PMC 2010 – 26th Year Fighting Cancer

Dear Friend,
 
The cancer road stretches far into the distance. More and more people engage in a a personal fight against the disease. Therefore, we all need to fight on with them.
 
It’s been 26 years since my dad succumbed to cancer. He was brave, never showing fear. A year after his death, in 1985, I rode my first Pan-Mass Challenge, a charity cycling event that raises funds for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute located in Boston, MA . The August 7-8 PMC is my 26th ride and one I am looking forward to as much as any of them. The PMC is my opportunity to engage in the fight against cancer while honoring my dad. I sure wish he was here to watch.
 
Over these years, I rode for friends, colleagues, and people I did not know. I hoped to offer them hope and comfort through my connection to the wonderful PMC family. Perhaps the knowledge that over 6,000 riders and volunteers really cared provided them with a bit of help as they went through one more day fighting cancer. This fight will forever be personal. It has touched my family too hard to ever be forgotten.
 
Thank you for being part of my PMC family and supporting me now and in years past. Without you, this ride is just 193 miles long. With you, it is a crusade, that we are winning, against a disease that hurts too many of us. Please consider boldly investing in the miracles that are unfolding today. Every single dollar (100%) of your PMC donation fights cancer. We raised more than $30,000,000 last year, reaching $270 mil. overall. I think we can do better.
 
Times may be tough for us, but times are  tougher for those who are fighting cancer. I need you, and those looking for hope need you.
 
See you on the road.
 

 

To make an online eGift donation click here

 
or
 
Send checks made out to Pan-Mass Challenge to me at:

Barry P. Chaiken
14 Durham Street
Boston, MA 02115

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About the Pan-Mass Challenge

The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge raises money for life-saving cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through an annual bike-a-thon that crosses the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
 
Since its founding in 1980, the PMC has successfully melded support from committed cyclists, volunteers, corporate sponsors and individual contributors. All are essential to the PMC’s goal and model: to attain maximum fundraising efficiency while increasing its annual gift. Our hope and aspiration is to provide Dana-Farber’s doctors and researchers the necessary resources to discover cures for all cancers.

Vinnez July 2010

Nurturing the Wines

Times are thought to be quiet in the vineyard and winery during the winter. Not much to do except watch the snow pile up on the Andes. Well, not exactly.
 
This is the time when good winemakers are separated from the rest. It is now that the winemaker must take care of the little things that produce great wines; topping off barrels, checking SO2 levels, measuring pH, etc. It is these things that make sure the wine is healthy as it matures in the barrel, integrating those special characteristics that make the wine a blockbuster.
 
While Argentina is enduring its winter, we in the north can enjoy the long, warm days of summer. For me, I’m out on my bike, preparing for my 26th Pan-Mass Challenge, a 2-day, charity, 193 mile bike ride that raises money to fight cancer. Please take a moment to learn more about the ride (click here for related article), and how you can help fight this terrible disease that impacts 1 out of 4 of us.
 
Cheers.
Sincerely,
 
Barry P. Chaiken, Proprietor
Chaiken Vineyards
info@chaikenvineyards.com
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Vinnez – June 2010

Watching and Waiting

One of the hardest things to do as a winemaker is wait. The off-the-charts intensity of harvest time, where adrenaline rushes are an hourly event, drops off to a more measured pace. Although everyone is happy for the respite, the transition is always a bit difficult.
 
With the vineyard dormant for the winter – remember Mendoza’s seasons are opposite North America’s – all focus is on the wines in barrel. Other then topping up barrels and performing regular laboratory tests to make sure the wines are healthy, there is not much more to do than wait, and wait, and wait. The wine and the oak must be given time to do its thing. 
 
Due to the high quality of the grapes, the Generaciones wines will remain in barrel longer than first anticipated. For 12 months the Seguin Moreau medium toast French oak barrels will breathe nuance and elegance into our wines. This is more than two months longer than anticipated, a good sign that the land has produced good quality fruit. Although I don’t like the extended wait, I am thrilled about the quality.
 
