Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, wine professionals have been forced to rely on virtual training to keep up with education in the industry.  As such, many of us have actively jumped into hosting Zoom education classes for our customers as well as fellow industry professionals in order to stay informed and inspired with the lack of in person connections.  Over the summer, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sarah Hwang, co-owner of Domaine Huet in Vouvray.  Anyone in the wine industry would agree that Domaine Huet is quite possibly the premier producer of this historic Loire Valley appellation in France.  Their world class Chenin Blanc wines range in levels of sweetness, and are carefully farmed according to biodynamic principles and traditionally vinified yielding some of the most exciting white wines produced on the planet.  I was honored to have this special time with Sarah, her passion for the business and top quality wine is clear and it was inspiring to learn more about the history of this great domaine and the details connected to their holdings, farming, production, and personnel.  I have outlined a general timeline of Domaine Huet with details below from my conversation with Sarah. 

History

Gaston was joined in 1971 by his son-in-law, Noël Pinguet, and 1979 by chef de culture, Jean-Bernard Bertholmé. Together, they crafted legendary wines from their three parcels—with the vineyards and nature dictating which grapes would become Sec, Demi-Sec, or Moelleux. The estate always held back significant stocks of older vintages, and these wines’ near immortality has helped to further the Huet legend.  In 2002, with Gaston ailing, a financial partner was needed to ensure the continuation of the estate’s rich legacy. Anthony Hwang, from New York, purchased a majority stake, and today his children reside at and direct the estate, ensuring that this benchmark producer has a strong future.  With Bertholmé in charge of winemaking since 2012, the domaine may be making its most consistently great wines ever. It was one of the earliest adopters of biodynamics, and recent wines, perhaps more than any in the domaine’s history, achieve a fascinating level of transparency, purity, and knife-edged balance.

·      Domaine founded in 1928, Chenin Blanc has been associated with Vouvray since the 9th Century

·      Started by Victor Huët, a Parisian bistro owner

·      Le Haut-Lieu, first vineyard to be purchased (lies on the Première Côte, or first slope) – Grand Cru

·      Le Mont purchased in 1957 and Clos du Bourg in 1963, both in the Première Côte

·      Gaston took over in 1937 – 55 years in charge

·      Gaston was joined by Noël Pinguet, his son in law in 1971 and 1979 Jean-Bernard Berthomé (manager today)

·      2002, Gaston was ailing and needed a financial partner.  Anthony Hwang from New York purchased a majority stake.  His children reside at the estate.  Sarah and Hugo Hwang, brother and sister Duo

·      Since 2012 Berthomé has been in charge of winemaking. 

Wines

At their discretion, the estate produces Sec, Demi-Sec, Moelleux, or Moelleux 1ère Trie (“first selection”) from any of the three principal vineyards: Le Haut Lieu, Le Mont, and Clos du Bourg.  A superb sparkling Pétillant is also made, drawing grapes from all three vineyards, as well as from other small parcels on the estate.  Le Haut-Lieu began as the original Huet vineyard and is nearly 9 ha. It has the richest soils of the domaine’s three crus—a deep limestone-clay— the wines from this site are generally the estate’s most approachable. In some vintages, small quantities from nearby estate parcels may be added to Le Haut-Lieu.

·      Styles span from sparkling, dry, semi-sweet, and dessert level sweet

·      Le Haut Lieu- 9 ha, has the richest soils, a deep limestone clay.  Generally the most approachable of the three vineyards. 

·      Le Mont – This and Clos du Bourg  are the greatest vineyards in Vouvray.  Undisputedly a Grand Cru.  Less clay and more stone than Le Haut-Lieu

·      Clos du Bourg – Gaston believed this to be the greatest vineyard in Vouvray.  With the Première Côtes shallowest, stoniest soils. 

·      Cuvée Constance – Their ultra-sweet dessert wine produced since 1989, only in top years.

‘There has been a lot of talk about this next song. Maybe … maybe too much talk.’– Bono at Red Rocks, Under a Blood Red Sky Tour, 1983

Anyone old enough to remember Bono’s iconic introduction of the band’s early-80’s anthem also has the perspective necessary to appreciate the sea change in American consumption habits over the past 40 years. Afterall, at the time U-2 was commemorating the horrors of Bloody Sunday the USDA was proposing that ketchup be recognized as a vegetable for purposes of American school lunch programs.

And although our attitudes towards healthful consumption have indeed evolved since that time, within alcohol beverage ideas around better-for-you consumption appear still to be stuck in a 1980’s time warp.

There has been a lot of talk about “Better for You” in wine. Frankly maybe a little too much talk. As an advocate for sustainability, as a small business owner, and as a wine professional my attitude is that it is time for action. While Big Wine has sought to contain the meaning of the movement to low sugar (any dry wine by definition is low in sugar) the potential for this movement is BIGGER than just low-sugar, and the stakes are far higher. We are at such a pivotal point in our societal awakening to not recognize that we are selling this opportunity short.

