Monday 15 August 2011

The Cyprus Wine Blog - Monolithos Wine Dimensions: August 2011


In the world of winemaking, there is a universal truth about the quality of the vintage: it is directly correlated with optimal grape maturity. Site selection and grape growing practices have a tremendous influence on achieving this aim. Figuring out when to harvest grapes is one of the most important – if not the most important – decisions a wine grape grower can make each year, since harvest time is irreversible.
Growing grapes entails learning to recognize when they are ready to pick. You need to be very careful in judging whether your grapes have reached maturity or not, because unlike other fruit, grapes will not continue to ripen once they are removed from their vines. Grapes must be harvested at the right stage of maturity to ensure high quality.
There are several indicators of grape maturity. The colour, size, sweetness and flavour of the berry are the most useful indicators. Experience is an important asset, but there are some objective measurements for ripeness as well.  The three most commonly used indicators to ascertain the approaching of ripeness are: sugar, acid and pH.
As harvest approaches, growers and winemakers walk their vineyards weekly – even daily – to check on the progress of the grapes. In addition to inspecting and tasting the fruit, they randomly pick grape berries from different clusters, vines, vine rows and even blocks to make sure they’re getting a good cross section, then measure sugar content (Brix or Baumé) using a refractometer.
The latter is a portable device that can measure the grapes’ sugar content right there in the vineyard. Most refractometers are calibrated to give the concentration of total soluble solids in ºBrix. Each degree in the Brix scale is equivalent to 1% of sugar in the juice. For example, grape juice which measures 15.5º on the Brix scale contains about 15.5% sugar.
The Baumé system measures the sugar content of grape juice by its density and indicates potential alcohol that may be achieved. Each degree Baume is equal to approximately 1.8% sugar in the juice, e.g. Brix 22.0º is equal to (Brix/1.8) 12.2º Baumé. The Baumé scale is convenient because it gives an estimate of finished alcohol levels, since 1° Baumé is roughly equivalent to 1% alcohol when the wine is fully fermented. Consequently, the sugar level in grapes indicates the potential alcohol, meaning the alcohol level if the wine is fermented to dryness, whereby all the grape sugars are converted to alcohol.
Of course, alcohol levels can be managed and/or manipulated during the winemaking process. You may be of the opinion that we should just let Mother Nature take its course. However, winemakers feel that when the grapes are not ripe enough, they need a little help, and chaptalization is how they enhance the wine. Chaptalization, sometimes referred to as enrichment, is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must when grapes do not fully ripen. This process is not intended to make the wine sweeter, but rather to provide more sugar for the yeast to ferment into alcohol, a practice which has generated a lot of controversy. Low-alcohol wines are prone to wine disorders and to infections by organisms that would otherwise be discouraged by adequate alcohol content. That said, there are still many wines that are naturally lower in alcohol, with no manipulation involved.
Chaptalization most commonly happens in cool weather regions or because of poor growing seasons where the year has had an insufficient number of sunny days to achieve mature grape ripening. It is common in northern Europe, where grapes have to struggle to fully ripen, however it is illegal in some countries, particularly in Mediterranean regions.
As already stated, the time of harvest is determined primarily by the ripeness of the grape as measured by sugar, acid and tannin levels as well as the colour and flavour of the fruit. Consequently, samples of grapes are taken to the laboratory where further testing will be done, including measuring acid and pH levels.
The level of acidity is dependant on where the grapes are grown. For instance, grapes grown in warmer climates tend to have lower acidity than grapes grown in cooler climates. The sugar content however is the opposite. Warmer climates produce sweeter grapes. Acidity provides the crisp, slightly tart taste of wine on your palate. Too little acid, and your wine tastes flabby and non-committal. Too much acid, and your taste buds scream for relief. Excessive acidity has been shown to accentuate astringency in red wines. Since there are several factors including acidity that affect astringency (e.g. tannin concentration and alcohol concentration), it important to keep these factors in mind when creating a balanced wine.
The development of acid begins in the vineyard. Acidity in grapes changes over the course of berry maturity, and its presence is loosely associated with the acidity in the final product. Winemaking, specifically alcoholic fermentation, changes the content and concentration of acidity in wine. When acids are properly countered by the other ingredients in wine (such as alcohol, sugars, trace minerals, etc.), the wine is said to be “in balance”, which is the desired end result of all winemakers.
Acidity in wine is measured using a pH meter. Briefly, the pH relates to the free hydrogen ions in a solution indicating its alkaline/acidity balance, It is commonly used as the basic quality specification related to maturity of grapes and therefore suitability for harvest. Acidity is important for flavour balance, since a low pH leads to more stable colour and inhibits microbial spoilage. Just like Brix, keeping an eye on these measurements is critical to the outcome of the wine. Too much acid (and inversely, too little pH) and the wine can turn out to be tart and astringent. If the acid level is too low (and pH too high) however, the wine can be flabby and unstructured, seeming more like grape juice than wine.
Now, the longer grapes hang on the vine, the more sugar there is in the fruit. The colour of the grapes and their seeds, the firmness of the fruit, the sweet, ripe aromas – all of these come into play. The main source of ripening is light. Away from the light, fruit does not take on colour, so bunches of grapes shaded by leaves or even berries on the inside of a bunch are less ripe than those exposed to more sunlight.  During “veraison” (the transition from berry growth to berry ripening), the colour of the berry skin changes from green to red-black or yellow-green, depending on the grape variety. Colour alone, however, should not be the sole basis for harvesting grapes. The berries of many varieties change colour long before the grapes are fully ripe. At maturity, individual berries are full size and slightly less firm to the touch. Seed colour changing from green to brown is also a major consideration taken into account as a sign of maturity.
To the winemaker, maturity is determined not only by “sugar ripeness”, but also by “flavour ripeness” of the berries. But of course, the greatest arbiter of ripeness is taste, and since every grape variety has a unique taste and flavour profile that relates directly to the wine, learning when different types of grapes taste ripe takes experience. Consequently, as a final test, most growers taste a few grapes for sweetness when the berry size and colour indicate they are approaching maturity. Furthermore, depending on the variety, grapes ripen early, mid-season or late in the growing season.
