What makes wine go bad

By Sarah Powell, Winemaker

When it comes down to it, winemaking is really just the controlled rotting and temporary preservation of grape juice. Wow, did I really say that? Of course, winemaking can be so much more, but the basic processes involved are quite straightforward. Grape juice is a highly perishable and easy to spoil food. Its (usual) low pH and high sugar content naturally restrict the microbes which can grow in it. And once that sugar is converted to alcohol, the restrictions are even more selective. While wine's environment cannot allow any human pathogens to grow, microbes can grow which can make the wine taste bad. The winemaking process can also involve chemical reactions which can ruin a wine's taste and/or longevity.

What are these chemical reactions and what can a winemaker do?

Chemically, the most common spoilage reactions involve (1) oxidation, (2) reduction, (3) the results from too high a pH. These reactions may begin on the grapes, or with winemaking error. For those of you who are unfamiliar with pH, it is not quite the same thing as the total amount of acid in the juice or wine. pH represents the strength of the acids present. Normal juice and wine levels range from 3.0-4.0. pH 3.0 tastes terribly sour, 3.3-3.4 crisp, 3.6 soft, 3.8 flat, and 4.0 way too flat and soapy. Oxidation and spoilage organisms are severely inhibited below pH 3.5, while both can proliferate at pH 3.7 and above. I prefer soft, and quite ripe wines, so Foris whites usually have pH's from 3.45-3.55, while the reds are usually 3.55-3.75. While it is critical to correct high pH situations, I believe it should be done by taste, or by blending - not to a predetermined number. Wines can be rendered unpleasantly hard and sour by too heavy a hand with acidification. Ignoring pH can be equally destructive; resulting in oxidized, "flat", or microbial spoiled wine.

Photo: Sarah Powell in the tank room.

Wine is a living, breathing food whose preservation is only temporary. All wines will eventually go bad, but some will vastly outlive others. The condition of the grapes and how those grapes and the resulting wine were handled in the winery is paramount to its quality and ageability. Regarding grapes, first on the spoilage list is rot. Extreme sour rot on grapes can be irretrievable in the wine. The acetic acid and acetic acid bacteria present can simply be too much to cover up or correct. Enzymes produced by rotten grapes leave the wine particularly sensitive to oxidation. The wine could go bad quickly, or later in the bottle, if it was not scrupulously protected from oxygen, and made with proper sulfur dioxide (SO2 or sulfites) management. The noble rot, "botrytis", however, can result in lovely, honeyed wines of various ageability, depending on the sugar content at harvest. The lower the sugar, the shorter lived the wine may be, but it should taste delicious for a reasonable shelf life of several years if the wine was made with care. Another problem, which can arrive on the grapes, is mildew. Our tolerance for mildew is extremely limited. The resulting wine will taste musty and moldy. Rot and mildew on grapes can be and should be avoided by utilizing proper trellis, training, and canopy management techniques (like timely leaf stripping). While rot can be avoided without sprays, mildew cannot. Sulfur must be sprayed at ten-day intervals, and repeated after every significant rain from budbreak until just before veraison (softening and color change of the grapes), about 30-60 days before harvest. Finally, unripe grapes can produce pretty sour and poor tasting wine. While the wine may not have turned bad, it never had a chance to taste good.

While oxygen can be an extremely useful tool for enhancing a wine (particularly reds), it can also be terribly destructive. There is no excuse for producing oxidized wine. Outside of severely rotted grapes, it can only occur from winemaking neglect. Tanks should be kept full and not allowed to get too warm, as increased temperature speeds up the oxidation process. The higher the pH, the easier the wine oxidizes, as well. When applicable, wine should be protected from oxygen by blanketing it with inert gas. Finally, correct use of SO2 can also go a long way toward protecting wine from oxidation. The chemical opposite of oxidation - reduction - can also harm a wine. Some wines can respond to a lack of small amounts of oxygen, or also to a stressed yeast fermentation by becoming "reduced" or stinky. A fruity wine could at first change to simply "lacking fruit" or "slightly dirty", to "rotten egg" (the smell of hydrogen sulfide, H2S) or even worse to "rubbery", "garlic" or "burnt” vegetables" (the smell of mercaptans). H2S can be readily addressed by one or more of four timely-taken steps: (1) preventing fermentation stresses, (2) decanting the wine off its sediment (racking) with or without exposure to air, (3) addition of a small amount (parts per million) of copper sulfate, (4) fining and/or filtration of the wine. Mercaptans are sulfides that were missed by the winemaker early on and have had the time and environment necessary to combine. They are much more difficult to deal with, and, in fact, can permanently overwhelm a wine.

