JL Kiff Vineyard: Wine as a Sacrament

It has been a busy week, and I am just now starting to write the newsletter at 2:00 on Friday. Governor Brown announced 2 hours ago we are going on lockdown again for 2 weeks. Sigh, but in all honesty, it doesn’t surprise me one bit. I will make the best of it, and this weekend I am popping a good cork to watch the Foo Fighters at the Roxy. Tickets are $15 and totally worth it! They have a new album coming out in February, and their latest single is called Shame Shame. In May, I quoted Dave Grohl and a small snippet of his thoughts about being in concert again. Here is the quote for reference:

In today’s world of fear and unease and social distancing, it’s hard to imagine sharing experiences like these ever again. I don’t know when it will be safe to return to singing arm in arm at the top of our lungs, hearts racing, bodies moving, souls bursting with life. But I do know that we will do it again because we have to. It’s not a choice. We’re human. We need moments that reassure us that we are not alone. That we are understood. That we are imperfect. And, most important, that we need each other. I have shared my music, my words, my life with the people who come to our shows. And they have shared their voices with me. Without that audience—that screaming, sweating audience—my songs would only be sound. But together, we are instruments in a sonic cathedral, one that we build together night after night. And one that we will surely build again.

This week, I finished the Jason Lett interview during my walks on the “I’ll Drink to That” podcast. The interview was thought provoking, and to hear so many stories while learning about Oregon Wine History was great. At the end of the interview, here is what Jason said, “Wine is a sacrament and not an alcohol delivery system. This is disrespectful to the winemaking process.” A few months back, when it was warm and sunny, I was asked, “Why do I cringe when the foil from a bottle of wine is ripped off?” My answer was, “It feels disrespectful. When you go through the ritual of taking your wine key, cutting the foil off the bottle, and pays tribute to the hard work and dedication captured inside the bottle. Plus there is something pleasing to the eye seeing cut foil just under the lip of the bottle."

Pondering the podcast and the question about the foil took me back to when I was living in TN. At this particular moment in time, I was reading a book called “The River Why.” My heart was opening up to the possibility of moving out to Oregon. Reading the words from author David James Duncan painted a picture of Oregonians highly respecting the land surrounding them. 19 years later, I see this through and through, but more so when I am out in Wine Country.

Two weeks ago, I visited a husband and wife team winery where the spirit of Jason Lett’s story, along with Gus from “The River Why” were all harmoniously in sync. The winery is located outside of McMinnville with a nice long gravel driveway going up to the winery. Getting out of my car, I was greeted like family by Laurie and Joel from JL Kiff Vineyard.

The winery and vineyard felt incredibly humbling, and you got a sense of roots running deep. Laurie is from Oregon but lived in California with Joel, where his job had nothing to do with wine, even though he took a viticulture class in a vocational school. Visiting Oregon, Laurie and Joel found and bought the property where the winery is today, with 2010 being their first vintage. Walking through the vineyard with Joel, the whole respect for nature and wine I mentioned earlier spoke volumes to me in our conversation, even during the silent pauses. The ritual of growing grapes and making wine has been around for thousands of years. You can sense how much this ritual resides within Joel.

Walking back through the vineyard, we caught up with Laurie. I tasted through their extremely unique vertical of 2011 - 2015 Estate Pinot. I don’t think I have ever gone on a tasting where I tasted through a vertical like this. The ability to taste the age of the 2011 and 2012 was stunning. The 2013 had this balance of age with some brightness of a young wine peeping through. The 2014 and 2015 were showing exactly as you would expect for a 14 or 15.

During the tasting, what was fascinating to me was how detailed Joel and Laurie would talk about the different vintages and how it affected the wines. For example, in 2013, there was a crazy amount of rain at Harvest. They decided not to pick until after the rain. Most people picked before or during. Picking after the rain created a wild yeast fermentation, and the vintage was given a nickname of “wild thing.” In 2017, there was so much fruit on the vines. The crew came out and picked fruit like normal, but there was still fruit. Everyone in the valley had a lot of fruit, but there weren’t enough fermenters to go around. After some time, once fermenters were available, the crew was called back out to pick the remainder of the fruit. The story of how a well broke down brought them into the dry farming era of viticulture brought a huge smile to my face.

We also talked a little bit about the 2020 vintage and the struggles it brings. If you remember, it was a Friday when the rain came. Before the rain, Joel did a small micro ferment. The results weren’t all that great. With a lean yield and beautiful fruit, Joel picked all the fruit himself after the rain and did another micro ferment. This one was better. He did some more experimenting, and so far, things are looking pretty good for 2020. As with so many others, it is a game of waiting to see how the wine progresses with time.

Joel let me punch down the 2020 vintage a little, and it was a great experience. As we were standing around the grapes, he asked me if I could smell banana. I had never heard of a banana smell surrounding grapes before, but if there is one thing about wine, I know it is to be humble in the lack of knowledge you have. I drew my face closer to the grapes, and there was a slight scent of banana. Maybe it was a placebo effect as well. It wasn’t strong by any means. Being the curious person I am, I researched banana smell during fermentation. This is what I found out:

It is certainly possible to pick up banana flavors from the fermentation process. As Emmet points out, Beaujolais is known to have banana aroma and flavors as a result of carbonic maceration. Other wines may also exhibit these aromas if they contain Isomyl Acetate or Ethyl Octanoate, both of which are naturally occurring byproducts of the fermentation process.

The sun was beginning its descent on the day, and it was time for me to head home. The desire to hug Laurie and give Joel a nice firm handshake was ever-present but was left for another time. Instead, I thanked them profusely for their time, waved goodbye, got in my car, and told Siri, “Hey Siri, take me home or lose me forever.” When you get a chance, take a trip to Mac for the day to visit Joel and Laurie. It will totally be worth your while and as always, let them know, “A.J. sent you.”

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With Gratitude,

A.J.

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PS - The next #ajsHappyHour is supposed to be December 8. There might be one sooner with the lockdown happening, but we are doing a “Virtual Secret Santa” on the 8th. If you want in, hit reply on your email and let me know.

PPS - Here is a video of Joel playing banjo for your viewing pleasure.