Michael Evans, Founder of Vines of Mendoza , sent me a message recently letting me know that our wines are tasting well. He promised to bring me a bottle or two the next time he travels to the Northeast. I can hardly wait.
 
Cheers.
Sincerely,
 
Barry P. Chaiken, Proprietor
Chaiken Vineyard
info@chaikenvineyards.com
Join Our Mailing List

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Syrah – Rhône Wines in the Uco Valley

Syrah or Shiraz is a dark-skinned grape grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce powerful red wines. Whether sold as Syrah or Shiraz, these wines enjoy great popularity.  Following several years of strong planting, Syrah was estimated in 2004 to be the world’s 7th most grown grape at 352,000 acres.
 
DNA profiling in 1999 found Syrah to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche. It should not be confused with Petite Sirah, a synonym for Durif, a cross of Syrah with Peloursin dating from 1880.
 
Wines made from Syrah are often powerfully flavored and full-bodied. The variety produces wines with a wide range of flavor notes, depending on the climate and soils where it is grown, as well as other viticultural practices chosen. Aroma characters can range from violets to berries (usually dark as opposed to red), chocolate, espresso and black pepper. No one aroma can be called “typical” though blackberry and pepper are often noticed. With time in the bottle these “primary” notes are moderated and then supplemented with earthy or savory “tertiary” notes such as leather and truffle. “Secondary” flavor and aroma notes are those associated with several things, generally winemakers’ practices (such as oak barrel and yeast regimes).
 
It is called Syrah in its country of origin, France, as well as in the rest of Europe, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Uruguay and most of the United States. The name Shiraz became popular for this grape variety in Australia, where it has long been established as the most grown dark-skinned variety. The name Shiraz for this grape variety is also commonly used in South Africa and Canada.
 
Syrah continues to be the main grape of the Northern Rhône and is associated with classic wines such as Hermitage, Cornas and Côte-Rôtie. In the Southern Rhône it is used as a blending grape in such wines as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, and Côtes du Rhône, where Grenache usually makes up the bulk of the blend. Syrah has been widely used as a blending grape in the red wines of many countries due to its fleshy fruit mid-palate, balancing the weaknesses of other varieties and resulting in a “complete” wine.´
 
Source: Wikipedia

Vinnez – May 2010

The Grapes Turning to Wine

Much has happended in the last month. When I left Mendoza on April 5th there was more than five tons of grapes on the vines waiting for the pickers to come through. The next day the Malbec was picked, sorted, and quickly put in a stainless steel tank for stabilization and then fermentation. Since then the Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon all were picked and went through the same process in their journey to the bottle.
 
Due to the high quality of the grapes we decided the wine could be enhanced by exposure to the highest quality French oak.  Therefore, we purchased Seguin Moreau medium toast barrels to coax the wine to its maximum quality. Now comes the hard part. We have to wait for several months as the wine evolves and the oak impacts the process.
 
My colleague Bryan Driscoll, a member of the Vines of Mendoza staff, visited me last week to report on my wines. He tasted all from tank or barrel early in May. With a smile on his face he said I would be pleased. No complaints on my side for reports like that. And I know he wasn’t exaggerating. My surplus grapes, those not used to make wine this year, were immediately purchased at a premium price. Now we all know money does not lie.
 
I’m looking forward to tasting my first vintage. I hope you are too.
 
Cheers.
Sincerely,
 
Barry P. Chaiken, Proprietor
Chaiken Vineyards
info@chaikenvineyards.com

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Cabernet Franc – A Gem in the Uco Valley

Cabernet Franc is one of the major red grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire’s Chinon and in the Uco Valley in Argentina. In addition to being used in blends and produced as a varietal in Canada and the United States it is made into ice wine there.
 
Cabernet Franc is lighter than Cabernet Sauvignon, making a bright pale red wine and contributing finesse and a peppery perfume to blends with more robust grapes. Depending on growing region and style of wine, additional aromas can include tobacco, raspberry, and cassis, sometimes even violets.
 
