[ad_1]
Some of the most interesting wines in the world are made from particularly old vines. A new UK initiative, the Old Vine Conference, is dedicated to keeping those vines in the ground.
Choosing which clone of a variety to plant, on which rootstock, on which training system, according to which vineyard design is a long-term commitment for growers, but sometimes not long enough. After 25 years or so, conventionally grown vines tend to produce fewer grapes. So there is a strong commercial argument for pulling them out and replacing them after about 30 years.
Other reasons for replanting could include a desire to switch to a rootstock more suitable for local conditions or to a better-quality clone. But in general, vines from about 35 years old produce increasingly flavourful and intense wines, it is thought because they have established deep root systems and have settled into an equilibrium with local conditions, especially the water supply. With lower yields, the fruit is also concentrated.
Growers in regions with a history of continuous, efficient wine production replace their vines roughly every 30 years, even though well-tended vines can survive for more than a century. This is one reason why there are relatively few seriously old vines in the classic wine regions of France.
Really old vines tend to have remained in the ground because they are extremely well suited to the local conditions or if it has not been worth paying the price to pull them out for economic reasons. California has a very rich repository of old vines because during Prohibition (1920-33) it wasn’t worth replacing them when there was so little demand for grapes.
The 2004 film Sideways, set in California wine country, caused such a spike in the price of Pinot Noir grapes that many plots of ancient vines were grubbed up in favour of Pinot, particularly in the northern part of the state where they had been planted by the descendants of Italian immigrants drawn by the gold rush. As a result, in 2011, a group of wine producers formed the Historic Vineyard Society to create a register of vines at least 50 years old and to encourage their owners to keep them in the ground.
Yet the older the vineyard, the more likely it is that some vines will have perished. The rules of the Historic Vineyard Society are that at least one-third of the vines in any vineyard on its register should be of the stated age.
Some Australians got there first, however, with the Barossa Old Vine Charter that was drawn up in 2009, based on even earlier vine preservation work by the family company Yalumba. At least 10 vineyards have qualified for the Barossa Ancestor Vine accreditation, which means they are more than 125 years old. Langmeil’s The Freedom Shiraz vineyard was apparently planted in 1843, with Cirillo’s Grenache only five years younger. One reason for this longevity is thought to be the conservative mindset of the Silesian immigrants who dominate Barossa Valley’s grape-growing landscape.
Reliable records of exactly what was planted when can be few and far between. One country that has enviably detailed records, however, is South Africa. Regulatory body KWV oversaw every aspect of vine growing and wine production on the Cape from 1918 and has records of plantings even earlier than that, so those in charge of the country’s Old Vine Project, launched in 2016, have an extra degree of certitude.
Nowadays Cape wines from vineyards 35 years or older are adorned with a special Certified Heritage Vineyards seal which, in the case of single-vineyard wines, may even cite the planting date.
In Barossa, they claim to have the world’s oldest vines but they may have to revise that view. Bolivia has vines believed to be 200 years old growing up trees, as they used to before we corralled them into vineyards. During a recent Old Vine Conference, Tim Atkin MW claimed that one vineyard of PaÃs vines in Itata in southern Chile had been planted in 1798. Yet the wine made from it, by Leo Erazo under the A Los Viñateros Bravos label, retails for less than €20 or $20 a bottle. Grape prices for Undurraga’s wine from 70-year-old Cinsault vines in the same region are so low that The Wine Society can sell a bottle for just £7.50.
It is partly to raise grape prices by increasing the perceived value of old vines in the eyes of growers and wine buyers that oldvines.org has been founded. The theory is that old-vine wines deserve to have their own celebrated category. The Old Vine Conference is inviting people to become members of its initiative and participate in tastings of wines made from heirloom vines.
Like almost all of the world’s oldest vines, these ancient plants in California and the southern hemisphere have never been irrigated and, instead of being trained on more productive trellis systems that may be better adapted to damp climates by encouraging aeration, they grow in low bushes, their trunks visibly widening every year. This seems to have encouraged them to develop deep root systems that keep them supplied with just enough water to survive and produce grapes full of flavour.
The greatest concentration of really old vines in Europe is of bush vines like this in Spain. One of the most revealing presentations in the recent conference was by ElÃas López Montero from a longstanding family wine company in La Mancha. He has proved that even modest grape varieties can make great wine if the vines are old enough and sufficient care is taken. La Mancha’s dominant grape is the pale-skinned Airén, long dismissed as fit only for producing grape concentrate and base wine for brandy. Montero’s Las Tinadas from Airén vines planted in 1950, and recommended here last September, has proved what potential there is in the most unlikely places. And having been overlooked for many years, old Garnacha vines throughout Spain are now producing sumptuously appetising reds.
On my website, we run an annual writing competition. This year’s theme, with a prize of a trip to South Africa, pandemic permitting, is old vines. We too want to keep as many of them in the ground as possible — even if it means paying a bit more for their inimitable produce.
Some recommended wines from old vines
There are hundreds but these are some that come immediately to mind.
WHITES
• Verum, Las Tinadas 2019 Vino de la Tierra de Castilla, Spain 12%
From €13.40 various merchants in Spain, Belgium and Japan
• Maturana, Naranjo Torontel 2019 Maule, Chile 13.5%
£15.25 Corney & Barrow
• Winter, Leckerberg Riesling Grosses Gewächs 2018 Rheinhessen, Germany
13.5% €30 weingut-winter.de/shop
• Mullineux & Leeu Family, Old Vines 2019
£25.99 Noel Young, Hay Wines, The Wine Reserve and Philglas & Swiggot
• Alheit, Cartology 2019 Coastal Region, South Africa 13%
From £32.95 Vin Neuf and other independents
REDS
• Bedrock, The Whole Shebang! XIII California 14%
£17.50 The Old Bridge Wine Shop
• Pedro Parra, Imaginador Cinsault 2017 Itata, Chile 14%
£18.10 VINVM
• Verum, Ulterior Garnacha Parcela No 6 Organic 2017 Vino de la Tierra de Castilla, Spain 14.5%
£19.95 The Great Wine Co
• Ridge Vineyards, Geyserville 2018 Alexander Valley, California 14.7%
£38.40 Mayfly Wine Co
• Mount Edelstone Shiraz 2015 Eden Valley, Australia 14.5%
£116 Eton Vintners
Tasting notes on Purple Pages of JancisRobinson.com. More stockists from Wine-searcher.com
Follow Jancis on Twitter @JancisRobinson
Follow @FTMag on Twitter to find out about our latest stories first
[ad_2]
Source link