Bottling Reds at Shaw Vineyard

By Jason Feulner, Finger Lakes Correspondent

Although Ravines Wine Cellars is located on Keuka Lake, owner-winemaker Morten Hallgren crafts his wines using space at Shaw Vineyard, located a few miles to the east on Seneca Lake. Hallgren and Steve Shaw, winemaker and owner of Shaw Vineyard, work independently but of course try to coordinate production schedules to enhance services and manpower.

Before the fall harvest, Steve Shaw invited me over to the winery to watch as he bottled some of the reds wines from both wineries. I was interested to check it out because both winemakers use a mobile bottling line, an operation that I thought would be a delight to witness.

I was not disappointed. The mobile unit, owned and operated by Peter Oughterson of Highland Cellars, is a marvel of efficiency, cramming all kinds of machinery in a medium-sized rig that would otherwise have taken up quite a bit of floor space in a winery's facility. As I scurried around, poking my head in various openings through both sides of the truck, the bottles moved through the long, narrow gauntlet of moving parts, being filled with wine, getting corked, and finally emerging with shiny new labels identifying the contents.

During my visit, I witnessed the bottling of Morten's 2007 merlot, the first varietal merlot that he has bottled. Last spring, I had the pleasure to taste the individual lots that went into this wine, and came away impressed by the robust, ripe, fruit, backed with solid structure and smooth tannins. The final wine is impressive, with a full body that belies the wine's regional origin.

The months of heat and drought during the summer of 2007 are relative rarities in the Finger Lakes region. I suspect that some of the red wines from the vintage will excel far beyond normal expectations.

I also had a chance to taste Morten's 2007 Meritage blend which was in queue for the bottling line. Like his previous bottlings, it showed a great deal of balance with multiple layers of flavors and aromas. It tasted young, but the fruit potential was there, and I'm looking forward to this one much like the 2005, which it may even surpass.

Steve Shaw had already bottled some his reds the day before my visit. Surprisingly, Steve was not bottling his 2007 reds... he was bottling his 2005s!

I pressed Steve on his reasoning for bottling a vintage nearly two years after most other Finger Lakes wineries. "This is my plan," he stated firmly. "I believe that my reds benefit from more aging in the barrel before release, and so I stick to it."

Considering that many wineries in Europe also wait three or more years to release their reds, I was charmed by Steve's insistence that he was enhancing the quality of his wines. Do reds from a cool climate improve with such treatment?

I sampled his 2005 merlot, which he probably won't release for some time. Earthy, rugged tones were present, and the fruit revealed itself in nuances that built on top of one another through several sips. In its current state, this merlot seems to be building itself toward becoming a standout among Finger Lakes merlots from the same vintage.

Both Ravines and Shaw Vineyards produce great whites, but both winemakers believe adamantly that the Finger Lakes has untapped potential with reds. They feel that the right combination of extended hang time, careful handling, and lot selection can enhance the fruit and produce a red wine with the same distinction found in regions that produce celebrated reds.

Not all consumers and critics may agree, but like many Finger Lakes winemakers who continue to improve their reds vintage after vintage, Hallgren and Shaw's wines make a compelling and interesting case.

Comments

[Alvin Lewis]

Interesting. I was just having a conversation with someone about the apparent paucity of Finger Lakes reds. On reading this article I decided to re-check my notes and discovered two items: that indeed there are some excellent reds coming from the region and that I have not tried enough of them. IMHO Red Newt, Hazlitt, and Heron Hill have been the stand outs so far, but it has hardly a scientific sample. I'll be looking forward to the release of the Shaw 05 Merlot. It will be interesting to see what nearly three years in the barrel with some bottle aging thrown in to boot will do.

[Jason Feulner]

Alvin,

There are a lot of Finger Lakes wineries and it will be a big quest, but I think you're bound to find some things you like. What I didn't emphasize in the article are the reds currently available from Ravines and Shaws, many of which are worth a try if you're scanning the area.

In addition, I'd say that there are at least a dozen wineries that really seem to "get" the reds and produce good stuff. Some are a little more handicapped by vintage conditions than others, but there is something akin to consistency present year after year.

