UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. J AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. BUIjIiETIN NO. 43. [In order to render the results of investigations and experiments conducted by the Agricutural De- partment of the University of California more quick- ly and more generally available than has heretofore been done through the annual or biennial reports, it is proposed to embody hereafter, in the form of "Bulletins," to be issued as often as may seem de- sirable, reports of results, as well as such other dis- cussions, information or answers to questions as may be of general interest. It is intended to make these bulletins, as a rule, short enough for insertion in the daily or weekly papers of the State, and proof-slips of the same will be regularly mailed to papers apply- ing therefor. The substance of these bulletins will ultimately be embodied in a more complete and con- nected form, in the annual reports of the College of Agriculture.] Analyses of Santa Clara Valley Red Wines. As it is of great interest to viticulturists to know what is likely to be the prevalent charac- ter of the wines of each region or locality, so as to adapt their blends to the production of defi- nite qualities, I give below a table cf the ana- lyses of wines from the Santa Clara valley made thus far; excluding therefrom some cases in which the wines were either not sound or mani- festly not what they claimed to be, in kind. Some of these analyses have, of course, been given in previous bulletins and reports, but they are here placed alongside of later results which complement them without, however, being as yet sufficiently numerous to be finally conclusive. It !*a hardly necessary to repeat here, as regards the claims of chemical analysis in showing the character of wines for purposes of blending, that analysis can only determine certain conditions which must be fulfilled in a successful blend; but cannot speak of the flavors which must likewise be harmonized in order to render a wine palatable. The taster must of necessity be the ultimate arbiter in the prem- As regards, first, the Zinfandels, the conclu- sion previously reached (see Bulletin No. 12), that those of the Sinta Clara region are of ex ceptionally heavy body, as compared with thoi of the Napa and Sonoma valley lands, is con- firmed; viz., a little over 3 per cent, against) average of 2.3 in the latter. Tne difference so great that it strikes the taste at once; an< parallel with it runs the always intense color ol the Santa Clara Zinfandels, which seems to ex- ceed, in general, that of any other region in the State, even where, as in the hill Zinfandels of Napa, Santa Rosa andCloverdale, the body reach- es nearly the average of 3 per cent. The alcoholic strength also reaches an exceptionally hig;h av- erage, that of 13 6, against 11.3 for all Zinfan- dels of Napa and Sonoma, and 13.2 for the hill Zinfandels alone of the latter counties. As re- gards tannin, there seems to be a difference be- tween the wines from the deep gravelly loam lands of the western border of the valley, and those from the dark adobes of the eastern; the former showing in two cases quite a high pro- portion of tannin, while the Mission San Jose wines range rather low. In acid the average of the five Santa Clara Zinfandels runs nearly 1 pro mille above the average of eleven from Napa and Sonoma (.630 against .537). If this comparison be taken as representing approximately the relations of the two regions to each other as to the product of the Zinfandel vine, it would appear that notwithstanding its location so near the coast, and more or less un- der the influence of the summer fogs, the Santa Clara valley represents in most of the above points regions having a much hotter climate; for its Zinfandels run with those of Stockton and Fresno,. and are more of a Burgundy than of a claret type, save in one particular, viz., that of acid. The average of seven Zinfandel wines from the great valley (Stockton and Fresno) is .488 of acid, against the above, .630, from the Santa Clara valley. While tastes may differ as to which of the two is the preferable average, it is well estab- ANALYSES OP SANTA CL A.RA VALLEY RED WINES. Variety. Zinfandel Zinfandel Ziofand«-l Zinfandel Zinfandel Mataro Mataro MaUro Mataro Malbec Malbec Charbono, No. 1 Charbono, No. 2 •Charbono G re n ache *Grenaehe Grenache Cabernet Fr nc (?). . ♦Cabernet Franc (?). Burgundy Carignan Ploussard Malvoisie Malvoiaie Trou38e»u *Trousseau , J. Gallegos J. Gallegos J. T. Doyle J. T. Doyle J. B. J. Portal... apt. Merithew.. . Jesuit Fathers. . . J. B. J. Portal. . . J. B. J. Portal . . . Chas. Le Franc . . . J. T. Doyle J. T Doyle I. T. Doyle H. M. Naglee. . . . J. B. J. Portal . . . Wm. Pfeff*r ' has. Le Franc. . J. B. J. Poital... Wm. Pfeffer J. B. J Portal . . . J. B. J. Portal . . . R J. Portal... J. TP. Doylo. Locality. Mission San Jose Mission San Jose. Cupertino Cupertino West ^an Jose . . . ^an Jose Santa Clara West San Jose. . . West San Jose . . . West San Jose . . . Cupertino Cupertino Cupertino an Jose West San Jose Gubserville West San Jose. . . West San Jose Gubserville West San Jose West San Jose West San Jose \ipertino. J. Gal leu os Mission San Jose. . J. T. Doyle Cupertino... Wm. Pfeffer Gubserville. < = Body. Alcohol. f R y Weight. By Volume. Tannin :id as rtaric Ash. 1SS1 3.19 11 .69 1 4 . 30 — .040 .730 . .260 | 1882 2.94 10.81 13.27 .079 .590 .280 1 1884 3.44 10.54 13.00 .077 .692 .344 ■ 1883 3.07 11 .62 14.20 . 