City Winery recently entered various wines to be judged at The San Francisco International Wine Competition, which is one of the most prestigious international wine competitions in the nation. This summer the event was held at the distinguished Hotel Nikko downtown San Francisco, and the panel of judges comprised of the leading wine experts in the country. The competition, just celebrated it’s 32nd anniversary of judging and awarding wine excellence saw over 4500 different wines from 26 different states and 29 countries. There were many different categories of competition, including the “Best in Show,” “Portfolio of the Year,” “Winemaker of the Year,” “Winery of the year,” “Best of Varietal,” and the “Best of Nation.”
City Winery is very proud of our winemaking process, where we source our grapes from some of the finest vineyards in America as well as the world renown Catena Vineyards in Agrelo, Medoza Argentina. Because we are a winery in the middle of the city we have great resources to bring the most elegant and bold flavored fruits to our dining tables. We are pleased to announce that our 2010Kosher Syrah Mendocino was awarded with a gold medal, and 4 others came back with silver and bronze medallions. The silver award winning wines included our 2009 Cabernet Franc, known for being a tannic and powerful wine which has a distinct taste of dark berries, and our 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. Bronze medals were awarded to our 2010 Pinot Noir and 2009 Syrah. We look forward to another year of continued wine making success, and sharing our love for making fine wine.
This was a very exciting day for all of us here at City Winery. We reached out to many of our good friends and staff to mobilize for the arrival of twenty tons of Malbec grapes from Argentina. This is the most labor intensive aspect of winemaking, and it was “all hands on deck.” Even those not directly involved in the effort came to watch and photograph. It seems that there is something alluring, almost mysterious about seeing fresh grapes transformed from a simple ripe fruit into a product that many regard as a work of art. The draw is even more intense because of the location: right in the heart of New York City!
In this video, you will see the tractor-trailer arrive with its precious cargo, followed by David Lecomte, our head winemaker, doing a quick inspection before the first pallet is removed by forklift. Some of the pallets had to be restacked for greater stability. Once they are placed inside the winery, the grapes are unboxed and loaded onto a conveyor to the destemming machine. There is some interesting slow-motion footage of the destemmer in action. From there the grapes travel onto the sorting table and any remaining pieces of leaves and stems are removed. You will see the whole process taking place for both the kosher and non-kosher wines.
Finally, as the grapes begin to ferment in stainless steel tanks, there is the first of many “punchdowns” of the cap after about four days to ensure an adequate extraction of flavor and color from the grape skins. The fermenting juice and skins, called the “must”, undergoes a schedule of multiple “pump overs” every day to further aid extraction, mixing and to aerate the yeasts that need oxygen to thrive. It is no wonder that the making of a fine Malbec, or any wine for that matter, requires intense labor and attentive nurturing.
Note: For the highest quality video, please view on YouTube and select 1080p from the settings menu (gear icon)
Kosher Assistant Winemaker Yanky Drew pressed two puncheon barrels of kosher Pinot Noir grapes today.
Check out the video above for a look at how Yanky emptied the puncheons to get the pressing started.
After all of the juice flowed out, Yanky emptied the barrel of its grapes using a metal tool (as seen pictured above).
The small batch of Pinot Noir grapes was placed in the winery’s basket press and voila, there was pressed wine! (For more background on pressing, learn how to press red wine grapes here.)
After the pressing, the dry pomace (pictured above) wasn’t as dry as usual — because the batch was small, the piston wasn’t able to fully compress the grapes. We lost out on a little bit of wine, but rest assured, you’ll be drinking some quality kosher wine when we bottle this next season.
Cheers to that!
Video courtesy of wine aficionado Henry Gonzalez. Photos courtesy of Henry Gonzalez and Erica Swallow
City Winery and its team are quite diverse, partially due to the winery’s situation in downtown New York City, but also based on the winery’s multi-purpose use as a winery, entertainment venue, restaurant and tasting room.
Each week, we update you on the latest goings on at the winery. But we thought it’d be nice to take a glance back at some of the unique traits of our winery with a few fun facts about us. We hope you find these facts about our winemaking as interesting as we do!
1. When lees (that is, deposits of dead or residual yeast and other particles that precipitate to the bottom of a tank of wine after fermentation and aging) is removed from a wine at City Winery, we recycle it to the kitchen, where white lees is used to make pizza dough and red lees is used to make pretzels. Really dark lees can also be used to paint barrels.
