Out of high school and into the wine business

When Tim Miller graduated from high school in 1980, he thought, "Now what?"

After all, Dundee, his home town, was small and job opportunities there looked pretty limited.

Fortunately for Tim, Ray Spencer of Glenora Wine Cellars was looking for help on the bottling line. Two months out of high school, a new career was in the making for Tim.

He went on to become an assistant winemaker and worked with chief winemakers during the next 11 years at Glenora. He must have learned a lot on the job, because in the early '90s, he was hired to be winemaker at Swedish Hill Winery in Romulus.

In 1996, Dick Reno, owner of Chateau Lafayette Reneau in Hector, hired Tim as winemaker. Tim has been producing award-winning wines there ever since.

Make no mistake about it; although Tim did not go to a winemaking school and earn an eonology degree, he certainly knows his stuff. He will talk to you about sterile filtration, residual sugar levels, malo- lactic fermentation and how he utilizes oak barrels during the winemaking process.

He has also developed his own style of wine production. For example, he does not use secondary malolactic fermentation to create Chateau Lafayette Reneau's chardonnay wines. It's a common practice in which winemakers ferment white wines a second time to achieve a creamy, buttery taste. Instead, he only ferments the chardonnay once, but ages it in French oak barrels.

"Good fruit and acid will allow them to last longer," Tim says. "If we went to another style, we would have some upset customers."

Tim earned the Governor's Cup (the award recognizing the Best of Show in the annual New York Wine & Food Classic competition) with his wines in 1998 and again in 2000. They were both Rieslings, the Johannisberg in 1998, the dry in 2000.

Tasters Guild International also named Chateau Lafayette Reneau Co-Winery of the Year (along with Gloria Ferrer Champagne Caves of Sonoma, Calif.) in 2002.

None of the accolades seem to have had much effect on Tim. He just goes quietly about his business, making wines the way he thinks they should be made.

I was able to spend some time with him recently and taste some barrel samples.

The 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon is being aged in two kinds of oak barrels. The first sample was full of fruit and did not exhibit a lot of tannin. The other had more tannin but ended with a silky, chocolate taste. Another year in their respective oak barrels and they will be blended together, bottled and aged some more before release.

If you are looking for some reds available now, the 2001 Pinot Noir has just been released. It has good fruit up front, combined with some oak taste.

The 2001 Merlot recently earned a gold medal at the Florida State Fair International Wine and Juice Competition. It should be released soon.

If you go to Chateau Lafayette Reneau, look for the unassuming guy with the mustache. He's probably doing what he knows best: Going about his business making good wine.

Jeff Richards' wine column appears each Thursday on the Twin Tiers Life Food Page. For comments or questions, he can be reached at 607/271-8279 or 800/836-8970, ext. 279, or e-mail: thewineguy