Mi Vino Tu Vino

Thank You... and Bud Break

First a quick note to thank everyone who left comments on my last post and also those who sent me emails directly.  I honestly did not expect to receive so many messages of encouragement and support.  ALL of your messages truly mean a lot to me.  THANK YOU!  I’ll keep everyone posted on what’s happening with TRAVESSIA as things develop.  Right now it’s mostly a lot of paperwork being filled so that I can apply for the winery permits.  Meanwhile, a new wine growing season is just beginning and I want to tell you a bit about it...

Most people are familiar with harvest but few really know much about a special time in the wine growing season that we call “bud break”.  After winter pruning and when the temperature increases, like most plants, grape vines wake-up from their winter-long deserved rest.  You know how you feel on January 1st?  I feel pretty much like January 1st when I see these buds swelling and expanding.

This signals the beginning of a new wine growing season.  The result will be the 2008 vintage wines which will not be ready for consumption until a year from now for most white wines, two or more years from now for most red wines.

So much happens between bud break and the time the wine is actually poured into a glass for someone to drink.  This journey is a major aspect of what makes wine so unique and special… it’s just a beverage if that is all you need or want from it, but it can also be so much more.  Often you just want to drink the stuff and not think much about it… if it’s good, it’s all that matters.  But once in a while if you choose to take the time to appreciate what you are drinking, I guarantee that you will be a richer person and live a better life.

Last year I shared the growth of the entire vineyard by taking pictures along the growing season and posting them here on the blog.  No sense in repeating the same again this year.  So instead I’m going to try to follow a couple of buds from bud break to harvest, the same buds every time.  Here is the first image of the Chardonnay bud that I’ve chosen:

Chardonnay bud swelling; doeskin stage with brownish wool clearly visible.

This is the first image in the new photo album I've created.  I'll contiue to add pictures to the album as the bud develops.

Day 1

I’ve done it.  Today I launched what will most likely end up as one of the biggest projects of my life and potentially the biggest risk I’ve taken to this day.  I’ve officially began the process of creating my winery.

The amount of thought and research that I’ve put into this over the last two years cannot be quantified.  Many things had to come together for me to have the chance to attempt to build my own winery.  Getting the part-time gig as winemaker for Running Brook was a critical step to get to this day.  Never before in my life have I felt how the luck of being in the right place at the right time could end up having such a dramatic influence in my future and the future of my family.

I’ll be honest and say that over the last few weeks while pondering this decision I felt very nervous.  However, once I made the decision to go for it, the nervousness immediately started to change into a sense of excitement.  Ideas are popping into my head… I can already visualize the next crush season, the labels on the bottles, people having fun and chatting while sipping my wine at the tasting room.  A couple of years from now I may look back at this day and say to myself… what in the world was I thinking?  I may end up as another victim in the cemetery of failed wineries.  But so be it.  I’ll take the risk instead of questioning myself for the rest of my life… what if I had done it?

So, what’s next...?

I’ve registered as a business at the local and state level but the biggest hurdle is yet to come… obtaining the necessary licenses from the TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) and the Massachusetts ABCC (Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission).  It involves a lot of paperwork and a considerable amount of time (3 months or longer).  After submitting all of my applications, I will start thinking about other aspects such as the brand image.  I’ll be counting on you for opinions and feedback on some of the decisions that I will have to make.  But here is what I can already share with you today…

The name of the winery:  TRAVESSIA
The place:  Downtown New Bedford

TRAVESSIA is a Portuguese word for Journey or Passage.  There were other names but once I thought of this one, I quickly and easily realized that it would provide me with many opportunities to tie it with what I want the winery and the wines to be all about.  Besides I wanted to avoid naming the winery after a place or the family’s last name.

The winery will be in the downtown area of New Bedford.  A few months ago I failed to convince the owners of a small piece of land in Dartmouth that I was the right person to take over their property.  In retrospect, that was a good thing.  I’ve since realized that building an Urban Winery is more in line with my immediate objective.  The number one question on everyone’s minds… where do the grapes come from?  Well, certainly not from the roof tops :-)...   That’s a topic that deserves its own post but I can tell you that the vast majority of the wines made by TRAVESSIA will be from grapes grown right here in Southeast New England.

