[Wine Spectator]誌 JUN.31,1998 から

[Wine Spectator]MAY31,2001から

オスピス ドゥ ボーヌに「I.N.A.O.」が査察を行なった。

あの!オスピス ドゥ ボーヌにおいて、一つのキュベに対して「シャプタリザシオン」(補糖)と「補酸」を行ったというのです。

その言い訳は・・江川の空白の1日を思わせる・・・(これを知っている人はかなりのねんぱいだ)

1997年ブルゴーニュは1947年の伝説の大ヴィンテージを予想していたのだが・・・

若い世代は、より自然なワイン造りを目指す。単一品種ゆえ収穫のリスクと立ち向かわなくてはならない

私はこう思う:「ヴァン・ド・ターブル・オスピス=ド=ボーヌ」または

「ヴァン・ド・ターブル・オテル=デュー」と表す

であれば「エチケット」の希少価値も出ようというもの

 

 

 

 

The Sweet With the Sour

Burgundy winemakers up to doctoring their wines with both sugar and acid

By Per-Henrik Mansson

IN BURGUNDY, A GREAT MANY WINEMAKERS are fed up.

They're angry at fraud squads snooping around their wineries. They're upset at being dragged into police stations for late-night interrogations about their winemaking practices. They're mad at government prosecutors winning big verdicts against them in the region's criminal courts.

So in 1997,they rebelled. They defined French winemaking laws that they claim force them to lie and cheat when making their wines, especially in difficult vintages. For those who get caught, guilty verdicts can ruin professional reputations and result in stiff fines. Now they're pressing hard for change, seeking more flexibility to handle challenging condition at harvest and in the cellars.

"I know the issue is explosive," said Jean Mongeard of Domaine Mongearl-Mugneret in Vosne-Romanee. As president of the Cote d'Or growers association, he has recommended that the group's 1,500 members ignore the current legislation in favor of Mongeard's own interpretation of the law, even though the French fraud he is in the wrong.

"I'm not a provocateur, but I do what's best for the growers," said Mongeard, 68. "We want to do what we want when we want to."

This story, however, goes beyond some Burgundians' opposition to the law. With their rebellion in 1997, the winemakers have raised a wider question: What makes great Burgundy great?

At the heart of the law in question is how much leeway winemakers have to manipulate the acid and sugar content of their wines. Right now, they are allowed by law to do one or the other to a single cuve, or vat. But they are forbidden to do both to the same batch, yet many winemakers want the freedom to use the two procedures together when necessary.

Increasing the alcohol contents of a wine is done through a technique called chaptalization, which consists of adding sugar during fermentation. This is important when the grapes lack ripeness.

Winemakers can also find that their grapes lack natural acidity. Acidity acts as a preservative against spoilage, so many vintners want to stabilize their wines by adding tartaric acid.

Neither procedure poses any health risks. So why not do both if it helps make a better, more balanced wine in a difficult vintage, Mongeard and his supporters ask? Without the flexibility to conduct these operations whenever necessary, these winemakers say, they run an increased risk that their wines will be flawed.

So in 1997, a number of Burgundians ignored the law. They've done so in the past, most notably in 1987 and 1991,with the result that authorities caught, sued and convicted dozens of producers. What's new in 1997 is that they flaunted the law openly, even documenting their deeds in scrupulously  kept cellar books.

Not every Burgundian winemaker became a rebel in 1997. Some picked their grapes late didn't need to chaptalize, only acidify. Some picked early, and didn't need to acidify, only chaptalize.

Some did neither to certain wines; these winemakers believe that the less manipulated the wines, the better they taste.

Foe the last 50 years, said Dominique Laurent, a negociant in Nuits-St.-Georges, Burgundians have often chaptalized, and whenever they did, they almost automatically added tartaric acid. "It was a reflex. They did both," said Laurent. "I don't agree that an extreme case like 1997 should be used to codify the bad practices of the last half-century. The past has proven that these practices don't produce the best wine. The most natural wines are the best."

Joseph Henriot, owner of Bouchard Pere & Fils, a negociant in Beaune, said the issue had divided Burgundy in two camps. "There are the interventionists, and then there are the others who trust nature more," said Henriot, who sides with the second group. "We must be humble. We can do well without intervening too much. There are surgeons who always want to open your stomach, but sometimes it's not necessary."

Authorities insist that it's strictly illegal, under French and European legislation, to chaptalize and acidify the same product, whether in the form of must (the unfermented crushed grapes) or wine. The law is a pillar of French legislation created early this century to prevent abuses from people who made "wine" from tartaric acid, sugar, water and other liquids that had nothing to do with fermented grape juice, To uphold this standard, the French government has cracked down on violators without hesitation, making examples of them in highly publicized court cases whenever possible.

