Global systems for mobile communication? Gram per square meter? General sales manager? Galvanized sheet metal? … Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre?!?!? This week's wine is all about the special blend of a GSM! 

GSM is one of the more prominent wine blends throughout the world. As Dan notes, Madeline Puckette of Wine Folly writes that for GSMs, which originated in the Rhone Valley of Southern France, you should expect  raspberry, blackberry, rosemary, baking spices, and lavender. The red blends of this region generally balance  black and red fruit with savory notes of black pepper, olives, Provencal herbs, and brown baking spices.  Personally, I’ve never picked up on the peppery notes in either GSMs or in the Northern Rhone Syrahs, where  this aroma is supposed to be very prominent. (I believe Jen has, though, probably because she’s a super taster  and I’m not!) 

Puckette also says Paso Robles was the first region to whole-heartedly champion Rhone varieties in the United States, and is known for producing very bold, interestingly smoky GSMs. She also mentions aromas of fig, gingersnap, bacon fat, and camphor. I’ve only tried a few GSMs before, including some Châteauneuf-du-Pape, plus a very nice GSM made by Williamson Wines based in Healdsburg, CA, and to be honest, I haven’t noticed any of these more unusual aromas mentioned by Puckette. I believe the most exclusive appellation in Southern Rhone is Châteauneuf-du-Pape, where they can include up to 13 different varietals in their GSMs. My understanding is that they usually consist mostly of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, and Cinsault (which I know nothing about). However, they may also include all of the grapes listed here!

Today’s wine, the 2016 Anna’s Red from Adelaida Vineyards and Winery, consists of 38% Mourvedre, 31% Grenache, 16% Cinsault, 10% Syrah, and 5% Counoise. This is exciting for me because I love Mourvedre in its (sometimes hard-to-find) single-varietal bottlings. I don’t think I’ve ever had a GSM with Mourvedre as the most prominent varietal, though. 

Technically, should we be calling Anna’s Red a MGCSC? GSM+? (Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it?) And, Taylor, what the heck are Cinsault and Counoise known for? I know they are included for some reason, but this trivia eludes me. And what causes a wine to be more smoky? Bacon fat? Where the heck are these coming from? I am interested to learn more about this blend. Who knows...Let's see what this wine has to offer!

Why blend wine? Single varietal wines are more common outside of Europe, and oftentimes, a single varietal wine brings the lens to a different perspective focused on that single varietal and what it provides alone in the scope of a finished wine. As Dan mentioned above, the Central Coast of California has become known for doing some outstanding blends, GSM’s included among others, termed “Rhone Style” to imply that the varietals included are historically French Rhone varietals (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Voigoneir, Marsanne, and Roussanne, just to name a few). 

The simple answer to our question above is that the positive qualities present in one varietal may not be present in the other. Additionally, just because it can be made into a wine, it does not necessarily mean that the varietal will be balanced (alcohol, acidity, tannin, aromatics, etc.). It may hold self-evident that while aromatics and color of one wine alone are fantastic, the body and mouthfeel may be lacking, leading to unfulfilled expectations. One common blending option I’ve seen used all throughout California is to blend some bold inky Petite Syrah into a lighter wine like a Pinot noir or a Grenache which is sufficiently lacking in color or body, however maintains unique and favorable aromatics and flavors overall. The list goes on for blend combinations, especially in California where there are virtually no restrictions on what combination of wines a Winemaker is allowed to pair! Although Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre are not so uncommon to find on their own, Cinsault and Counoise certainly may be more fleeting. 

One great example of a classic blend is Syrah and Viognier. The hubbub of these two is more about color generation and stability in the final wine versus aromatics, body, or mouthfeel as alluded to above. These two grapes get blended BEFORE fermentation, to undergo what’s termed a co-fermentation, and, subsequently, co-pigmentation. As mentioned in the first blog post discussing anthocyanin and tannin polymerization, there are many different qualities of anthocyanin and tannin, and the polymerization of such subsets has the capacity to influence color in unique ways. Regarding these two varietals, it has been widely believed for years that the color enhancement may be attributed to the specific flavanols present in the Voigonier interacting with flavylium cations present in both varietals. A former professor of Taylor’s from Cal Poly SLO published a paper negating these theories in their practical application. See below for the paper by Dr. Casassa, as well as an additional paper highlighting anthocyanin and flavylium ion kinetics! 

For this week's wine, however, the breakdown of why these 5 grapes were blended specifically may not necessarily have a straight answer. It more often is a function of the Winemakers experience with these varietals in their hands, and knowledge of the growing regions from where they’re sourced. A wine of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre is quite the typical, and frankly fantastic, blend choice that is ubiquitous on the Central Coast of California, but Cinsault and Counoise? After a bit of research I found a general consensus that Cinsault, as stated here is often added to bring freshness and more perfumy aromatics, while Counoise typically adds a nice burst of acid and aromatics, however is more lackluster for potential alcohol and tannin and can help to round off a more intense Syrah. See this article by Tablas Creek over in Paso Robles for more!

