An overarching view of oxygen management considerations during winemaking

Bodegas Torres has identified four key factors that are determinative of wine quality:

• The plant's environment
• Species and varieties
• Viticultural practices
• Enological practices.

In the area of enological practices, Torres focuses on oxygen management: "Keeping in mind that oxygen oxidizes wines, its proper management is crucial during vinification and aging in order to attain the desired result."

Oxygen primarily enters the wine through air of which it comprises approximately 20%. Oxygen affects the juice/wine by attracting electrons from other molecules, thus changing their chemical nature. This electron loss can affect aspects of the wine to include color, aroma, flavor development, and tannic stability. But the role of oxygen is not all deleterious; there are areas of what I call beneficial instances of oxygen application that can redound to the benefit of the winemaker.

The scope of oxygen impact includes:

• Acting as a substrate of enzymatic reactions
• Involvement in direct chemical reactions
• Causing phenol polymerization
• Affecting the growth and metabolite production of wine micro-organisms.

I will be developing an oxygen management needs proposal and an associated solution architecture over the course of a number of forthcoming posts. The framework within which this work will be conducted is shown in the chart below.

My first post in the series will be a deep dive into enzymic oxidation.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Linden Vineyards (Linden, VA): Winemaking and wines

After treating the viticultural aspects of Linden Vineyards, I now turn to the estate's winemaking and wines. The Jim Law overarching winemaking philosophy, as I see it, is "do no harm." Jim feels strongly that wine is made in the vineyard and his minimalist winemaking approach is designed to reveal the qualities which have been bestowed to the fruit by the terroir.

The Linden Vineyard style for its white wines "center around a refreshing minerality" with the weight of the wine coming from "the vineyard (sap) rather than the winemaking (alcohol, oak, lees)." Red wines are blends of Bordeaux varieties, reflecting Jim's view that "blending produces the most balanced and interesting wines." The table below captures the architecture of the Linden Vineyard product offerings.

Table 1. Linden Vineyards Wines Architecture

Wine Type	Single-Vineyard Varietal	Single-Vineyard Bordeaux Blend	Multi-Vineyard Varietal	Multi-Vineyard Bordeaux Blend
White	Hardscrabble Chardonnay
	Avenius Chardonnay
	Sauvignon Blanc
	Boisseau Viognier
	Riesling
Rosé				Rosé
Red		Boisseau Red	Petit Verdot	Claret
		Hardscrabble Red
Late Harvest	Petit Manseng
	Vidal

The holy grail in the provision of single-vineyard wines is to best display the characteristics of the terroir in which the fruit was grown. But it is Jim's view that only the highest quality fruit is capable of being terroir-expressive. Any fruit that is incapable of representing its terroir is declassified into the Claret.

The Linden Vineyard white and red winemaking processes are detailed in the charts below.

Working the sorting table

After our discussion with Jim, Frank and I returned to the Tasting Room to taste some of the winery's current releases.

The 2016 Riesling showed sweet fruit but a lack of concentration. The 2016 Sauvignon Blanc is 85% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Semillon, all from the Hardscrabble Vineyard. This wine showed lime, lime rind, and tropical fruits on the nose. Bright, with some bitterness, salinity, and spiciness on the palate. Drying minerality.

The 2016 Rosé is a blend of Bordeaux varietals (35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, 25% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot) from the Hardscrabble (55%), Boisseau (40%), and Avenius (5%) Vineyards. A nice mineral nose with a note of spiciness and citrus. Bright and persistent.

The 2014 Claret is a blend of Bordeaux varietals (44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, 34% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot) from the Hardscrabble (70%), Boisseau (15%), and Avenius (15%) Vineyards. Red fruit with some VA and green bean. Nice, light, easy drinking wine with bright red fruit.

The 2013 Petit Verdot had a smoky plum note and bright acidity but was somewhat disaggregated. The 2015 exhibited spice, darker fruit, a rich, smooth mouthfeel with good acid levels. Rich, mineral finish. Delicious.

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During the course of our earlier conversation with Jim, Frank had asked which of the Linden Vineyard vintages were his favorites. For the whites, he said, 2009, 2013, and 2015 had been the best vintages. For the reds, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2016. I look forward to going back to Linden Vineyards at sometime in the future to taste some of the older vintages in order to determine how these wines handle the passage of time.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme