The Role Of Barrels In Winemaking

How do barrels influence wine? This question may have popped into your mind as you swirled and sipped wine amongst the views of wine country. There are a lot of options and factors that make barrel decisions complex for the winemaker. It is an important decision as the chosen vessel will direct the structure and flavor profile of the wine. It ultimately reflects the winemaker's style, but can also elevate a grape variety. From toasts to wood preferences, the barrel options vary greatly and can make a wine go from good to outstanding. Barrels are the backbone of wine. Let's take a moment to appreciate the humble wood vessel.

Quick Overview of Barrels
Barrels can be used for $50 planters and chairs, but they start as an expensive vessel for aging alcohol like wine. The journey to complete a barrel is long, spanning many years to craft.

Oak barrels are sourced from various forests. In California, the most commonly sourced oak barrels are from the United States and France. The best-growing conditions for oak trees are cold to mid temperatures with poor soil of sand and limestone. These conditions help create regular annual growth for the oaks and lend tighter rings in the trunk. Nutrient-rich soil encourages quick growth and focuses on leaf development. The slow time is crucial in forming tight grains in the wood. Harvest time for these oaks is not until the trees are 80-250 years old.  For extra-fine grains, the optimum harvest time is 150-230 years old.

After all those years, the oak wood must be seasoned and dried post-harvest. This process can take 2-3 years. After the seasoning process, the oak is finally delivered to a cooperage for barrel crafting. A craft that dates back to the Roman era. The cooper takes separate pieces of oak wood (staves) to shape the barrel, which is held by riveted rings (hoops). To encourage interaction with the wine's flavor, the cooper chars the inside of the barrel. The toast level is based on the charring temperature and duration. One could try to be a wordsmith and describe the entire process in more detail, but it is best to see the skill in action:

    Journalist Jamie Goode's video of Tonnellerie

    Business Insider's video on Large Format Barrels

Once barrels are completed, cooperages offer various woods, grains, toasts, and sizes to winemakers. To the untrained person, the list of options is daunting but to the experienced winemaker, it is an exciting opportunity to further the artistic vision of their wine. How does the winemaker decide what barrel to use? Let's take a step into the winemaker's boots.

Varietal Differences
Wine varietals influence the initial barrel selections. A white varietal like Chardonnay will have different needs from a red varietal like Zinfandel. Yet red varietals will vary in needs from each other as each varietal has its characteristics. A Grenache is lighter in body with tart red fruit notes whereas a Cabernet Sauvignon will have more weight and dark purple/blue fruit notes. A wine's origin, terroir, and vintage will also impact the different needs for structure, body, and flavor.

Style
A winemaker will have a goal and idea of what they want for their wines. They desire certain flavors, structures, and wine bodies, which barrels can help deliver. Some winemakers seek tradition, while other winemakers desire to break norms to create something new and different. Each winemaker has a different goal.

Oak barrels incorporate secondary notes in the wine. There are three types of flavors or notes in wine:

• Primary - The variety's characteristics and vintage influence (ie: weather). The primary tastes are fruits, vegetal, herbs, and florals.
• Secondary - These are the notes that come from winemaking practices and vessel choices such as oak barrels. The secondary notes are typically coconut, butter, toast, vanilla, cedar, coffee, and spices.  
• Tertiary - These notes derive from aging. These will develop and are forward in aged wines. These tertiary tastes reflect the aging process and are usually dried fruits, mushrooms, nuts, spices, sherry notes, and earthiness.

Oak and aging can impact the flavors dramatically in wines, which is why it is up to the winemaker to make the decision on how oak will play a part in their program.

Wood and Grain Choice
One of the important decisions a winemaker has to decide is the wood and grain choice. A common choice for winemakers in Paso Robles is American vs. French oak.

American oak can be less dense with looser wood grains, which means the oak can be sawed as opposed to hand-splitting. This means oak sourced from the United States is a little less expensive. The oak can be sourced from Pennsylvania, Virginia, Missouri, and Minnesota. Each forest lends different qualities to the oak due to soil and weather.

French oak has tighter grains with rich aromatic compounds which help create structure, smoothness, and longer aging capabilities for wines. There are various French oaks that help with complexity and volume. The oak in France is generally hand-split, which raises the cost of using French barrels.