128 .643 .276 1 1883 3.07 11.08 13.64 J68 .690 .266 1883 2.26 7.23 9.00 .080 .633 !246 1883 2.44 7.50 9.37 .073 .315 .346 i 1883 2.18 9.85 12.30 .100 .375 .266 18S4 2.90 9.92 12.36 .138 .600 .2 0 1884 3.62 9.99 12.45 .172 .461 .446 18^3 3.59 11. 15 13.63 .240 .345 .365 18S4 2.84 8.34 10.40 .176 .606 .463 18S4 2.84 7 .99 10.00 .200 .507 .409 1880 1.53 5.21 6.60 Not det'd. .442 .319 1883 2.17 9.78 12.17 .093 .643 .219 1884 1.93 7.43 9.27 .065 .532 .J 77 1876 2.49 9.36 11.60 Notdefd. .792 .364 1884 3.02 9.78 12.18 .110 .480 • 27o i 1884 2.13 8.48 10.58 .070 .607 .293 1883 2.45 9.70 12.10 .073 .750 .277 18*3 2.06 9.27 11.54 .P55 .627 .227 1884 | 2.77 10.69 13.12 .091 .543 273 1884 2.05 7.64 9.64 .050 .590 .250 1888 2 43 9.27 11.54 Slight. .467 .220 1883 i 2.69 11.15 13.50 .040 .600 .447 18 4 2.28 9.92 11.64 .050 .474 .349 * Wines made at the University Viticultural Laboratory. . glance at the tannin column above shows that hshed that wines of very heavy body and alco- the varieties represented, the Malbeck and hohc strength acquire a special zest from the the CnaHbono (fror £ Lefranc and J) 0 yle, West presence ot a large proportion of acid, which in gid are the ones pre-eminently adapted to this lighter wines would be considered excessive. „ oo tonnm \,««t««*« ^noi™ f™m 17 9 The question naturally arises whether what is true of the Zinfandel holds good also with other grape varieties; whether, in other words, there is in the Santa Clara valley a general ten- dency to the above characteristics, that should be taken into account in proportioning the grape varieties intended to produce e. g. a moderately light table claret, such as is usually desired by those accustomed to its use. The data thus far at hand are too scanty to determine this question definitely; but in re- viewing such as we have, there appears to be reason for the belief that what is true of the Zin- fandel holds also, more or less, as regards other wine grapes now grown in the Santa Clara val- ley. use, their tannin contents ranging from 17 2 ten thousandths to 24.0. The innate and in- vincible coarseness of the Charbono excludes it from use in the better class of blends; but the Malbeck is eminently the third ingredient needed, both for tannin and for the modifica- tion of the Zinfandel peculiarities; its character being decided and harmonious, and its acid low i and mild. In the future, the Grossblaue, Tannat. and nerhaDS Crabb's Burgundy, will I take their place in the combination, to suit the various tastes of consumers. It should be noted that of all wines in the table the Malbeck shows, from both localities, the heaviest body (3.61 per cent); it has also a very intense color. In from Folsom, Malbeck last year's vintage Taking first the Mataro, we unfortunately showed only 2.63 of body and 10 ten-thou tve no means of comparing its wines with sandths of tannin. have no means of comparing those from other localities. But it will be noted that not only in eeneral, but for corres- ponding vintages and localities, the Mataro has a notably lighter body as well as lower alcoholic contents and lower acid than the Zinfandels. It is therefore in these respects a very proper blend for the heavy Zinfandels, with a view to modifying them for table use; and as the two wines are perfectly harmonious in taste, this will doubtless be one of the prominent blends in the future. But it must be remembered that the Mataro carries no larger proportion of tan- nin than the average Zinfandel, so that where the latter is deficient a third, tannin-bearing crape should enter into the combination. £ It is instructive to note that Portal's and Pfeffer's Cabernet, which has been claimed as simply a variety of the Malbeck or Cot, differs remarkably in composition from the true Mal- becks of the valley; having a much lower body and tannin, so that, however high their general quality, they cannot take the place of the Mal- beck in blends, and in fact themselves need the latter, or some equivalent, to eke out the tannin. I doubt that their most profitable use will be found to lie in the direction of blends with the Zinfandel, which is too pronounced in character not to overshadow the delicate qualities of the Cabernets, whose natural combinations would be rather with the Malbeck, Ploussard and Merlot for high quality wines, and with Verdotl The Trousseau and Malvoisie wines of the val- for the commoner sorts. le y do not appear to differ materially from The low body and relatively low alcoholic J hose °^ ot 1 ^. regions save that, as noted in a contents of Grenache and Carignan wines seem forme V Z*®** 0 ' . fche Trousaeau seems to be to justify their use for Zinfandel blends along, remarkably low m tannin here, as the Mai- side of Mataro, as has been customary; the more J™? 16 " everywhere. The latter is hardly to as their defects of color will not make any dif- be . taken * n . to consideration as a material for dry ference in the intensely-tinted Zinfandels of the J m + e f ln region; the Trousseau must en- Santa Clara valley. But both are high in acid, de ntly, when so used, be blended with other and thus do not modify to the desirable extent F a P es hav n>g an adequate astnngency; while the sharp acidity of the Zinfandel; nor does the ! n th . e & /r 1 eat ^ allev !* seem f to be provided with latter, to many persons' taste, blend agreeably tannin almost as fully as the Zmfandels. with the burnt-sugar flavor of the Grenache. E. W. Hilgard. Berkeley, Sept. 10, 1885.