Monday, March 30, 2009

Ancient Vines, Old Vines, It’s all Greek to me

by Charlie Tsegeletos, Director of Winemaking

The phrase “old” or “ancient” vines is tossed around a lot in the wine world. Here at Cline Cellars, we adhere to a strict guideline that directs us in carefully choosing which vineyard to use. This is what "Ancient" means to us:

First, the average age of all the vines must be at least 50 years old. This is easy for our Cline AV Carignane program. These grapes come exclusively from two vineyards that were planted in 1906 and 1925 in Oakley, California. The Cline AV Mourvèdre also comes from two old Oakley vineyards, which were planted in 1920. The Cline AV Zinfandel comes from several exquisite Lodi, Contra Costa County and Mendocino County vineyards. The two oldest vineyards are Cline Estate Contra Costa Zinfandel vineyards that were planted in 1906 and 1910.

The second criterion is that the vines produce intense and flavorful grapes. We pick these grapes at about 26 degrees brix (the dissolved sugar-to-water mass ratio of a liquid), which turns into about 15% alcohol. While we want our AV series to have big and bold body, it is important to us that the flavor must balance with the wine.

Lastly, most of the grapes that go into the AV program are head-trained and spur-pruned. Our farming methods ensure that the grapes get ample sunlight, good ventilation and little water. Many are not irrigated; that allows the vine to focus on ripening the grapes, deepening the color and adding flavor, rather than growing foliage. The only downside to this is that the yield is often very low - at or below 4 tons per acre.

To sum it all up, to be a part of our AV program, the vineyard must be at least 50 years old, produce intense but balanced grapes and be properly farmed. All of these rules help to ensure that our Ancient Vines Carignane, Mourvèdre, and Zinfandel are as delicious as they can be.

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