3. We don’t “crush” grapes at City Winery. Instead, we simply destem and sort grapes before they are placed in tanks. This helps us maintain the integrity of the fruit as much as we can in order to optimize fresh aromas in the wine.
4. Press wine makes up about 25% of City Winery’s red wine production.
5. City Winery produces a number of kosher wines each year. The kosher winemaking process is overseen by the winery’s Kosher Assistant Winemaker Yanky Drew.
6. The Winery’s Barrel Room uses a house wine tap system to funnel up wines from the winery’s wine cellar. The system employs 11 taps and enables the winery to serve fresh wines on site.
7. At City Winery, we top barrels every 2-3 weeks to prevent oxidation. During the topping, we use the same variety of the wine being topped.
8. The City Winery team bottles and labels all wines on site. In fact, our in-house designer creates all of the wine labels used on our house and barrel member wines.
9. One barrel of wine fills 21 cases — that’s 252 bottles of delicious wine!
10. Because City Winery is located in Manhattan, it cannot be situated on a vineyard. Instead of growing our own grapes, we source grapes from some of the finest vineyards in California, New York, Chile and Argentina.
What else would you like to know about City Winery? Let us know in the comments below.
Last week, Kosher Assistant Winemaker Yanky Drew and his helper Chananya Zirkind were busy overseeing the harvesting and pressing of Chardonnay grapes sourced from North Fork, Long Island, to be used in making a sparkling wine.
I spoke with Yanky to better understand the ins and outs of kosher winemaking and the specifics of the harvesting, pressing and racking processes in particular. Check out the video embedded above for a look at the process, and then read on for details about each step.
The Two Tenets of Kosher Winemaking
Kosher Assistant Winemaker Yanky Drew prepares to rack the kosher wine.
Yanky explained that there are two main tenets when making kosher wine:
The wine must only be handled by an observant Jew.
The ingredients used in making the wine (such as yeast and fining agents) must be kosher.
These two principles are the foundation of all kosher winemaking and guide how Yanky and his team operate when producing wine with City Winery.
Cleaning the Press
Yanky and Chananya spent three hours cleaning the press in preparation for the grapes. They used a tweezer-like tool to individually pick out all of the seeds and skin from a previous pressing session. The press has to be completely clean of other fruit that may not be kosher. After all of the fruit was removed, the duo powerwashed the press for good measure.
In general, the rule regarding equipment and vessels used in kosher winemaking is that if it is to be used for storage, it must be kosher, but if it is used for anything but storage (such as transportation), it just needs to be completely clean.
For example, hoses used for moving wine from one vessel to another do not need to be kosher — they must only be clean. However, a tank for aging wine must be a designated kosher vessel.
Picking the Grapes
Grapes used for kosher winemaking can be picked by anyone, and the vineyards do not have to follow any kosher procedures. The only considerations are how old the vines are and what other foods are grown in the area.
Vines must be at least three years of age, and the grapes must not be grown in the same field as other fruits or vegetables. Yanky made sure of this when he visited the vineyard, located in North Fork, Long Island.
Furthermore, if any machinery is used — such as a forklift — it must be operated by an observant Jew. In this case, Yanky manned the forklift.
Pressing the Grapes
This time around, Yanky and Chananya pressed Chardonnay grapes for a sparkling wine.
In maintaining kosher standards, only observant Jews are able to handle the product. Along with keeping kosher standards in the pressing process, though, general winemaking procedures must also be followed in order to produce a high-quality wine. For this press, the team needed to follow sparkling wine pressing protocols, which call for a light, delicate press with many cycles, whether kosher or not.
Racking the Grapes
Racking is the process of carefully moving wine from one place to another.
When a wine is pressed, the first racking occurs when the pressed juice is transported to vessels. Sometimes this happens within a winery, but in this case, it happened at an off-site facility in Long Island. In this case, the wine was racked directly into vessels pre-loaded in Yanky’s van. (Check it out in the video above; it’s quite a site!)
Yanky’s vessels for transportation were all designated kosher. He used two 60-gallon drums, one 15-gallon keg and one 5-gallon glass carboy.
“Kosher Tape” Seals the Deal
“Kosher tape” seals a power switch during a racking, so that only Yanky can turn it off.
To make sure that only observant Jews have access to the kosher wine, Yanky uses “kosher tape” — which is distributed by the Orthodox Union, the supervising agency that oversees the procedures for creating kosher wine — to seal all storage vats, taps and valves. This ensures that only he touches the wine, as a tampered seal will prove otherwise.