I think pinot noir, cabernet franc, and the meritages seem to stand out most if you look at the area in general. Don't forget about lemberger or some the unusual vinifera reds that places like McGregor release.

Good luck!

[John Sperr]

What's the story behind the tirage in the grape lugs?

[Jason Feulner]

Well, the guys loading the cases had to drink something!

Actually, it is quite simple--these were waiting under an overhang since all the interior rooms of the facility were stuffed with tanks and barrels. I'm not sure what they were or when they were going to get some corks.

[John Sperr]

Sure looks like an attempt at making sparkling wine -- if that is the case, it's a really disorganized and slipshod operation in my opinion. Attention to the details is very important in making good sparkling wine.

[Jason Feulner]

John--I think one of the risks of making such a sweeping pronouncement based only on a snapshot is that you run the risk of not taking into account some of the realities that exist outside of the border of a limited and temporary image.

Shaw does not make sparkling wine. Morten Hallgren does, but he has yet to release a vintage since he is adhering strictly to the methode champenois and his bottles are aging in a climate controlled cellar as we speak. Also, Hallgren's education as to how to make wines properly is a bit more extensive than most winemakers in many regions in this country. I refer you to this post from last year: http://lennthompson.typepad.com/lenndevours/2007/06/a_delicate_touc.html

In the first two paragraphs describing Morten's background, I think the point is made that slipshod is highly unlikely.

These are not sparkling bottles waiting to be disgorged and dosaged. I think the most simple explanation is that these were bottles that were filled for the sake of expediency but had to wait in line for corking and labeling as the day wore on. Shade was present overhead, and the temperatures were quite mild, so a decision was made for whatever reason to approach the limited bottling and corking time in this manner for this particular lot of wines.

I hope that clears up the confusion. I submitted the photo to Lenn because I thought it was a cool in terms of composition, and he obviously agreed.

[John Sperr]

Jason --

The closures on the bottles certainly look like crown caps and the glass has the heavy and dark look typical of the slightly over sized sparkling wine bottle. The only place you commonly see crown cap closures used in a winery is in the production of sparkling wine. You cannot apply them to a standard burgundy bottle. I assumed what was in the bottles is tirage and wondered what the story was behind it.

You state what is not in these bottles, but admit you don't know what is. I'll leave it to you to run down the details.

[Jason Feulner]

The glass looks darker in the contrast of the photograph that it did in person. Within these typical burgundy bottles, I saw contents that seemed to be still red wine without a great deal of sendiment of yeast. One of the lugs had a pinkish rose wine in it, and I do recall some bottle variation on other parts of the pile. None of the bottles were the very wide and heavy champagne-style bottles.

Also, it occurs to me now that any sparkling wines from the '07 vintage would have been bottled months ago and would be in permanent storage in the hillside cellars in Hammondsport and not piled in queue, outside, next to the bottling truck. When I took this photograph, absolutely none of '08 grapes had been picked.

If I recall, since Ravines has not released any sparklers yet, the production of such would have been far, far less than the scope of the pile shown here. I looked at the other photographs and there are A LOT of bottles: perhaps 400 cases or more. Neither operation makes more than a few thousand cases a year in total.

So, I think I'll stick with my original explanation but I'll let you know if any other evidence comes to light. As for the crown caps, I did a little bit of searching on the good 'ol internet and it seems that variations do exist and have been employed on still wine bottles even for a permanent closure, although these type of crown caps are rare. Maybe it's part of the reality of waiting for the mobile bottling line?

[John Sperr]

Morten Hallgren says: "What you see in these boxes are indeed bottles of sparkling wine. More specifically, these bottles contain my 2007 Brut and Brut Rose. The bottling for the second fermentation took place in September just as Jason took this picture."

[Jason Feulner]

Very interesting--he is making a ton more sparkling wine than I assumed. As to why the 2007's made it all the way back to Shaw's, I'm sure there is a long and winding explanation having something to do with logistics.

Thanks for digging this up, John, as the entire thing did not make much sense. The bottles still look very much like typical bottles in the photographs I have, but I'll take it from the winemaker's mouth!