The weather can also shape the timetable of harvesting with the threat of heat, rain, hail and frost which can damage the grapes and bring about various vine diseases.  Cloudy, wet weather can adversely affect sugar levels, keeping them low.  Some years, the fruit will be fully ripe, bursting with flavour while other years, the fruit seems like it takes forever to ripen, and the harvestable quantity diminishes. It has become common in the past few years to speak about “physiological ripeness” as the critical point at which to harvest.
Another factor upon which winemakers base their decision to pick is related to the style of wine they wish to produce. The desired style must be determined at the time of harvest. On some occasions, picking grapes before they are fully ripe and have reached their optimum sugar content is necessary, particularly with white wines which require fresh fruit flavours and aromas from grapes. These aromas are localized in the skin and underlying cells and appear very early, long before complete maturity, so early picking can result in finer wines than late picking. The objective is to pick when there’s enough – but not too much – sugar. How much is enough depends on the style of wine the winery is looking to make. Grapes for sparkling wines are harvested at relatively low sugar levels, while those used for red and white table wines are harvested at higher levels; grapes that go into late harvest dessert wines are harvested at the very highest levels of all.
While it is certainly true that sugar alone is an imperfect indicator of balanced ripeness, and the notion of “physiological ripeness” has moved the industry away from unripe grapes, the typical result of this concept is a highly alcoholic wine. It all, of course, depends on one’s definition of ideal ripeness. A red wine at 13%-14% alcohol is the preferred level of dry table wines. More and more, grapes are picked at “physiological ripeness” which results to relatively over-alcoholic, full bodied wines. But is this the result of a poor interpretation of the state of physiological ripeness on the part of the winemaker, or a problem with the very concept of physiological ripeness? Is it the very notion that is leading us astray? The precise point of physiological ripeness is a chimera, an interpretation and not an absolute. What matters is flavour ripeness – the point at which the winemaker decides that the flavours are stylistically in tune to what is desired.
Let’s remind ourselves that ripeness is not an absolute, but rather a continuum. It is an assessment and interpretation of a number of indicators, including the years of experience and practical knowledge that leads a winemaker to pick at one or another point on this ripening curve for that particular site of vines.
Once you are sure your grapes are mature, it is time to harvest them. In addition to determining the time of the harvest, winemakers and vineyard owners must also determine whether to utilize hand pickers or mechanical harvesters. The question of using mechanical harvesting versus traditional hand picking is a source of contention in the wine industry. Mechanical harvesting of grapes has been one of the major changes in many vineyards in the last third of last century.
First introduced commercially in the 1960s, it has been adopted in different wine regions, mainly in the new world for various economic, labour and winemaking reasons. A mechanical vine harvester works by beating the vine with rubber sticks to get the vine to drop its fruit onto a conveyor belt that brings the fruit to a holding bin. As technology improves, mechanical harvesters have become more sophisticated in distinguishing grape clusters from mud, leaves and other particles.
Despite the improvement, many harvesters still have difficulties in distinguishing between ripe, healthy grapes and unripe or rotted bunches which must then be sorted out at the winemaking facility. Another disadvantage is the potential of damaging the grape skins which can cause maceration and colouring of the juice that is undesirable in the production of white and sparkling wine. The broken skins also bring the risk of oxidation and a loss of some of the aromatic qualities in the wine.
However, machine harvesting has one major quality advantage over hand harvesting, and that is that the harvesting is nearly always done at night. As a result, the fruit will arrive at the winery 10º-20ºC cooler than hand harvested fruit which was picked during the day. The rate of juice browning and oxidation in general are temperature-dependent. The higher the temperature, the faster it happens.
Mechanical harvesters allow for a more efficient, often cost-effective process and are well-suited for large vineyards that lay on a flat patch of land. A harvester is able to run 24 hours a day and pick 80-200 tons of grapes, compared to the one to two tons that an experienced human picker could manage. In hot climates, where picking quickly or in the cool of night is a priority, mechanical harvesting can accomplish these goals very well.
Hand-picking can be more time consuming and costly, but allows for a more carefully selected product.  Hand-picking is almost always preferred for wine grapes, or for smaller vineyards that can’t risk losing any produce. The trained eye is the surest method of taking only the right, ripe fruit. Hand harvesting is also cleaner, with fewer leaves, twigs, dirt, rotting or diseased fruit. A clean wine requires fewer additives and is simply going to taste better.
The terrain conditions of the grape growing regions make machine harvest impractical for most Cyprus vineyards. The steep vineyard slopes of the Troodos hillsides have always been harvested by hand. The harvest season typically falls between August and October in Cyprus, although vineyards close to the coast begin harvesting as early as July and in the highest slopes as late as November. However, every year presents a unique situation for wineries. From one year to the next, you will see harvests taking place at different times.
The Cypriot vineyards are divided into four communes eligible to produce wines with a protected geographical indication (regional wines). The four regions are Lemesos, Pafos, Larnaca and Lefkosia. One third of the total wine production concerns regional wines. The five areas eligible for the production of wines with a protected designation of origin are “Laona Akama”, “Commandaria”, “Vouni-Panayia-Ampelitis”, “Pitslia” and “Krasohoria Lemesou”.
Harvesting is by far the busiest time of year for the grape growers in the (Krasohoria) wine villages of Cyprus. Families get together to collect the year’s grapes before taking them to the local wineries for processing. Cyprus has been making wine for about 6,000 years (from 4,500-3,900 BC), so Cypriots have had considerable practice with the harvest celebrations. One of the most commanding spectacles of this annual event is to witness the traditional pressing of the grapes that signals the beginning of the festivities.
Pachna – the biggest wine village of Limassol – is nestled in the foothills of the Troodos Mountains, 750 meters in altitude. It enjoys an ideal climate for vine cultivation and has long been the heartland of the Cypriot Krasohoria wine villages. Pachna is a picturesque village with traditional stone houses and narrow streets. The village is surrounded by thousands of small vineyards separated by dry stone walls.  The time of the grape harvest from the vineyards covering the rolling slopes around the village of Pachna is September when entire families, from grandparents to the youngest toddlers, work together in their vineyards to bring in the crop.  There is always excitement, laughter and good humour at harvest time.