Feel free to comment here or send me emails of encouragement… or discouragement :-)

Cork vs. Screwcap

Disclaimer:  I lived in Portugal for 12 years and more than half my family is Portuguese.  I still eat, drink, read and watch much of what is Portuguese.  I grew up proud of the fact that Portugal was/is the number one cork producer in the world... one of the many things Portuguese are proud of, others being Fado, Port Wine, Cristiano Ronaldo, and the fact that we beat the English “futebol” national team all the time.  So, I naturally prefer bottles of wine that have been closed with a cork.

I've been trying to educate myself on this issue of cork vs. screw cap for a while.  I read and talk to a lot of people to try to understand the advantages and disadvantages of both closure types.  Screwcaps came about primarily as an attempt to "fix" an issue with natural corks named tricholoanisole (TCA, or the chemical that causes a wine to become "corked").  I've experienced a corked wine twice in the last year which is well below 1% of all the bottles closed with a cork that I've opened or that someone else has shared with me.  Some would say that I'm very lucky since corked bottle estimates are between 3% and 10%.  But I'll also admit that at times I've enjoyed the easiness of just twisting off a cap and pouring the wine.

I can't bottle any of my wines with screw caps because I do not have the appropriate equipment.  I believe that the true test is to bottle the same wine, in the same bottling conditions, but with the two different closures and then analyze the results over time.  I’ve read somewhere that Tablas Creek winery is doing exactly this experiment.  I hope they can share their findings and conclusions.

So far, it appears to me that some wines will be fine with screwcaps while others are better off with a cork.  By the way... not all corks are natural, there are many types of corks including synthetic ones.  I'll go over the different types of corks some other time.

I've been keeping score of my experiences with the two closure types based on the wines that I drink.  A couple of nights ago during dinner at home, another experience was observed…

Can a 1-year old use a screwcap to scoop mash potatoes?  I don't think so.  In fact screwcaps are dangerous devices in the hands of babies!

So, there you have it... cork scores another point.

BYOB – Legal or Not?

One of the best white wines I’ve ever tasted was an off-dry Riesling from Germany.  I don’t recall the producer’s name.  I do remember that I paid $17 for it and I had it for dinner with my wife at a small local restaurant in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, several years ago.

But the main reason why I still remember that wine, besides it being so good, is the fact that it was a BYOB.  We brought the wine with us because we knew the restaurant did not serve alcohol.  The corkage fee was $0.  We don’t go out much these days but I’ve thought about that dinner many times.  If you want to learn more about BYOB, here is a quick read on its somewhat unofficial etiquette and some good reasons for bringing your own wine into a restaurant whenever possible.

I don’t understand why people don’t BYOB more often.  I also don’t understand why restaurants don’t encourage it openly since they can cover any loss of revenue from wine sales with the corkage fee.  Well... I didn't understand it until I decided to look into this.

I called a few restaurants around the area I live in and asked about their BYOB policy and what their corkage fee was.  I tell you… I should have recorded some of these conversations.  I got everything you can possibly imagine for an answer.  <<Corkage?  What’s that?  Is it when you bring your own cake in?>>  I’m not kidding you!  My favorite Portuguese restaurant in the city of Fall River took the easiest approach for an answer... there was Fado playing in the background and then... “click”.  Just hung up on me.  The vast majority of those who knew what I was asking about said they don’t allow BYOB because <<we have our own wine list>>.  Still most sounded uncertain about it and even uncomfortable answering.

I decided to take this a step further and called the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) in Boston.  According to the ABCC person I spoke with, BYOB is NOT PERMITTED in restaurants that have an alcohol license in the state of Massachusetts.  Restaurants which do not have a license may or may not allow BYOB, that decision is made at a town/city level.  He then went on and gave me a 5 minute lecture on how and why he discourages BYOB.  I’ll save you the pain and spare you with the details.  Later I found further confirmation on the ABCC’s website:

Next I called up a few towns in my area.  Every town I called complies with the ABCC and does not allow BYOB in establishments that are licensed to sell alcoholic beverages.  As for establishment which do not have a license, the answer varies (quotes are from each town licensing commission person I spoke with):

New Bedford – BYOB is legal BUT the restaurant is <<not allowed to charge corkage>>.
Fairhaven – BYOB illegal.  <<But it is the state’s responsibility to supervise>>.
Dartmouth – BYOB is legal.  <<Not sure if charging corkage is legal>>.
Fall River – BYOB is legal.  <<Let me check with the state ABCC regarding corkage fees>>.
And just for fun…  Boston – BYOB outright illegal, license or no license.  <<Restaurants that permit BYOB in the city of Boston are breaking the law>>.