Just how boldly some Burgundians acted during the last vintage became clear on Nov. 7, 1997. On that day, Andre Porcheret, the highly respected winemaker  at the prestigious Domaine des Hospices de Beaune, hosted some 20 vintners from the region's leading negociant houses. The negociants came to taste the '97 wine that the winery would offer them for sale 10 days later at its renowned Hospices de Beaune auction, the world's largest charity wine sale and Burgundy's premier wine event.

Before going down to the cellar and tasting the young, raw wines from barrels, the negociants filed into a meeting room across from Porcheret's office. Most of the leading negociants were there, including Henriot; Robert Drouhin of Maison Joseph Drouhin; Pierre-Henry Gagey of Maison Louis Jadot, president of the Syndicat des Negociant en Vins de Bourgogne, a leading trade organization; and Alberic Bichot, director of Maison Albert Bichot and president of the young negosiants association.

As they always do at their annual pre-auction conference with Porcheret, the negociants asked him for an overview of how things went for Hospices during the 1997 harvest. His candid reply surprised some and shocked others.

Porcheret said he had chaptalized and acidified the domaine's reds, doing so to the same cuves, according to sources at the meeting. In 1997, French authorities said it was legal to chaptalize one cuve, acidify another and then mix the during the assamblage. But the authorities had specifically warned that doing both in the same cuve remained a serious crime.

"We are transparent about what we did. And we didn't commit a fraud," Porcheret told the assembled negociants. In his cellar book, he recorded what he added to each barrel, as the law requires. He reminded the negociants that Mongeard and his trade organization had advised their members, including the Hospices, that in 1997 it was legal to chaptalize the must and acidify the wine. Apparently, Porcheret didn't know that the French authorities had warned Mongeard and his group against recommending to their members the very procedures that Porcheret now said he had used.

"The Hospices made wines against the law, absolutely, "Henriot said. "Whether you like the law or not, they impose a certain behavior."

But some found Porcheret's honesty refreshing. "Porcheret's candor does him honor," said Bertrand Devillard, of the negociant house Antonin Rodet.

"Nobody can tell today whether what he did was wrong or right. We'll see in a year when we taste the wines."

Porcheret, 60, who plans to retire soon from the Hospices, said he had no regrets about his winemaking practices in 1997.They had been necessary to make the sort of age-worthy reds expected from the Hospices, he said. And he was tired, he added, of the hypocrisy surrounding winemaking in Burgundy. With 46 vintages to his credit, he knew only too well that acidifying and chaptalizing red Burgundies is simply a way of life in certain vintages, as Lawrent had said.

"It's for the good of our profession to tell at it is. What's better, back-alley abortions or having woman be taken care of property in hospitals? It's better we say what we do and make sure the authorities conduct proper controls so there are no abuses," said Porcheret. "Yes, I chaptalized and acidified. It's better being upfront about it than to have people go around whispering."

At the suction, the buyers pushed prices significantly higher than what they paid for the 1996 wines (story,10P.). They were seemingly unconcerned about the controversy surrounding the reds or that authorities might find the wines to have been made in an illegal fashion. "If they are proved to be illegal, we'll declassify them all," said Maison Jodot's Gagey.

EVERYTHING HAD LOOKED SO

promising during last year's harvest. Burgundy had basket in idyllic weather for most of August and September, and veteran winemakers said you had to go back 50 years to find such prime conditions. Expectations ran high for a remake of the legendary 1947 vintage.

Then reality set in. Winemakers had to scramble to deal with the hot grapes coming into their cellars and with tumultuous fermentations, which kicked off too soon. Despite the hot weather, the grapes lacked ripeness, especially when the vineyard owners had picked them early. Worse yet, the grapes had alarmingly low acidity. This condition was a recipe for disaster, according to many winemakers, who feared their wines would fall apart unless they took action.

So, many wineries tried to stabilize their wines by acidifying them. The authorities approved this procedure for 1997, and over 400 wineries declared they did so, according to Mongeard.

Several also chaptalized the same wines.

Mongeard said he had found a loophole in the legislation. Nothing that the law specified that winemakers couldn't acidify and chaptaloze "the same product," his group advised its members that they could chaptalize the must, then acidify the final wines. By doing this, they manipulate two different "products" (must and wine ), and would act lawfully, he added. This is what Porcheret said he did at the Hospices de Beaune.

But, in a letter dated Sep. 4, 1997, Dominique Filhol, who heads the wine section of the French national anti-fraud agency in Paris, warned the Burgundians against acidifying and chaptalizing the same cuve of wine, stressing such action remained illegal.