What are the microbes and what can a winemaker do about them?

The microbes which can spoil wine fall into two categories: yeast and bacteria. Once fermentation starts, the increasing alcohol content of the wine naturally and severely limits the species of spoilage yeast and bacteria which can grow. The most common spoilage yeast is called Brettanomyces. This yeast is not associated with the natural flora found on the grape skin, but rather with unclean equipment or contaminated barrels. Over the years most wineries cannot avoid an eventual minor population of this yeast existing in the barrels. Cleanliness, routine barrel maintenance, low pH levels, cool temperature, proper use of sulfur dioxide, and if necessary, filtration, are a winemaker's tools against proliferation of this yeast. "Brett", as we call it, is anaerobic and can grow in a finished wine -and in the bottle - from very trace nutritional substances. Wines in which this yeast has proliferated taste different. Its characteristics are often described as "sweaty horse blanket", "barnyard", "bandaid", or "bitter with lack of fruit". Hard to believe that certain wine writers actually prefer wines where this yeast has grown! At low levels, it can certainly be unnoticeable, and add to the complexity of the wine. At high levels, I personally do not care for it.

Photo: Sarah Powell assessing wine clarity.

Another common spoilage yeast is the group belonging to the film yeasts. It grows on the surface of wine which is left exposed to oxygen. To avoid it, do not leave wine exposed to oxygen! It forms a white film on the surface of the wine and can produce two flavor effects. One is the smell and taste of fingernail polish remover - ethyl acetate. The other is the smell and taste of sherry. In fact, sherry is wine purposely and completely altered by a certain species of this yeast. These yeasts can also commonly cause problems on the top surface (cap of skins) of a red grape fermentor when the fermentation is too slow to get going. We have encountered this, and respond by warming the tank, more vigorously spraying down the cap with juice, and adding more yeast to help get it going.

New Release

1997 CABERNET/ MERLOT/ CAB FRANC ROGUE VALLEY Varietal 41% Cabernet Sauvignon 41% Merlot 18% Cab Franc Harvest Data Averages from many lots. Cabernet Sauvignon Picked Oct. 15, Nov.5 22 Brix 7.1 g/L TA 3.27 pH Merlot Picked Oct. 5-29 22.5 Brix 6.4 g/L TA 3.40 pH Cabernet Franc Picked Oct. 26, Nov. 3 21.8 Brix 6.0 g/L TA 3.4 pH Barrel Aging 100% French Oak 20% New Barrels Aged 19 Months Bottling Data 13.4% Alcohol 6 g/L TA 3.56 pH Bottled July, 1999 Production 5760 Cases