In most countries, unfortunately, harvesting is a tradition that is gradually disappearing, as more and more people are using mechanical harvesting to replace hand-picking. The scarcity of resources to help with the harvest and the lower costs of mechanical picking are converting many traditionalists to using this technology. However in Cyprus, vineyard tasks are mostly carried out by hand since tradition and terrain conditions render alternative mechanical methods impractical, apart from the fact that it is crucial for the production of premium wines.
Wine News and Information
*     According to a number of recent studies, climate change has the potential to greatly impact nearly every form of agriculture. History has shown that the narrow climatic zones for growing grapes used in producing high quality wines are especially prone to variations in climate and long-term climate change. While the observed warming of the last 50 years appears to have mostly benefited the quality of wine grown worldwide, the average predicted regional warming of 2°C in the next 50 years (2000-2049) has numerous potential impacts, including the disruption of a balanced composition in grapes and wine, alterations in varieties grown, alterations in regional wine styles and spatial changes in viable grape growing regions. The impacts of climate change are probably not uniform across all varieties and regions, but are more likely to be related to a climatic threshold whereby any continued warming would push a region outside the ability to ripen varieties that are already established. Global warming and climate change in the world have had an impact on the wine industry, and in the coming years, other effects are to be added, changing the conditions for grape growing and affecting the quality and styles of the wines.
What we are now working on is adapting the wine industry to new climate conditions. In theory, winemakers can defuse the threat by simply shifting production to more congenial locations. There are tricks grape growers and winemakers can use to lower alcohol levels. The leaves surrounding the grapes can be allowed to grow bushier, providing more shade. Vines can be replaced with different clones or rootstocks. Growing grapes at higher altitudes, where the air is cooler, is another option. One thing is certain – winegrowers have always learned to adapt and will certainly do so in the future – experimenting with novel varieties; defining new terroir and developing unique wine styles.
*     The managing director of a company selling non-existent Bordeaux wine has been found guilty of fraud. Paul Craven has been sentenced to six years and Oseghale Hayble to five years for their part in the fraud. The verdict was returned on Paul Craven of the Bordeaux Wine Trading Ltd at St Albans Crown Court. The three companies involved were the Bordeaux Wine Trading Company, International Wine Commodities Ltd and Templar Vintners Ltd. The gang took advantage of the market in wine sold “en primeur” (this is where wine is bought while still in the barrel at the vineyard). It is then bottled and shipped to the UK where it is kept in bonded warehouses and does not attract VAT or Capital Gains Tax. The gang tricked wealthy investors into paying tens of thousands of pounds for fine wines that didn’t exist. The investors received no wine – only cheaply printed certificates detailing their allocation that was supposedly sitting in a bonded warehouse. The client is simply issued with a Certificate of Purchase. The beauty of this scam was that the investors were not expecting to see the goods they had purchased for some time. Although the victims paid a total of £2.5m, it is alleged that the fraudulent companies only ever had one £10,350 case of wine in stock. No other orders were placed with suppliers. Instead, the defendants spent the money on luxury goods, including cars and designer watches.
Monolithos Monthly News
*     The creation of Monolithos fine wines really does start with the work in the vineyard. The management of the vineyard throughout the season determines the quality of the wine, but harvesting is one of the most important tasks. If the harvest is not handled correctly, much of the hard work during the season can be wasted effort. This is why we are so thankful for the wonderful people that we have helping us during harvest. Without them, it would be impossible to create wines of the quality that we want to bring to you.
Harvesting work is relatively simple. For handpicking you only need a pair of clippers and a plastic crate. Quite simply, you clip the grape bunches off each vine and place them in the plastic crates which carry approximately 20 kilos. On completion, the loaded crates are transported to the winery for immediate processing. Harvest involves a lot of hard work, but it is also a fun time and we enjoy working together to accomplish the job. At Monolithos, each vineyard is harvested in one morning. We start early and finish before it gets too hot. At lunchtime, we always enjoy some local dishes accompanied by last year’s wines to celebrate the completion of the day’s work.
*     On another note, there’s a lot involved in the design process of a winery. The new Monolithos Winery building is no exception. Starting with a clear idea makes the entire process – from building permission to construction – go more smoothly.  Initially there is the preliminary design, which is basically the first interaction between the architect and the client, where fundamental aspects are discussed: How big is it, how much do you want to spend, and what is it going to look like? 
Based on that information, the architect creates a basic design that can be used to help the owner obtain a town planning permit. The next phase is where you actually get into the details of what the building is going to be made out of from a constructional standpoint – what the materials are.  Before the owner can apply for a building permit to the local authorities, the architect must create detailed construction drawings – including structural engineering calculations – for the local building department to review. The final plans are aimed at satisfying the requirements of the local authority which is responsible for issuing the actual building permit. Under the latest regulations, they’ll review it for handicapped accessibility, for energy saving, electrical mechanical, heating, cooling, structural and earthquake requirements and safety issues. Owners frequently try to rush through the early part of the design, however it is much more cost-effective to plan carefully in the initial stage, so that once construction begins, the process goes as smoothly as possible.  Making design changes during construction can slow the works, cause conflicts or even stop the process. Of course, any changes on the project must match what the approval allows.
The architect will typically remain involved with the project throughout the construction process. Architects are wonderful, talented people, but no set of drawings is perfect, and since there is legal responsibility for all drawings throughout the whole process, if any changes occur during construction the architect has to be involved.  Though some owners try to save money by working directly with the contractor during construction, it can end up costing them more in the long run. When it is time to build, hiring a general contractor usually turns out to be a good move, as compared to hiring individual contractors yourself. If something goes wrong, it is the general contractor who is responsible for making it right, not you.
Apart from the building structure, there is landscaping and driveways, plumbing, water supply and electricity to take into consideration. Our architects are currently in contact with a number of general contractors to give us a price on the project.
