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Project 23 project23 is a winemaking experiment. It comes at a time when there is much discussion and criticism of California wines being "too big", "too extracted", "too ripe", "lacking regional character" and "too hot". Certainly, that can be said about many wines produced in California. project23 aims to explore what type of wine could be made by using a different approach. |
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Concept | Parameters | Participants | Tasting Panel | Protocol | Program
A recent article on Appellation America by enologist Clark Smith of Vinovation gives a good overview of the rise of alcohol levels in California wine. It also points to historical precedents for making quality wines by picking with potential alcohol in mind.
Certainly these wines will be of a different character than most California wines available today. However, our hope is that they will:
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be more balanced
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offer more structure and complexity
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have greater aging potential
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give better expression of terroir
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be more food-friendly
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contain lower levels of alcohol
The production of these wines as well as the finished products will then be featured in redwinebuzz.com. The winemakers involved will participate in refining the parameters of this project as well as evaluating the finished wines. They may chose to blend their finished wines.
project23 asks all willing wine makers - especially those in the Central Coast, to make a small amount of wine conforming to parameters below. This will be an on-going project. Some may be able to participate with the 2007 vintage. Others, may choose to plan for the 2008 vintage. In either case, all are welcome!
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Wines must be made from grapes picked at no more than 23.5 degrees Brix. This is an absolute for for red varieties. While it would be preferred to use white grapes registering 22.5 degrees Brix or less, this may be too confining for some white varieties. This parameters should be discussed and agreed upon by participating winemakers. Ultimately, no grapes above 23.5 degrees Brix may be used regardless of variety.
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These parameters are not for the must weight but for the actual readings from the grapes on the vine. This is with the understanding that must weight can increase by a point or two after soaking.
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No new barrels are allowed. Barrels should be 1-2 years old or older. Cooperage selection is left to the winemaker.
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Co-fermentation of multiple varieties is permitted as long as the grapes used meet criterion #1.
While a barrel may be easy for some to make, others may find this amount cost-prohibitive.
If you already pick at several sugar levels to blend later, and you have a batch of wine that does not exceed 23.5 Brix at harvest (no new oak), you may bottle a case or two of that batch for the project. See below for detailed criteria.
All interested are invited to join the project23 discussion forum installed on redwinebuzz.com here. (Download the project23 summary).
(Download the project23 summary).
| Winery (Winemaker) | Varieties |
Source |
Vintage |
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Alma Rosa (Richard Sanford) |
Chardonnay, Pinot noir | CA - Santa Barbara County - Sta. Rita Hills | Library | ||||||
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Ambullneo (Greg Linn) |
Chardonnay, Pinot noir |
CA- Santa Barbara County |
Library & 2007 |
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Au Bon
Climat (Jim Clendenen) |
Chardonnay, Pinot noir |
CA- Santa Barbara County |
Library & 2007 |
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Clos Pepe Vineyards (Wes Hagen) |
Chardonnay, Pinot noir |
CA - Santa Barbara County - Sta. Rita Hills |
Library & 2007 |
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Cold Heaven (Morgan Clendenen) |
Viognier | CA - Santa Barbara County | Library & 2007 | ||||||
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Costa de Oro (Gary Burk) |
Pinot noir, (other?) |
CA - Santa Barbara County |
Library & 2007 | ||||||
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Daniel Gehrs Wines (Daniel Gehrs) |
(pending confirmation) |
CA - Santa Barbara County |
2007 (& Library) | ||||||
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Graeser Winery (Richard Graeser) |
(pending verification) | CA - Napa - Diamond Mountain District | Library (& 2007) | ||||||
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Lane Tanner Wines (Lane Tanner) |
Pinot noir (others pending confirmation) |
CA - Santa Barbara County |
Library (& 2007) |
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Lucas&Lewellen (Megan McGrath) |
(pending confirmation) |
CA - Santa Barbara County |
Library & 2007 |
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Ojai Vineyards (Adam Tolmach & Fabien Castel) |
Pinot noir | CA - Santa Barbara County | Library (2005) | ||||||
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Patton Valley Vineyards (Jerry D. Murray) |
Pinot noir |
OR - Willamette Valley |
2007 |
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Qupe (Bob Lindquist) |
(pending confirmation) |
CA - Santa Barbara County |
Library & 2007 |
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WineSmith (Clark Smith) |
(pending confirmation) |
CA - Napa | (pending confirmation) | ||||||
The Library Tasting for project23 is currently planned to take place in Monterey County at Hahn Estates in the Santa Lucia Highlands. However, scheduling availability of judges and participants may require a change in venue.
At that event, we will further define the criteria for this style of wine and discuss what growing and production parameters will help producers make quality wines that fit the project23 style.
All participating winemakers will participate in the tasting and discussion. The following individuals will head up the tasting panel:
| Dan Berger | Wine journalist. Author. Wine competition judge. 30 year veteran of wine journalism including San Diego Union, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, The New York Times, Los Angeles times. Editor-at-Large and Regional Correspondent for Sonoma County's Russian River Valley and Green Valley for Appellation America. Publishes Dan Berger's Vintage Experiences. Participation pending scheduling. | |||
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| Darrell Corti | Owner, Corti Brothers, Sacramento, CA. Participation pending scheduling. | |||
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| Laurie Daniel | Wine writer since 1993. Wine competition judge. Published in San Jose Mercury News, Food & Wine, Wine Country Living and Wine Enthusiast. Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and San Benito County correspondent for Appellation America. Participation pending scheduling. | |||
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| Tim Gaiser | Master Sommelier. Education Chair for the American Chapter of the Court of Master Sommeliers. Contributing editor for Fine Cooking Magazine, adjunct professor for the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley. Participation pending scheduling. | |||
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| Alan Goldfarb | Wine writer for 16 years. Published in San Francisco Examiner, the San Jose Mercury News, Wine Enthusiast, American Airlines’ American Way, and the Underground Wine Journal . Regional Editor for the Napa Valley, (and 14 sub-appellations) for Appellation America. Participation pending scheduling. | |||
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| Michael Jordan | Master Sommelier. General Manager: Napa Rose, Anaheim. Participation pending scheduling. | |||
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| Kyle Meyer | Wine buyer for the Wine Exchange in Orange, CA. Participation pending scheduling. | |||
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| Arthur Przebinda | Wine journalist. Founder & Publisher: redwinebuzz.com | |||
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project23 Tasting Protocol and Program
The project23 tastings are open to all participating winemakers. Members of the media interested in covering the event or participating as a judge should contact us at 23wine@redwinebuzz.com.
All wines will be tasted blind in two rounds: the first without food and the second with food. Control wines will be inserted into each round. A control wine may be a higher alcohol wine, one that has been watered back in production or a broadly respected wine (low or high alcohol). Aside of decanting, no other manipulation of the wines to be tasted will occur.
The following is a tentative schedule and time slots may change as the wine list is finalized:
- 9:30 am - Welcome, opening remarks, questions/clarifications regarding tasting procedures
- 10:30 am - whites blind tasting (w/o food)
- 11:30- reds blind tasting (w/o food)
- 12:30 pm - lunch break, informal discussion - or presentations focused on achieving low alcohol, complex and appealing wines
- 1:30 pm -