The word “style” is a word that most wine consumers wouldn’t necessarily connect to wine, at least not in a big way. I find this surprising, considering how central it is to winemaking. Winemakers talk about “style” all the time.

To define style is relatively simple. It is what the winemaker is aiming to achieve with his wine. The aim can be for a soft, simple quaffer, or a massive, tannic monster. In either event, the winemaker has a goal, which is the “style” of the wine he wants to make.

The style that the winemaker seeks dictates a great deal about how he goes about making the wine. First and foremost is the fruit. No doubt, the fruit constrains the winemakers choice. He isn’t going to be able to make a light elegant wine from Petite Sirah, or a tannic monster from Pinot Noir. But even though there are things about the fruit the winemaker must accept, even here there are choices to be made. If a riper style is desired, then the fruit will be allowed to hang longer before being harvested, to obtain those riper flavors. If very ripe flavors are desired, then shriveled and raisined clusters will be picked. If those flavors are not desired, those clusters will not be picked, or, if picked, will be selected out before going to the crusher. Conversely, if a lighter, lower alcohol style is the aim, then picking earlier will obtain those brighter fruit flavors (e.g., strawberry) and avoid the riper flavors of later harvested fruit (e.g., black cherry, prune).

Style continues to dictate many of the decisions about a wine until it’s in the bottle. If you want a racy Chardonnay, you’ll probably not allow the wine to go through malolactic fermentation, which converts the more acidic malic acid to the weaker lactic acid. The list goes on and on, but the idea is the same: how you process the wine is dictated by how you want it to end up.

The winemaker is often not free to dictate the style. If he works for a large winery, that winery has a clientele that desires a certain type or types of wine. The winery must comply. If the customers want a big oaky chardonnay, then that’s what the winemaker is going to have to deliver, even if he would, left to his own devices, opt to make an entirely different style of chardonnay (e.g., no oak, early harvested, lots of acidity).

On Friday’s post I’ll talk about style from the consumer’s point of view.