Currently, all wines are available for tasting and purchasing. If at any time you are passing near the village of Pachna and wish to visit the winery or purchase any of our products, Martin Wood will be pleased to meet and assist you at his “Fig Tree Villa” in Pachna, so do not hesitate to phone him at 25-816212 or 99-165995.
We thank you for your continued support and we welcome feedback, suggestions, and ideas for future columns. And remember:
“When the water of a place is bad, it is safest to drink none that has not been filtered through either the berry of a grape, or else a tub of malt. These are the most reliable filters yet invented.”

Sunday 10 July 2011

The Cyprus Wine Blog - Monolithos Wine Dimensions: July 2011

There are frequent references in wine articles and wine books to “seasonal” wines – wines that are better for summer, winter or spring.  So what makes one wine more of a “summer wine” yet another more of a “winter wine”? There is no simple formula for wines being seasonal; instead, it’s a question of what wines feel like and how a wine pairs not just with food, but also with the surrounding temperature or weather. Just as food is seasonal – salads and fruit are the cornerstones of most summer diet – so is wine.
Most people love summer. When it gets warm, we live in shorts and T-shirts and cook and dine out every chance we get. Summer isn’t the time for thick stews, but rather for lighter textures: salads, fruity dishes, seafood, and so forth. It wouldn’t be appropriate to pair such foods with heavy, full-bodied wines; instead, you’ll want to have light and fruity reds and rosés, or light, acidic whites. You’ll want a refreshing wine that brings you up, not a heavy wine that feels like it’s weighing you down. The main characteristics of “summer wines” are those that offer the best pairing with summer gastronomy: crisp; acidic; light; fruity; refreshing; best served chilled, light whites; thirst-quenching dry rosés; fruity, luscious reds; and, of course, the sparkling wines.
In summer, we love grilled food, salads and fruit. Most grilled summer dishes are relatively simple: there’s a main ingredient (usually a protein of some kind), plus the possibility of various seasonings in the form of marinades, rubs and sauces. To choose a wine to pair with something off the grill, consider two things:  first, how hearty is the food, and second, what’s the dominant flavour? For lighter foods (white-fleshed fish, vegetables, chicken breasts), pick a lighter wine. For heartier foods (sausages, burgers, steaks), choose a more robust wine.
Both reds and whites can be light-, medium- or full-bodied, depending on factors such as the type of grape grown, and several other factors including wine making techniques. When considering dish flavour, you don’t want your wine to overpower your food, but you also don’t want the flavours of your food to be too intense for the wine. Often, this is the sauce or seasonings used in the dish rather than the meat. Let’s say you’re making chicken (light, mild-flavoured) with a big, spicy barbeque sauce. The sauce would be more important in choosing a wine than the chicken, because the sauce is the dominant flavour. For steaks and lamb – even if they’re marinated beforehand – the dominant flavour will almost always be the meat itself, but with foods like shrimps with a hot garlic dressing, the sauce or seasoning is by far the main flavour of the dish. The dominant flavour is a key thing to consider when selecting a wine.
Another important consideration in what makes a wine a summer wine or a winter one is the temperature at which it is best served. If a wine is best served slightly warm, then it’s a better wine to drink during the cold winter months when you probably don’t want a cold drink. If a wine is best served colder, then it’s a better drink during the hot summer months when a colder wine is more welcome and more refreshing. Temperature is a crucial factor in wine appreciation, yet it is a factor that is insufficiently appreciated by many consumers.
Summer temperatures change the rules for proper serving temperature for wines, both white and red, and getting the temperature right is an easy way to improve any wine under summer conditions. For most of the year, whites really aren’t at their best when pulled directly from a refrigerator or an ice bucket.  Extreme cold blunts their aromas, sharpens their acidity and shortens their aftertaste.  However, if you’re going to have a glass of wine on a hot evening, it is worth remembering that the ambient temperature will quickly warm the beverage in your glass. Reds that are too warm will show too much alcoholic “heat” in their aromas and aftertaste, and will seem soupy and unfocused, with insufficient acidity and almost no refreshment value.
Acids are very important structural components of wine. Acids give wines their characteristic crisp, slightly tart taste. Alcohol, sugars, minerals and other components moderate the sourness of acids and give wines balance. If a wine is too low in acid, it tastes flat and dull. If a wine is too high in acid, it tastes tart and sour. All refreshing drinks enjoyed by humans contain acidity, which is a vital component that works in relation to sweet and bitter elements to produce pleasing taste sensations.
Among grapes they are tartaric, malic and citric acids. As temperatures rise, we naturally desire drinks with more acidity, as evidenced by the somewhat seasonal popularity of lemon-based drinks, which are appealing specifically because of their high content of citric acid. It is also worth noting that almost all sparkling wines are quite high in acidity, since this is required to carry the flavours through the effervescence. Acidity is more evident in solutions that are colder, so chilling wines thoroughly is not only a good idea in its own right as a way to deal with hot conditions, but also crucial as a way to accentuate the specific element in wine that refreshes us. 
What we drink can have a huge impact on how well the food and the evening as a whole is received. Below are some tips on the wines to buy to help you with your summer entertaining:
·               For steak lovers, try a great Cabernet Sauvignon or Shiraz which will bring out the flavours of the meat.
·               For poultry or pork, a Merlot will do you well.
·               When it comes to barbeques, the wine to buy is Monolithos “Mavro”.  Or if you want a great all-rounder, you can’t go wrong with an Agios Stephanos red, the perfect fit for most things; steak, pork, poultry and burgers.
·               Santa Monica white and Xynisteri are great wines to buy for vegetarians and fish lovers, being the perfect partner for grilled vegetables and seafood.
·               And for red meat lovers who fancy a touch of white with their meal, try Agios Stephanos White.
So once you have identified which wine to buy, the question of price is another issue to consider. “If I spend twice as much, will the wine I buy be twice as good?” is a frequently asked question. Generally if you aim to spend under €10 you will find that quality does increase with price – so a €6 bottle of wine may well be twice as good as a €3 bottle and a €8 bottle twice as good as a €4 one. But over and above this level the price-to-taste ratio becomes more subjective.