Yanky also uses the tape to seal off power switches during racking when a pump is necessary. Only he can turn off the power to the pump.
Kosher winemaking may seem like a mystery for those not well-versed in kashrus, the set of Jewish dietary laws. So, let us know in the comments if you have questions about kosher wines.
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc Vintage: 2010 Vineyard: Palmer Vineyard Alcohol: 12.5% vol Volume: 750 ml AVA: Long Island, NY Cases production: 55 cs bottled
Vineyard description: Palmer Vineyard is situated on the north fork of Long Island. CW’s Mashgiach handled all crush and winemaking just after the harvest in the vineyard.
Winemaking Info: Long, slow, cool fermentation in stainless steel for 5 weeks, kept at cold temperature to avoid malolactic fermentation, bottled 8 months after harvest to preserve freshness.
Wine Description: Bright and clear pale straw. Pear and peach notes with moderate tropical (lichi, pineapple) and citrus fruit expression on the nose. Bright palate with medium bodied with note of flint stone.
Aging Capacity: 2-4 years.
Food Pairing: Can be sipped by itself, and also be paired with sable fish with braised leeks and fennel.
Buy the City Winery Kosher Sauvignon Blanc 2010 here.
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage: 2009 Vineyard: Obsidian Ridge Vineyard Alcohol: 14.1% vol Volume: Retail AVA: Red Hills Lake County, CA Cases production: 62 cs bottled
Vineyard description: Planted high on the ridge separating Alexander Valley and Clear Lake, Obsidian Ridge Vineyard is a 105-acre vineyard set on a northwest facing parcel of 5 to 20% slopes, ranging from 2,300 to 2,660 feet in elevation. The site benefits from cool evenings due to good air drainage, high elevation, and breezes off the Mayacamas Range.
Winemaking Info: 17 days of maceration using daily pumping over, press wine blended back into free run wine. Malo-lactic fermentation completed in barrel during winter. Aged for 15 months in French barrels (Seguin Moreaux, Taransaud), blend of 1 new and 2 used barrels, 3 racking during barrel aging to soften tannins.
Wine Description: Stone and mineral influence is apparent in this wine. Brambly in both scent and texture, this wine is rich in dark fruits. Specifically, blackberry and plum. Firm structure and grip with subtle oak influence. From deep alluvial soils in Lake County, this powerful Cabernet Sauvignon is inky purple in the glass and exhibits dark briary notes on the nose. The palate is awash with firm tannins and balanced acidity. Dark fruit with a touch of minerality complements some clove and spice.
Aging Capacity: 7-10 years.
Food Pairing: Would pair well with duck sausage or grilled lamb, flatbread with fennel and caramelized onions.
Buy the City Winery Kosher Cabernet Sauvignon Obsidian Ridge 2009 here.
Vineyard description: Blend of 3 barrels from Olsen vineyard and 1 barrel from Hyland Vineyard, both vineyards are in the Willamette Valley.
Winemaking Info: 12-day maceration into open top tank, daily punch down and few pumping over, partial press blended back into free-run juice. Full malolactic fermentation. Gravity pumped into a combination of 1/3 new Dargeau & Jaegle and 2/3 used Taransaud and François Frères for 8 months. 75% 2009 Pinot Noir Olsen Vineyard, 25 % 2009 Pinot Noir Hyland Vineyard.
Wine Description: Bright ruby color with a complex bouquet of black cherries, fresh earth and herbal notes of sage. Shows a restrained power and richly expressive fruit. A fine acid backbone balances a medium plus -bodied palate, complex Côte de nuit-style wine with immensely succulent cherry fruit, velvety texture.
Aging Capacity: 5-7 years.
Food Pairing: Can be sipped by itself if decanted for few hours. Salmon on bed of cracked barley and pearl onions. Arctic char on arugula pesto potatoes.
Buy the City Winery Kosher Pinot Noir Oregon 2009 here.
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage: 2008 Vineyard: Obsidian Ridge Vineyard Alcohol: 14.1% vol Volume: Retail AVA: Red Hills Lake County, CA Cases production: 65 cs bottled
Vineyard description: Planted high on the ridge separating Alexander Valley and Clear Lake, Obsidian Ridge Vineyard is a 105-acre vineyard set on a northwest facing parcel of 5 to 20% slopes, ranging from 2,300 to 2,660 feet in elevation. The site benefits from cool evenings due to good air drainage, high elevation, and breezes off the Mayacamas Range.
