A Note on Allocations.

I've spent some time recently thinking about what we are going to do regarding allocations for our first few releases. It looks like we'll have more people who want wine than we'll be able to handle. Our very conservative business plan was to have 150 mail order customers by the end of 2007. I figured 1/2 of those would buy wine, an average of 6 bottles per year, or 3 bottles per release per buying customer.

It looks like we'll be way ahead of those numbers by April of 2007, much less December.

I'd like everyone who signs up before our planned April release of the 2005 Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah to be assured of getting a bottle. I also like the practice of Brian Loring at Loring Wine Company, and Randy Sloan at Match Vineyards of allowing customers to buy bottles in single quantities up to their allocation, so I'm going to do that for sure.

So I really think the limit is going to end up being four bottles per person. We'll give people the option of requesting more, and if we have the bottles, we'll get them out to those of you who have asked for 1/2 cases or even full cases.

We also will bottle six magnums of the 2005's. Two we are keeping for ourselves and we're planning on the other four bottles being thank you gifts for those of you who order your full allocation and request additional wine. It will be our way of thanking our first and best customers.

Thanksgiving Wine

Happy Thanksgiving.

I get asked often what wines go well with Thanksgiving Dinner. The anwer is 'none'. There really isn't any wine that pairs with the traditional rich and sweet Thanksgiving dinner. At least not in the classic way of pairing.

The holiday is also one where you're likely to have a lot of guests in the house who don't drink wine often. The complexities of an aged Burgundy are likely wasted, and Aunt Mildred isn't going to be impressed that you opened that $200 bottle.

So keep it simple is what I recommend, and open some crowd pleasers. Pull out wines with bold fruit and easy textures. Oaked Chardonnay's are a favorite of many, and if you can't bring yourself to buy a bottle, try opening a Viognier. The white wine drinkers will love the floral nose and sweet fruit. Avoid Sauvignon Blanc, it's spiky acidity is off putting to many who don't drink wine often.

For reds I always open a Zinfandel. For one it's the most American of wines. It also is full bodied and fruity, another crowd pleaser. Syrah or a Shiraz from Australia will have many of the same qualities. While many new style Pinot Noirs from California would fit, you should know what you are opening before hand. A bold wine from Sea Smoke would make everyone happy, but a Chambolle-Musigny like wine from Windy Oaks would puzzle many of your guests.

When the pies come out, bring out some sweet treat dessert wines or better still a nice Brandy.

Haut Tubee

Every year we host a harvest party in our backyard. The highlight is a grape stomp. I put out about 600 pounds of grapes in a 1/2 ton bin and let our friends go at them. Everyone has a lot of fun and we end up with a lot of juice.

A couple of years ago Stefania thought of the name "Haut Tubee" for the resulting wine. A take off on the hot tub in our backyard and a little play on one of her favorite wine La Mission Haut Brion.

This year we ended up with one full barrel of Haut Tubee. Besides the Cabernet grapes from the stomp I blended in a little of the wine from the house. Some Syrah, Grenache and a tiny bit of Mourvedre. It's all in barrel now at Chaine D'or with 1/2 barrel of Zinfandel that I just finished up today.

There's a pretty good chance I'll blend all of it together into what used to be called a Mistra Negro in California, a 'dark blend' or field blend of red grapes. Right now my plan is to give it away. We'll give some to everyone who came to the harvest party and stomped the wine, and we'll likely give some to people who order our first releases of wine as a thank you gift.

It tastes pretty good at this point, and doesn't have even smell at all like feet.

Enjoying a Glass of Wine.

A couple of weeks ago I had a few visitors in from Florida who wanted to barrel taste our 2005 wines. Things where a little crazy at Crushpad and I ended up setting up a little serving area out on the loading dock, on top of a one ton bin. We tasted through each wine and each barrel treatment and did a blend of barrels to get a final assesment.

Stefania couldn't join me so she asked if I could bring a little wine home for her to try. I ended up with about 1/4 bottle of both the Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah and the Uvas Creek Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon left over.

We sampled a small glass of each when she got home from work, and then put the bottles aside to make dinner. Later that night I poured a glass of each as we went to bed and took them into the bedroom to enjoy as we watched the late hockey game.

It was the first time I've actually gotten to drink our wine. Every other occasion has been a 'tasting' either a rather stressful technical assesment at the winery, or walking visitors through the wines. In that atmosphere I'm more concerned about what is going on technically with the wine and make choices on what to do. It's been an intellectual exercise, not a pleasurable one.

So sitting in bed that night I was really amazed. The wines are damn good. I couldn't get enough of the Cabernet. It was savory, and well balanced with a great texture and nice Cab fruit. I kept going back to it until the glass was drained.

It was a totally different experience. Just getting out of the cramped noisy conditions at Crushpad and having the time to really savor the wine and enjoy it was fantastic. Both just tasted damn good.

Lots and lots of pictures

Finally had a chance to get through all the seasons pictures. It's been so busy, but I got them organized finally. There are too many to share here, or on the website at http://www.stefaniawine.com/, so I've used bubbleshare.






Pressing "Haut Tubee"

http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/85803/overview








Harvest Party!!!!

http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/85812/overview










Moving Barrels

http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/85802/overview








Chanine D' Or Cabernet Sauvignon Harvest

http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/85797/overview






Uvas Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Harvest

http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/85804/overview






Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah Harvest

http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/85818/overview

Pictures are on the Way.

We really did take a lot of harvest pictures this year. Maybe too many in fact.

Instead of posting them all here or at www.stefaniawine.com I'm going to put a bubbleshare page together and provide a link. That should be done by tomorrow night.

I'll be back blogging every 2-3 days as well. We took a few days off this weekend to recover and relax but I'll be back at it now.