Finding The Sweet Spot

Clark Smith is a winemaker and consultant with a controversial specialization. He uses the reverse osmosis and micro-oxygenation techniques to change alcohol levels in his wines, and helps other winemakers put them into practice. The philosophy is coined Grapecraft; essentially using the most advanced and modern techniques to bring the wine into proper balance- or as stated on their website, "The practical art of connecting the human soul to the soul of a place by rendering its grapes into liquid music." He speaks of winemaking as a kinship to cooking, not merely to science.

The Grapecraft website gets into great detail on the philosophy and the techniques-I highly recommend checking the links to get more information. Certainly this is the other side of the coin from the natural wine argument. Grapecraft would argue that these methods are bringing wine into its most natural and balanced expression. Personally, I do think the goal to make wine in as natural a manner as possible is desirable and of interest. However I'm not an ideologue when it comes to this. Give me a good philosophical basis for the means to making wine, and I'm game.

Grapecraft produces wines under three primary labels- WineSmith, CheapSkate, and Penny Farthing. These wines are sourced from a variety of sites, and are priced at a variety of price points under $20. My friend and colleague, Justin, bought a sampler pack of the Penny Farthing Cabernet Sauvignon California 2007. The wine is sourced primarily from Lodi grapes, and is labeled at 13.5% alcohol by volume (AbV). This gives it an actual leeway of anywhere between 12% and 13.99%, as anything under 14% has a 1.5% wiggle room up to the 14% barrier. The sampler pack included 4 bottles of the Penny Farthing Cabernet starting with the unaltered version of the wine at 15.1% AbV, and 3 other versions altered with reverse osmosis at 14.2, 13.95, and 13.7 AbV's respectively. One of these wines has the "sweet spot", a term that Grapecraft uses to describe that magic AbV where the wine comes into balance.


Justin organized a gathering of wine-interested friends to blind taste the wines and assess the different qualities of each. The bottles were wrapped in aluminum foil and marked with letters A. B, C, or D. At the end of the tasting we all guessed which wine matched the mystery AbV, and named our sweet spot wine, before unveiling the identities of each bottle. Below are my notes and overall assessments for each wine-

Wine A-
Color/body assessment- medium to full body. violet-garnet color and a rich appearance with medium density.
Nose- subtle red fruit, black fruit, and pepper
Palate- red fruit, baking spice, and pepper. A little light across the palate before finishing with fading tannins.
Overall- A decent wine. It developed character in the glass but dropped off across the palate and on the finish. My least favorite of the 4- I guessed this as the 13.95% AbV.

Wine B-
Color/body assessment- medium bodied. a richer purple with garnet highlights. medium extraction in appearance.
Nose- a little muted at first, developed into similar red/black fruits and notes of pepper.
Palate- more defined fruit- currants & other berries, and a mixture of spices & cedar- full weight on the middle, showing good structure and a lingering finish with spicy & gripping tannins.
Overall- A nice classically styled wine with solid fruit, spice, balance, and structure. Opened up with air. Very solid for an under $20 Cabernet. My favorite of the 4- I guessed this as the 13.7 AbV.

Wine C-
Color/body assessment- appeared fullest in body. violet/purple with a dense appearance.
Nose- similar to A & B- peppery spice notes with a little more defined note of currant.
Palate- Red fruit and cassis, full and ripe on the middle palate and finishing with sweet & spicy tannins.
Overall- Drank almost like a Zinfandel with defined ripe red and dark fruits with a little sweetness and heat. I liked its opulence, it maintained structural integrity without going over the top... definitely came off as the "big" wine of the 4. My second favorite- I guessed this as the 15.1 AbV.

Wine D-
Color/body assessment- full body. violet and dense in appearance.
Nose- muted olive, light black fruit notes- opened up slightly with time.
Palate- red fruit, peppery spice notes, full through the middle palate. finished with light tannins.
Overall- This one had a little promise, but fell off on the end. It felt a little disjointed but had nice primary character. My #3 of the 4 wines- I guessed this at 14.2 AbV.

Overall, the wine had some similar characteristics at all 4 alcohol levels. Color, appearance, aromas, and primary flavors were all in the same ballpark- only minor variations. Where the wines really showed their differences was in their weight on the palate and overall structure. Wines A and D both dropped off toward the finish. Wine A had a hollow middle along with a very light finish. Wine D showed some weight across the palate, but again had a pretty non-descript finish. To me, these two wines were the most similar.

The consensus among the group was that Wines B and C were the best. Most went with Wine B- it showed great structure and style with very well developed flavors. It walked a nice line between finesse, power, and flavor. It appeared the lightest and had the most developed tannins along with the best balance- causing me to put it the low of the four in AbV. Wine C was the yang to wine A's yin. It was a big and full throttle red with ripe fruit and a bit of heat. It retained enough structure and balance to keep it enjoyable. These factors had me guessing it to be the 15.1.

The unveiling-

Oddly enough, after wrapping the bottles and moving them outside to the patio, the unveiling revealed them to be in the correct A-D order-

Wine A- 13.7% AbV
Wine B- 13.95% AbV
Wine C- 14.2% AbV
Wine D- 15.1% AbV

Alas, I didn't get any of the four exactly right. However I did have the two highest and two lowest grouped correctly. In retrospect, the results make a lot of sense. Wines A and D were the least balanced. Wine D was possibly taken out of balance by too high an alcohol level, the ethanol likely overpowering the tannins. Counter-intuitively, it didn't taste overpowering or overripe at 15.1%. On the other hand, Wine A could have lost balance due to the fruit lacking the body from the alcohol to allow the tannins to come through.

In my opinion, Wine C was near the sweet spot. The alcohol gave an edge to the fruit and only diminished the tannins very slightly. Wine B is where all the components came together in harmony, and the tannins and structure really shined through. This allowed the fruit to most fully express itself. The sweet spot was found at Wine B. Fittingly, Wines B & C were right in the middle of the range at 13.95 and 14.2 respectively.

Overall this was a fascinating exercise. I appreciate Justin's effort to secure the wines and organize the tasting. You can contact Winecraft about the tasting kit. It's a fun way learn about balance in wine, and a great wine tasting to organize with friends.