This is just a quick overview of American and French oaks, but there is a plethora of choices for winemakers including different cooperages. Winemakers generally taste samples of wine aged in different barrels and discuss with cooperages their barrel characteristics to make informed decisions. It also can be a trial and error as winemakers will refine their barrel choices over the years of winemaking. At Parrish, we use 4-5 different cooperages from several different forests in France. This assists in the complexity of our wines.

Toast
Oak wood barrels go through a toasting process. The toasting helps flavor compounds such as coconut, spices, butterscotch, and vanilla be more prominent in the barrels. Natural, raw oak is stable and offers roundness for wine, but the vanillin and furanic compounds deliver more complexity that winemakers seek.

In the winery at Parrish, we use Medium+ level. Winemaker Cody Alt shares, "Medium+ offers softer wood tannins, which helps not add to the already existing tannins in our wines. Our wines have enough concentrated flavors that they can handle higher toast levels in the barrels. The oak adds complexity with notes of roasted almonds, coffee, toffee, and mocha."

Roll Out the Barrels
There are still so many factors to oak barrels, but our main goal was to give you a glimpse into the world of oak and build appreciation for the art of coopers (as well as winemakers). Oak barrels are an integral part of winemaking and are widely used for their complexity and structure abilities in wine.

A fun exercise for your next wine tasting. While enjoying your next glass of wine, see if you can pick out the secondary notes which are the oak influence.

How was Harvest 2024?

The 2024 vintage was a hot vintage with an extremely warm and long Summer in Paso Robles. We began harvest on August 30th with our Sauvignon Blanc and completed harvest on October 16th with Petite Sirah and Grenache. To give us a little more insight, we caught up with Winemaker, Cody Alt to learn more about the vintage. 

How did the hot weather impact the harvest? 

Cody: It was reminiscent of the 2022 vintage. Our yields were lower for us as well as most of Paso Robles. David said it is not uncommon for vines to auto-regulate after a high-yield year. Last year (2023) we had a much milder Summer and a cool Fall, which increased our yield. 

What does this mean for the wine? 

Cody: Due to the low yield this year, it means high quality due to the concentration of fruit. The wine will be full-bodied, and opulent with intensity and concentration of riper fruit notes. No herbaceous, green notes in the wines as that comes with cooler vintages.

We saw some first harvests for many of our newest vines, how did those go? 

Cody: Great! The Zinfandel, which is at our Adelaida Vineyard, came in at about 1.5 tons an acre, so on the light side of course, but we don’t produce a lot normally. The wine will be fruit forward with an emphasis on red fruit,  with softer and rounder tannin structure.

The Merlot was picked at the Creston Vineyard at lower brix this year to help add fresh fruit elements into our blends. It had great juicy blueberry notes. 

Can you talk about how the Sauvignon Blanc looked? 

Cody: We were thrilled with the fruit. It had perfect acidity and vibrant flavors. I got notes of apple, pear, grapefruit, and key lime. 

How did our flagship the Cabernet Sauvignon look this year? 

Cody: We were close to 2.5-3 tons an acre for the Cabernet. So we’ll see very intense and powerful wines with concentrated aromas and flavors. Large structured wines for 2024. 

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Here is the tonnage break down for the 2024 vintage. We will end up with around 185 barrels and around 4,000 cases of wine featuring our single variety Sauvignon Blanc, Grenache Rosé, and Cabernet Sauvignon as well as our blends; Silken and Four Chords. Will we see a new blend? That has yet to be determined. 

Variety	Tons
Sauvignon Blanc	4.11
Grenache	9.65
Merlot	3.58
Cabernet Sauvignon	49.08
Syrah	3.72
Cabernet Franc	9.28
Petit Verdot	5.05
Zinfandel	1.35
Petite Sirah

Check out our current releases on our website to enjoy while the 2024 vintage is processed.  We now offer a single variety Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc!? Join us daily in the tasting room to try these wines at 3590 Adelaida Road, Paso Robles, CA 93446! 