Records of Cabernet Franc in Bordeaux go back to the end of the 18th century; it was planted in Loire long before that. DNA analysis indicates Cabernet Franc is one of two parents of Cabernet Sauvignon, a cross between it and Sauvignon Blanc.
 
Worldwide Cabernet Franc is one of the twenty most widely planted grape varieties. Plantings are found throughout Europe, in the New World, even China and Kazakhstan. In many regions, it is planted as a component of a Bordeaux-style blend such as Meritage, playing secondary role to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. In parts of northeast Italy, Anjou-Saumur, Touraine and right bank region of Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc both plays a more prominent role in blends and is vinted as a varietal.
 
Cabernet Franc shares many of the same phenolic and aroma compounds as Cabernet Sauvignon but with some noticeable differences. Cabernet Franc tends to be more lightly pigmented and produces wines with the same level of intensity and richness. Cabernet Franc tends to have a more pronounced perfume with notes of raspberries, black currants, violets and graphite. It is often characterized by a green, vegetal strike that can range from leaves to green bell peppers. It has slightly less tannins than Cabernet Sauvignon and tends to produce a wine with a smoother mouthfeel. New World examples of Cabernet Franc tend to emphasis the fruit more and may delay harvesting the grapes to try and minimize the green leafy notes.
 
Source: Wikipedia

Vinnez – April 2010

Notes from the 2010 Harvest

What a great trip!! Over a two week period I had 12 of my closest friends travel to Mendoza to share my first harvest at Chaiken Vineyards. In addition to touring the vineyard, we visited the newly built winery, met with the consulting winemakers, and sampled some of the best food in Argentina.
 
OK, here’s the news on the harvest. Due to a relatively cool summer, harvest was delayed almost two weeks. Although this prevented me from seeing the malbec being picked, it does offer great hope for the wines. Warm days were followed by cool evenings allowing the sugars and acidity to be in balance, which means more interesting and flavorful wines.
 
On my last visit to the vineyard our winemakers were blind tasting all the grapes from every vineyard determining the right day for picking. Although winemakers use equipment to measure BRIX (sugar levels), nothing is more important than how the grapes taste. Amazingly, each winemaker tastes more than four pounds during one of these sessions. Winemakers grade the grapes A, B, or C with A the highest rating. So how did we do? We got an A!!
 
Harvest of the our malbec began the week of April 5th. Primary fermentation takes place over a two week period for each varietal with the malbec followed by syrah, cabernet franc, and then cabernet sauvignon. I should be getting a report on the how it’s all going real soon. Right now everyone both in Mendoza and here in the U.S. are excited about it all.
 
Cheers.

Sincerely,
 
Barry P. Chaiken, Proprietor
Chaiken Vineyards
info@chaikenvineyards.com

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Winemaking – An Overview

Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine.
 
Winemaking can be divided into two general categories: still wine production (without carbonation) and sparkling wine production (with carbonation). The science of wine and winemaking is known as oenology (in American English, enology).
 
Red wine is made from the must (pulp) of red or black grapes that undergo fermentation together with the grape skins, while white wine is usually made by fermenting juice pressed from white grapes, but can also be made from must extracted from red grapes with minimal contact with the grapes’ skins. Rosé wines are made from red grapes where the juice is allowed to stay in contact with the dark skins long enough to pick up a pinkish color, but little of the tannins contained in the skins.
 
During this primary fermentation, which often takes between one and two weeks, yeast converts most of the sugars in the grape juice into ethanol (alcohol) and carbon dioxide. After the primary fermentation, the liquid is transferred to vessels for the secondary fermentation. Here, the remaining sugars are slowly converted into alcohol. Some wines are then allowed to age in oak barrels before bottling, which add extra aromas to the wine (e.g., our Generaciones wines), while others are bottled directly. Still others may be aged in stainless steel tanks (We add oak staves to the tank holding our Malbec to enhance the aromas).
 
