Do American winemakers have a tradition of "second wines" as the French have?!
These grapes are sorted into what will become the winery's second and sometimes third wines which also bear the chateau name, but are priced much lower and are intended for earlier more casual drinking. Anything left over after that is usually sold off in bulk.
Some second wines are tremendous values and worthy of first wine quality, such at Cos d'Estournel's Les Pagodes de Cos. Others have essentially become Grand Vin themselves, like Leoville Las Cases' second wine, Clos du Marquis.
This practice of selecting the finest grapes for the top label is done in virtually every wine producing region. It's just more obvious in Bordeaux because each winery produces just the one main wine, whereas American and Australian wineries carry sometimes up to 20 wines in their portfolio, ranging from entry level price to ultra expensive. Their "second wine" materials go into the lower blends.
I hope that helps!
Cheers!
Answers: The idea behind Bordeaux second labels is to ensure that a winery's top wine, the Grand Vin, is made from the best of the best grapes in any particular harvest. Amongst the top chateaux, only about 50 percent of the total grape production makes it into the top blend. The best grapes come from fully mature vines growing in the best performing plots of the property. Other grapes coming from younger vines or inferior parcels of land are selected out.
These grapes are sorted into what will become the winery's second and sometimes third wines which also bear the chateau name, but are priced much lower and are intended for earlier more casual drinking. Anything left over after that is usually sold off in bulk.
Some second wines are tremendous values and worthy of first wine quality, such at Cos d'Estournel's Les Pagodes de Cos. Others have essentially become Grand Vin themselves, like Leoville Las Cases' second wine, Clos du Marquis.
This practice of selecting the finest grapes for the top label is done in virtually every wine producing region. It's just more obvious in Bordeaux because each winery produces just the one main wine, whereas American and Australian wineries carry sometimes up to 20 wines in their portfolio, ranging from entry level price to ultra expensive. Their "second wine" materials go into the lower blends.
I hope that helps!
Cheers!
Do you mean second run?
I don't recall ever seeing it available. I do have a friend who makes his own wine, and he tried it one year. There is no such thing as a "free lunch". A second run is done after primary ferment. Not all of the juice is pressed out, and the pulp is added back to the primary ferment vat. Water and sugar are added for this stage. After ferment, it is again pressed. Our opinion of second run is that it lacks body, and tastes thinned out.
Perhaps the French have discovered something to compensate for this, but I don't think American winemakers use this technique.