Virginia "wine" (part 2 of 2)

This post is all about cider - more specifically Bold Rock Cider (of Virginia). While cider isn't exactly "wine" in our hearts, it is by legal definition, as it's fermented fruit juice. The cider industry in the US has been historically small, and honestly, I've never been a huge fan of the product as it always seemed super sweet, kinda syrupy (essentially a variation of Mike's Hard Lemonade...)
That's all changing - and fast! Craft cider is on the rise and I spent a few hours over lunch with the VP of Retail Operations for Bold Rock - one of the hottest craft cider companies in the US (keep your eye on this!). We talked history, product, and growth aspirations for the brand...

History

The founder of Bold Rock used to flip land (basically buy up some land, beautify the landscape, and sell it). But, he fell in love with one of his properties and decided to keep it. He decided that he wanted to find a way to draw people to the property -- but how? Cider. The founder teamed up with a New Zealand cider-maker and Bold Rock was born.



The product

While I initially harbored skepticism that cider could be as interesting, varied, and enjoyable as wine (or craft beer even), I was pleasantly surprised by the product lineup. Cider offerings included: dry varietals, pear cider, rose cider, traditional pressed, to name a few. Apparently, a good cider-maker can play with the same features that characterize wines: taste, mouthfeel, weight, etc. Experiencing these ciders helped me realize that many of us in the US have only been exposed to simple, Franzia-like ciders - there's so much else out there to explore!

Growth aspirations

 The company has been wildly successful since it started in 2012 and is flying off the shelves at retailers around Virginia, North Carolina, and other states in the region. The company is continuing to expand throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions. In my opinion, I'd be really excited to see the product make it out to the west coast - but the company is determined to hold true to making the highest quality, crafted, fresh-pressed product possible. This possibly conflicts with rapid growth so it'll be interesting to watch how quickly the company decides to scale over the next few years.

If you make it out to Virginia, I recommend you stop by for a visit!

Bonterra Wine

After spending about 4 hours nonstop tasting various foods and non-wine beverages in Expo West in Anaheim, I came across a wine table! Very excited, I talked to the only guy at the table not hired to pour the wine into mini solo cups (ouch).

Turns out Bonterra is the largest producer of organic wine - one of the earliest producers to produce organically back in the early 90's. They currently have 1000 acres land for growing organic grapes for their organic wine, as well as 400 acres (and growing) dedicated to biodynamic wine growing (according to the guy at the stand). When he mentioned that they were focusing on shifting their organic production over to biodynamic, I asked him why: the price premium? Sustainability? Apparently, for the company, it is a belief that this is a good way of making better wine, given the market segment that they are producing for. This was interesting to hear, as the case that we did on Château Pontet-Canet seemed to focus on the unit economics of making the switch to biodynamic, rather than biodynamic actually being a "better" method for producing great wine. Think this is especially interesting, given that Bonterra is not in the "ultra-premium" wine business.

Has anyone else seen wine producers selling at lower price points moving into biodynamic wine?

What's on the Outside Counts

A few classes back, we briefly discussed barrels, though it seemed like there was less knowledge in the room regarding barrels compared to other topics.

I spent quite a bit of time thinking about barrels back at the distillery. One of the legal requirements for bourbon is that it has to be aged in a new, charred oak barrel. The char levels range from 1-4, with char 4 being the toastiest. At my distillery, like many other craft distilleries, we used various sized barrels, ranging from small 5 gallon barrels at the very beginning all the way up to the standard 53 gallon barrel, and 10’s, 15’s, and 32’s in between.

I was curious to learn more about barrels in the wine industry, so I did a little research. It seems that the now classic use of oak as the predominant wood dates back to the Roman Empire (the Greeks, before them, used palm). Wine barrels are slightly larger than the classic sized whiskey barrels—59 or 60 gallons (Bordeaux//Burgundy) compared to 53 gallons. Similarly to the process of whiskey aging, wine aging in the porous oak wood allows oxygen to interact with the internal liquid.

In the case of wine, this low-level oxygenation can oftentimes soften the liquid’s tannins. In addition, the properties of the wood itself imparts flavor to the wine. Phenols, for example, lend a classic vanilla flavor, while other elements of the wood prevent the processes of oxidation//reduction.

French oak and American oak are the two most prominently used varieties of wood when it comes to wine making. Wine barrels oftentimes have second lives: because Scotch does not have the same parameters as whiskey in regards to first-use barrels, Scotch makers will oftentimes use sherry, port, and other sweeter wine barrels in order to age or finish their whiskeys. The flavor from the wine is then imparted into the spirit, adding body and a unique character.

I’ve never been to a cooperage and would love to go see the process, which is still predominantly done by hand, even in the age of automation. Seguin Moreau Napa Cooperage is only a few hours away, so I’ll hopefully make it up there before graduation!