Perhaps more elusive are the spoilage bacteria which can grow in juice and wine. Before fermentation, we add a specific dose (parts per million) of sulfur dioxide to the juice in order to inhibit spoilage bacteria which may in fact come into the winery on the surface of the grape skins. The first bacterium to worry about is called Lactobacillus. It is a particularly dreaded bacterium which can take over the yeast fermentation, leaving the wine sweet and turning into sweet and sour vinegar. Wines made without SO2 and juices left with too high a pH are particularly at risk for spoilage by this bacteria. I have seen it happen at another winery, and it is devastating. The next bacterium to worry about is Acetobacter. This is the vinegar bacterium. It requires oxygen to survive, and so primarily grows on the surface of wine left exposed to air, whether in barrel or tank. It can also proliferate in empty barrels, which are not properly maintained during storage. To avoid this bug, we fill our tanks full, and top all barrels twice monthly. Empty barrels in storage are steamed annually to remove tartrate build-up, and have sulfur wicks burned in them to replace the oxygen with sulfur dioxide gas every two months. The next bugs to watch are the lactic acid bacteria, which we WANT to grow in all the reds and certain lots of Chardonnay. The desirable species, leuconostoc, changes the "hard" malic acid in wine to the "softer" lactic acid and produces complex flavor compounds often described as "buttery". Undesirable Pediococcus species can produce off aromas and flavors often described as "sweaty socks" or just plain "dirty". To avoid Pediococcus, winemakers most commonly grow up cultures of Leuconostoc and inoculate the desired wines with it. Where uninoculated, or "natural" malolactic fermentations are desired, winemakers can observe the wine under a microscope to see what cultures are growing, and intervene if necessary. Lactic acid bacteria are especially sensitive to low temperature and low levels of sulfur dioxide. If you don't want them to grow at all (like in Pinot Gris, for example), simply keep the wine cold and/or add a small dose of SO2.

Living and making wine in fly-over country

By Sarah Powell, Winemaker

WINE COUNTRY: This is a most challenging place to grow wine. The varied soils, sites and microclimates offer quite a diversity of conditions to understand. These same conditions offer a wide spectrum of grape characteristics, which when turned into wine, makes for tremendous blending opportunities. The diversity of our grape sources gives us an advantage in difficult vintages. Location and geology of the site influence amount of rainfall and water’s influence on grape quality. Heavy and shallow-pan soils (often valley floor) do not drain well, responding negatively to rain at harvest. Lighter, well-drained soils (often hillside and benchland) can handle rain well. Warmer aspects and locations ripen earlier, often harvested before rain occurs.

Photo: Doyne Podhorsky picking up and delivering grape bins during harvest.

Terroir and microclimate are real and exciting wine quality factors here. Most of our work has been from the ground up, starting with new growers with bare ground. We teach what we believe are the fundamentals for excellent wine quality in our region, and work together over the long run to understand each site. Our region is limited by its short growing season and over-all poor, shallow soils. High-end wines can only be achieved from vines with limited yields, generally 2-4 tons per acre. While these yields are traditional in the finer appellations of France, they are extremely low in the United States.

We are fortunate to work with growers who care a great deal about the wine that comes from their vineyard. Most of our growers made quality and philosophy of life changes with their decision to become farmers. Most wanted to escape an urban lifestyle. Some simply love wine, and dream of producing that exquisite bottle. Our team of growers has been a delight to work with over the years, and I have been fortunate to develop friendships, outside of wine, with many of them. I do not enjoy working with commodity growers who care more about high yields, decreased input costs and increased returns than wine quality.

Stylistically, the wines we produce have pronounced berry aromatics, lush flavor, and rich texture. Many of our admirers comment on how balanced our wines are and how lovely they finish in the mouth. The pronounced aromatics come largely from our “cooler” ripening temperatures (particularly at night), with the grapes usually picked during October. Due to our consistent yield restrictions, the concentration of any vintage is mostly determined by how dry the final ripening period is. High degrees of ripeness and lushness of tannins with the Bordeaux varieties are largely determined by whether we experience a reasonable heat spell in early October. Balance and finish come from a deft winemaking touch.

A comment we frequently hear about our wines is that they are “very ripe and concentrated for Oregon”. I am a winemaker who stylistically pursues ripeness, richness, and concentration. For many varieties, Southern Oregon produces riper grapes than Northern Oregon. The problem is, nearly all press about Oregon wines is about Northern Oregon, because that’s where most of the wineries are. In this state we are highly regarded for our reds. While consistently ripe and lush, they are also complex, soft, highly drinkable AND ageable. After beginning with excellent grapes, this is mostly due to our traditional practices of gentle handling during the winemaking, and patience during the wine aging.

Our greatest wine in the grand scheme of things, however, may just be Gewurztraminer. Many connoisseurs recognize ours as truly special, and similar to an excellent Alsatian wine. We have also gained this reputation for Pinot Blanc. We are working on this reputation for Pinot Gris.