Another difficulty when buying wine is the age and/or vintage year. How does the year impact the taste of the wine you buy? As a guide, most white wines (particularly inexpensive bottles) are best drunk as young as possible – certainly within a year or two of the vintage. Their appeal is in their freshness and fruitiness.
For reds, don’t be fooled into following the myth that red wines should be kept for years. Most red wines nowadays are perfect for drinking quite soon after the vintage. It is the older generation of red wines, the ones which contain more tannin – the stuff that acts as the wine’s natural preservative – which you might want to leave to linger for a while. Big traditional reds can have masses of tannin and do need to be stored for many years before they are soft enough to drink. Consequently, a light- or medium- or bodied wine with relatively low tannins is suitable for most summer dishes and could be one to four years old.
If you are having a summer party, start off right by having something for everyone. Consider serving a sparkling wine at the beginning of the meal instead of the end, either alone, or along with a red wine choice. Spread the food out to encourage mingling instead of crowding. Serving summer wine cocktails, rosé wines would also be a refreshing way to keep your guests cool on a hot summer day. You can also start your party by offering a welcoming cocktail drink based on wine. Summertime is also the season for a kir (KEER), the traditional French wine cocktail of cold white wine and crème de cassis. The recipe is simple; add about one tablespoon of crème de cassis (a blackcurrant-flavoured liqueur) per glass. The traditional way to do this is to pour the cassis over an inverted spoon so that it streams into the cold wine like a fountain.
In summer, dining out in Cyprus can be a real culinary adventure. Moussaka, souvlakia and kleftiko will be familiar meals to anyone who has visited or spent his or her summer holidays in Greece or Cyprus, but to the newcomer, the best introduction to Cypriot cooking must be the “meze”. Also called mezethes, this is a large selection of dishes with small helpings of varied foods, brought to the table as a progression of tastes and textures. The collective dishes of this variety are normally served to fulfil two purposes: enhancing the flavour of drinks, and to kick-start a social gathering.
As a main meal, mezethes usually comprise between 20 to 30 plates of food, from delicious dips and vegetables to a variety of fish and meats, so even the fussiest of eaters cannot fail to find something to their liking. Usually mezethes are shared by everyone sitting across the table. These dishes not only deliver a variety of tastes, but also generate the feeling of a convivial and happy atmosphere. In fact, the word “meze” describes a form of socializing as much as a group of dishes.
Mezethes are distinguished in two kinds – fish or meat dishes. It is also common in Cyprus to classify fish- or meat-specific taverns. A fish tavern offers dishes like grilled squid, calamari, octopus, cuttlefish, red mullet (parpouni), sea bass (lavraki), and gilt-head bream (tsipoura), while the meat mezes includes traditional souvla (lamb chops, pork, and chicken), souvlakia (shish kebab), sheftalia, gyros, meat balls, grilled halloumi, fried sausages, sliced garlic bread, spicy meat balls, etc. Cypriot mezethes generally have robust or spicy flavours to stand up to strong drinks.
Salads and vegetables are offered at every tavern irrespective of specialization. In the summer, the usual salad is of celery leaves and stalks, parsley, coriander leaves, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, capers, courgettes, green peppers, okra, green beans, artichokes, carrots, lettuce, parsley and rocket. More often, salads are prepared chopped, sliced, and dressed with lemon and olive oil and feta cheese.
Wine may be the most versatile food partner there is, except perhaps for water. But when it comes to a tavern visit, who on earth wants to have mezethes with water? In Cyprus, like in most parts of Europe, local food is best served with local wine.
“If it grows together, it goes together.”
This basically means your local wine would most likely go extremely well with local dishes or locally produced meat and vegetables from the farms of local produce.  Meat mezethes are a good match for the “black” unique-to-Cyprus “Mavro” red wines, or the spicier, higher acidity varieties like Maratheftiko and Ofthalmo. Cabernet Sauvignon is wonderful with savoury rich starters like sausages or stuffed mushrooms. The Xynisteri is the main wine grape, which makes a fresh, light-tasting and pleasing white wine and matches well with the fish mezethes.
Some wine tips for summer:
1.     The ideal serving temperature differs depending on the wine style and “weight” of the wine. In general, heavier wines are best served at higher temperatures than lighter wines.
2.     Serving white wine too cold e.g. 5ºC, will mask its flavours, but serve it too warm and it will taste overly alcoholic and heavy.
3.     Serving a red wine too cold will result in a wine that tastes thin and harsh. Serve it too warm and it will taste overly alcoholic or vinegary.
4.     “Room temperature” can vary greatly, based on the time of year and air conditioning or heating. Bear this in mind when it comes to red wine.
5.     As a general guide, chill lighter- and medium-bodied whites for two hours before serving to achieve the ideal temperature.
6.     On hot days, put your red wines in the fridge for an hour or so before serving.
7.     Water cools faster than air. For urgent chilling use a bucket, ice, cold water, and some salt.
8.     Although there’s a huge diversity in wine glasses, you can use the same glass of white, red, and sparkling wines for each wine form.
9.     For serious wine drinking, red wine glasses should be filled to one third capacity, with white and sparkling wines to three quarters of a glass.
10.     When it’s hot out and the wine is cold, just do small pours since wine in the bottle keeps colder.
11.     In summer, think pink. Cast aside any lingering prejudices and catch the hot wine of summer, a dry rosé. Rosés are so food-friendly and offer something with more substance than a white.
Wine News and Information
*     Italy surpassed France in total wine production last year, according to data from the European Commission. Italian producers bottled 4.96 billion litres to France’s 4.62 billion litres; the former held steady while the latter dropped 1%. The two countries have long sparred over the top slot, with the winner’s mantle switching back and forth from year to year. Most of the variability can be attributed to changes in annual growing conditions; wine grapes are notoriously susceptible to shifts in weather. Both Italy and France consistently produce far more than the third-biggest producer, Spain, who in turn produces far more than the fourth-biggest, the US.
