My brother called the other night. He and my mom were just in Chile, he had to be there for work, she tagged along to see friends and neighbors of ours from when we lived there. Of the various photos they have sent me in email to look at, it's clear much has changed since we were there (30 years ago!).
One thing in particular they both noted was the amount of air pollution, though I figure the dense metropolitan area is much like here, some months are worse than others. I'm sure that once you leave the big city and head toward the coast that the air is much improved.
Because my brother was there for work related business, they didn't get a whole lot of time to venture outside of the city and see the wineries or vineyards. We talked of planning a trip there together, perhaps in a couple of years when our schedules are more free and our vacation/PTO accounts have the reserves for an extended vacation.
I'm excited to think I'll be able to travel back to my childhood home and see the country and vineyards with new eyes. I remember fondly the trips to "Tio Tolo's" vineyard and winery where my best friend and I got to glue labels on the bottles and play in the winery. I also remember the smells of the wine and the oak barrels and of riding horses through the cork orchard. It wasn't until very recently that I made the connection between the cork trees and wine corks.
My dad once told me that his fantasy plan for retirement from the Army was to own his own vineyard and winery in Chile and not come back to the States. I toss that information around in my brain from time to time and wonder if maybe I inherited that passion to be a farmer and winemaker from him. It's a fun fantasy to bat around because I'm certain that the hootch my dad would have made would be just that, "vino tinto" whose sole purpose is for daily drinking and in large quantities.
I can still see pictures of him swilling wine from a basketwoven covered green jug of wine hoisted over his shoulder, his neck twisted around so his lips could drink right from the bottle. No doubt he was showing off and being silly. He loved to wear hats and act the part to correspond with the style. Sometimes he would don a FuManchu mustache that was made from real hair.
I could reminisce all afternoon and tell you all the crazy antics I pulled as a kid in Chile. I'm glad my brother called and put all those crazy memories in my head, and glad to have the time to just sit and enjoy memories of my dad and living his dream.
A toast to my dad, he would have said my wine was too fancy, but I can picture him drinking it right from the bottle just the same to antagonize me!
Cheers,
Stefania
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
E-fax and March Madness
If you're having trouble getting your order form to go through on the e-fax, hang on another day or send it by mail. No telling for sure why we're getting a "busy" signal, but we figure it may be due to the start of March Madness and the live streaming video of the games hogging the 'net.
We tested the efax number yesterday with no problems, but have gotten feedback today that some of you are sending faxes that are not going through.
Thanks,
Paul & Stefania
We tested the efax number yesterday with no problems, but have gotten feedback today that some of you are sending faxes that are not going through.
Thanks,
Paul & Stefania
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Start of the Season
We've had bud break in almost all the vineyards now. That's when the nodes on the dormant vines swell and finally open, showing little leafs for the first time.
Each vine looks a little different when it opens up. Grenache is vibrant green. Syrah has pink-red tips. Merlot looks a little yellow. Chardonnay is bold green. They also all start at different times. Right now we are still waiting on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Mourvedre to open everywhere.
It's a busy time. We need to start spraying all the vineyards to protect against Powdery Mildew. I'm spraying an organic oil, JMS Stylet Oil to start. Stylet oil is a wood mineral oil that prevents Powdery Mildew and a host of other things. For those vineyards on a organic program, we'll spray Sulfur next in about two weeks. The non organic vineyards will get Eagle 20W in 4 weeks, or after the next rain.
I like to use Eagle 20W on new vineyards we've just taken over. Zap the mildew out of the vineyard, and then convert to an organic routine. It's too hard in the mountains to get rid of mildew once it's established in a vineyard with just organics, especially given that many of the vineyards we take over have been neglected.
We'll also add fertilizer over the next few weeks. I'm doing a spring mixture of 12-0-0 Corn Gluten, and 7-3-5 Fish Bone, both are organic treatments. The Corn Gluten also acts as an anti seed germination agent, preventing weeds where it's applied. I like to apply the treatment under the rows right around the roots, rather than spreading it over the entire vineyard with the tractor. This lets me control the overall amount better, and helps keep the weeds down. More work to walk around to each plant, but it's better in the long run.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Offer Letters on the Way
We will have the first set of offer letters out next week, maybe as soon as Monday. In the newsletter I said there would be two waves, but there are likely to be as many as four different mailings going out.