FLY-OVER COUNTRY: So many people ask me how I can stand living in such an isolated place. They can’t imagine what I do to occupy myself! Nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts could easily spend a lifetime here. My very favorite activity is skiing. Most of my life I have lived near ski resorts in the Pacific Northwest. I even brought my skis with me to France...the Alps are quite close to Burgundy! The proximity of our wilderness areas and endless valley winter rain (I view it as endless, un-cut, high elevation powder snowfall!) has opened my world to the joys of back-county skiing. I now climb my own remote mountains and telemark ski down them. Our playground is usually the high Siskiyous, just South of Cave Junction, where we have found a winter recreational use for clearcut forest! With one of our grape growers near Medford, I also venture out in the Southern Oregon Cascades, often skiing over what are ancient lava bed flows interrupting the forest.

The back-country ski season here begins in late November or early December, and continues into July. Taking up this sport has given me an up-close understanding of the influence of weather patterns and elevation on our region. As the snow line melts, we have to go higher to get to the snow. It is fascinating to see the seasonal, flora, and fauna changes with elevation. While we’re farming the valley floor, wildflowers are abundant higher up, and so are bears!

Photo: Cere Stetson topping barrels.

In June I start making the transition to vegetable gardening, hiking, mountain biking, and inflatable kayaking. The hydrology of Southern Oregon is spectacular. Take your pick: Rogue, Klamath, Applegate, Illinois, Smith Rivers, and all the various creeks which feed them. The Smith and Illinois Rivers are fantastically clear, clean and remote. The headwaters of all these rivers and creeks are pristine forests of spectacular beauty. And this same water allows us to farm the valleys below.

From their mountainous origins to their ocean end, the Rogue and Klamath Rivers each pass through one of the most diverse geological basins in North America. Each begin in the volcanic Cascade Mountains, then pass through ancient sea-bed, then through geological uplift resulting from ages of tectonic plate movement. This geology is important, not only for farming (and historically, mining), but for many ecosystems. Each basin hosts one of the most diverse botanical populations as well. Rock fracture springs abound resulting in unfarmable low wetlands, and pristine mountain bogs. The serpentine soils play host to many rare and beautiful wildflowers and even carnivorous plants, like the insect-eating Darlingtonia. Red clay loams host immense stands of Cedars, Firs, Pines, Hemlock, Madrone, Oaks, Maples, Alders and Yew, to name a few. The Smith River gorge hosts the northern-most stand of Giant Redwoods, intermixed with ferns, fragrant wild Azalea and crimson Rhododendron.

While the “fly-over” status of our largely undeveloped and isolated region presents its challenges in marketing our wines, we all feel very fortunate to live in such an unspoiled place of remarkable beauty and uniqueness, and we believe it shows in our wines.

Pheasant Hill Vineyard

By Laura Lotspeich

Photo: Pheasant Hill Vineyard Owners, Kurt and Laura Lotspeich

In 1988, we began entertaining thoughts of growing wine grapes in Southern Oregon. At the time we were living in the mountains of Colorado and after only one year of trying to grow a garden there we had given up the thoughts of growing anything. We had moved there from Alaska where Kurt had worked as a pilot in the bush (we could grow more there than in Colorado!) Neither of these two locales was a great place to grow grapes, but Southern Oregon seemed like a wonderful place to get involved in a budding industry and Kurt's job as an airline pilot would allow the move. Kurt's parents had retired in the area, and a visit to Foris found us talking to Ted Gerber. Ted had a wonderful way of encouraging us — he said don't do it! Then he proceeded to give us all kinds of information on growing grapes. He told us to get Winkler's General Viticulture and read it. This dry textbook was written 20 years ago and while some of it still applies, I think Ted's idea was if we got through it, we would be serious enough to see the project through.

We planted our first five acres in 1990. Most of our family and many of our friends helped us with it, from deer fencing, to planting, to training the vines and waiting what seemed an eternity for the first crop in 1993. We had a concern that other growers would not want to see new growers and would be secretive with their knowledge. What we found was just the opposite. From the first conversation we had with Ted until today, we are impressed with the openness of this industry and with the help and shared knowledge of growers and wineries alike. It's like a big family.

