Welcome back to Meagz Fun Facts.  Over the past few years, you may have noticed a surge in the number of wine bars opening.  What a great, brilliant idea!  A place where you can sample wines by the glass (or bottle) and relax with friends.  I’m obviously enthused by the idea, but many of our modern day trends are recycled ideas from past decades.  So I was wondering if this was an original concept…  Turns out the Greeks thought along the same lines.  Allow me to expound.  When Mt Vesuvius buried Pompeii in 79 AD, it buried over 200 wine bars.  That’s over 200 wine bars in just one city!  Apparently the Greeks may have even more enthusiastic about wine than we are today.  Then again, I know some serious wine-lovers.  Hmm, food for thought.

One of the questions I get asked most often is, “So what do you do all year after the wine is made?”  As I look out over the snow-covered desolate beauty of the Finger Lakes in February, I can understand why some might think that this time of year is best spent by enjoying the fruits of our labor beside a crackling fire and a good book.  No so, however, because there are some things happening in the cellar right now.

January and February are by far the low points of activity in the wine cycle.  As opposed to Calendar Years or Fiscal Years, I tend to think in terms of Wine Years.  Late winter is smack dab in the middle of the Wine Year.  Fermentation has finished, and most of the wines have been racked off of their heavy lees.  The reds have also finished their malolactic fermentations, and the barrels have been topped off and bunged.  In short, the wines are made and have been tucked away to rest.

So what’s going on?  The wine is chemically adapting to its new state.  Turning juice into wine is a fairly violent process in terms of chemistry.  The past few weeks of rest have allowed the wine to adjust and mature.  Acids are softening.  Flavors and mouthfeel are developing.  Color and protein are polymerizing.  Alcohol is integrating.  It takes some time for thing to come together.

One of the real advantages of making wine in the Finger Lakes is our nice cold winters.  Our tanks are enjoying the winter temperatures, too,  so that the wine can cold stabilize.  At prolonged exposure to these low temperatures, excess tartaric acid precipitates out of the wine in the form of tartrate crystals.  Other wine regions rack up enormous electric bills to achieve what Mother Nature gives us for free every year.  If I want to turn lemons into lemonade – every time I shiver to the bone from the New York winter, I think to yourself: “Hey, this is great for the wine.”

So that’s Red Newt in February.  Soon we’ll wake the wine up, but for now, let’s just let the sleeping bear lie.