The first set will go to the 1000 pointer's. Those customers with more than 1000 points. There are about 70 of those people. They signed up early, and have bought a lot of wine! They will get an offer of two six packs of 2006 Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah at $200 a six pack, and one three pack of Haut Tubee at $60. Yeah $60, $20 a bottle :) Since this group usually buys a lot of wine I'm going to judge how to get the next set of letters out.
I've broken the remainder of people on the list into three groups:
700-999 points will be offered one six pack of Syrah and one three pack of Haut Tubee
400-699 points will be offered one six pack of Syrah
100-399 points will be offered one three pack of Syrah at $105
Right now there are about 60 people with under 100 points who have signed up in the last couple of months. If I have wine left after the first few waves of mailings, I'll get a three pack offer out to them, but I suspect I'll just be able to offer them an apology that we're out of wine and hope they hold out until the Fall release.
Our list has grown about 250% since the release last Spring. This release will be a big clue about what the future looks like for us. For the next few years we really won't have much more wine to sell than 125-150 cases of each wine. I have to judge how ordering goes this time to figure out future allocations pretty closely. I don't want to get into a situation where it takes people years on a waiting list, but I'm afraid for people signing up in the near future, it might be a long wait to get wine.
The first set will go to the 1000 pointer's. Those customers with more than 1000 points. There are about 70 of those people. They signed up early, and have bought a lot of wine! They will get an offer of two six packs of 2006 Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah at $200 a six pack, and one three pack of Haut Tubee at $60. Yeah $60, $20 a bottle :) Since this group usually buys a lot of wine I'm going to judge how to get the next set of letters out.
I've broken the remainder of people on the list into three groups:
700-999 points will be offered one six pack of Syrah and one three pack of Haut Tubee
400-699 points will be offered one six pack of Syrah
100-399 points will be offered one three pack of Syrah at $105
Right now there are about 60 people with under 100 points who have signed up in the last couple of months. If I have wine left after the first few waves of mailings, I'll get a three pack offer out to them, but I suspect I'll just be able to offer them an apology that we're out of wine and hope they hold out until the Fall release.
Our list has grown about 250% since the release last Spring. This release will be a big clue about what the future looks like for us. For the next few years we really won't have much more wine to sell than 125-150 cases of each wine. I have to judge how ordering goes this time to figure out future allocations pretty closely. I don't want to get into a situation where it takes people years on a waiting list, but I'm afraid for people signing up in the near future, it might be a long wait to get wine.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
New Wine Drinkers
A good article I found from the LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-youngwine12mar12,0,5536281.story
We've seen this on our mailing list. Lots of young people, under 30 who buy our wine for special event drinking. The one piece I thought was missing was any mention of the much higher than traditional percentage of women buying and drinking wine under 30.
One of the classes I attended at UC Davis in 2002 noted that the percentage of wine over $25 bought by women was under 10%. Women made up the majority of wine purchases, they just bought daily drinking wine at the supermarket, not higher end wines. This mirrored what was traditional in Europe, where women had bought the daily drinking wine, and men bought special occasion wine.
I think for the new generation on wine drinkers, you can through that out the door. Women are buying the wine across all price points. If one has any doubts about the shift in the market place, I'd suggest looking at the ad campaigns of Budweiser. They clearly feel pressure on their core market of 21-30 year olds and are trying to counter wines growing popularity.
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-youngwine12mar12,0,5536281.story
We've seen this on our mailing list. Lots of young people, under 30 who buy our wine for special event drinking. The one piece I thought was missing was any mention of the much higher than traditional percentage of women buying and drinking wine under 30.
One of the classes I attended at UC Davis in 2002 noted that the percentage of wine over $25 bought by women was under 10%. Women made up the majority of wine purchases, they just bought daily drinking wine at the supermarket, not higher end wines. This mirrored what was traditional in Europe, where women had bought the daily drinking wine, and men bought special occasion wine.