However, only about 10% of all red and 5% of white wine will taste better after five years than it will after just one year. Depending on the quality of grape and the target wine style, some of these steps may be combined or omitted to achieve the particular goals of the winemaker. Many wines of comparable quality are produced using similar but distinctly different approaches to their production; quality is dictated by the attributes of the starting material – which is why we practice strict vineyard management and perform two step berry selection to choose only the best grapes – and not necessarily the steps taken during vinification.
 
Variations on the above procedure exist. With sparkling wines such as Champagne, an additional fermentation takes place inside the bottle, trapping carbon dioxide and creating the characteristic bubbles. Sweet wines are made by ensuring that some residual sugar remains after fermentation is completed. This can be done by harvesting late (late harvest wine), freezing the grapes to concentrate the sugar (ice wine), or adding a substance to kill the remaining yeast before fermentation is completed; for example, high proof brandy is added when making port wine. In other cases the winemaker may choose to hold back some of the sweet grape juice and add it to the wine after the fermentation is done, a technique known as süssreserve.
 
Source: Wikipedia

Vinnez – March 2010

First Harvest Begins

After a long three years of careful nurturing of the vines, our first harvest at Chaiken Vineyards begins this month. To say we are excited about the event is an understatement……we are filled with overwhelming anticipation. How balanced will the sugar and acid be? What is the expression of terroir? Did our green harvest do what we expected? No time at a winery is more hectic, nerve wracking and downright frightening than harvest time.
 
Nevertheless, we are confident in our team in Mendoza to execute flawlessly. Oh, I’ll be heading down there to observe it all. It never hurts to have another pair of eyes monitoring the activities.
 
In our April issue I will report on how it all went. In the meantime, sit back, relax and open one of those special bottles you might have. It is time to celebrate. It’s harvest time!!
 
Cheers.

Sincerely,
 
Barry P. Chaiken, Proprietor
Chaiken Vineyards
info@chaikenvineyards.com

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Malbec Loves Mendoza

 Malbec was originally one of the minor blending varieties of red Bordeaux, where it now accounts for a tiny proportion of local production.
 
Called Auxerrois or Côt Noir in Cahors, called Malbec in Bordeaux, and Pressac in other places, the grape became less popular in Bordeaux after 1956 when frost killed off 75% of the crop. Despite Cahors being hit by the same frost, which devastated the vineyards, Malbec was replanted and continued to be popular in that area where it was mixed with Merlot and Tannat to make dark, full-bodied wines, and more recently has been made into 100% Malbec varietal wines.
 
But its home now is well and truly in Argentina, where after more than 100 years of nurturing it has come into its own both as a pure varietal, and blended with Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot.
 
Malbec grapes are reasonably small, very dark, and juicy. Controlling the fruiting of the vines is important to ensure good concentration of flavours. Fortunately, the Argentine wine industry’s almost 100% reliance on irrigation (it virtually never rains) gives growers the tools they need to ensure quality fruit.
 
However, Malbec is fairly sensitive to its climate. In cooler conditions (in Mendoza, this normally means a higher altitude) it is a thick-skinned grape which develops high acidity and tannic content, giving rise to more robust wines. At lower altitudes the grapes have thinner skins, more juice, and produce wines that are lighter-bodied and more suited to drinking young.
 
Flavours most commonly associated with Malbec include plums, cherries, currants and raspberries. Fruit, as well as colour, may be perceived as black or red depending on the origin of the fruit, as well as the wine-making style. Argentine Malbec is generally liberally oaked, and even the earlier drinking styles reflect the resulting flavours – vanilla, spice, as well as occasional tobacco notes – well.
 
An earlier ripening variety in Argentine conditions, the Malbec harvest generally begins in early March.
 
Source: Argentina Wine Guide, Wikipedia

Vinnez – February 2010

Welcome to Vinnez

Welcome to the first issue of our monthly newsletter, Vinnez, from Chaiken Vineyards. Each month your will receive information about our vineyard and winery, reflecting the cyclical nature of growing grapes and making wine. In addition, we will offer short educational pieces on wine subjects, stories about our adventures throughout the wine world, and announcements about current wine releases.

