I had mentioned in the recent newsletter that I had found the 06 vintage disappointing recently -- tired before its time. I then got an email from a long-time customer saying he had just had a bottle of the 06 and it was singing. Then we got onto filtration, and I thought I would bring that discussion here. I had tried a couple bottles of the 06 in tasting it against an unfiltered bottle of the same vintage. In this case, the unfiltered wine showed much better, with a lot more verve. I had a similar experience with the 06 syrah -- the unflitered version was both fuller and more youthful (but also with a touch of brett) than the filtered version. This is the first time Ive had a clear preference for the unfiltered version in tasting these comparisons. Ive usually found that the filtered versions of the wines had slightly diminished body but gained precision and elegance relative to the unfiltered versions. Given this choice, I generally go with precision over body, with the added benefit of assured microbial stability from filtration. This more recent experience, with older bottles for comparison, has me re-thinking the filtration and its bearing on ageability. I think that the colloids lost to filtration contribute body, but can also muddle the aromatics and palate of a wine in its youth. Those colloids (a la Clark Smith) may also have a role in protecting a wine from oxidation and allowing it to age more gracefully. Like most winemaking decisions, the pluses and minuses down neatly line up in a way that makes the choice clear-cut.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 20:11:37 +0000
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