Photo: Pheasant Hill Vineyard sits high above Medford and the Bear Creek Valley.

Our first planting was of four varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay. The Chardonnay was removed last fall. In 1995 and 1996, we planted a second five acres, all reds this time, as Merlot and Cabernet Franc were sought after varieties and grew well on our site. Last spring we planted eight acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and have an additional 15 acres to plant. Our philosophy has been slow growth and to reinvest the cash back into the vineyard. This is not just a labor intensive industry, it is also capital intensive.

Every grape we have sold has gone to Foris! Ever since Ted told us not to plant, we have had a great relationship with them. Winemaker Sarah Powell visits our vineyard several times a year. At harvest she comes out to taste the grapes and make picking decisions, but earlier in the year, she is also here to make suggestions to enhance grape quality before the fact. We work together to provide the best quality grapes we can grow so Foris can produce high quality wine for the consumer.

We believe in integrated production to provide for sustainable agriculture for generations to come. Weed control is primarily mechanical, insect control is via natural predators, and mildew control is primarily with sulfur, all of which serve to reduce the amount of chemicals going into the general environment and make the Earth a better place to live.

Photo: Ted Gerber and Clem

Employee Profile

By Tom Carlisle

Working the vineyard and winery at Foris demands a multitude of talents, most of which require the ability to know when one thing or another isn't going the way it's supposed to go. Sarah, wary of spoilage, is forever eliminating bad microbes that might play havoc with the fermentation process. Rick, Nathan, and the other vineyard workers keep an eye out for weevils, thrips, and mildew. And young Clem, who works the graveyard shift, has a nose for critters that regularly get in at night to eat the grapes.

Clem, a relatively new employee, is a one-year-old hound taken on board specifically to keep the vineyard free of varmints. According to Ted, Clem cleared out just about everything in no time at all. Except for maybe a fox, all the skunks, deer, and raccoons have retreated into the surrounding foothills. This fall, Clem undergoes his final evaluation. That's when the bears make their annual pilgrimage to Foris, doing their best to beat the field workers to the harvest.

A few years back, the bears took eight or nine tons of grapes, not an inconsiderable amount for an operation that produces sixty to seventy tons annually. In 1998, Ted stayed up all night chasing bears, but they still managed to eat four tons. Although Ted might have found himself a little grouchy from lack of sleep, he learned a thing or two about bear behavior — which in turn helped him write the job description for the position eventually filled by Clem.

He figured there were seven or eight bear regulars. From the patches of fur they left — cinnamon, brown, or black — he knew each animal had its own preferred method of entry. They made a small hole in the fence, climbed over the fence, or dug under the fence, entering the vineyard about the same time and place every night. They had a predilection for Muscat, a very aromatic early ripener, and then moved on to Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay, in that order. (For some reason, they don't touch the Riesling.) They eat their fill and then retreat to the adjacent national forest land to digest during the day. Even when chased off the property, the bears continue to return as long as it is dark, as long as they are hungry, and as long as they think they can get away with it.Keeping the fields free of bears produced a dilemma. On the one hand, the only way to permanently eliminate the bears is to kill them for trespassing. On the other hand, Ted doesn't like the idea of killing bears unnecessarily. He prefers peaceful coexistence.

Photo: A bear ‘hanging out’ on Julianne’s porch.

Up to a few years ago, Ted employed a "haze and chase" policy. Hired houndsmen ran the bears deep into the foothills every few weeks until the harvest was in. Being forced to find their way back to the vineyard might have inconvenienced the bears, but they weren't killed and got plenty of exercise.

Then a voter sponsored initiative passed in Oregon. It effectively outlawed "haze and chase" by confining the use of hounds to private property. The only reasonable alternatives were to kill the bears for trespassing or stay up all night chasing them off the property. Ted's been working for more enlightened legislation. But that takes time, and until Oregon state legislators can be convinced to modify the existing law—to protect the bears rather than kill them—it's up to Clem to enforce a good neighbor policy.

