Consider the decisions open to a winemaker.
New American oak can nudge a wine one direction, aged French barrels another. Stainless steel can make fruit flavors pop in some whites while concrete deepens the mineral undertones. Even before selecting a barrel, the winemaker may opt to let crushed skin and seeds wallow in the freshly pressed juice, or to allow the grapes to hang on the vine just a little while longer, or …
Well, you get the picture. Every call made by those tending it affects the character of a wine. Yet so many people in the industry brush off praise for their efforts.
“Winemaking is like developing a photograph,” explained Six Sigma’s Christian Ahlmann. “You have to translate fruit into the bottle, but flavor comes from farming.”
If that’s the case, the terroir — the French term for the point where soil, climate and perhaps even tillage pounce on grapes — at Six Sigma Ranch must be rather favorable, particularly for Tempranillo.
Six Sigma’s 2013 Tempranillo bursts from the glass. Aromas of black cherry and ripe plum flow over ribbons of cracked leather, curling cigar smoke and cured fig. It’s a fruit basket on the nose, tempered by hearty notes of crushed tomato dusted by spice and a dense, earthy foundation.
The darker impression emerges again mid-palate. A sip first showcases a wealth of fresh fruit — ripe and full cherries along with split plums that romp for a moment before yielding a little ground to the familiar comfort of a gentleman’s smoking lounge, worn by many an evening of after dinner relaxation. As the sensation continues to improve, with notes of velour and clove, the fruit flavors reassert themselves, swaying again to a rich, playful rhythm that draws you from the staid, gentlemanly pause.
Then winemaker Matt Hughes held the wine in mostly new French oak for 18 months, allowing the softer, earthier notes to develop. Again, however, Ahlmann directs praise to the soil.
“It’s a perfect fit, Lake County and Tempranillo,” he said. “All we have to do is not mess it up.”
At high elevation the grapes strain through simmering afternoons and nipping evenings. The sugars and acids tip this way and that until finding balance. Sampled from the vine, the fruits explode on the palate.
Of course, decisions made by the winemaking team in the vineyard course through the finished product. Six Sigma employs organic techniques, an approach that forces the vines to seek nutrients — and character — from the volcanic earth.
As a result, Ahlmann points out, there is a lot to work with even before they crush the grapes and begin the myriad considerations that define the art of winemaking.
“We just let the grapes keep a connection with the soil,” Ahlmann said.
Oh, by the way — tomorrow is International Tempranillo Day. Here is a reason to celebrate.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
Dave Faries — Lake County Publishing
Eunice Rivera pours the 2013 Tempranillo at Six Sigma’s tasting room.
