O.T.R. not O.T.T.

Angela measures oxygen in the head space

The care and attention that we take in making the best wine that we can does not stop at the cellar door when pallets are shipped out to our customers, we obviously try to guarantee (as far as we can) that our customers will enjoy our albariño once they pull the cork.

You may have heard me comment on previous occasions that one of the biggest enemies of the winemaker (and possibly more especially white wine makers) is that of oxidation. Now, oxidation can and does occur at every stage of the wine making process, and so we make it our goal in life to ensure that it is kept to the absolute minimum, thereby ensuring the freshest possible wine that we can.

Fruit oxidation starts from the first moment that the skin of the grape is broken, and quite obviously is exacerbated every time the grape must or finished wine is exposed to the air. It is also made worse by the use of pumps that serve to agitate the wine as they force our precious liquid through the pipework. In the case of Castro Martin the need for pumping is largely offset by the very design of the building itself. Our vinification takes place over three different levels and we can therefore simply move our wine around by gravity.

Once the wine is actually made there are three further opportunities for oxidation to take place. The first is during the tank storage period, which is why we ensure that our wine is kept under a 'blanket' of nitrogen, and also explains why we store in tank, and only bottle as and when floor stock is required.

The second is at the time of bottling, where we do our very best to ensure that all possible oxygen is removed from the empty bottle and that nitrogen is added once again, a split second before the cork is put in. The small gap in your bottle between the cork and liquid (known as the head space) can perhaps unbelieveably account for up to 80% of the total oxygen contained within the bottle - the rest being present in the wine itself.

The third opportunity for oxidation is after bottling, when the cork finally seals the package. Over the years we have spent a lot of time studying this, and run many tests on different types of wine closure. The best and most expensive natural corks are of course very good, but will always be subject to a small percentage of spoilage caused by TCA (cork taint). The secret therefore is to find something that behaves like a cork, but does not allow a wine to become tainted. Our own solution is Nomacorc, a synthetic closure that provides a very good (and consistent) seal, whilst at the same time allowing an almost microscopic transfer of oxygen, measured by OTR - the oxygen transfer rate. Believe it or not a closure that provides a completely hermetic seal can also cause problems. The sulphur that is added to protect wine needs to escape slowly over time, and if it becomes trapped it will eventually be absorbed back into the wine. This can actually cause a different type of 'off' flavour (sometimes similar to burnt rubber).

Oxygen readings taken in tank

Our Bodega Stegosaurus

Are your sitting comfortably? Today I have a rather convoluted tale to tell.....

OK, so all of our wines are now classified as 'sobre lias', which means that we usually allow them between 5 and 6 months ageing on the lees. Under normal circumstances this would mean that they are not racked (clean wine drawn off ), until around April or May. That is of course, except for the tanks that we have to rack now - a contradiction perhaps, but please allow me to explain.

During the alcoholic fermentation the tanks are never filled to the top, simply because we need to allow space in each tank with which to work. When making additions to the fermenting wine, such as the bentonite that we use for fining, they have to be 'pumped over' in order to mix the product thoroughly with the juice. I can tell you from experience that when some of these additions combine with the carbon dioxide suspended in the new wine, the reaction can be quite violent and generate a huge amount of foam. If we do not allow the extra 'head space' at the top of the tank then a lot of new wine will quite simply end up on the floor!

When the fermentation finally finishes we seal the tanks and allow them to settle, but at this point they are still not filled to capacity. They do not oxidise because of the trapped carbon dioxide, and indeed we have to release the trapped gas every couple of days to more or less stop the tanks from exploding under the additional pressure.

Eventually the partially filled tanks have to be topped up - hence the reason that we have to rack some of the tanks now.

My picture today (apologies for the poor quality) shows the racking pipe at the bottom of one of the tanks, where the lees have come to settle. As you can see it looks like a row of mini stalagmites, or perhaps on the extreme left of the picture, the spine of a stegosaurus.....

Clearly I have been watching to many Jurassic Park movies!

Albariño très, très nouveau est arrivé!

Well, yes, technically our new albariño has arrived, but not really in a state that you would want to drink it. (My picture shows a glass drawn from the tank earlier today)

After a long, slow alcoholic fermentation the wine is finally "made", in the sense that all the sugar has now been converted to alcohol, and as there will be no malolactic fermentation this year (owing to the must having perfect acidity), there is not really much left to do, except wait.....