"The fraud department in Paris has one interpretation, and we have another," said Mongeard. Both he and Filhol expect the issue to be taken up in 1998 by the European Commission.

EC spokeswoman Stella Zervoudaki said the regulations governing wine clearly prohibit using more than one enological process on the "same product"-generally thought  to refer to the same cuve or the same batch.

IT'S CLEAR BOTH CAMPS CARE ABOUT the consumer, but in different ways.

For Porcheret and Mongeard, it's important to produce wines that are sound, with a minimum risk of spoilage. Furthermore,the fear that delaying harvest will produce riper grapes of lawer acidity, leading to unbalanced and flawed wines. So they seak to acidify, and since they like to schedule their harvests relatively early, they sometimes need to chaptalize.

On the other hand, some winemakers are guided by the mission of producing pieces of art. That's what they want to give their client. To succeed, they take risk, such a picking  late for riper grapes and eschewing tartaric acid. 

Philippe Charlopin-Parizot, one of the stars of Geverey-Chambertin, said he began his 1997 harvest a week or so after many others, and then he took his time, bringing in grapes at a natural sugar level of over 14 percent potential alcohol.

These maturity levels frighten Porcheret and Mongeard in year like 1997 because, they said, they feared possible spoilage without the help of acidify. And what did Chrlopin do?

"On the head of my kids, I didn't add an ounce of tartaric acid in my '97s," he said . "But I took risks. They take fewer risks at the Hospices."

Several Burgundians see a generational divide between Pocheret and Mongeard, both in their 60s, and the younger winemakers, who seek to make more natural wines, often by taking higher risks.

"Porcheret was born into a professional milieu that approves of the sausage du vin [saucing of wine]," said Laurent. "He adds things to the grapes, and he doesn't believe you can make something great without doing so. He belongs to those people who think that to do great wine you must use tricks, and I think just the opposite is true. The more you let nature express itself, the more your vats are memorable."

For Lalou Bize-Leroy, of Domaines Leroy and d'Auvenay, even if the law changes, chaptalizeing and acidifyning will probably be used only as a last resort, and not abused.

"People will continue to try to make as natural wines as possible even if the law is changed." she added. "Because everyone knows that adding tartaric acid takes away something from the balance of a wine. It gives it a sharp taste on the tongue, and that doesn't help with sales. Winemakers aren't crazy, and they'll do all in their power to avoid acidifying, or doing that along with chaptalization.

These things just don't help the taste of wine, they just might prevent the wine from becoming ill or falling apart."

Burgundy Price Sharply at Hospices 

Auction Despite Questions Over Winemaking 

 Three-Fourths of the wines sold recently at the prestagious Hospices de Beaune auction in Burgundy, the world's largest charity wine sale, were made by means that may violate current French and European winemaking legislation. The buyers didn't seem to mind, however, and pushed prices up significantly above last year's levels. The sale is often a bellwether for Burgundy prices worldwide.

At the heart of the controversy are the winemaking technique used to make the Hospices's red wines, with Hospices winemaker Andre Porcheret making a defiant stand for chaptalizing and acidifying the same wines, contrary to existing law.

In total, the local negociants and their clients, including airlines, restaurants and private collectors, paid $4 million for the Hospices '97 wines. A total of 607 225-liter barrels of Pinot Noir sold for $3 million, up 46 percent over the '96 reds, which are considered better. The '97 whites, which show great promise, sold 38 percent more than last year's price. The higher prices confirm the strong marker seen recent months in Burgundy for both reds and whites.

Per-Henrik Mansson    


またブルゴーニュでのスキャンダル?
みなさんは赤ワインにタンニンが含まれていることと、それが太陽の恵みを多く受けた証であるということをご存知でしょう。
ワインにタンニンの粉末が混ぜられているかも知れないとしたらどう思いますか。

「タンニンってポリフェノールの一種でしょ!からだに良い事ではないか」ですって?そうゆう人には「ポリフェノール」が普通のワインのX倍入ったワインを買って飲んだら良いでしょうに!・・・という問題でもないか!?多くの無垢のワインをのみ造っている多くの生産者はどおなっちゃうんだよぉ!