I think for the new generation on wine drinkers, you can through that out the door. Women are buying the wine across all price points. If one has any doubts about the shift in the market place, I'd suggest looking at the ad campaigns of Budweiser. They clearly feel pressure on their core market of 21-30 year olds and are trying to counter wines growing popularity.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Links Update
I've updated the blog with a few links of friends who've written about our wines and have good blogs with food and wine info.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Web Site Update Coming
I just sent off the new label and font for Stefania to have added to the website. I suspect it will take a week or two to get done, and then the entire site will get a content refresh.
As soon as the label work is complete I'll have updates on the 2006 and 2007 wines as well as plans for 2008. There will also be an update on our new vineyards. Look for the schedule to be updated as well. We have a number of events coming up in March, April and May.
I may also start adding the newsletter to the site as well. We're just a few weeks away from sending out offer letters for our 2006 Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah, and I'd like to have the site updated by then. Originally we had planned to have on line ordering set up for 2008, but that was postponed for another year. With the new vineyards we've taken on that money had to go to vineyard maintenance costs this year.
As soon as the label work is complete I'll have updates on the 2006 and 2007 wines as well as plans for 2008. There will also be an update on our new vineyards. Look for the schedule to be updated as well. We have a number of events coming up in March, April and May.
I may also start adding the newsletter to the site as well. We're just a few weeks away from sending out offer letters for our 2006 Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah, and I'd like to have the site updated by then. Originally we had planned to have on line ordering set up for 2008, but that was postponed for another year. With the new vineyards we've taken on that money had to go to vineyard maintenance costs this year.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Quick Update on Pruning, more photos
Paul and the crew worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Woodruff Vineyard in Corralitos this past weekend. I was able to help on Saturday and we rounded up a few more volunteers to whom we are greatly appreciative.
Huge Thanks to Kathy, Wes, and Dave!
The rest of the crew, Daniel, Jerry, and Millie kicked some serious butt over the weekend and are almost done - just a few more rows this week and we can cross that off the list as "Done".
I took some time out Saturday to capture the site and the crew working - the photos are uploaded here: http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/316611
The next round of blogs and updates will probably include the bottling schedule (early March for the Syrah and Haut Tubee) and whatever random musings cross our minds.
Again, a huge round of applause and kudos to our volunteer pruners, you guys are awesome!!!!
(and we secretly wonder if you'll be back...)
S&P
Huge Thanks to Kathy, Wes, and Dave!
The rest of the crew, Daniel, Jerry, and Millie kicked some serious butt over the weekend and are almost done - just a few more rows this week and we can cross that off the list as "Done".
I took some time out Saturday to capture the site and the crew working - the photos are uploaded here: http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/316611
The next round of blogs and updates will probably include the bottling schedule (early March for the Syrah and Haut Tubee) and whatever random musings cross our minds.
Again, a huge round of applause and kudos to our volunteer pruners, you guys are awesome!!!!
(and we secretly wonder if you'll be back...)
S&P
Monday, February 04, 2008
Photos from Chaine d'Or
http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/312203
I captured the vineyard before we pruned, and took a bunch of pictures yesterday with it all done and cleaned up. I even got Sophie to sit still for me long enough for a photo. Inside the winery Paul and I racked almost all of the barrels. He trained me on using the equipment and had me working alongside him both days.
Though I meant to take photos of another vineyard we were contracted to prune, it was raining way too hard and I was soaking wet from a quick survey of the site. The wind chill was brutal as the actual temperature outside was somewhere around 46 degrees. Bone chilling and wet.
For certain I enjoyed the challenges and technical aspects of the winery tasks from the weekend and it's always a great day at work when there is a sample of wine to taste and talk about.
We barrel tasted everything and there were some amazing highlights that I'll let Paul blog about further. One barrel had this heady aroma of cinnamon and spice, another had the most beautiful aroma of flowers; purple and white flowers. When we took samples and tasted them, they were both full bodied and fulfilling even though the nose was sexy and wispy on the flowery one. (I left varietal and vineyard specifics off on purpose).
We got home in time to catch the 2nd half of the SuperBowl though mostly I think it was on for noise in the background while we sat still and tried not to think about our sore muscles. I'll be glad when winemaking is full time on-site and not something we cram into every weekend minute we have available - it's a lifestyle change for the better, but a smoother transition from sitting on my posterior during the week to full days on my feet would be nice.
I captured the vineyard before we pruned, and took a bunch of pictures yesterday with it all done and cleaned up. I even got Sophie to sit still for me long enough for a photo. Inside the winery Paul and I racked almost all of the barrels. He trained me on using the equipment and had me working alongside him both days.
Though I meant to take photos of another vineyard we were contracted to prune, it was raining way too hard and I was soaking wet from a quick survey of the site. The wind chill was brutal as the actual temperature outside was somewhere around 46 degrees. Bone chilling and wet.
For certain I enjoyed the challenges and technical aspects of the winery tasks from the weekend and it's always a great day at work when there is a sample of wine to taste and talk about.
We barrel tasted everything and there were some amazing highlights that I'll let Paul blog about further. One barrel had this heady aroma of cinnamon and spice, another had the most beautiful aroma of flowers; purple and white flowers. When we took samples and tasted them, they were both full bodied and fulfilling even though the nose was sexy and wispy on the flowery one. (I left varietal and vineyard specifics off on purpose).
We got home in time to catch the 2nd half of the SuperBowl though mostly I think it was on for noise in the background while we sat still and tried not to think about our sore muscles. I'll be glad when winemaking is full time on-site and not something we cram into every weekend minute we have available - it's a lifestyle change for the better, but a smoother transition from sitting on my posterior during the week to full days on my feet would be nice.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Snow on the Foothills!
Oh yes, snow! Have I taken any photos yet? No, but I've been waiting for the clouds to lift high enough to get a good shot. It's just about the same as the photo on our main page of the website, so you get the idea.
Anyway, we were up at Chaine d'Or last Saturday and Sunday pruning. I'm still passionate about this part of grapegrowing and call tell you for certain that pruning these old boys was much different than young vines. (I'll leave out the part about wearing a wrist brace all week and the blisters -- shhh, you're ruining the romance).
It was interesting to go through each plant, see where it was doing very well and where it needed to be retrained or cut so as to inspire new growth. Overall I would say we did great in the ten hours that we put in.
On Saturday we had morning fog which was nice because it can get very hot when you're out there with full exposure and little shade. The sun peeked out around 11:30, then by noon I was cursing it for being so hot and then glad toward the end of the afternoon when we made the lower section and got some shade.
Sunday morning, when we got up, I begged the weather gods for lingering fog so that we weren't working in the heat of the day again at noon with the sun on us. I even dressed in fewer layers anticipating another warm day (no thanks to yahoo or the newspaper on the weather forecast by the way). We got up there and it was foggy alright, but it was also misting, and cold, and a biting wind that kept whipping up the rows.
The sun peeked out for a scant total of about ten minutes over the course of the five hour day, barely enough to warm the surface layer of my thin fleece pullover. It must have been right around 3:15 when I finally yelled at the boss and said we have to stop, it's just too cold to be out here any longer. The wind was whipping up even harder and it was sprinkling on us off and on.
I kept saying it felt and smelled like snow. Like when you're on the lift at the ski resort and the next storm is about to hit, you can smell it. The air has that crisp edge to it. I felt it, in my bones.
On Monday we headed "over the hill" to Boulder Creek and got bits of hail and heavy downpours of rain. By the time we got to Highway 9 it was a full snow storm at the summit. I knew it!
We got home, Paul got a roaring toasty fire going for us and we spent some time chatting about the next round of vines to prune. I'll be sure to dress more appropriately and keep my mouth shut since I'm certain now the weather gods were listening.
-SR
Anyway, we were up at Chaine d'Or last Saturday and Sunday pruning. I'm still passionate about this part of grapegrowing and call tell you for certain that pruning these old boys was much different than young vines. (I'll leave out the part about wearing a wrist brace all week and the blisters -- shhh, you're ruining the romance).