Winemaking Info: Winemaking: 19 days of maceration using daily pumping over, press wine blended back into free run wine. Malo-lactic fermentation completed in barrel during winter. Aged for 17 months in French barrels (Seguin Moreaux, Taransaud), blend of 2 new and 6 used barrels, 4 racking during barrel aging to soften tannins.
Wine Description: From deep alluvial soils in Lake County, this powerful Cabernet Sauvignon is inky purple in the glass and exhibits dark briary notes on the nose. The palate is awash with supple tannins and balanced acidity. Dark fruit with a touch of minerality complements some clove and spice.
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage: 2008 Vineyard: Blend of two vineyards. Alcohol: 14.1% vol Volume: Retail AVA: Napa Valley, CA Cases production: 66 cs bottled
Vineyard description: Blend of 2 vineyards: George the 3rd in Rutherford and Bettinelli vineyard in Yountville.
Winemaking Info: 18 days of maceration using daily pumping over, press wine blended back into free run wine. Malo-lactic fermentation completed in barrel during winter. Aged for 15 months in French barrels (Seguin Moreaux, Taransaud, Radoux, blend of 1 new and 3 used barrels, 3 racking during barrel aging to soften tannins.
Wine Description: Somewhat of a mix between red and black fruits, this wine is sour cherry on the nose with hints of orange peel. Menthol, eucalyptus nodes come through on the nose. On the palate, there is a smoky finish with perceptions of oak influence. Specifically, American oak perhaps hints of dill, maple, or even chocolate can be detected. Round ripe tannins and assertive acidity.
Aging Capacity: 7-10 years.
Food Pairing: Would pair well with roasted chicken, duck sausage flatbread with caramelized onions, aged strip steak.
Buy the City Winery Kosher Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 2008 here, or find the magnum here.
Kosher Barrel of New York Wine is Fortified with Brandy and Blessed by Rector James Cooper
(New York, NY, November 4, 2010) — When Queen Anne gave Trinity Church 250 acres of farmland in 1705, “laying and being on ye Island Manhattans in ye City of New York aforesaid and bounded on the East party by Broadway, partly by the Common and partly be ye Swamp and on ye West by Hudson River” she probably did not expect that 305 years later the Church would be blessing wine from a kosher barrel made on its property.
City Winery, opened in 2008 at 155 Varick Street, is producing wine on the land grant originally bestowed by the Queen. Several months ago, Michael Dorf, the winery’s founder and CEO and Trinity Church’s seventeenth rector, The Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper had an informal conversation about the religious traditions of winemaking. An idea took form — a sacramental Communion wine produced on the very land that Queen Anne gave for agriculture purposes, made from a kosher barrel.
“When City Winery was established in Hudson Square, we were pleased to discover the agricultural roots of the community. Creating this sacramental wine for Trinity Church, allows us to honor Queen Anne’s bequest and become part of the rich history of lower Manhattan,” said Mr. Dorf.
“We are delighted that the wine we will use for Communion is being produced just a few blocks from the church,” Dr. Cooper said. “It reflects both a comforting link to a treasured past, as well as Hudson Square’s engaging and creative spirit today,”he said.
For this special and unique project, the winery, which makes about 20% of its production according to Orthodox Jewish law, selected a fermenting barrel of Long Island Sauvignon Blanc grapes crushed on September 21, 2010. At today’s ceremony the kosher seal on the barrel was removed by Michael Dorf, at which point Dr. Cooper, Rev. Canon Anne Mallonee and other members of Trinity Church added grape spirits, fortifying the wine for the next stage of its aging and offered a blessing of thanksgiving. “Vicar’s Vintage” will ready for bottling and ceremonial use by Christmas 2011.
Wine has been used in Judeo-Christian religious ceremonies from the earliest recorded history. Kosher wine, which is prepared according to biblical standards, is often used to celebrate the Eucharist, underscoring the common heritage shared by Christians and Jews over the centuries. Mr. Dorf said he was pleased that the collaboration would send a message about religious tolerance and cooperation that contrasts the recent discord over the Park51 mosque and community center near Ground Zero. “This is something we can do downtown to show that people can work together,” he said.
Reporters from local media, including DNA info, The New York Post, DownTown Express, Tribeca Tribune and Columbia University Press were on hand to cover the event.
City Winery is on its third vintage and ships whole clusters of grapes from California, Oregon, and upstate New York into Manhattan, where the grapes are de-stemmed, crushed, fermented and turned into high-end wine over a period of 8 to 24 months.
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: Pinot Noir
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon