Greetings Vayniacs!
I have a very personal gripe with aging when it comes to my personal life. Puffy dark circles under the eyes, puffy mid-bellied paunch, hair loss and the unsettling cracks and pops emanating from knee and shoulder joints are a not so subtle reminder that my body is not becoming more refined as it matures. Wine can be a different beast. Many styles, especially full-bodied varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, need maturity to fully integrate and show their stuff.
Each component of the 2007 Vayniac Cabernet Sauvignon is currently undergoing a slow, but dramatically important, transition in barrel. While the aging process is a fairly low-key affair in terms of winery operations, it’s an essential component toward bringing complexity and refinement to the final wine. At this point, each of the wines has extremely short phenolic polymer chains. As the wine matures in barrel, these shorter chains bind to form longer chains that smooth overtly assertive tannins thus allowing more subtle characteristics to emerge. The wood tannins in the new oak barrels also help with color stabilization.
For the next 16 months or so, we’ll continue to closely monitor the wine’s progress while employing our topping, stirring and sulfuring routine. Based on the Vayniac Cabernet survey results, Kian is trying to achieve balance through the use of a combination of approximately 50% new French oak barrels from Radoux, Alain Fouquet, Sansaud, Sylvain, Ermitage and Vicard. Here’s a recent video with Kian discussing barrel choices for both white and red wines.
View Video
As you know, Gary is planning to pull names of 5 Vayniacs who purchased the wine to participate in next month’s blending session with Kian and Camille. We’re excited that Camille Benitah has officially joined us full-time after playing such an important role in producing the ridiculously amazing Cabs at Merus. If you haven’t purchased your Vayniac Cab, do so now at Wine Library so that you have an opportunity to have your name chosen.
Vayniacs have been calling and emailing me about creating their own wines this fall. If you are interested in organizing a winemaking group, you can do so through the forums on Crushnet. Simply create a post indicating the type and style of wine you want and people will contact you who are interested in joining your group. “Rhone Ranger interested in making full-bodied Viognier…” Click Here. If you plan to do your own barrel or already have a group of family/friends together, contact Dave Gifford at dave@crushpadwine.com to check out the 2008 Vineyard Guide. The Vineyard Guide is officially being released to the public today. You can also see the sites by clicking the Vineyards tab on Crushnet.
That’s it for now. I wish everyone the best of luck on being able to participate in the blending session! If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask!
Thanks,
Stuart Ake
