THE 10 STEPS TO MAKING FINE PINOT NOIR
Special to OregonWine.com
STEP ONE: DRINK THE KOOL-AID
Nothing of consequence has ever been achieved without complete and
foolhardy dedication. Pinot noir requires a total commitment. It's
the Queen of grapes, not the King, or the Jack, or the Ace. To do it
and miss the elegance is kind of missing the point. Define who you
want to be and stay true to that.
STEP TWO: FIND A VINEYARD
They are all over the place. If you can't find a good one though, you
will have to plant it yourself. Make sure it's in a good spot, with
nice orientation, soils and elevation. Remember the three rules of
real estate - location, location, location. If other vineyards in the
neighborhood are nice, yours probably will be, too. If it's a bad
spot you'll find out in about seven years that you put in a lot of
time, money and effort on mediocrity.
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STEP THREE: LEARN TO FARM
Or find somebody who knows how to farm, or both. You may have been
successful at another career, but chances are that it didn't involve
dirt. Don't get cocky. Before the barrel tastings, before the
competitions in France, before your children's names go on the label
and you are acclaimed as a rising-star winemaker, there is lots of
dirt to deal with, not to mention vines, plants and fickle Oregon
weather. Never, ever forget that the wine business begins as a
farming business.
STEP FOUR: GET DIRT ON YOUR HANDS
Like a restaurant business, it's important to know every aspect of the
wine business. If you don't know how to sit on the tractor and farm
your own vineyard, you've lost out. I can give you a recipe to make
great bread, but if you haven't experienced it yourself you won't know
how to make it. Look at UPS as a model, where execs have to work in
the warehouse and drive a route. If you don't know how the grapes are
grown, you might wind up with an unpleasant surprise in the barrel.
Get thee to the vineyard and get dirty.
STEP FIVE: REPEAT STEPS THREE AND FOUR
Farm some more. By now you should know whether or not you have a knack
for this gig. Be realistic. Spend money, ask for help. I don't mean to
belabor this, but with vino it's all about farming and paying
attention to the vineyard. Or having someone you trust and/or who
works for you doing exactly the same thing. To be successful it's all
about a good crop load that's ripe and delicious. Remember the
cardinal rule: 95% of winemaking is done in the vineyard. If at this
point you realize that steps 3 and 4 are not for you, then it's ok to
boast about who manages your vineyard and what a fine job they perform
for you.
STEP SIX: MAKE THE VINES BOW TO YOUR WILL
The plants have no idea that we're going to make wines. Zero.
Everything you do is a complete manipulation of the grape vines to
cater to your winemaking whims. It's like French bonsai. This
romantic notion that wine makes itself is poppycock. And remember
that you're not growing vines for this year, but for the future too.
Your decisions to de-bud and how to manage the canes will affect your
business for years to come. The picking of the grapes is just the last
thing you do on the viticulture side, and the beginning of the
winemaking side.
STEP SEVEN: DON'T SKIMP ON EQUIPMENT
Have top quality winemaking equipment and expertise. Nobody ever
Mickey Moused their way to world-class product. You need to have a
good sorting line and de-stemmer, which give you the ability to sort
your fruit to eliminate anything that's sub-standard. And it goes
without saying that you will have the commitment to throw out
borderline fruit. Then you need a good press. Having experienced
winemaking will help make terrific wine. Having great equipment will
help your winemaker.
STEP EIGHT: SHOW US SOME STYLE
Know the wine style you like, the style you want, and the differences
between the rest of the styles. None of the preceding steps are worth
a damn if you don't have a clue of how you want it to taste before you
start. If you want to make a big Smuckers monster that's real
extracted and dark and fruity (which, by the way, is the easiest thing
to do and takes the least amount of skill), do you want to bring your
fruit from a place that just brings silky elegance? That's trying to
make something from something it isn't. I personally like red
Burgundy and like the fact that most are not a huge, extracted,
monster dark pinot. I like beautiful, refined wine where the beauty
sneaks up on you and then comes back on you and stops you in your
tracks.
STEP NINE: THE TAX MAN COMETH
Always be compliant with the government. Know going into this that
you're going to be bonded and licensed and carrying insurance and at
all times those people need to be happy or your doors will be closed.
And it's hard to make a sale with a shut door.
STEP TEN: TELL THE WORLD WHAT YOU DID
Have a marketing plan so that you can sell the wine you've made. Be
certain that you understand that the world doesn't need another wine
label and that you had better rise to the top of the crop immediately.
Pour your wine, talk to people, be generous with your time and tell a
good story. Good luck. |
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