SETTEMBRE
A VENERABLE ITALIAN WINEMAKER ONCE INFORMED ME THAT GOOD WINE IS MADE FROM THREE THINGS:
GOOD GRAPES.
GOOD YEASTS.
GOOD BARRELS.
THE GRAPES FOR CA’ MUSU ARE GROWN HERE ON OUR FARM. WINE PIRATI SOURCES GRAPES FROM SMALL, LOCAL GROWERS. GOOD FRUIT IS GROWN IN WEST MICHIGAN.
GOOD YEASTS ARE ALL AROUND US. WE HAVE NEVER PURCHASED A CULTURED YEAST STRAIN FOR USE IN OUR PETITE CANTINA. WE DO NOT EVEN UTILIZE A PIED DE CUVE. THE MICROBIOME IN THE CANTINA IS HEALTHY. AS SUCH, FERMENTATIONS NATURALLY START AND FINISH WITH LITTLE ASSISTANCE.
BUT WHAT OF THE BARRELS?
I MUST ADMIT THAT IN THE IGNORANCE OF MY YOUTH FRENCH OAK WAS ALWAYS HELD IN THE HIGHEST REGARD. BUT WHY? I COULD NOT SAY FOR CERTAIN. THE FRENCH ARE CLEVER MARKETEERS, IT MUST BE ADMITTED.
AFTER WORKING FOR A WINERY IN ITALIA, NUMEROUS VARIETIES OF EUROPEAN OAK WERE DISCOVERED- MUCH TO MY DELIGHT. SLOVENIAN, HUNGARIAN, BULGARIAN, AND MORE! FRENCH OAK NO LONGER SEEMED SO ILLUSTRIOUS.
AMERICAN OAK? NEVER! SURE, IT IS A STAPLE OF WINEMAKING IN RIOJA AND MANY OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD… AND YET, I ALWAYS THOUGHT OF IT PEJORATIVELY.
UNTIL RECENTLY, THAT IS.
WE WORK WITH A MASTER COOPER BASED IN WEST MICHIGAN. HE HAS CUSTOM FABRICATED BARRELS FOR US FROM WEST MICHIGAN GROWN WHITE OAK.
MUCH TO THE COOPER’S SURPRISE, AND MY OWN, HIS BARRELS HAVE MADE ME UNQUESTIONABLY RECONSIDER MY BIAS AGAINST AMERICAN OAK.
APPARENTLY, SOME OF THE WHITE OAK TRESS GROWN IN WEST MICHIGAN HAVE A COMPOSITION CLOSER TO THAT OF SOME OF THEIR EUROPEAN COUNTERPARTS, INCLUDING FRANCE. IT SHOWS.
FOR US, ALTHOUGH THE FERMENTATIONS ARE INDICATIVE, THE INDISPUTABLE PROOF IS IN THE FINISHED WINE.
WHITE OAK IS NOT THE ONLY DESIRABLE WOOD FOR WINE BARRELS THAT IS GROWN IN WEST MICHIGAN. SOON ENOUGH, MORE VARIETIES OF BARRELS WILL GRACE OUR CANTINA.
ALL GROWN AND MADE IN WEST MICHIGAN.
IS THE WINE YOU ARE DRINKING MADE IN GOOD BARRELS?