I own and operate a small wine shop and specialty food store in Boulder, Colorado. Given our proximity to a major research university and the highly engaged citizens who make up my clientele, learning what better for you can and should mean in wine has been both a pleasure and necessity. In my view there are a few key metrics that retailers and retaurateurs should consider in building a better-for-you category.

1. Purity – it has been said that sometimes it is less important what you DO put in your body that what you DON’T put it in your body. While sugar is a very important piece of the purity picture, at least inasmuch as consumers are seeking out dry wines, other attributes of purity such as freedom from pesticides are arguably more important. Wineries have the power to remove or reduce industrial contaminants from their products through practices such as working with certified organic vineyards and by limiting the sort of synthetic additives they make into their wines in the cellar. Clean Label Project also offers a Certified Pesticide Free certification. As of this writing IBG Wines’ Lifevine brand and Albertson’s O Organics platform are the only brands currently to carry this certification.
2. Transparency – making healthful choices should be a fundamental exercise in individual freedom and responsibility. However, as Rob McMillan has pointed out in his annual report SVB on Wine the wine industry has not been a leader in such simple steps in consumer transparency as serving facts panels and ingredient labeling. Ridge winery has long been a leader in this regard, having included ingredients on their back panel for more than 20 years.
3. Sustainability – in the end nothing is more impactful to our individual health than the health of the planet and our ecosystem. Retailers who care about better-for-you should select for wineries that are vertically integrated and that place sustainability at the center of business.

Because these issues are so important to me, I choose to support our progressive brands in my store. I like to work with wineries that are willing to push the boundaries to craft sustainable, better-for-you brands. At the Boulder Wine Merchant we champion in small progressive brands that are committed to changing the world for the better. We support female and minority-owned brands and foster the same expectation of diversity and inclusivity on our retail shelves as we do within our team member roster. There is no better time than the present.

Here are a few of the brands and producers I have been following lately:

1) Cono Sur in Chile – An award-winning carbon neutral winery, farming 300 ha of organic vineyards and producing great wines at value prices.

2) Benzinger – This winery has been a leader in the industry for biodiversity, solar, water conservation, and other sustainable strategies. 

3) Long Meadow Ranch – An outstanding winery that is focused on a full-cycle organic approach the farming and wine production. 

4) Hiyu wine farm in Oregon is a pretty awesome example of a winery, farm, and restaurant working as one organic unit and producing amazing food and wine in the process. 

5) Duck Pond Cellars in Oregon – received certified USDA organic status for its winery in Dundee, Oregon.  The first commercially farmed vineyards in Oregon to remove the use of glyphosate (pesticide) in the farming process and have received the Clean Label Project Purity Award.

Join me in changing the world for the better one glass at a time.

Coly Den Haan, owner of Vinovore, a Los Angeles-based wine shop that focuses on female winemakers, used the word “free-for-all” to describe what’s being predicted as one of fall’s biggest wine trends: Co-fermenting.

Co-fermenting fully embraces an “anything goes” mentality.  Fruit? Throw it in. Wine? Throw it in. Cider? Throw it in. At its core, it is about taking different grape varietals, harvesting them together, and fermenting them together. The result is a wine that often represents a specific synergy and harmony from grapes or fruit that grow together from flowering to harvest and then integrate further during fermentation.  For these producers, the co-existence of the wine starts in the vineyard and depending on the harvest maturity for each grape variety, the winemaker can extend the fermentation longer by adding freshly harvested grapes to an already fermenting tank and keep this co-fermentation process happening for a longer period.  The goal is for the flavors to find balance and integration throughout the entire winemaking process.  The co-fermentation technique relies heavily on the vineyard and grapes to do the majority of the work, and the winemaker is partially removed from the process.  Ultimately, co-fermented wines offer a unique personality that is often representative of the vintage and the vineyard—definitely an expression of nature.

Now, co-fermenting is not to be confused with wine blending. Wine blending is where different grape varietals are grown, harvested, and fermented—separately. Only after the grape juice has been fermented are the two wines brought together for blending purposes. The result is a wine that offers more opportunity for the winemaking team to show their skill with balancing flavors, texture, and aromatics for a wine that is produced by virtue of blending.  It is also possible to have more control with individual grapes, tanks, and barrels.  Therefore, if any problems arise during the harvest, it is easier to identify the source and make decisions to avoid problematic tanks or barrels.  Wine blending also allows for a winemaker to specifically highlight a certain flavor profile by using particular grapes to achieve the desired result in a finished wine.  In areas like the Rhône Valley Syrah adds dark purple fruit notes, violets, pepper, and spice.  Whereas Grenache provides lower acidity, rounder mouthfeel, higher alcohol, and flavors of ripe strawberry, red cherry, and dried herbs.  It is up to the winemaker to determine how that blend of flavors will best fit together.

