A wine term - FOXY
You know you’re a cute little heartbreaker
Foxy…
You know you’re a sweet little lovemaker
Foxy…
If only it were true for wine. As much as Jimi Hendrix intended his words as a great compliment to the young woman that was the subject of his song, using the word “foxy” about a wine most decidedly does not mean beautiful and alluring. The term foxy in wine refers to a negative flavor/aroma component, and more specifically a pejorative term about non-vitis vinifera vines, i.e. American vines as well as American Hybrid grapes (Eurasian vitis vinifera cultivars that have been crossed with other American vitis species). The Concord grape variety (best known to the consumer as the material for jellies and jams, and for heavy, sweet, Kosher wines like Manischewitz) is often seen as the poster child grape variety for the foxiness.
It’s not all that involved really…the term foxy has its roots in the smell of actual fox hides - that “animal”, “musky”, or “funky” smell that is more reminiscent of the smell of a wet dog than a fermented fruit juice. Though foxiness is most closely associated with American and hybrid grape varieties, hybrids such as Seyval Blanc (white) and Norton (red) are completely devoid of any trace of foxiness. Likewise, there are occasionally 100% vitis vinifera wines that can show traces of this aroma.
The source of foxiness in wine, until quite recently, had not been precisely isolated, but within the last decades, a compound called methyl anthranilate has been tapped as the likely culprit, though even more recently another compound - o-amino acetophenone has also been cited as another possible source for this stinkiness. That being said, some fairly successful techniques have been developed to diminish foxiness, namely earlier harvest dates, and more extended cask aging. But despite this, the future of grape varieties that are prone to foxiness is still quite limited, and is likely to remain that way as more and more people become familiar with high quality vitis vinifera wines.
TOM CIOCCO
fools and their monies are soon parted - the wine way!
The old adage still holds true after all of these years. Late last month, Italian police broke up yet another ring of wine counterfeiters. The scam involved the faking of bottles of predominantly Barolo, Brunello, Amarone, and Chianti with juice obtained in the southern Italian region of Puglia. These ersatz bottings, very sophisticated ones by the way, were being funneled primarily into German supermarkets - some bottles whose contents were deemed to be worth 2 Euros, were being sold in some cases for more than 100!
Sure, we can and should blame the fakers first and foremost - they’re greedy, dishonest opportunists, and deserve to be permanently put out of business and heavily fined. But there’s another saying that says “It takes two to tango”, and the other partner in this dance of deceit is the greedy and/or uneducated consumer. This is how I see it…Sure it makes economic sense to fake Italy’s most prestigious wines. The “3 big B’s”, and Amarone, etc. are indeed “noble” wines. For various reasons, they do cost more to produce than many other other wines, but a sizable chunk of what these wines cost is not based on any real cost structure, but simply perceived prestige plus demand. And as harsh as this might sound, wines like this all too often attract people who have more interest in what wines like this represent in terms of status than in what they represent in terms of culture, history, quality, etc. And all too often, these label chasers are less likely to have even a snowball’s chance in hell of sussing out the fraud, and this is one of the reasons (aside from the economic one) why the deceitful choose these wines over others - they know that these types of wines attract more bullion than brains; more greed than grasp, and this almost certainly stimulates someone’s Robin Hood gene - a way to steal from ignorant, greedy, and status-obessessed rich folks with little chance of having the drinkers themselves blow the whistle.
Now clearly, not everyone who got swindled here was rich or greedy or status obssessed, but let’s face it, faking Verdicchio or Castel del Monte just isn’t very lucrative or even necessary, but those who buy into the notion that certain wines make them cool or sophisticated, and who don’t diversify their “drinking portfolio” are just that much more vulnerable to these deceits. Will I spend $60 or $70 per bottle OCCAISIONALLY to build my cellar, sure, but TONS of people who get into wine - mostly the super type-A personalities with LOTS of money - one way or another gravitate toward cult Cabernets, 100 total case production Shirazes, and $100 bottles of Barolo at the expense of nearly EVERYTHING else. Suggesting a dry Hungarian Furmint or a warm red from Alentejo can bring anything from indifference to overt, snorting disdain, and whether these folks know it or not, these money and status-based “tastes” make them the most most vulnerable to getting rooked.
