Free Samples in the Vineyard

Posted 08/29/2008 at 03:09 AM by Dirk

What is it about those "Free Samples" at Costco that get people to load up their super-sized carts? Face it, Americans like sampling.

Winemakers like sampling grapes. Of course, winemakers have to sample grapes in the vineyard (they have already decided to buy the crop). We just sample to determine the best moment to pick for making the best wine possible.

Since sampling grapes is a bit more involved than the free gobbling of an eighth of an Otis Spunkmeyer cookie at the corner of the frozen food section, I am providing a few guidelines.

1) Be sure you are sampling the correct rows, in the proper block, of the right vineyard. It is hard to project "the image" of a self confident, purposeful, talented, all-knowing, in control, poised, super-hero-winemaker, when you are sampling someone else's grapes (been THERE with style, is all I will admit to right now.)

2) Bring the right baggies. Don't cheap out with the lightweight

3) Sample. Choose representative rows and start taking individual grapes in a "standardized random manner." (Right! Is that an oxymoron or what?) It just means that you may want to get two grapes from every third vine. But, you need to choose clusters from different areas of the vine (ends of arms and shoulders tend to be stronger growing). But, you need to choose berries from different areas of the chosen clusters (shoulders and tips tend to be sweeter and the front is different to the back). But, you need to choose more berries from the higher yielding areas of the block. You want the sample to represent what picking would give... or, as I said, it has to be sampled in a "standardized random manner." Sometimes oxymorons are best even if they weren't coined by Yogi Berra.

4) Taste. The sample in the bag is for the lab but sampling is really all about taste. (Remember, winemakers pick on "taste.") Is the ripeness uniform? Does it taste astringent? Are there any green flavors? Do the skins dissolve when chewed? Are the seeds lignified or green? We ask lots of questions. We make a lot of observations. Those impressions are really what sampling is about. The lab results are just a way to keep score.

5) Eat some protein. Too much grape sugar in a morning of sampling can make you feel sick. It may not be enough for the Twinkie defense, but it's a real hazard.

6 )Bring towel-ettes. Grapes, at more than 20 percent sugar, are very sticky. It can effectively stick you cell phone keys together in a way to prove that nature can defeat any technology. It also makes it harder to drive when dried sugars stuck your hand to the gear shift.

7) Enjoy the moment. How many people get paid to be outside, to be walking, to be eating grapes, and to be enjoying the view. Just don't mess up on when to pick...timing is everything and you don't get another chance 'til next year. (That is the only pressure behind sampling.)

E-Mail | Digg this! | del.icio.us
Dirty Talk on Wine RSS | Comments RSS for this post