Parrish Family Vineyard 2024 Harvest Team ( L to R): Johnny Lawson (Intern), David Parrish (Owner/Winemaker), Cody Alt (Winemaker), and Mason Ramsey (Vineyard & Cellar Assistant)

 

Meet Andrea & the 2020 Zinfandel!

Meet Andrea, our Lead Tasting Room Associate, who recently joined the Parrish Family Vineyard team! She is excited to share her favorite wine with you - the 2020 Zinfandel. Andrea is a big fan of chocolate and she loves that the fruit forward Zinfandel carries notes of cocoa and dark chocolate. She also loves the luxury and elegance on the palate and says “Everyone should have a bottle…it’s that delicious.” 

Andrea would pair the Zinfandel with a movie night! For her, horror flicks, friends, and freshly baked brownies are the perfect Zinfandel accompaniments.

Ready to create your own Zinfandel pairing and occasion? Here are the details on the 2020 vintage from our Winemaker, Cody Alt.

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2020 Zinfandel 

Owner and Winemaker, David Parrish is drawn to the Zinfandel variety in memory of his grandfather, Earl Henderson, who planted Zinfandel in the 1920’s. Grandpa Earl was able to acquire cuttings from the renown Paderewski Ranch in Paso Robles. He took the cuttings and planted them in Atascadero, where he managed 740 acres. Today, the Parrish Family grows a half acre of Zinfandel near the gates to the Tasting Room along Adelaida Road. 

Tasting Notes: Red Cherry, Fresh Cranberry, Pomegranate, Cocoa, Leather, White Pepper

Pairing Suggestion: Pork Tenderloin with a Mushroom and Sage Stuffing

Release Notes: Released to Wine Club

AVA: Adelaida

Vineyard Notes: Head Trained and Spur Pruned. Half an acre.

Yield: 4 Tons

Alcohol: 14.75%

PH: 3.62

TA: 5.9 G/L

VA: .69 G/L

Fermentation: Stainless Steel with Pumpovers and Punchdowns 

Oak Profile: 50% New French Oak - To allow the fruit to be the focus 

Vintage Notes: The 2020 vintage is memorable much like the year for obvious reasons. Bud break was a little late due to rainfall in the Spring, but there were no frost issues with it being a warmer year. The flowering was normal and occurred in good conditions. Summer arrived with hot weather and record heat waves in August and September. This encouraged the 2020 harvest to begin and be completed quickly. During the beginning days of harvest, Paso Robles and most of the Central Coast was overcast with smoke from fires in Northern California. Despite this challenge, the Zinfandel was left to complete its ripening and the winemaking team worked their magic to save the wine from smoke taint. Therefore, the 2020 vintage showcases the hardwork and determination of our winemaking team to keep the quality that you have come to know and love at Parrish Family Vineyard.  

Purchase the 2020 Zinfandel Here or Join the Wine Club! 

 

Veraison has begun on our Paso Robles vineyard

Veraison is here! 🍇

Veraison signals the official onset of the ripening of the grapes. This is a period of time when varieties like our Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache will shift from green, to rich tones of red and purple, while white grapes, such as Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay will transform into warmer hues of golden yellow. The cluster skins will soften, and the sugar levels will rise until they are just right for the picking.

"This is an exciting time because we know that once varaison is complete, we are not far off from harvesting and making our new vintage wines! We typically stress the vines during varaison by reducing the water to the vines. Stressing vines at this stage produce grapes that give wines deeper color and better overall better phenolics." - Winemaker, David Parrish

Stay tuned for more vineyard updates as we approach the harvest season!
See more and follow us on our Instagram HERE
 

Spring 2022 Club - New Wines

David, Cody, and Lupita share about two new wines that were released with the Spring 2022 Club Shipments, the 2019 Chardonnay and the 2018 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Play the video to learn more! 

Winter in the Vineyard

Bare vines and dark soil spotted with green grass speckle the hillsides as puffy clouds pass overhead in the vineyard. The quiet landscape of the season, while simple, is beautiful. Despite the tranquility, there is still work to be done and activity begins weeks before the end of Winter.  