It was interesting to go through each plant, see where it was doing very well and where it needed to be retrained or cut so as to inspire new growth. Overall I would say we did great in the ten hours that we put in.
On Saturday we had morning fog which was nice because it can get very hot when you're out there with full exposure and little shade. The sun peeked out around 11:30, then by noon I was cursing it for being so hot and then glad toward the end of the afternoon when we made the lower section and got some shade.
Sunday morning, when we got up, I begged the weather gods for lingering fog so that we weren't working in the heat of the day again at noon with the sun on us. I even dressed in fewer layers anticipating another warm day (no thanks to yahoo or the newspaper on the weather forecast by the way). We got up there and it was foggy alright, but it was also misting, and cold, and a biting wind that kept whipping up the rows.
The sun peeked out for a scant total of about ten minutes over the course of the five hour day, barely enough to warm the surface layer of my thin fleece pullover. It must have been right around 3:15 when I finally yelled at the boss and said we have to stop, it's just too cold to be out here any longer. The wind was whipping up even harder and it was sprinkling on us off and on.
I kept saying it felt and smelled like snow. Like when you're on the lift at the ski resort and the next storm is about to hit, you can smell it. The air has that crisp edge to it. I felt it, in my bones.
On Monday we headed "over the hill" to Boulder Creek and got bits of hail and heavy downpours of rain. By the time we got to Highway 9 it was a full snow storm at the summit. I knew it!
We got home, Paul got a roaring toasty fire going for us and we spent some time chatting about the next round of vines to prune. I'll be sure to dress more appropriately and keep my mouth shut since I'm certain now the weather gods were listening.
-SR
Friday, January 18, 2008
A Passion for Pruning
My favorite job in the vineyard happens but once per year - pruning. And let me tell you what, with the new vineyards we've agreed to manage this year, I'm up to my eyeballs in pruning. I may have to reassess how I really feel about pruning after this January.
This kind of ties in to the initial romance of being winemakers and grapegrowers. Picture if you will a quiet tranquil morning, walking row after row of vines across from the love of your life, chattering all along the way, discussing each plant and how to shape it for optimal fruiting, all at a leisurely pace. Then you stop for lunch, a picnic in the vineyard, with nothing but the birds chirping and a light breeze rustling the tree branches overhead. That was Year One.
Fast forward to last weekend: Crazy madness, six of us this time, no leisurely walks through the rows, no chatter or banter or lingering over the plants. It's quick faced paced decision making because this is just one acre and there are 13 more to go, all before the end of the month. Oh yeah, and that picnic, a thing of the past, it was more like burgers and fries horked down well past lunchtime because we were so hungry!
Regardless of the pace and the fact that I no longer get to greet each plant anymore, I'm still very much enamored with this part of being a grapegrower.
I'm taking the camera with us this weekend and will get some photos posted up shortly.
Vineyards that we've already pruned:
Crimson Clover (cabernet in Morgan Hill)
Harrison (syrah Los Altos)
Elandrich (various, Portola Valley)
Upcoming vineyards:
Chaine d'Or (chardonnay and cabernet, Woodside)
Woodruff (chardonnay and pinot noir, Corralitos)
Llama Vnyd (merlot, Bonny Doon)
Ottigurr (various, Santa Clara County)
This kind of ties in to the initial romance of being winemakers and grapegrowers. Picture if you will a quiet tranquil morning, walking row after row of vines across from the love of your life, chattering all along the way, discussing each plant and how to shape it for optimal fruiting, all at a leisurely pace. Then you stop for lunch, a picnic in the vineyard, with nothing but the birds chirping and a light breeze rustling the tree branches overhead. That was Year One.
Fast forward to last weekend: Crazy madness, six of us this time, no leisurely walks through the rows, no chatter or banter or lingering over the plants. It's quick faced paced decision making because this is just one acre and there are 13 more to go, all before the end of the month. Oh yeah, and that picnic, a thing of the past, it was more like burgers and fries horked down well past lunchtime because we were so hungry!
Regardless of the pace and the fact that I no longer get to greet each plant anymore, I'm still very much enamored with this part of being a grapegrower.
