Is Overripe Over?

By overripe, I mean the soft, lush, blockbuster fruity wines of California. By questioning if they are finished as a style, I mean they aren't going away anytime soon, but are they losing popularity. We are seeing a return by some winemakers to what I consider more balanced and structured wines.

 

High alcohol Napa Cabernet retailing for about $700

 

Backstory 

California wine underwent a significant change in the 1990s from dry, tannic Cabernet to the fruit-forward, soft, higher alcohol ones we know today. Robert Parker, the top wine reviewer of the time, just loved the lush Cabernets coming out of Napa. Everyone wanted their "Parker points" and this style became the norm. Parker influenced winemakers to move away from food-friendly wines to fruity, easy drinking wine.

Today 

All wines from Napa are not in this fruit-forward style, as some seem to think. If you like the more restrained style there are plenty of those around. Another current fad is, "If a little bit of oak is good, then a lot will be better." High levels of new, expensive French oak is popular with some. This reduces tannins, increases the sweet sensation, adds vanilla flavor, and helps preserve the fruit.

Not to just pick on Napa Cabernet as Zinfandel also joined the overripe trend in a big way. Alcohol levels of 15.x% are common. Many probably top 16%, but won't always admit it on the label. High alcohol isn't just a number, it overshadows tannins, acidity, and covers up nuances of the wine. 

Technical

The balance mentioned in the opening paragraph means the different parts of a wine, tannins, acids, fruits, oak, and any other flavors and aromas, seem equal. No one characteristic pushes to the forefront and overwhelms the others. The structure of a wine has five components, sweetness, acidity, tannin, alcohol, and body. All should work in harmony. Today's big, lush Napa Cabs put fruit over the others putting the sweetness of fruit and alcohol in the front and pushing acidity and tannins to the back. There is no sense of place, no vineyard expression, no terroir. Complexity is lost.

Here's an interesting article on balance vs. terroir from Lodi where fruit-forward reigns. 

Grapes are picked riper now than a few decades ago. Riper means softer and higher alcohol. In those old days winemakers picked based on sugar levels. Today it's phenolic ripeness.

The reasons are many for the rise in alcohol in the 1990s. Was it the move to Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP) for new vineyard trellising that allowed more direct sun on the grape clusters increasing ripeness? Was it moving away from AXR1 rootstock that delayed ripeness because of the return of phylloxera? Is it at least partly due to climate change as noticeable heat gains have been recorded in many vineyard regions?

Grapes are picked sooner now as they are ripening quicker, and they are picked with higher sugar content.

Winemakers often "water back" the juice before fermentation to lower the alcohol of grapes picked overripe. This became a common procedure in the era of high sugar content grapes. They could pick the fruit earlier but don't as it's a stylistic choice.  

Why 

So why did this lush style of wine become so popular? Humans have a natural affinity for sweetness. Sweet fruit means it's ripe and ready to eat. Sweet is good. Any hint of acids means it's not ready to eat. I get that many people prefer this style of wine and that's fine. The overripe style can be preferable in some situations, but pairing with food isn't one of them. A big advantage of this style is that you can drink them younger than a more tannic wine that requires aging to mellow out. If fact, these big, high alcohol wine should be consumed rather early as they don't usually have the components to age.

Trend 

It seems that more winemakers are going for wine showing more vineyard expression, are more food friendly, and have better balance. We won't go back to the '80s though I hope we'll take something from the learnings of the past few decades and apply it to better structured wines. I am looking forward to this trend.

 

Over 40 years ago when Zinfandel was under 14% alcohol
A different wine from today's Zin

 

Sources:

Jordan Winery
Frank Family Winery 
Sudsy's Cellar
Lodi Winegrape Commission
Food & Wine, The New Napa Renaissance