Now, I know that Massachusetts is one of the most strict states when it comes to regulations of alcohol trade.  A quick check with New York reveals that BYOB is allowed by the NY’s ABCC but only if the restaurant has an alcohol sales license – the complete opposite of Massachusetts!  Another quick call to Chicago and I found that the state of Illinois leaves it completely up to each town/city... how many towns/cities are there in Illinois?.. you get my point.

Three states, three different approaches.  Confusing?  I’m beginning to think that the Portuguese restaurant was right just hanging up on me.

So what did I learn from spending about an hour of my lifetime on this little project?

THAT THE LAWS AND REGULATIONS CONCERNING B.Y.O.B. ARE ALMOST AS COMPLEX AND ARCHAIC AS THE LAWS REGARDING THE TRADE OF ALCOHOL WITHIN THE 3-TIER SYSTEM.

There could be thousands of restaurants in America who allow BYOB and are breaking the law while doing so.  Can you tell how excited I am about this?  There is an opportunity here… Who wants to be the Tom Wark of BYOB?  Inertia people… any of you reading this?  How about a BYOB compliance tool?  A web-based tool that provides both BYOB compliance information services to food establishments along with listings of restaurants that permit it with corresponding corkage fees if applicable?  I’m serious.  If you think that it is better to leave this alone (don’t ask, don’t tell) then you are a fool.  It is just a matter of time before BYOB becomes more prevalent and restaurants will begin their own a la wine.com sting operation and rat on their competitors who are illegally allowing BYOB.

Next time your are BYOB'ing watch your back... the ABCC may be coming for you.

I usually don’t ask for feedback to my posts.  I know that most of you who read my blog are web-shy but this time I'm really intersted in getting some comments.  Do you BYOB?  How’s BYOB in your town/city?

Why are these wineries for sale?

In a continuation of last week's theme… there are currently two vineyard/winery properties for sale right here in the Southeastern New England region.  One of them is Cape Cod Winery in Falmouth.  The other is Chicama Vineyards on Martha’s Vineyard Island.

Cape Cod Winery
Vineyard:  Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Pinot Grigio, Seyval and Vidal.
Annual production:  Approximately 2,500 cases
I read a recent article in the Cape Cod Times advertising the sale of this property.  Once I knew that the sale is definitely official, I contacted the owners and expressed my interest in acquiring some of the winery production equipment.  The owners really hope to sell the winery with all its equipment so they are not willing to part with any of it.  The winery is only open from May to December.  Here is the real estate listing.

Chicama Vineyards (website url expired)
Annual production:  Approximately 4,500 cases
I first heard out about the potential sale of Chicama via this post.  I’ve searched for a real estate listing but have not found anything to this point.  I also left a message with the winery but no response.

I don’t have any concrete reasons for why these two properties are for sale so I’m not going to speculate.  Whoever purchases them may or may not be interested in continuing the vineyard and winery operation.  If the properties are capable of producing quality wines from grapes with regional character it would be very sad to see them closed for good.  I know this blog post does not do justice to the work that I’m sure these two families have put into their business.  I would like to visit the wineries, speak with the winemakers, get a real feel for what they have accomplished since their creation and understand what obstacles they faced.  Unfortunately I've not been able to gather much information.

But while some wineries may be faced with their last days of existence, others are just getting started.  A new vineyard is under way right here in the South Coast of Mass.  Coastal Vineyards is located in South Dartmouth and therefore within the Southeastern New England AVA.  8 acres have been planted with traditional French vinifera such as Chardonnay and Merlot.  Winery production is expected to begin this Fall.