I'm taking the camera with us this weekend and will get some photos posted up shortly.
Vineyards that we've already pruned:
Crimson Clover (cabernet in Morgan Hill)
Harrison (syrah Los Altos)
Elandrich (various, Portola Valley)
Upcoming vineyards:
Chaine d'Or (chardonnay and cabernet, Woodside)
Woodruff (chardonnay and pinot noir, Corralitos)
Llama Vnyd (merlot, Bonny Doon)
Ottigurr (various, Santa Clara County)
Monday, January 14, 2008
How many hours do you work?
I read an interesting little quote in Rolling Stone. A scientist was asked the question: "How many hours do you work?" His answer: "All of them".
I've stolen that quote and I'm using it now when people ask how we get everything done we need to get done. Even working 'all of them' I get behind in things I need to do. Documents that need to get written, updates to our website, and writing blogs.
I was really encouraged though this past weekend in getting caught up a bit more. Daniel and Jerry who have proven so helpful in the vineyards and winery, got their first exposure to pruning this past weekend. They did an amazing job, and we're now a week ahead of schedule. I feel like I've got a top flight crew now, and their growing experience in the vineyards should make it easier to shift some of those work hours to other work tasks.
Not that Stefania and I didn't spend many hours pruning vines this weekend, we did. And I replaced broken trellis and made repairs, but we don't have to spend all the working time doing that. There should be more time for other tasks now.
I've stolen that quote and I'm using it now when people ask how we get everything done we need to get done. Even working 'all of them' I get behind in things I need to do. Documents that need to get written, updates to our website, and writing blogs.
I was really encouraged though this past weekend in getting caught up a bit more. Daniel and Jerry who have proven so helpful in the vineyards and winery, got their first exposure to pruning this past weekend. They did an amazing job, and we're now a week ahead of schedule. I feel like I've got a top flight crew now, and their growing experience in the vineyards should make it easier to shift some of those work hours to other work tasks.
Not that Stefania and I didn't spend many hours pruning vines this weekend, we did. And I replaced broken trellis and made repairs, but we don't have to spend all the working time doing that. There should be more time for other tasks now.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Twist Newsletter
From the "Twist" newsletter.
Last place to find our 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Uvas Creek Vineyard for sale, and it's also available by the glass:
D's new Wine Picks of December (available from December 1) ..
This selection became something that my regular guest are looking for each month now for their dinner or just when they stop for a glass of wine at the bar. Can you imagine that last month after 3 weeks we had to change 3 wines already! This month I decide to keep the Madiran because I really would like to promote that area of France more and more.The two new white wines are both Chardonnay from California. One is from a veryyyyyyy small winery in the Santa Cruz Mountain and the other one is owned by the Hyde Family (Hyde Vineyard) and De Vilaine Family (Romanee Conti) oh yeah, I wrote Romanee Conti now you can imagine the result.A new Cabernet Sauvignon from my close friends at "Stefania Wines", a French Syrah from the Northern Rhone Valley and a Cabernet Franc from "Vinum Winery" a must taste wine !!!Sante ;-)
Last place to find our 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Uvas Creek Vineyard for sale, and it's also available by the glass:
D's new Wine Picks of December (available from December 1) ..
This selection became something that my regular guest are looking for each month now for their dinner or just when they stop for a glass of wine at the bar. Can you imagine that last month after 3 weeks we had to change 3 wines already! This month I decide to keep the Madiran because I really would like to promote that area of France more and more.The two new white wines are both Chardonnay from California. One is from a veryyyyyyy small winery in the Santa Cruz Mountain and the other one is owned by the Hyde Family (Hyde Vineyard) and De Vilaine Family (Romanee Conti) oh yeah, I wrote Romanee Conti now you can imagine the result.A new Cabernet Sauvignon from my close friends at "Stefania Wines", a French Syrah from the Northern Rhone Valley and a Cabernet Franc from "Vinum Winery" a must taste wine !!!Sante ;-)
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Done!