*     Sales of expensive wine are soaring, according to Majestic Wine, the UK’s largest wine retailer, as increasingly savvy consumers opt to stay home with a fine wine rather than go out for an overpriced vin ordinaire. There has been an explosion in interest in food and wine; people are really into food now, and wine is part of that lifestyle. The wine warehouse chain said wines priced at £20 a bottle or more now account for 6% of sales at the retailer – up almost a quarter on the previous year. The average bottle bought at Majestic now costs £6.94, up from £6.56 last year. Majestic is aiming squarely at students of the grape. It now offers instructive wine courses: 12,000 customers attended 1,500 courses run in 2010/11. It will shortly launch Wine Walks – not hiking through vineyards, but a guided tour around a store to sample wines from all the different regions. The success of Majestic over the last few years has been in stark contrast to the difficulties faced by other high-street off-licence chains. Greg Feehely, an analyst at Altium Securities said: “Majestic has a car park. On top of that they have great customer service and they train their staff properly. That, coupled with cheaper rents than high-street retailers, has driven Majestic’s huge expansion while others have faltered.”
Monolithos Monthly News
During the growing season, we saw a rainy spring with a relatively cool June which makes the year a challenging one. The overall result so far is exceptional over vigorous vines. Consequently, during the early days of June, it became necessary to cut back the tips of shoots to prevent further growth and manage the vigour whilst making control of pests more effective.
The Limassol District Office on 16 June approved a building permit for Monolithos Winery to construct a winery in Pachna. The Pericleous family is planning to start construction this autumn on the first phase of a small winery project among its vines just outside the village of Pachna. In the first phase, a two-storey, 600-square-metre fermentation building and barrel storage area, bottling room, wine storage and electro-mechanical room will be constructed. In its final construction phase, Monolithos Winery will be capable of producing 10,000 cases a year. The project also will include environmentally sustainable features such as solar energy, geothermal cooling and heating, and irrigation from treated process wastewater.
Currently, all wines are available for tasting and purchasing. If at any time you are passing near the village of Pachna and wish to visit the winery or purchase any of our products, Martin Wood will be pleased to meet and assist you at his “Fig Tree Villa” in Pachna, so do not hesitate to phone him at 25-816212 or 99-165995.
We thank you for your continued support and we welcome feedback, suggestions, and ideas for future columns. And remember:
Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Othello, II. iii. (315)

Sunday 19 June 2011

The Cyprus Wine Blog - Monolithos Wine Dimensions: June 2011

The fundamental factors influencing the production of fine wine.
The grape is one of the earliest domesticated fruit crops and it has been widely cultivated and prized for its fruit and wine for thousands of years. The archaeological record suggests that cultivation of the domesticated grape began 6,000–8,000 years ago in the Near East . Vines were highly developed by the Greeks and Romans. Today there are nearly 200 cultivated varieties. Modern cultivars have all been derived from two main species, the European (Mediterranean) Vitis vinifera (a tight-skin grape with wine-like flavour) and the North American Vitis labrusca (a slip-skin grape with Concord-type flavour). Since grapes were domesticated, plant breeders and wine growers have essentially been reusing the same varieties over and over, planting cloned vines, in an attempt to preserve their flavour.
You have all heard the statement that wine production begins in the vineyard, and this is certainly very true. There are a lot of factors that influence grape composition, which in turn influences wine composition and, therefore, ultimately perceived quality. You have also doubtless heard the statement that good wine cannot be made from bad grapes, which is also true. The winemaker is limited in the scope and magnitude of changes that can be made to the chemical composition of juice, must and wine. If the composition of the grapes at harvest is not optimal, the finished wine will reflect that lack of optimization. Grape composition is therefore very dependent upon viticulture practices. Winemakers need to be fully engaged in vineyard operations, and control those practices that will impact the ultimate chemical composition of the wine.
In order to appreciate wine, it is important to understand the characteristics of the grapes. Wine characteristics vary greatly depending on the grape. Although Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz are all red grapes, individually their personalities are quite diverse. Even when grown in different appellations and fermented using different techniques, the character of wine always displays certain qualities, which are inherent in the grape’s personality. The interdependent factors that affect wine flavour are the variety or varieties of grape used, the location where the grapes are grown (appellation), the treatment of those vineyards and skills of the winegrower and the equipment and techniques used by the winemaker, as well as his skills in applying them. There are, therefore, at least four fundamental factors that give wine its characteristics:
        1.     Soil
        2.     Grape Variety
        3.     Weather
        4.     Winemaking Technique
1.     The Soil
The effect of soil on wine character and style is probably one of the most widely debated topics in viticulture. Soil has a definite effect on the quality of wines under the same climatic conditions, but the effect is not consistent over seasons, indicating an inter-relationship between soil and climate.  Although soil characteristics such as colour, temperature and chemical composition definitely play a role in the effect of soil on the growth pattern of the vine and, consequently, wine character and quality, the most convincing indications are that the main effect of soil type is through its physical properties and, more specifically, through the regulation of the water supply to the grapevine. This must be considered in conjunction with climate. Deep soils without chemical or physical restraints for root development will promote a well-developed root system with a high degree of buffering against climatic extremes and contribute to constancy of the product across vintages, irrespective of the seasonal climate – the hallmark of a good terroir.
But, not only does soil temper climatic extremes (such as drought and high temperatures). Climate and climate-dependant factors are some of the most important parameters affecting the formation of soil. Rich soils where so many crops thrive are not usually the best locations for growing wine grapes. The grapevine seems to prefer gravel to earth, and grows well in rocky hillsides where no other crops will. It thrives when forced to dig deep for its water, sometimes as much as 3m down. The French wine producers believe strongly in the importance of the geographical region of origin. Soil, they believe, is an essential part of terroir, and helps to give wine its distinctive character.