Burgundy Faces Another Winemaking Scandal
In the latest scandal involving wines from French Burgundy regeon, the former owners of Chanson Pere & Fils, brothers Francois and Philippe Marion, were charged with fraud.
 Sources said the quality of their wines by blending liberally from different appellations.Under French appellation controlee laws, a bottle labeled as being from a specific vineyard site or given area


また、ブルゴーニュのスキャンダル!
ブルゴーニュの中堅ネゴシアン(ワイン商)「シャンソン・ペール エ フィス社」のワインに表示呼称以外の区域のワインが混入されていた。雇われた弁護士がこう言っている。「こんな事、多くのワイン商のやってる事さ」。と逆ギレているという・・・

冗談じゃないよ!

Burgundy Faces Another Winemaking Scandal
In the latest scandal involving wines from France's Burgundy region, the former owners of Chanson Pere & fils, brothers Fransois and Philippe Marison, were charged with fraud.
 Sources said the Marisons had attempted to improve the quality of their wines by blending liberally from different appellations. Under French appellation controlee laws, a bottled as being from a specific vineyard site or given area must be made from grapes grown in the region.
 Olivier Morice, lawyer for the brothers, acknowledged that they had "unquestionably" committed violations against France's AOC laws, but indicated that in doing so they were no different from many other wine merchants in Burgundy.
 "The defense of my clients will be to show how the wines are made," said Morice. "We will argue that the laws must be changed to reflect the ways a lot of wines are made in burgundy."
 Authorities learned of the alleged fraud from Chanson's new owner. Societe Jacques Bollinger, which owns
 Champagne Bollinger and bought the Burgundy merchant in September 1999. In January, Etienne Bizot, who is Chanson's CEO, alerted authorities of possible irregularities after discovering inconsistaencies with the stocks.
 Overall, a quarter of Chanson's wines produced by the Marions may violate France's AOC laws, according to Chanson's attorney, Gilles de Boisseson. Bollinger acquired 80,000 cases of stock as part of the purchase of Chanson, but 25,000 cases are apparently fraudulent and won't be sold, he added.
 De Boisseson did not identify the wines but said only red Burgundies were concerned, including some from the '96, '97 and '99 vintages.

May 31, 2001・WINE SPECTATOR   11th page   

 


ワインにおける「タンニンの真相」=Some red wine producers are turning to chemical companies for tannins.

The Truth About Tannins いくつかの生産者のワインは、ことタンニンに関していえば「化学製品」と成り果てた。

Great wines must be balanced an integration of concentrated flavors of ripe fruit with firm structure and backbone. In red wines, the backbone mostly comes from tannins, which are natural component of the skins, seeds and stems of grapes.
Making red wine is, in large part, an effort to manage the quantity and quality of tannins that are extracted during and after fermentation. (A difficult kind of tannin can also be extracted from oak barrels, which are often used to mature red wine).
Sometimes, however, producers find that they can't extract enough tannin, or the right kinds of tannin, from their grapes and barrels. And though most winemakers don't make a point of advertising, the fact, for years they've added powdered tannin preparations before, during and after fermentation in order to achieve the balance they desire.
Reasons for adding tannins depend upon wine region, vintage conditions and winemaking philosophy. Winemaker Jacques Lardiere of Maison Louis Jadot in Beaune, France, says some estates in Burgundy have been adding tannins for years. "In a difficult vintage, when tannins sre a bit deficient, you might need to add them." he says.
Tannins play a crucial role in protecting a red wine's flavor and aromatic components from the ravages of oxygen. As tannin molecules oxiidize, they bond together, or polymerize, to form longer chains, which have a less astringent mouthfeel. As long as there's a sufficient supply of tannins, polymerization occurs naturally as a wine ages.
Lardiere says that additional wood tannin act as a sort of fall guy by absorbing oxygen that would otherwise consume the grapes' natural tannins. Those grape tannins can then gradually polymerize, contributing to the mellowness associated with maturity.
Lardiere adds tannins to his lighter wines, like Marsannay and Santenay. "There's nothing astonishing or troubling {about this," he sais."tannin isn't used to hide anything, but to reveal the quality of tannins that exist naturally {in wine grapes."
Nor is Lardiere the only winemaker at a famous Bourgandy estate who admits to adding tannins. Andre Porcheret, former winemaker at the renowned Hospicces de Beaune and Domaine Leroy, has known of the practice since he started working in Burgundy in 1955. He adds tannins to fix color and to provide grip.
Etienne Grivot, winemaker at Domaine Jean Grivor in Vosne-Romanee, comfirms that additions are practically a fixture in the Burgundy landscape. "My grandfather did it. It's an age-old enological practice," he says.
It might be old hat in France, but it's a recent arrival in California, where many producers are experimenting. Scott Laboratories, in Petaluma, Calif., in one of the leading domestic distributors of fermentation products. "We sell [tannins] to hundreds and hundreds of wineries," says Steve Doherty, inside sales manager for Scott.