A WINERY FOR ALL SEASONS
The new winery restaurant and office complex at Pegasus Bay, which opened last spring, has been a big success, judging by the huge number of people who have generously visited us over the summer. They have shared their thoughts and experiences over a glass and savoured the delights of a meal especially designed to match the wine.
In previous years we have closed our restaurant over the winter as our facilities used to be geared for outdoor dining. While we still emphasise al fresco, the new restaurant can cope with the worst of weather and will be open throughout the winter. What better way to enjoy a full bodied red wine than sitting around a roaring log fire!
A VINEYARD AT WAR
The dappled sunlight shining through the foliage flickered over the rider, who crouched low on his motorbike as he sped urgently forward. His way was rough and stony. As he passed a clearing there was a sudden flash of light, a tongue of flame and a deafening explosion. Almost immediately it was followed by a blood curdling, high pitched scream. He tensed, gritted his teeth, but did not veer. Onwards, ever onwards he rode.
Vineyards at vintage can be a virtual war zone as viticulturists fight one of their greatest enemies, namely your feathered friends. Motor cyclists, gas canons and screamers, which I am assured emit a sound similar to a bird being dismembered by a cat, are all part of the average vineyard armamentarium. Scarecrows, self launching hawk kites, whistling ribbons, large one eyed balloons and many other selected nasties are designed to give the avians the arrivederci.
A year or 2 back we too gave all this away. It was all too combative and ugly. Besides the winged raiders continued their pillaging almost unchecked. We decided to use the ultimate weapons, ie:nets. Our vineyards are now entirely netted during the grape ripening season, which allows us to get perfect fruit and turn autumn into a mellow time of sweetness, satisfaction and peace.
So what are the fruits of this years long labour going to be like? At the time of putting pen to paper, the current harvest is not complete so it is necessary to be cautious. None-the less, we have enough of the fruit in the vats to get our pulses racing. The hot dry summer with its drought conditions seems to have done its magic and the grapes look absolutely splendid. We anticipate the wine will taste even better!
MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION: What Is It?
Winemaking is an art but it also depends on science. One mysterious part of the science is malolactic fermentation. When yeasts act on grape juice they convert its natural sugars into alcohol and form wine. This is called primary fermentation. Malolactic fermentation, which occurs in some wines, is a secondary fermentation and thus usually occurs after the primary one has finished. It is carried out by bacteria, which are a lot smaller than yeasts. Malolactic bacteria act on malic acid in wine and convert into lactic acid. Malic is a strong acid and has a flavour a little akin to apples, particularly if they are not fully ripe. Lactic acid is weaker and is the predominant taste in sour milk. Malolactic fermentation thus decreases a wine's acidity, making it smoother, and provides its own special aroma and flavour.
But you might ask, "who wants a wine to resemble sour milk?" No one, if they know what they are about. Some bacteria will make milk sour, while others will turn it into yoghurt. Similarly, some malolactic bacteria will ruin wine, but others can make it delicious, producing buttery or creamy nuances. If these are excessive they may dominate a wine but in just the right amount they can enhance it, providing extra complexity and interest. The secret lies in obtaining the perfect balance and that's where the art of winemaking comes in.
In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention in the vineyard and winery, we do not add cultured malolactic bacteria out of a packet, which is the practice of most winemakers. At Pegasus Bay wines are allowed to undergo natural malolactic fermentation using their own indigenous bacteria. This allows for a number of different types of bacteria to develop, encouraging complexity and avoiding the dominating effect that can occur with an artificial monoculture. Malolactic bacteria like warmth and it is common practice to heat wines to allow them to do their work as soon as the primary fermentation has finished in the late autumn. Malolactic fermentation does not start in our winery, however, until late spring, when the wines start to warm. It releases a little carbon dioxide gas so the wines become fizzy. They have spent the winter quietly sleeping in barrels and at this stage they awaken, often popping their bungs with loud explosions as pressure builds up.
Then the hard part comes in. Let us say we are dealing with chardonnay. It is tasted regularly until we decide it has the right amount of malolactic fermentation to provide the perfect balance. Just because a little is good, it doesn't mean a lot is better - it is a judgement call. Red wines however, are allowed to complete malolactic fermentation.
Although malolactic fermentation increases complexity, it decreases primary fruit flavours and is thus used only in certain styles. While we employ it with chardonnay and the semillon proportion of our sauvignon/Semillon blend, we do not allow it to occur in the riesling or sauvignon blanc, where it tends to subvert pure varietal expression.
FROM THE PRESCRIPTION PAD
Unless you are a recently arrived tourist on this planet, you will have no doubt caught up with the fact that wine is a health food, and when taken in moderate amounts has a positive effect. It has been known for many years that a little alcohol lowers the risk of having a heart attack so that those who have an occasional drink are less likely to succumb to a fatal myocardial infarction than their teetotalling counterparts. In December of last year, however, the leading British medical journal The Lancer reported the results of The Physician's Health Study which showed that men who had already suffered a heart attack were less likely to die if they consumed small to moderate amounts of alcohol. This massive scientific investigation was started in 1982, when questionnaires were sent to over a quarter of a million medical practitioners in the USA, inviting them to take part in a long-term study trying to ascertain which factors affected their health. One interesting things to come out of this most recent publication is that, not only did alcohol seem to protect against lethal heart attack, but deaths from other causes were also very significantly reduced.
As a neurologist, I think that there is something that is worse than dying from a heart attack. That is, surviving after a severe stroke. A blocked artery in the brain causes 85% of strokes, in the same way that myocardial infarction is caused by obstruction to an artery in the heart. They are usually part of the same process, which is most commonly caused by atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. In a rigorously conducted scientific study recently published in the medical journal, Stroke, a Danish group looked at the rate of stroke in 13,392 people between the ages of 45 and 84 years of age. They found that people who drank wine weekly reduced their risk of stroke by a third compared with non-drinkers. Interestingly, drinking beer or spirits did not decrease the risk of stroke. But then, who would be naive enough to believe that the effects of all alcohol-containing drinks would be the same? Only the Temperance League, cretins and politicians; the latter because it suits them to cream off large amounts of tax based on alcohol content, regardless of the facts. It is a little bit like saying all fats have the same effect on health, regardless of whether they are saturated or unsaturated. But then, you mustn't get me on my hobby horse.
While we are on the question of the beneficial effects of an occasional drink, let me tell you about a recent study from the University of Auckland's Injury Prevention Research Centre. This found that elderly people who had had one or two drinks in the previous 24 hours had about a 50% reduction in the risk of suffering a hip fracture compared with non-drinkers. Those with more modest habits who had imbibed once or twice in the previous week had a 25% decreased risk. The cause for this association was not clearly established but it was suggested moderate drinkers were either less likely to tumble or had a reduced chance of breaking a bone if they did take a dive.
To my mind, it sounds a bit revolutionary to say that a glass of wine would make you more steady on your feet. However, so long as you don't overdo it, it shouldn't disturb your equilibrium, even if you are a golden oldie. It makes more sense to think that it could exert a protective effect on your bones. This would also be in keeping with other medical work which suggests osteoporosis is lessened by having an occasional drink. Whatever the explanation, it seems likely that a bottoms-up will help you if you end up bottom up!
Cheers, Ivan Donaldson
