What are Perfect Wine Grapes?

As we head toward harvest, we are striving to create the perfect wine grape. It is an impossible goal, but we take on the task every vintage. The ideal grape is one that has the perfect sugar level for its variety, balanced acidity, and great flavor. We believe you cannot make exceptional wine without first having the perfect wine grapes.

There is a popular trend toward making lower alcohol, less fruit forward wines (aka: big wines, fruit bombs = bad). Nothing wrong with the concept but disregarding terroir to do this is a problem. This is Arizona, not France. Our sunshine and UV levels at the altitudes needed to grow good grapes conflict with this concept. Our pH levels are also higher than you will see in other places. We make no apologies for making a 15.5% alcohol level Petite Sirah because this is what our place does. If you do not like that style, that is fine, but based on the input received from our customers, many people love it, and the wine is a true reflection of our unique spot. To us, that is what winemaking is all about – figuring out your vineyard and making the best wine possible from that fruit produced.

A wine club member mentioned that he had tasted wine recently that tasted sour. We believe that the sourness comes from lack of balance related to sugars at harvest, quality of fruit, pH, and what the winemaker tries to do/or does not balance them. Sourness is often compared to acidity and the two concepts are not even remotely related. Sourness occurs at the front and mid palate while acidity is at the back end and is pleasing and provides structure.

UC Davis preaches that any wine over 3.8 pH is unstable. This is not our opinion or a reflection of our results. A well-made wine produced in a sterile environment can thrive for years at a higher level and frankly, this is where Arizona red wines naturally need to be. If we were making wines to lay down for 25 years, we might have a different opinion but that is not our goal. We are making wines that are very approachable early since we do not have the longevity to know how long they will last. Someone else long after we are gone will have some history to work with, but we do not.

Chasing the 3.8 pH level causes one to do some things that impact the wine such as the addition of massive amounts of tartaric or citric acid = SOUR. Or picking the grapes prior to reaching the optimum ripeness and flavor levels to curb alcohol production. Relying on sugar levels vs. picking when the grapes taste good often results in “out of balance fruit.”