Further, though the exact labels that were faked were not disclosed in anything that I have read thus far, I’m pretty confident in guessing that they were the BIG, “gold standard” names in their respective categories. Faking the wines of a little known, artisanal, though nonetheless BRILLIANT producers is not only MUCH more difficult (suddenly producer “X”, who normally turns out 3,000 bottles per vintage, is now turning up everywhere), but will not produce the desired effect for the counterfeiter (big $$$!). Intended or unintended, drinkers with more money than knowledge are the targets here, and I daresay that most of them will never know they’ve been snookered.
Now could it have been you or I that got swindled on some of these bottles? - easily, just as easily as the intended marks. Am I in any way defending these crooks? Absolutely not, but this is not the first time that this has happened, and it probably won’t be the last, but until we stop anointing certain wines as SO FAR superior to others, we’re perpetually vulnerable, and the more you follow the fashions, the more vulnerable you are, full stop. Educate yourself, persue and cultivate new tastes and places, and as always, caveat emptor. Here’s a link to DECANTER magazine’s short piece on the event:
POLICE UNCOVER ITALIAN WINE FRAUD
TOM CIOCCO
Now
Timorasso - One of Italy’s “biggest” whites
The rare grape series continues…
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We’re reaching deep down into the deep bag that is the collection of native Italian grape varieties by featuring a truly unique white grape variety called…Timorasso…
Timorasso hails from south-eastern Piedmont, and more specifically, from the Colli Tortonesi (the hills around the small city of Tortona) which is bounded by the Langhe, The Monferrato Hills, and the Oltrepo` Pavese regions. Timorasso is not THE rarest of rare Italian grape varieties, but it probably sits in the “second tier” of rarities. Currently, only about 17 hectares (42 acres) of land is planted to Timorasso by about 15 different producers. But despite its rarity nowadays, Timorasso once was widely planted throughout Piedmont and Liguria, but due to the variety’s propensity to abort its flowers, propagation of the vine becomes very difficult, and even then, this tendency dramatically reduces yields. For many farmers of the past, these flaws were simply too much to brook, consequently, it was ripped up and replaced by more cooperative and productive varieties.
Physiologically, Timorasso has exceedingly thick skins, an attribute that may have almost single-handedly saved it from complete extinction. In the often wet and cold areas where Timorasso grows, possessing such thick skins goes a long way to warding off all forms of rot and mold. Further, these thick skins, if one chooses to macerate the must on them, can lend the wine a highly structured, almost “tannic” quality. Further, the berries, when fully ripe, are very sweet, and therefore Timorasso can and does produce very full-bodied, highish alcohol wines.
In the glass, Timorasso really shows its novel character - it is big-bodied, dense, and sapid with a powerful “nervosity” in terms of mouth feel, and with age (Timorasso ages well and with ever more development year after year), a prominent roasted hazelnut character. On the olfactory side, it is not a wine that demonstrates lots of obvious “fruit” flavors, though permutations of citrus fruits and pears are often cited descriptors. More prominently, Timorasso tends toward an intense, “twangy” minerality, white spices, green licorice, and dried wildflowers.
Timorasso pairs well with strong, salty appetizers, “noble” birds like turkey and guinea fowl, and strongly flavored fish, as well as any dish cooked with large amounts of herbs, beans, or vegetables.