As for aromatics and flavors in this wine, we gathered hot (high % alcohol), spicy (barrel influence), and ‘lightly smoked salted meat.’ As Dan introduced above, GSM’s have a potential to harbor smoky aromatics, even morphing to garner such eloquent descriptions as “bacon fat.” How and why GSMs harbor these interesting aromatics may be less clear cut, and a product of “style by design” as these aromatics just fit these wines, therefore are selected for and sought after. Volatile phenols, commonly produced through the Ehrlich pathway, produce such aromatics as 2-phenylethanol (floral aromatic; a Saccharomyces cerevisiae quorum sensing molecule) and 4-ethylphenol (4-EP) and 4-ethylguaiacol (4-EG); the latter two more specifically a product of the common spoilage yeast Brettanomyces spp.When observed at high concentrations, 4-EP and 4-EG garner descriptors of barnyard, Band-Aid, and burnt wood. At lower concentration, however, they can give complexity and depth, adding intrigue to the wine, characteristic of the “European” style of winemaking. This is one of the more common sources of “smokiness”, however the most probable are either (1) a product of barrel aging, and/or (2) from the Syrah grape itself.

Staves of an oak barrel are almost always charred to order on their inner surface and range from light, to medium, medium plus, heavy, heavy plus, and toasted heads. Toasting works magic with resins, lignin, and hemicellulose to yield a multitude of volatiles such as various guaiacols, furans, phenylpropanoids, and others. Higher toast typically yields greater smoky and toasty qualities however it’s more common to see a higher proportion of medium to medium plus (M or M+) barrels, and more rarely toasted heads (inner staves + both barrel heads), which are typically used more for blending. See below for a generalized chart profiling oak influences in wines as a function of both toast level and origin. 

The Syrah varietal also is not simply an inherently smoky varietal when turned into wine. It is complimented by, and is robust enough, to stand up to a healthy percent composition of toasted oak. The varietal is famous for blends as well as being a phenomenal varietal standing on its own. It is highly influenced by its growing climate, termed either “warm-climate” or “cool-climate,” referring to a warmer or cooler growing region, respectively. Fluctuation in these terms may be as simple as a different nuanced hillside which gathers less sunlight hours, higher elevation, or more of a cool breeze than its neighboring vines just a block away. Just as with most things in biology, heat increases rates of reaction, and in our case here, development and maturity of grape-derived polyphenols and aromatics, which ultimately yields a different wine given the same clone and winemaking regime. Whether cool or warmer climates are best for bringing about that light smoky quality, I’ve honestly seen them both. Syrah also has a vast lineage of clones which differ significantly from each other in terms of tastes, flavors, and aromatics, and is furthermore influenced by its terrain, as previously mentioned. 

During Taylor’s internship in 2014 working for Law Estate Wines in Paso Robles, a winery known for growing Rhone varietals and producing Rhone style blends, a crash course in clone and terroir selection was held at the end of harvest as the Winemaker and assistants began tasting and discussing blend options. Law did (and still does) somewhere around 12+ different types of Syrah (clone, vineyard, and oak combinations), and it really is something that must be experienced to be believed (either that, or throw them all into an HPLC!). Some were fruity, tart, fresh; others leathery, umami, salty; dark, smoky, jammy, and a plethora of additional combinations. There isn’t necessarily one reason why a Syrah, GSM, or a Rhone blend in general, may exhibit “smoky bacon fat”, but there certainly are those factors which can be sought after to influence and help select for such qualities in a final wine.

This was a big wine overall! Lots of great takeaways, and great fun to examine all of this from the scope of a GSM that is really more Mourvedre and Grenache than anything else.  The low percentage of Syrah was not explicitly experienced here, although the wine appeared to be less fruity overall, darker, and had a nice quality of meatiness. We were hoping for a bit more of a fruit and smokiness wine out of this, but perhaps that’s the style we saw from Adeleida. Good wine overall. Well enjoyed!  

Until next time!

Cheers!

-Dan, Taylor, & Jen

FURTHER READING

1. Cofermentation of Syrah with Viognier: Evolution of Color and Phenolics during Winemaking and Bottle Aging. L. Federico Casassa, Landon S. Keirsey, Maria S. Mireles, and James F. Harbertson
2. Anthocyanins and derivatives are more than flavylium cations. Fernando Pina, Joana Oliveira, Victor de Freitas
3. Review of smoke taint in wine: smoke-derived volatile phenols and their glycosidic metabolites in grapes and vines as biomarkers for smoke exposure and their role in the sensory perception of smoke taint. M.P. Krstic, D.L. Johnson and M.J. Herderich
4. Meta-Analysis of the Core Aroma Components of Grape and Wine Aroma. Tina Ilc, Daniele Werck-Reichhart, and Nicolas Navrot
5. A Review of Polyphenolics in Oak Woods. Bo Zhang, Jian Cai, Chang-Qing Duan, Malcolm J. Reeves, and Fei He
6. Eighty Years of Rapid Maturation Studies.
7. Welcome to Wineoyama!
8. Wineoyama #1: Barolo
9. Wineoyama #2: Pinot Noir
10. Wineoyama #3: Riesling