Did you catch that difference?

There are a few things that I love about this new co-fermentation trend:

1. At its core, it embraces sustainability. Think about it. If you are a farmer and you have a few rows left of different grape varietals, those grapes can still be used in the making of a new novel wine. Rather than let any of the harvest go to waste, co-fermentation allows for tinkering and experimentation- combinations that may never have been contemplated can be new small batches. Think of it as a new wine Research & Development department.

• As someone who likes to cook, I really compare this style of producing wine to making a sauce or dish that includes all of the ingredients being added together at once instead of cooking things separately and combining later.  In the end, flavors that start together before fermentation will ultimately have more harmony and integration.  Flavors that are blended later can certainly achieve complexity and balance, but these wines are often found to maintain unique individual characteristics associated with a specific flavor.  As with food, if wines are not blended and balanced well, these flavors can come across as disjointed.   Ultimately, blending is an art as can be represented by great Champagne or Bordeaux.  Yet, I love the rustic complexity and integrated detail that is associated with wines that are co-fermented.  They are not always perfect, but they definitely have character and style.   

So, thinking about trying a co-fermented wine? Here are a few of my personal favorites:

1. 2018 Ingrid Groiss Gemischter Satz – This is a field blend of at least 17 different grapes grown in the Weinviertel region of Austria.  Ingrid Groiss is a young, talented winemaker in the area who is using her skill combined with tradition to produce some of the most exciting wines in Austria today.

• 2018 Bedrock Wine Co. ‘Bedrock Vineyard’ Sonoma Valley – This bold and powerful red wine is a field blend of 75% Zinfandel, 20% Carignan, and 5% Mataro, but includes a total of 27 varieties.  Morgan-Twain Peterson is a Master of Wine and an awesome winemaker with a passion for finding producing wines from old vine sites throughout California. 

• 2011 Movia Veliko Belo, Brda Slovenia – Aleš Kristančič produces this exotic co-fermentation of Ribolla, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Gris, which happens to be one of the most thought-provoking wines on the planet.  Aleš farms his vineyards biodynamically and ages his wines in barrel for an extended period prior to bottling.  This 2011 is current vintage, a white wine that spends almost 5 years in wood.  Movia is known for producing exciting wines filled with energy and passion and capable of aging for decades in the cellar.

Nielsen reported that alcohol sales in stores were up 54% in late March 2020 compared to that time last year, while online alcohol sales were up nearly 500% in late April. At my store, we are experiencing increased sales, but this increase comes with additional responsibility and potentially at the expense of others in the business.  While I feel fortunate for the increase there are challenges associated with operating and keeping staff and customers safe and healthy.  In addition to public health responsibilities, the industry is struggling with the dramatic reduction in sales from the closure or reduced operations of on-premise businesses. 

According to the National Association of American Wineries, winery creativity and innovation is filling the chasm of sales caused by shuttered tasting rooms and restaurants. Popular strategies include curbside winery pickup, reduced shipping costs, special Direct-to-Consumer promotions, winery personnel home delivery, wine club specials and virtual wine tastings.

Beverage Daily recently released a report outlining shifts in consumer behavior opening up new opportunities including local products, low/no alcohol drinks, sustainability, and premiumization.

I have a few additional trends that I’m seeing at the store that I’d like to add to the list.

1. The emergence of the domestic bartender. I don’t know about you, but not being able to go to some of my local water holes means that I’m not able to try new artisan mixed drinks and my favorite bartenders’ unique concoctions. Just as me and my family are enjoying more meals at home around the dinner table, I’m enjoying more tinkering and experimentation with spirits, fresh squeezed juices, and liquors. Oh the joy of egg whites!
2. Virtual happy hours! When speaking to friends that typically work in a more traditional office environment, I am hearing about the rise in popularity of virtual happy hours. Rather than meeting up with friends at the local brewery or distillery, colleagues are jumping on zoom calls, hosting meetings, and doing so while enjoying an adult beverage in the comfort of their own home. One of the perks is that happy hour can start earlier in the day. Hey, it’s 5 o’clock somewhere
3. An uptick in people treating themselves.   Since the start of the pandemic we have noticed the majority of our customers are purchasing more product at a lower price point than they were before COVID-19.  That said, in the absence of travel, gym access, spas, and restaurants we are finding that many customers are spending more on fine wine than ever before.  Enjoying a world-class bottle is one of the ways people can treat themselves to a nice experience at home.  The next time you are out buying wine, consider purchasing less product and increase the quality of your wine.  It is a good way to treat yourself in these crazy times.

When it comes to wine, beer, and spirits, what new trends and traditions are you seeing?