The value of the winery experience

Touring wine country is an experience that holds passion for many of us, but beyond the romance and enjoyment of winery visits there are tremendous amounts of knowledge to be garnered while there.

Additionally, attending local wine tastings when given by a winemaker provide far more value and insight into the wine and for consumers provides the chance to not only understand more about why you may or may not like a wine but also to help you pick out others you are likely to appreciate.

Mary and I both spent significant time working at wineries, Mary a big one with more than 100,000 cases of annual production and me a small one with under 15,000 cases produced. Our experience allowed us to gain knowledge of winemaking, wine pricing and winery profitability.

The decisions made at the winery that influence the pricing of the product are virtually endless. You only need to pick up a bottle off the shelf at your favorite wine shop and you will discover one of those decisions, the glass used in the bottle.

We call it an expensive package when winemakers use heavy thick glass with a larger "thumb" which is the indentation in the bottom of the bottle where your thumb will fit when pouring the wine.

In short, a heavy bottle costs more than a lighter weight bottle. Other choices that influence price are labeling, front of the bottle only, or front and back, etched bottle or printed label; closure is a big decision, natural cork, synthetic or twist cap; the foil that covers the cork is even a decision to be made from a myriad of choices.

All of these decisions are of major consequence though as they add cost before the wine ever hits the retail shelf, where the most important single force that influences profitability at the winery is supply and demand. Too much wine on the market and prices will come down until the wine sells.

While these types of calls that winery owners make help you understand pricing and were an invaluable part of our winery experience, the really fun ones to learn and talk about are the choices that go into the production of the wine. In my experience at a small winery I was able to see firsthand the winemaking process and even participate in the design of a wine.

These are the items you will hear much about when visiting a winery and talking to the winemaker or you can learn when you attend a tasting given by a winemaker. Winemakers have a knowledge base most other folks in the industry never reach, as it is all they do and most times it is their name on the bottle.

The first decision a winemaker is faced with is harvest. When to pick the grapes (morning or afternoon, and some cases middle of the night) has a big influence as sugars concentrate in the cool morning hours and acids rise. Pick late in the day sugars elevate and acids drop. Before this though winemakers will spend day after day in the vineyard around harvest time with a refractometer assessing overall sugar and acid levels to get the grapes at the perfect ripeness for the wine they hope to create, all the while watching the skies and the weather report.

After this winemakers will decide how to sort, press and do primary fermentation on the grapes. Here too what yeast strain to use is decided on and can drastically influence aromatic and flavor profile.

As the grapes ferment how often to "punch down the cap" for red wine influences how much color and flavor is extracted from the "cap," made up of the grape solids like skins and seeds. The method of punch down too is a choice; manual punch downs the laborious and unpopular task of manually pushing the solids down into the fermenting juice with a large paddle, machine punch down or pump over whereby the juice is pumped on top of the solids.

Next up cooperage, or barrel type will be chosen. New or used French, American or Hungarian Oak barrels can be selected, or frequently in white wines the complete absence of oak barrels all together.

Another choice too is how much to "toast" the inside of the barrel. Then winemakers will choose how long to leave the wine in barrel prior to bottling and during this time how frequently to "rack" the wine. Racking is the process of pumping the wine out of the barrels into a large tank and then back into the barrels to blend the flavors from different barrels and remove sediment.

And finally the decision of when to bottle and release a vintage is made; many times though the result of economic considerations like whether previous vintages have been sold.

For consumers though the important part is to learn the choices a winemaker has made that produce a wine you truly like. The wine you taste and go WOW that is delicious. This matters most as you will then be able to come into our shop or visit your favorite wine professional and describe what style of wine you like best.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or questions on wine you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d'Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner with his wife Mary Lancaster of the dinner party - a wine and table top decor shop in Coeur d'Alene by Costco. George is also the managing judge of The North Idaho Wine Rodeo and writes frequently for the online version of Coeur d'Alene Magazine at www.cdamagazine.com. His articles can also be found on the blog at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com.