The first task is composting. Tractors spread it between the rows of the bare vines, which awakes the vineyard to the season ahead. It takes 2 years for the compost to be used by the soil. That's correct, two years. I thought it would have been immediate, but microorganisms in the soil have to break it down. Once it breaks down it gives the soil carbon, nitrogen, and minerals that feed the vine's root system. We have to do this as the vine loses these elements every harvest. We use organic compost instead of chemical compost as it is sustainable. Organic compost also doesn't encourage overgrowth in the vineyard. As my dad shared, chemical compost can act like steroids for a vineyard. We want growth, but not that kind of growth. 

The next task is pruning. The vineyard gets a haircut with the old wood being pruned. The pruner keeps two canes (old shoots) on the vine for this year's growth. It is a job that requires time and diligence. We prune later in the Winter to protect the vine from disease. Timing is everything in farming. 

Once trimmed, the vine awaits bud break. It is my favorite time of year as the bare vines show life again (even though I know the vines are alive during the Winter...haha). Till then, bring a blanket or coat, and enjoy the tranquility at the tasting room. 

Cheers!

-Cecily 
 

Cody Alt Promoted to Winemaker at Parrish Family Vineyard!

"Growing up I never knew what I wanted to do, coming from San Diego, I didn’t have any agriculture background,” Alt said. “I got into Cal Poly, and of course you have to declare your major, so I was willing to roll the dice and figured wine would be a fun avenue to explore. Wasn’t sure if I wanted to make it, grow it, or sell it, but I chose the winemaking side and fell in love".

“What I wanted to do in college is intern in as many places as possible, be it a lab, vineyard, winemaking facility,” Alt recalls. “I wanted to be as well-rounded as possible. My goal was always to be able to run a facility all by myself, to be able to do everything. One of my favorite opportunities was interning in Germany with a biodynamic vineyard and a winemaker who won winemaker of the year a couple of years ago. 

Among the many wines Alt has had the pleasure of producing during his career, one of his most exciting releases thus far was the 2017 Four Chords Bordeaux Blend from Parrish Family Vineyards. This complex and intense blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot garnered a 95-point rating from Wine Enthusiast and is a club member favorite! 

“I saw an opening in our program at Parrish, we had the Estate Cab, our Reserve Cab and the Silken, but I knew the other varietals we grew and were making wines with would complement each other in a blend,” Alt says. “In the Four Chords, we were very purposeful with the development. Petit Verdot gets the mid palette, Malbec will get that fleshiness which evens it out, the Cab is the main structural component that makes it angular. I thought people would be interested in this blend, and it is very different from anything else we make. That wine was also a real test of my blending skills.”  

Alt has had the privilege of working with some of the best names in Paso Robles wines, among them David Parrish. “I met David at a Taco Tuesday event years ago and he offered me a position here with Parrish Family Vineyard, and at the time I turned him down since the offer was close to harvest and I was working with another winery,” Alt recalls. “But eventually I came to my senses and found a way to join the team. David is a great mentor, he’s taught me a lot and given me every opportunity to succeed.” 

“Hopefully my love and care for these wines show through,” he says. “That’s kind of your goal as a winemaker, that your passion can show through in that glass and make people happy.”

Getting the Dirt on Our Soil

A few weeks ago we had a tractor tilling between the rows of our Adelaida vineyard and while that doesn't sound very exciting, it brought up an interesting conversation about our soil management. 

Parrish Adelaida Vineyard

My dad shared with me that we have been a part of a soil project the last couple of years that was implemented by the local RCD (a.k.a. Upper Salinas - Las Tablas Conservation District) and funded by the CDFA (a.k.a. California Department of Food and Agriculture). While my dad might have told me this before, it was like hearing new information and I had to know more. So, he directed me to our vineyard management company, Vineyard Professional Services (VPS), to fill me in. The Chief Operating Officer of VPS, Linnea Smith, reached out to me with a great document (thank you, Linnea!). 

VPS has been working with the RCD to study the impact of middle row management and soil health over four years (2021 marks the last year). The reason for this study is that generally vineyard managers till between vineyard rows to reduce weeds and pests as they are competition for the vineyard's water...a precious resource. The problem with this practice is that it is expensive, time-consuming, and impacts erosion control. The updated practices are easy to implement and can be applied by any vineyard in California. 