The best vineyard site is not necessarily the place with the best view, or the most expensive land, or the one closest to the local tavern. It’s the one that has the best combination of an infinite set of variables that intertwine to produce a great bottle of wine. When we think of ideal vineyard soils, we must analyze them in their full context – physical, chemical and biological properties. The correct balance of these constituent parts is sought to best accommodate the plant and climate as well as the applied viticulture. Other considerations, such as slope, aspect, and elevation have indirect effects on soil relative to its impact on vine physiology. What is underfoot is an incredibly complex system that we sense is critical to wine quality, yet we don’t fully understand how or why.
The only sure way to truly find out the ideal vineyard soil is to plant vines and make wine. Short of that, use every tool at your disposal to predict the performance of your soil. You should first determine your wine making goals. If the best possible wine is the main objective, then you are looking for a well drained soil of moderate fertility and adequate depth that will grow a small to medium sized vine.
While a balanced vine is always the viticulture goal, it is commonly recognized that smaller vines on higher density spacing tend to produce the best grapes. If the goal is high production and moderate quality, then deep, rich, fertile soils are appropriate. Soil vigour will impact many other pre-plant decisions such as variety, clone and rootstock selection, vine spacing, trellis system, irrigation and more – all of these will determine the costs of vineyard development.
Distinct soil groups show different wine organoleptic (sensory properties of a product, involving taste, colour, odour and feel) profiles.  Soil quality is considered of paramount importance in the production of fine wines, therefore having located the right piece of “terroir”, skilled vineyard management is then paramount. There can be no denying that 90% of the quality of any wine is made in the vineyard. Quite simply, great grapes make great wine. In order to achieve the desired flavour profiles of each grape variety, yields are kept low, irrigation is minimal and vineyards are managed in an environmentally sustainable manner with minimum use of chemicals.
2.     Grape Variety
Many attributes distinguish each grape variety from the next. The attributes of grape varieties fall into two categories: personality traits and performance factors. Personality traits are the characteristics of the fruit itself – its flavours, for example. Performance factors refer to how the grapevine grows, how its fruit ripens, and how quickly it ripens. Skin colour is the most fundamental distinction among grape varieties. Every grape is considered either a white or a red variety, according to the colour of its skin when the grapes are ripe. Individual grape varieties also differ in other ways such as aromatic compounds, acidity levels, thickness of skin and size of the individual grapes, etc.
Some grapes (like Muscat ) contribute floral aromas and flavours to their wine, for example, while other grapes contribute herbaceous notes (as Sauvignon Blanc does) or a fruity character. Some grapes have very neutral aromas and flavours and, therefore, make fairly neutral wines. Other grapes are naturally disposed to higher acid levels, which influences the wine made from those grapes. Black grapes with thick skins naturally have more tannin than grapes with thin skins; ditto for small-berried varieties compared to large-berried varieties, because their skin-to-juice ratio is higher. More tannin in the grapes translates into a firmer, more tannic red wine. The composite personality traits of any grape variety are fairly evident in wines made from that grape. A Cabernet Sauvignon wine is almost always more tannic and slightly lower in alcohol than a comparable Merlot wine, for example, because that’s the nature of those two grapes.
The performance factors that distinguish grape varieties are vitally important to the grape grower, because those factors determine how easy or challenging it will be for him to cultivate a specific variety in his vineyard – if he can even grow it at all. The issues include, among others, how much time a variety typically needs to ripen its grapes and how dense and how compact the grape berries are.
3.     Weather
Soil is the most constant factor in wine-making; the mineral composition of a vineyard barely changes in 100 years. However the weather in a given growing season, though somewhat predictable (based on historical trends), is the reason that we have good years and bad years for wine.
Temperature is probably one of the most important parameters affecting the grapevine, as it has an effect on almost every aspect of the vine’s functioning. High temperatures will result in slightly higher sugar contents, up to a temperature threshold. The effect of night temperatures on anthocyanin synthesis appears to be partially dependent on the contrast between day and night temperatures, with day temperatures playing the preponderant role. Relative humidity has an effect on the photo-synthetic rate when the soil’s water supply is limited and it has been shown that low relative humidity values and high temperatures result in high berry pH values, as well as reducing the growth and yield per unit of water transpired. High relative humidity values can, however, increase disease incidence.
Wind has both positive and negative effects on viticulture.  Strong winds in spring and early summer can injure new growth and young bunches, as well as reducing fruit set.  Air circulation, however, prevents high relative humidity and excessively high temperatures from developing in vine canopies.  In areas where the soil has a potential for high vigour, strong winds may be conducive to quality by limiting the vegetative growth of the vine. For the best grapes, early springtime should remain cool. An early heat wave may cause leaf buds to develop prematurely. Spring is one of the only times that plentiful rain is welcome; it becomes desirable as the growing season progresses.
After the vines have been pollinated, the grapes need about three months to ripen completely. An occasional gentle rain is welcome in early summer, as it helps to fill the grapes with liquid to plump them up to the proper size. A drought year would result in small grapes with a high skin-to-pulp ratio. Having more grape skin will produce a more tannic, intensely flavoured wine. As the grapes mature, a dry and cool breeze will help to keep the grapes free of disease and to slow the ripening process. Grapes that ripen too quickly tend to develop less flavour.
The months of August and September are crucial. Dry and warm weather is essential, and a cold and rainy September can ruin a previously perfect growing season.
Cool weather is desirable during the fermenting period. The cool breezes around the tanks help to prolong the fermenting process and prevent overheating. The climate of Mediterranean climate with cool wet winters and hot dry summers is considered one of the most advantageous for a good vintage. Within the region there is considerable variation of climate, with coastal winter minimum temperatures being several degrees warmer than temperatures recorded inland. Altitude is also a major factor on the influence of climate.
4.     Winemaking Techniques
Winemaking, or vinification, is the process of wine production, from the selection of grapes to the bottling of finished wine. Grapes used for wine production must be healthy and without defects, due to bacterial and/or fungal infections and winemaking processes should be conducted immediately after harvesting to prevent wine defects with, if possible, whole grapes. If grapes are broken during the harvest and/or transportation to the winery, defects or problems can arise due to the activity of acetic and/or lactic bacteria and their production of acetic and lactic acid.
