that it was some of the best fruit they'd ever tasted. It's all too possible that wine writers will label California's 2009 vintage as being poor even though that is certainly not the case. With a master at the wheel like Robert Rex, '09 will be showing very well for Deerfield. But that's what separates the men from the boys in the wine world, the average winemakers from the exceptional ones.

The other tool in the Californian winemaker's arsenal is the ability to blend wine, guided by tradition but untethered by regulation. Since Merlot is one-dimensional in flavor but has a wonderful mid-palate with a luxurious texture we add a wonderfully charismatic Cabernet Sauvignon and a front palate Petit Verdot to the mix to give the wine a synergistic effect - the finished wine better than each of its components. There are numerous examples in Deerfield's library, like the 2005 Shiraz Cuvee - A testament to how skilled blending can achieve a wine that highlights what’s best about Syrah. Or the DRX which year after year is as elegant a wine as any studied palate could hope for, because only the best barrels are selected for the blend.

I have more to evidence to continue build my case to debunk the myth of the bad vintage and I shall do so next week! Salut!

Last week I discussed how each vintage is unique, how circumstances can produce a mixed variety of quality, how modern winemaking techniques and the winemaker's skill improve the wine, and how blending can have an immensely positive impact in the right hands. But there's more to the story: The different varietals have distinct preferences for weather that are sometimes divergent. Each varietal has a personality with its own likes and dislikes. Some like it hot, some like it cool. Some are very vigorous and their growth needs to be carefully restrained. Some need to be coaxed along and provided with an ample supply of water and nutrients. What that means is that a so-so year for Cabernet might be the ideal growing conditions for a Pinot Noir. Micro-climates play a role too. One side of a hill might be several degrees warmer than another or receive more light. That’s why Dry Creek Valley is known for their Zins and the Russian River for the Pinots it produces. That’s also why we have 20 different vineyards under contract from all over Sonoma Valley. I've heard it said more than once that odd vintages tend to be better than even ones. I would suggest that while there does seem to be a consistent difference in the weather patterns over time it does not equate to better or worse wines, merely different ones. It seems that even years tend to produce elegant and nuanced wines whereas the odd years favor bold, spicier varietals with more tannins.

I learned recently that the growth cycle of the vine is actually a two year cycle as well.  The bud that will ultimately produce the grapes for the 2012 harvest are beginning to grow this year. When the shoots are pruned back after the harvest during the winter they are clipped just above the last node that had developed over the year. This is the bud that will produce the fruit of the following vintage. I had always assumed that it was a one-year growth cycle. It makes so much sense to me! There is a difference in character between wines of even and odd years that can be traced back to tangible, biological fact. Of course this information that I'm just learning a talented winemaker knows very well. The key is working with what you have, finding the true nature of whatever Nature has given you and capturing that in the bottle.

The moral of the story is that there’s more to a bottle than the year on the label. Instead find a winery that can deliver the goods year after year.

Recently I had the pleasure of watching Francis Durand, a master barrel cooper with the esteemed Radoux tonnellerie, build a barrel right on Deerfield's crush pad. It was an amazing experience and there were plenty of industry veterans, including Robert, who had never seen the process themselves. I videotaped the whole thing and you can check it out on Cellar Rat TV. I was fascinated by the process and it really got me thinking about the marriage between oak and wine. It is an element of winemaking that is easily overlooked. Trucks would arrive during harvest with dozens of beautiful new handmade barrels and as I helped unload them I gave little thought to the skilled craftsmen who created them or their enormous impact on the wine we were making. My perception of the grapes' journey to the glass had glossed over the entire art of coopering. The grape is grown in the vineyard and transported to the winery where it is transformed into wine and then bottled. I realize now that the fire and hammer of the cooper are just as much a part of that journey as the beaker and refractometer of the winemaker are.

Winemakers have known about the benefits of aging wine in oak for two millenia and the Roman Empire can be credited with expanding the usage of the material for constructing the barrel. There is no substitute for oak. There have been many attempts at using vessels made of other woods like cherry, pine, walnut and chestnut but none have the unique structural qualities and flavors of oak. In the barrel, oak is the right balance between hardness and softness that it is both durable and malleable enough to be shaped into a barrel. It is just porous enough to allow alcohol and water to evaporate through it, concentrating the flavor of the wine, and yet the grain is tight enough that it does not leak. The flavor that oak imparts is just as important as its ability to carefully expose the wine to minute amounts of oxygen. Compounds found in the oak and complexity yet also serve to stabilize the wine and its color. Oak further serves the winemaking process after it has been bottled. The cork tree is actually a type of oak, whose bark we remove to produce the corks so strongly associated with wine. While many alternatives, synthetic and natural, have been proposed, corks still seem to work best, allowing exactly the right amount of oxygen into the bottle to allow the wine to age gracefully. Since the beginning people have known that wine aged in oak tastes better but the science behind it has only been pursued for the last three decades or so. The process of "toasting" the wood, or putting the barrel over a wood fire fueled by more oak, adds a unique dimension to the wine. I had the opportunity to stick my nose in the barrel after Mr. Durand finished toasting it and it wasn't until I inhaled that enchanting aroma that I understood why wine and oak share such a bond - they both offer an incredibly complex and rich sensory experience that only improves when they are combined.



One of my favorite parts about living and working at Deerfield is the beautiful wetlands that surround the winery. They support an incredibly diverse wildlife population that animates the landscape. A beautiful egret adorns one of the metal giraffes on the small island in the pond. Here and there a few quails dart down the road. At night the volume of the frogs’ song is incredible! At one point much of the Valley Of The Moon was covered with wetlands like the Kenwood Marsh. Now rows of vineyards cover almost every acre and the marsh is the last of it’s kind. Deerfield was constructed keeping the wetlands in mind and the owners Robert and PJ Rex have set up a non-profit organization called the Kenwood Marsh Checkerbloom Society that is tasked with the restoration and preservation of the wetlands.

A perfect example of the distinctiveness of the rare wetland is the Kenwood Marsh Checkerbloom, an endangered species that is native to the marsh. It is only known to grow in one other area on earth. With the help of conservationists, we are protecting the plant, which has beautiful pink flowers, from becoming extinct. The seeds of the plant have been collected and propagated at the rare plant herbarium in the botanical gardens of the University of California. The mature plants were transported back to the Kenwood Marsh where I helped botanist Kate Symonds of the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife to plant them in a site that mimics where they were originally found. You can watch it on Cellar Rat TV. It was a rewarding experience and I often go check on them too see how they’re doing. Right now they are in full bloom and the pink flowers peek out of the tall marsh grass.

This Saturday we are having our annual fundraising event to benefit the Kenwood Marsh Restoration Fund and the Kenwood Marsh Checkerbloom. You can support the project by coming to “Monte Carlo Night In The Caves”. We are going to have professional poker, blackjack, and craps tables as well as a checkers tournament with big prizes on the line, including a case of DRX and a weekend at the Ranch. There will be a live sushi bar and wine by the glass so anybody can come enjoy some great wine and food to support the Checkerbloom even if you’re not into games or gambling. Click the event flyer below for more information!