Parrish Templeton Vineyard

In 2018, Parrish Family Vineyard's Templeton and Adelaida vineyards were brought into the trial along with three other local vineyards with diverse terroir; soil, and microclimates. In the trial, they tried different cover crops; brome grasses and barley. Then they tried a mix of mowing versus discing. The RCD took soil samples each year and observed the changes in the soil. They took note of the amount of organic matter, nutrient levels, and soil biology and diversity. The hope for the project is that it will lead to an increase of organic matter, improve water retention, and long-term storage of carbon in the soil. 

In simple terms, the changed soil practices will mean less water, improved water quality, and fewer pests...overall making the vines productive. That's a win, win, win! This project shows how important soil is in the vineyard. Soil needs to have nutrients and water retention to feed the roots of the vines...otherwise, you will see problems with the season's development. 

Thanks to the RCD and VPS for including Parrish Family Vineyard in these important trials. It is another example of the Ag Industry innovating and improving to meet the challenges around them. The farmer has always had to adapt and always will, due to climate, disease, pests, and economics. 

We'll see how 2021 concludes for this project, so for now, we will wait with a glass of wine and appreciate the efforts as the wine starts in the vineyard.

Cheers! 

Cecily Parrish Ray 

Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc - Start to Finish

We have been growing our Sauvignon Blanc at the Adelaida vineyard since 2013, while we had been using the fruit to produce our Estate Sauvignon Blanc since 2016, the winemaking team was compelled to try something new. They wanted to do a sauterne-style wine as it would be a nice addition to our lineup as we didn't have a sweet wine.  

What is a sauterne? Sauternes are from the Bordeaux region of France and they feature not only Sauvignon Blanc, but also Sémillon and Muscadelle. They tend to be heavier in body, sweet, and have notes of stone fruit, tropical fruit, florals, toasted sugar, coconut, and baking spices. It all depends on the fruit and barrel program, as you do age this style in barrels to add the wonderful body and secondary flavors. 

Back in 2019 we took the leap and held back some Sauvignon Blanc clusters from the main harvest in September and allowed the grapes to stay on the vine to develop more sugar. In November 2019, we harvested the remaining Sauvignon Blanc and they were raisined with colors of gold and pink-purple. Hence the term, Late Harvest because it was last to be harvested and allowed to develop more sugar, or higher brix (measurement of sugar). We normally pick at 21 brix for the Sauvignon Blanc, but for this wine, we picked at about 35 brix.  

Below is a video we recorded in the middle of the processing the Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc with Cellar Master Ethan and Assistant Winemaker Cody sharing about this new wine: 

*I'm sorry about the background buzz from the winery!

One thing you may notice from the video is the vibrant color. It looks like orange juice! That color fades away during fermentation. After talking with Assistant Winemaker Cody, I learned more about why young wines have a cloudy color that is nowhere near what the finished product will look like. This is known as browning and it's a normal thing that happens during pressing wine. The oxygen dissolves causing the color. It also has some lees and sediment that are stirred up making it not as clear. The CO2 that occurs in fermentation helps lift the oxygen and at that point begins to change the color to be more clarified and golden rather than yellow-orange. 

During fermentation, the winemaking team used a weaker yeast so the process would stop at 15-16% alcohol and allow there to be residual sugar in the wine.

What is residual sugar? This is what makes wine sweet. Dry wines have no residual sugar because they have had all the sugar eaten up by yeast during fermentation. Sometimes wine tasters think that sweetness in a dry wine is sugar, but that is most likely the fruit notes of the palate. So, if you like wines that are "sweet" in a dry wine then you would want to look for wines that fruit-forward, less tannic, and have spent time in stainless steel or little time in the barrel. 

After processing, the wine then journeyed to oak. The Late Harvest aged in 35% new French oak and 65% neutral oak for about 16 months. This gave the wine more body than our traditional Sauvignon Blanc. Typically, the winemaking team ages Sauvignon Blanc in stainless steel to keep it light and crisp, whereas the Late Harvest is aged to be heavier bodied with more creaminess and caramelization. 