Touring wine country is an experience that holds passion for many of us, but beyond the romance and enjoyment of winery visits there are tremendous amounts of knowledge to be garnered while there.

Additionally, attending local wine tastings when given by a winemaker provide far more value and insight into the wine and for consumers provides the chance to not only understand more about why you may or may not like a wine but also to help you pick out others you are likely to appreciate.

Mary and I both spent significant time working at wineries, Mary a big one with more than 100,000 cases of annual production and me a small one with under 15,000 cases produced. Our experience allowed us to gain knowledge of winemaking, wine pricing and winery profitability.

The decisions made at the winery that influence the pricing of the product are virtually endless. You only need to pick up a bottle off the shelf at your favorite wine shop and you will discover one of those decisions, the glass used in the bottle.

We call it an expensive package when winemakers use heavy thick glass with a larger "thumb" which is the indentation in the bottom of the bottle where your thumb will fit when pouring the wine.

In short, a heavy bottle costs more than a lighter weight bottle. Other choices that influence price are labeling, front of the bottle only, or front and back, etched bottle or printed label; closure is a big decision, natural cork, synthetic or twist cap; the foil that covers the cork is even a decision to be made from a myriad of choices.

All of these decisions are of major consequence though as they add cost before the wine ever hits the retail shelf, where the most important single force that influences profitability at the winery is supply and demand. Too much wine on the market and prices will come down until the wine sells.

While these types of calls that winery owners make help you understand pricing and were an invaluable part of our winery experience, the really fun ones to learn and talk about are the choices that go into the production of the wine. In my experience at a small winery I was able to see firsthand the winemaking process and even participate in the design of a wine.

These are the items you will hear much about when visiting a winery and talking to the winemaker or you can learn when you attend a tasting given by a winemaker. Winemakers have a knowledge base most other folks in the industry never reach, as it is all they do and most times it is their name on the bottle.

The first decision a winemaker is faced with is harvest. When to pick the grapes (morning or afternoon, and some cases middle of the night) has a big influence as sugars concentrate in the cool morning hours and acids rise. Pick late in the day sugars elevate and acids drop. Before this though winemakers will spend day after day in the vineyard around harvest time with a refractometer assessing overall sugar and acid levels to get the grapes at the perfect ripeness for the wine they hope to create, all the while watching the skies and the weather report.

After this winemakers will decide how to sort, press and do primary fermentation on the grapes. Here too what yeast strain to use is decided on and can drastically influence aromatic and flavor profile.

As the grapes ferment how often to "punch down the cap" for red wine influences how much color and flavor is extracted from the "cap," made up of the grape solids like skins and seeds. The method of punch down too is a choice; manual punch downs the laborious and unpopular task of manually pushing the solids down into the fermenting juice with a large paddle, machine punch down or pump over whereby the juice is pumped on top of the solids.

Next up cooperage, or barrel type will be chosen. New or used French, American or Hungarian Oak barrels can be selected, or frequently in white wines the complete absence of oak barrels all together.

Another choice too is how much to "toast" the inside of the barrel. Then winemakers will choose how long to leave the wine in barrel prior to bottling and during this time how frequently to "rack" the wine. Racking is the process of pumping the wine out of the barrels into a large tank and then back into the barrels to blend the flavors from different barrels and remove sediment.

And finally the decision of when to bottle and release a vintage is made; many times though the result of economic considerations like whether previous vintages have been sold.

For consumers though the important part is to learn the choices a winemaker has made that produce a wine you truly like. The wine you taste and go WOW that is delicious. This matters most as you will then be able to come into our shop or visit your favorite wine professional and describe what style of wine you like best.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or questions on wine you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d'Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner with his wife Mary Lancaster of the dinner party - a wine and table top decor shop in Coeur d'Alene by Costco. George is also the managing judge of The North Idaho Wine Rodeo and writes frequently for the online version of Coeur d'Alene Magazine at www.cdamagazine.com. His articles can also be found on the blog at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com.