The job requirements are demanding, but the pay is rewarding. In exchange for a great nose (to sniff out the varmints), a powerful curiosity (to investigate unauthorized visitors), a sense of territory (to remain on the property), a strict dress code (short hair to avoid foxtails), and a highly developed sense of customer etiquette (to know the difference between people and varmints), Clem gets all the kibble, exercise, health care, and affection a dog could possibly want.

So next time you visit the tasting room, give Clem a pat on the head in appreciation of his efforts. And if he's asleep, keep in mind that he works the graveyard shift.

Wines should speak for themselves

By Julianne Allen, Marketing Director

One of the reasons I was inspired to join Foris as Marketing Director, was due to the sincere dedication and honest approach the "team" at Foris had adopted to promote the brand and develop the winery. Early on, we decided that our marketing would reflect integrity, rather than hype. We consciously chose not to follow the path of glitz, stardom and egodom that we saw so many wineries embracing. We believed the wines would speak for themselves and that we could rely on wine reviews to focus attention on our brand.

Photo: Dena Trinity greeting visitors to the tasting room.

I joined the wine biz in 1982. In those days, wine, premium wine anyway, was considered by the general consumer, to be for "connoisseurs". Over the past 15 years, there have been various efforts by the industry to remove this stigma. Still today, the percentage of Americans drinking wine on a weekly basis has not increased significantly. And while the industry appears to have survived the neo-prohibitionist era, the end result is that wine consumers started drinking less. But as marketers of premium wine, we patted ourselves on the back while noting, "Well, yes, Americans are drinking less, but fortunately for us, they are drinking better, more expensive wines."

New Release

1996 BARREL FERMENTED CHARDONNAY ROGUE VALLEY Varietal 100% Chardonnay 29% Estate Grown 35% Dijon Clones 65% Clone 108 Harvest Data Averages from many lots Picked Oct. 10-23, 1996 24 Brix Average 5.5 g/L TA 3.50 pH Barrel Aging 100% French Oak 25% New Barrels 11 Months sur lie Bottling Data 13.8% Alcohol 5.5 g/L TA 3.63 pH Bottled September, 1997 Production 2045 cases

It is that fact that has set wine marketers on a frenzy to create premium images for their brands. Since consumers are drinking better quality wine, wineries want to position themselves at the top of the pyramid. Many strive to allure the consumer into thinking their wine is a premium product, no matter what the quality. This is being done through expensive packaging, inflated pricing, and wine magazines that cater to producers that can "buy" their ratings through advertising. In addition, we have wine critics who produce newsletters that focus on an elite clique of boutique wineries who put themselves on a pedestal above their peers. Granted, some of these elite are the pioneers of the industry and certainly deserve recognition. But there is an onslaught of new, small producers, who have become the darlings of the press almost instantaneously.

Here is my frustration. The consumer has chosen to drink better wines. Wineries are inflating their images to target the consumer. The wine press is catering to cliquish wineries as a self-fulfilling way to sell newsletters. Like newspapers, talking about the "stars", tragedies and frauds makes for good copy.

Aside from The Wine Spectator, the two most influential wine writers in the U.S. are Robert Parker and Steve Tanzer. I recently learned that Parker and Tanzer sell just 40,000 newsletters annually. About 20% are sold to the trade. The conclusion is that the industry (wineries, wholesalers and retailers) armed with reviews and quotes for marketing material have "invented" the experts. They depend on this approach in order to sell their product because they don't have the means or resources to really service the consumer. It's ironic that the industry is so paralyzed at a time when the consumer is so thirsty for information.

So, where do we go from here and what is our responsibility to our customers? How do we educate the consumer about our wines with limited advertising funds and a press that has no immediate interest or understanding of our region? Do we continue with grassroots marketing or do we cave into the hype approach of so many peers in our industry?

It is this dilemma that leads me back to the wines themselves. Our growers and winemaker, Sarah Powell, have made great strides towards producing world class wine. We are on the cusp of achieving this goal. In our humble way, we will continue to pursue excellence, hopefully emerging as a winery that is known not only for the quality of its wine but for its integrity in marketing. As such, it is our heartfelt hope that we will build not only consumer loyalty, but trust.