How Do You Define Quality In Winegrapes?
November 11, 2010 We hear and read the adage, “you can’t make quality wine without quality grapes” all the time, and there is certainly truth in that statement. But again, what are we calling quality? How do we measure it? And how does a grower manage for “quality?” We obviously can’t measure quality directly, and you can’t manage what you can’t measure, so there have to be alternative measurements that we can use to determine if we are producing quality fruit. This is where communication between growers and wineries becomes paramount. If there isn’t an understanding ahead of time as to what constitutes quality grapes, it can lead to problems down the road.
Determining Quality
So what are some things that can be used to try to get at “quality?”
• Brix: This has always been, and continues to be, the most commonly used parameter by growers and wineries to make picking decisions, partly because it is so easy to measure. In some cases, sugar development tracks very well with other factors like color or acidity. However, we have seen a lot of situations out West where fruit achieves very high Brix levels but does not develop acceptable color or flavor. And on the flip side, fruit with lower sugar levels, and thus lower alcohol levels, can make some very good wines depending on the desired style.
• Acidity: In some situations, there may be more concern about acidity levels in the fruit than sugars. Techniques and materials are now used in many wineries, however, to adjust acidity levels in the cellar to where the winemaker wants them, so this is perhaps a bit less of an issue than other quality measurements.
• Fruit Condition: Here in the East, it is very difficult not to have at least a little bit of bunch rot develop on some clusters, and any winemaker who has experienced more than one harvest out here knows this and learns to manage it. At some point, though, enough rot will start to cause off-flavors and aromas that can negatively affect the quality of the finished product. Some rots are worse than others, too. A load of Riesling with 2% botrytis may actually enhance flavors, while 2% sour rot infection may be highly problematic.
• Color: Red grapes with poor visible coloration certainly can be an indication of fruit that is underripe or has other problems. But the factors that really influence just how much color potential there is in a final wine, like the anthocyanin content of the berries, are hard to measure without some serious lab equipment and personnel. And a lot of what determines the final color of a red wine happens during and after fermentation, so even pressed or macerated fruit may not provide a very good indication of what the final color will be.
• Flavor: Ah, yes, the ultimate arbiter of quality. In a finished wine, this is certainly true, but can you tell what the flavors of the wine will be like by tasting the grapes? Some recent studies have suggested there isn’t necessarily much correlation between the two. What is more realistic is to identify the absence of certain flavors, like methoxypyrazines that produce bell pepper flavors or harsh, bitter tannins.
Ultimately, of course, the final answer to the question, “What is quality?” comes down whoever is buying the fruit, and those answers may very well change from business to business. Growers have to be willing to adapt their practices and communications to each buyer’s needs in order to produce quality fruit, however that may be defined.
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