High quality wines are produced by a lengthy process. Many steps are involved, and each step makes specific contributions to the quality of the finished product. Extended pre-fermentation skin contact and temperature during fermentation, selection of yeast, clarification techniques, stabilization and ageing, all make significant contributions to wine composition and quality, but the most important wine quality factor is the quality of the starting grapes. The winemaker will have to make many other choices, always balancing quality with cost, the use of stainless steel or oak barrels, new oak or old oak, how much pressed wine should be blended back into a wine made from free-run juice, etc.
Each and every vintage will yield grapes of unique character, and it is the task of the winemaker to make the best use of each harvest. The weather may cause a number of problems, so winemakers must use their skill and experience to overcome any such events.
Ideally, in making these and other choices, the winemaker brings out the best in the grapes, and from them crafts a wine that reflects the hereditary qualities of the grape variety and the unique composition of the soil, addressing any problems caused by the weather. The winemaking decision of using wild or ambient yeast in fermentation instead of cultured or laboratory produced yeast can be a reflection of terroir. The use of oak is a controversial element since some will advocate that its use is beneficial in bringing out the natural terroir characteristics, while others will argue that its use can mask the influences of the terroir.
Every factor is important in producing good wines. Viticulture is the most crucial as it determines the quality of the grapes. The goal of the producer should be to make the best wine he can from the land he’s on; the market will reflect the wine’s worth.
The reasons some grape varieties perform brilliantly in certain places (and make excellent wine as a result) are so complex that grape growers haven’t figured them all out yet. The amount of heat and cold, the amount of wind and rain (or lack of it), and the slant of the sun’s rays on a hillside of vines – all are among the factors affecting a vine’s performance. In any case, no two vineyards in the world have precisely the same combination of these factors. The fact that there are so many different styles available indicates the importance of the other three factors. Grape varieties have inherent characteristics that can be altered or reinterpreted by the soil, the weather and the winemaker’s techniques.
Wine News and Information
*     Asia is taking a sizeable swig of the market share when it comes to wine. In fact, China – including Hong Kong – became the world’s largest consumer of Bordeaux wines last year, according to the Bordeaux Wine Council. The country imported 33.5 million bottles of Bordeaux alone worth a total of $375 million. China now imports more than $1 billion of wine each year, a four-fold increase from the amount it imported in 2004.
*     The world of wine likes to publicize the traditional aspects of winemaking: the long history, the sustainable farming practices, the low-tech methods that have been unchanged for millennia. To a great extent, all that is true. Vineyard owners love to talk about unchanging traditions. But over the decades, the style of their wines has probably changed. Most dedicated winemakers have, in fact, marched away from the technological approach. However, a wine is the result of many hundreds of factors – including cellar temperature, the date the harvest begins, how quickly it proceeds, the time of day that the grapes are picked – that gives a lot of room for the producer to affect the outcome. In this way, winemaking is as subject to the fashions of the moment as art.
       At no time is this more obvious than at a vertical tasting of wine over several years and vintages. In a recent tasting of nearly the entire 30-year history of well-known brands of Cabernet Sauvignon, it was illustrated that even with the restrictions of place, philosophy, and even winemaking teams, the wines over the decades were subtly influenced by whatever was fashionable at the time. In the 1980s, wines were produced from grapes that were picked early at predefined sugar content and also acidified to reach what was considered a proper pH balance. As these wines age, however, they do become a little too crisp and brittle, especially in years when the weather was slightly cooler. In the 1990s, the wines became riper, picked a little later, still not becoming ponderously high in alcohol, but they were not acidified as much or at all. The key concept in the 1990s was that the meaning of “ripeness” was redefined, with the bar set higher than ever before. Cabernet, which can have herbal notes when picked in cooler years, was suddenly considered inferior if there was even a hint of green herb: chervil, oregano, thyme, or the dreaded green bell pepper. These wines were riper and richer, yet also balanced. Wines from the 1990s were softer, more viscous, and more concentrated. Finally, in the last 10 years, wineries looked for more liveliness in the wine, so they tended to pick a little earlier and watch the natural acidity levels at harvest. Often now it is done more by taste than by the laboratory. The more recent wines are excellent, nearly as ripe as the wines from the 1990s but with a little more nuance and freshness. The retrospective tasting showed the incredible persistence of terroir and the consistent high quality of the wines throughout the years. From the very beginning to the present day, all the wines show complexity, longevity and classical proportions, regardless of the trends that may have affected winemaking decisions along the way.
Monolithos Monthly News
*     The never-ending job of caring for the vineyard continues in June. The vineyards are inspected, weeded, and sprayed, as weeds constantly compete with the grapevines for nutrients. The vines are occasionally trimmed to encourage fruit production and increase airflow to the clusters, allowing the wind to cool the fruit in the evening hours, an important part of maintaining acidity in the vineyard. The increased airflow could also keep certain diseases in check.
*     The application for building permission for the new Monolithos Winery was submitted to the Limassol District Administration the second week in May. This government department acts on behalf of the local authorities of the Pachna community and is responsible for the examination of applications for the issue of building permits. The application included architect’s drawings, static calculations and plans, electrical, mechanical and sewerage plans and a number of supporting documents.
*     The Winery building has been designed to meet a number of goals. It takes advantage of hillside slopes to facilitate a three-level gravity flow operation. The basement or bottom level accommodates the barrel storage, bottling facility, finished goods storage and dispatch area. The next or middle level caters for the grape receiving area, crush and press operations, fermentation and blending tanks, stabilisation, cooling and control equipment. It also provides the main visitors entrance to the winery through a small museum and exhibition room. The upper floor is dominated by the wine tasting room, administration offices and laboratory facilities. The tasting room offers a panoramic view of the vine growing villages in the area (Krasochoria). A lift and staircases connect internally all three levels.
*     Currently, all the 2009 wines are available for tasting and purchasing. If at any time you are passing near the village of Pachna and wish to visit the winery or purchase any of our products, Martin Wood will be pleased to meet and assist you at his “Fig Tree Villa” in Pachna, so do not hesitate to phone him at 25-816212 or 99-165995.