Vinnez will also link you to interesting content on wine, food, and travel appearing both at the Chaiken Vineyards website and other sources throughout the world. So, welcome to Vinnez and we hope you enjoy all that we provide on the world of wine.
Sincerely,
 
Barry P. Chaiken, Proprietor
Chaiken Vineyards
info@chaikenvineyards.com

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Origin of Chaiken Vineyards

Private Vineyard Estates and Vines of Mendoza

Two recidivist American entrepreneurs have started the biggest and most interesting wine venture in Mendoza. Dave Garrett describes himself as an “Internet guy” who happened to land in Argentina because his girlfriend at the time had a passion for the tango. While in Buenos Aires with little to do, he took an introductory course called Wines in English, which taught him the basics about those of Argentina.

A good friend of fifteen years and business associate in the United States was Michael Evans, who long wandered amid the worlds of technology, presidential politics, and non profits. Garrett suggested that Evans fly to Argentina and spend some time with him. He arrived speaking no Spanish and with plans for staying three weeks. Evans now speaks fluent Spanish and is still there.

While sitting around Buenos Aires, the two friends tossed around business ideas. Dave had seen an ad in a paper for an 80-acre property in Mendoza for $80,000, a price that got his attention. Land prices were then still inexpensive in dollars after the 2002 devaluation of the Argentine currency. So in early December 2004, the two friends traveled to Mendoza. The teacher of Dave’s wine course told them to look up her friend Pablo Gimenez whose family owned a winery. Garrett, Evans, and Gimenez spent two days together, visiting ten wineries that opened their doors and their wines to the two gringos in a way they would never have done without the Argentine.

(Link to an excerpt from “In Search of Bacchus: Wanderings in the Wonderful World of Wine Tourism” (Scribner, 287 pages, $30), by George M. Taber, describing the exciting vineyard project started by the Vines of Mendoza in the Valle de Uco, Argentina in 2006.)

Harvest 2010 – Stories from Mendoza

As I sit in the domestic airport in Buenos Aires I am filled with anticipation to see the ripe grapes on the vines travel from the field to the fermentation tanks. Delayed over three hours due to LAN Argentina – a very common occurrence here – I’ll arrive a mere 35 hours hours after I left Boston. But enough of the whining. It is harvest time and I’ll be posting stories and pictures from the vineyard and celebratory parties with my friends arriving from the U.S. and U.K.

Below is a short video of pictures taken by Vines of Mendoza CEO Michael Evans. It is grea to see the winery built, christened, and then in operation for the first time. Congratulations Michael, Pablo, and Santiago!!

Barry P. Chaiken, Proprietor
Chaiken Vineyards

Harvest 2010 at Chaiken Vineyards from Barry Chaiken on Vimeo.

Favorite Photos by Don Gurewitz Photography

Don’s a great friend and and an even better photographer. Last week I sat down and reviewed his portfolio in anticipation of a project we are planning together. We will soon launch a phtographer-winemaker series that showcases Don’s photos and special Generaciones wines from Chaiken Vineyards. More on that in a few weeks, but for now please enjoy this short video of my favoraite photos from Don Gurewitz Photography.

Chaiken Vineyards Favorite Photos by Don Gurewitz Photography from Barry Chaiken on Vimeo.

Harvest Anticipated on March 22nd

Harvest began last week for the white wine grapes in surrounding vineyards. Evaluation of Brix levels and anticipated weather patterns predict that harvest of the red wine grapes should start on or about March 22nd, just in time for me to be down in Mendoza.

The accompaning picture of the grape vines show their healthy state. According to Michale Evans, CEO and Chief Photography Officer at the Vines of Mendoza, the vineayrds are looking grand and anticipation is high for a quality harvest.

Harvest is just 4 weeks away....

Barry P. Chaiken, Proprietor
Chaiken Vineyards