The wine has now been sulphured to protect it from oxidation, and the only thing that remains is an extended period of lees contact, and lots of tasting along the way. The moment that we chose to remove the wine from the lees is almost like knowing the optimum time to start picking the grapes - it is a question of experience and professional judgement and not to mention, personal taste. The length of time on the lees will ultimately determine the character of the finished wine, and we assess this by trying to replicate our 'house style'. In other words, we look for the individual personality to which our customers have become accustomed - rather like they do in Champagne. Each Champagne house has it's own distinctive style, which is not only a part of their tradition, but is also a tribute to the skill of the winemaker, who produces the taste that their regular followers will recognise, and appreciate. In our case you may call it the 'personalised signature' of Angela Martin.

As I have said many times before every wine is different, not just within our denomination, but in every wine region of the world. For example, I have mentioned that our 2010 wine will not be ready for release for several months, whereas, at the other extreme, some other bodegas are already about to start bottling their new vintage. Hence the title of today's blog - some albariños will actually be beating Beaujolais into the nouveau market of 2010!

Think pink...... Think Albariño!

Two new products in one week is probably too much for some, but I guess it's just that time of year in our bodega - when we finally start to 'roll out' the wines of the new vintage.

This latest addition is however, quite a revelation..... an Albariño Rosada (rosé). Earlier this year, when we were studying the demonination rules for making our 'sobre lias' wine, we stumbled across some old documents relating to the production of rosé. As you may or may not be aware, there are already a couple of red wines made here in the Rias Baixas area, using grape varieties such as Caiño Tinto and Mencìa. On their own, not always very exciting, and often a little expensive, but they do have much greater potential when it comes to blending - the word 'blending' being very significant here.

Nearly every rosé wine is made by taking red grapes, crushing them, and then leaving the skins in contact with the juice for a short time, to macerate and extract a little colour. (I love the expression that the Americans use for this when they make their Zinfandel, calling it a 'blush' wine). There is however, another method, formerly used in Champagne making I think - simply blending a little red into their white wine to make it pink. This blending is the method that we have adopted for our exciting new Albariño, giving us greater opportunity to control both the exact flavour and hue of the finished wine.

By taking a little Caiño (up to 15%) and blending it with our Albariño wine, we emerge with a rather pleasing rosé wine. The marriage of red and white grapes yields an elegant, yet intensely fruity wine that finishes with just a hint of spice and the flavour of crushed strawberry - a super refreshing summer wine.

For the packaging we have named our new baby Casita Martin, and used a bright, clean, fresh image, in keeping with the wine. As it contains less than 15% of Caiño, we are still allowed to mention Albariño Rosado on the label.

We antcipate that this new product will be a big hit this summer, and will be especially popular for weddings. With my own personal interest in Photoshop I am actually contemplating personalised labels, incorporating a photo of the happy couple..... this might be a bit over ambitious, but we shall see!

The dawn of a new era

Today is the first day of a new era in our bodega! As we made the first bottling of our 2009 wine for the Spanish market, so we introduced a new label for our Casal Caeiro brand - but not only that.....

You will notice that we have added the term 'Sobre Lias' to the label (or 'Sur Lie' as the French would call it). In recent years this expression has started to pop up on a few premium wines in our area - and I say premium simply because they are always a limited production, sold at a higher price. In our case, not so.

The main reason that we are always slower than others to release our new vintage is because of this process. Every wine that we make is aged on it's lees for an extended period of between 5 and 6 months, and is therefore never available before April/May at the earliest.

Now, for those of you who don't know, the 'lees' or 'lias' are the exhausted yeast cells that fall to the bottom of the tank during fermentation. This does not mean however, that they are rendered completely useless, as even at this point they still contain certain nutrients that feed the wine, adding depth of flavour and greater complexity. Angela will happily explain all the technical stuff, telling you about the manoproteins and how they can help to protect against oxidation and reduce astringency etc., but the long and short of it is that it makes our wine taste better - and that's all you really need to understand!

Of course the process does have to be controlled, and to start off with the 'lees' have to be clean and healthy, otherwise they will simply taint the wine with reductive 'off' flavours. Even more importantly, when the wine is on it's lees it has to be tasted at very regular intervals (as we always do anyway), in order to chose the optimum moment to rack it off. No, I am not being rude, racking is simply the term for drawing the clean wine from the top of the tank, leaving the lees behind at the bottom, once they have finally completed their work.

To summarise, our philosophy, is, was and always will be, to make the best wines that we can - wines that have longevity, and do not fall apart after a couple of months in bottle. Ageing our wines on the lees has played an important part in this process for years now, the only difference being that we have now chosen to advertise it on our labels, not only as a point of difference, but also giving you and your customers a bit of 'added value' for the same money.

As always, selling you a premium product at a very modest price!