As always, please post your tasting notes for this, or any other Timorasso wines (good luck with that!) here as comments. One further note - the wine below is listed as a “Derthona” - this is a new designation for Timorasso from Colli Tortonesi - just FYI…
TOM CIOCCO
Clear confidence or just plain foolishness
I look at LOTS of bottles of wine every day. There are Burgundy bottles, Bordeaux bottles, Mosel bottles, bottles that are too big, ones that are far too small, and some that are JUST RIGHT! And though I don’t see them all that often, there are certain bottle types that when I do, make me wonder about the winemaker’s choice. The choice to which I’m referring is the bottling of (almost exclusively) white wine in clear bottles. In short, it seems to me that this choice is one of either unbridaled confidence or just plain foolishness.
Everyone knows that heat is likely the greatest enemy of wine (apart from ice cubes or packets of saccharine, but let’s not go down that path…), and many people also know that excessive vibration can accelerate the aging process, but LIGHT is also a major problem for wine, especially for white wines that have fewer protections from the ravages of intense light (it’s the tannins again).
Now the most obvious (business) reason to bottle in clear glass is so that your prospective customer can see what a beautful color your wine has (or at least you think that it’s beautiful). The other type of wine bottled in clear glass that once can run across are rose` wines. And though I’m still not sure that clear glass is ultimately the best choice in this case either, it’s easy to see why some decide to go that route. First, rose` wine has the greatest range of colors, hues, and highlights, and these colors give the experienced consumer a “sneak preview” of what the wine may taste like. For example, one could imagine what a pale, copper-colored rose` wine might taste like in comparison with a deep, cherry-red one, and having this information might indeed help to take one from the shelf and leave the other. Moreover, with a wine that, right or wrong, is perceived to be a hot weather tipple (i.e. highly seasonal), bottling in clear glass is less risky because any rose` wine that hasn’t been sold by the end of September is perceived by many to be “toast” whether it comes packaged in a clear bottle or a bank vault, so the feeling is is that the the potential benefits of transparent bottles far outweigh any of the associated negatives when considering roses. But like rose wines, white wines are always served chilled, they seem to transcend seasonal prejudices that plague rose` sales, so white wines, even the decidedly less stalwart examples, are still perceived to be “year round” items by many wine drinkers, so whites tend to linger longer on shelves than roses do…Which returns us to the central question “Why bottle white wine in clear bottles?”
As I’ve already said, color is THE determining factor for the decision, and I might GUESS (I don’t really know for sure however) that clear glass might be SLIGHTLY cheaper, but to me, the potential risks are just too great to mess with. Sure, seeing shiney gold nectar in a bottle is quite appealing, but equally UNAPPEALING is obviously browned, oxidized wine that most likely got that way because of too much light exposure. Now if you get an over-the-hill bottle of Mario Cuppacoffi’s white wine, you’re unlikely to forget it even if it did come in a dark bottle - your brain has made a a negative connection between that producer and that problem. But imagine the identical situation with a clear bottle - in this case, you’ll not only make the connection to the producer’s name, but very likely, you’ll also form a visual negative connotation as well (the memory of how bad that deep yellow liquid tasted). To me, it’s just one more pitfall that is COMPLETELY avoidable
Now some might argue that a clear bottle assures the knowledgeable customer some assurance that what he or she is buying is fresh, but I’d reply with two counter-points. First, the VINATGE of a wine is the first clue to me whether a wine is fresh or tired (crazy idea, huh?) - no need to look any further on that front…Second, there are wines, that for reasons of either style or the natural color properties of the grape/grapes in question, are just naturally darker, and sometimes alarmingly so, so this is a case in which some general knowledge about what sunstruck wine looks like can actually put people off of perfectly sound bottles because they LOOK dodgy, but in reality are just fine…
So unless I’m missing something, a cocktail of sales hubris and (perhaps) some slight cost savings are afoot in this little clear glass conundrum…Now obviously I’m not telling you to run away screaming from the first bottle of wine in clear glass that happens to cross your path - I’ve got a few of these gems scattered about on our shelves even as we speak - just pay extra attention to the color of the wine your bottle, and if you’re in doubt, ASK SOMEBODY…thoughts?
TOM CIOCCO
