Got any grapes?

Somewhere along the way, wine got snooty. Wine culture got all self-impressed—

wrapped in pomp, circumstance, and wealth. But, the art of winemaking is about

progress not perfection. There are no ‘right’ answers. Wine is a living, breathing thing. It changes day-to-day. The vintner (winemaker) is a part of the process, yes. But, we don’t believe in heavy-handed winemaking. It’s way more a product of nature than people.

There’s an easy equation that makes wine making (and beer, and cider) super easy to understand.

Sugar + Yeast = Alcohol + CO2. In toddler-speak (yes, I have one of those): yeast

‘eats’ the sugar, then ‘spits’ out alcohol, passes a little CO2 ‘gas’, and dies.

For the purpose of our conversation here, I want to zero in on the ‘sugar’. We’re

typically not talking about sugar sugar—the kind you’d use for baking or in coffee.

We’re talking about a foodstuff that contains a lot of sugar. So, for cider making,

that’s…apples. And for beer, it’s malted grains (like barley or wheat). In mead, it’s

honey. Sake—rice. And in wine, you guessed it…grapes.

[I’ll make a quick clarifying note here on CO2 (i.e. carbon dioxide, i.e. carbonation, i.e. bubbles!) In still wine making, the kind in barrels or tanks, that CO2 ends up floating off into the air. In the specific methods of Champagne, those bubbles are captured—but that’s a whole other conversation.]

That’s it! That’s the mystery!

My point in all this is two-fold. First, it’s WAY more accessible and easy to understand than the wine world might have you think. And second, grapes matter a LOT. When we make Legacy Wine, it’s the grape that determines important aspects of the tasting experience like flavor and structure. There are thousands of grape varietals.

Thousands and thousands. In America, we often use grape varietals as the names of the wines—Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot.

In Europe (sometimes called the ‘Old World of Wine’), it’s often the place that names the wines—French Burgundy, Spanish Rioja, Italian Chianti. The reason that works is because within many of those places. only certain grapes are allowed to be used in winemaking. It’s the law! Even though there are no Michigan laws restricting what grapes we can and cannot use, at Legacy, we like to be mindful of the Old World traditions of place, and how that determines the style of wine for which we strive.

Cabernet Franc, one of our featured grapes, is best known in two French regions. In the north of France, specifically the Loire Valley, it’s the backbone of earthy, vegetal, single-varietal wines from the well-respected Chinon AOC, and others. Further south, in Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc is used in world-famous blends to add aromatics and structure. Those wine-y adjectives describe the grape at its best, and we can learn from those as we create our very own Michigan take on the wine.

Another example of our featured grapes, Nebbiolo, is the great grape of northwest Italy, in the Barolo and Barbaresco DOCGs. The rare combination of high acid and high tannins are the hallmark here. Again, we can use these old-world sensibilities to inform our winemaking decisions with the grape.

Yes, we love this nerdy stuff! It’s not about snobbery though. It’s about getting better at our craft and continuing to make delicious wine for our small town tasting room, for the magical state of Michigan, for the rest of the New World, and even for our Old World muses. See you soon for some grape juice.