The day we bottled the Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, I got to taste it and it was delicious. The notes I got were apricot, lemon and grapefruit jelly candies (think of those Sunkist ones), cream soda, toffee, and then a beautiful brush of acidity. I love the acidity in this wine as it helps balance the body to keep it from becoming cloyingly sweet.

For the winemaking team, it is such a rewarding day to take the wines that have been worked on for a couple of months or years and finish them. They get to see the once grapes transformed to wine and then placed in the bottle. It is also rewarding for the team to do something new and have it turn out to be wonderful. No longer a thought, but a reality. 

As far as packaging, it is different from our other bottles as the label is with gold accents and the bottle is smaller, 375ml (rather than 750ml). Our whole team voted on the bottle shape for a few days in bottle planning. It was very sophisticated as we lined up 2 options on the counter and then did a tally on post-it notes. It became a bit of a competition, jokingly, as one bottle was being picked by a landslide and the other was lonely with 1 tally mark. But that team member began convincing other team members to bring them to her side. Haha. Alas, the popular bottle was chosen. It was a good attempt! In summation, it was a team effort in picking the packaging. 

So, importantly, how should you serve this? Chilled. I would recommend a smaller glass so you can easily access the nose. This will age well. I have yet to try it after being open a couple of days, but feel this would last longer open than a stainless steel, crisp Sauvignon Blanc. Regardless, this wine will age in the bottle for some time. 

And then what do you pair it with? You can do dessert with this wine. I would say tarts would be lovely with it like a lemon, coconut, or almond. Cheesecake would be simple and decadent with the Late Harvest. For the release weekend, Estate Chef Samantha paired it with aphrodisiac macarons; fig & pistachio, strawberry balsamic, and raspberry chocolate (awesome!). The fig & pistachio macaron was my favorite with this wine, so taking inspiration to home, try thyme mascarpone figs with roasted pistachio and honey drizzle. 

And then let's not forget cheese & charcuterie as this would be beautiful with a board for starters or dessert, I mean why not! Here are some thoughts; baked brie, Fromarer D'affinois Blue Cheese, St. Agur Blue Cheese, Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog, Asiago Rosemary, Idiazabal, Manchego, Honey Bee Goat Cheese, Oakdale Lemon Quark, Foie Gras, Duck Prosciutto, Alle Pia Calabrese Salami, and Smoking Goose Spruce & Candy Salame. Add some fun accouterments like quince paste, bacon jam (Olivas de Oro does one), Marcona almonds, dried nectarines, dried cherries, homemade candied pecans, pumpkin seeds, shortbread biscuits, sourdough, or brioche toast...you'll be set! 

I hope you enjoyed learning more about this new wine. Cheers, and if you're a club member, you can pick up this wine here! 

-Cecily 

 

Winter in the Vineyard & A Quick Look at the Year

Winter is upon us with its calm and cold presence ushering in a quiet time for the vines. I have a lot of times called this their sleepy time, but in more formal words, the vines are currently dormant. It is a perfect time for dormancy as the temperatures can drop below 30 degrees. Even in Paso Robles, California we can get freezing temperatures at night and early mornings. So, dormancy protects the vineyard from being hurt by the freezing temperatures.   

The vines have gone through senescence after the hard work of harvest, which is the dropping of leaves. Since the leaves are now covering the floor of the vineyard, it indicates that the vines have stopped photosynthesis (energy production). The vines don’t die because they have stopped photosynthesis, but rather they depend on the stored energy in their trunk and roots. This brings up one of the important practices for a vineyard and that is soil health. The soil is what provides nutrients to the vines. During this season we will work on the soil by applying fertilizer and/or planting cover crop seeds (i.e. flowers, vetch, or barley).

Shortly, we will also work on pruning the vines to prepare them for the growing season. With pruning, the prior year’s canes are cut back leaving the best canes for the new year’s shoots. There won’t be a lot of activity with the vines until bud break which usually occurs in April and marks the start of the growing season. Below I have dug up a timeline I made years ago of the stages of growth throughout the year highlighting the important moments for the vines. The months listed are approximate as every year is different due to the weather.

My hope this year is to share more information about the vineyard when they are happening, so we’ll see how I do!

Cheers!

Cecily Parrish Ray