For the second year in a row I planned to do a good job providing regular blog updates, and again, the actual work of harvesting just was too much to get daily blogs done. But, here is where we are at as of Monday night:
We're DONE picking and crushing grapes. 20 tons total picked and 14+ tons crushed. We sold the Chardonnay from Chaine d'Or so that was not crushed by us.
Things really got going nuts last Tuesday when we cleaned the winery and got ready to go for the big load coming in.
Wednesday Millie went off to Eaglepoint Ranch to pick up 3+ tons of Syrah and I headed south to round up 350 pounds of dry ice. We were worried that the fruit would come in too warm to cold soak and I needed to get the dry ice to cool the fruit down. Millie had a really tough day with the trailer but made it back to Big Basin at 5PM We sorted fruit under the lights until after 8PM. (The day started at 3:30 for her, 5:30 for me).
It was a tough, long, tiring day and I really banged up my ring finger pretty bad. The grapes were a bit ripper than I'd have liked, but not bad at all considering the drama of the weather up north. We added a little water to one vat to get the BRIX under 28 and some acid (2 g per liter). The pH was 3.8, but Malo was low and the finished pH would have been over 4.0, with the addition we should finish around 3.6.
The next day we drove all over, picking up bins, dropping off bins, dropping off trailers, and checking on wine. About 200 miles in the truck and a 12 hour day.
Friday we picked 4 tons of Cabernet from Martin Ranch. 2 tons went to Chaine d'Or and 2 tons to Big Basin, so lots of driving again. We decided to not use the trailer since it had been so difficult on Wednesday. Unfortunately there were no 8 foot bed trucks available so we used Millie's truck, my Dad's and a rental. Millie drove hers, I drove the rental and Stef drove mine.
As we filled up one bin we'd load a truck and take off for the winery. As soon as the truck was done at one winery, we'd rush back and pick up another and go to the other winery. It turned into a day that lasted 17 hours. We got to bed about 11:30 PM. The fruit came in good, a little low in TA but Brix was 24.9 and the fruit looked really good. We're treating each of 4 bins a little different to see what gets the best results for the future.
Saturday morning we were back up at 5:30 am for harvest at Chaine d'Or. We had a great picking crew and great help and were able to bring in a very large harvest of 3+ tons before 11am. Everything went smoothly and the wine came in at 24.2 Brix, .66 TA and 3.38 pH! Anne said the fruit was the best looking ans tasting she'd seen there.
It took us a few hours to clean up and finish up but we only worked 10 hours that day!
Sunday I was able to get to emails and shipping and get caught up on the books. Even though I worked about 7 hours it felt like a day off.
Monday we brought in the last 2 tons from Uvas Creek. We had to run a relay again with two trucks, but got it done by 3:45. Millie and I had to run t Chaine d'Or after that to do a pump over and remove about 200 gallons from the tank so it didn't over flow.
In the end we got it all in, 14+ tons and it is all doing well. I'm happy with the wines so far, flavors are great, color is really dark and the numbers needed a little help, but we got them under control. Now that the days are back to 8-10 hours of work, I should get regular updates out more often.
We're DONE picking and crushing grapes. 20 tons total picked and 14+ tons crushed. We sold the Chardonnay from Chaine d'Or so that was not crushed by us.
Things really got going nuts last Tuesday when we cleaned the winery and got ready to go for the big load coming in.
Wednesday Millie went off to Eaglepoint Ranch to pick up 3+ tons of Syrah and I headed south to round up 350 pounds of dry ice. We were worried that the fruit would come in too warm to cold soak and I needed to get the dry ice to cool the fruit down. Millie had a really tough day with the trailer but made it back to Big Basin at 5PM We sorted fruit under the lights until after 8PM. (The day started at 3:30 for her, 5:30 for me).
It was a tough, long, tiring day and I really banged up my ring finger pretty bad. The grapes were a bit ripper than I'd have liked, but not bad at all considering the drama of the weather up north. We added a little water to one vat to get the BRIX under 28 and some acid (2 g per liter). The pH was 3.8, but Malo was low and the finished pH would have been over 4.0, with the addition we should finish around 3.6.
The next day we drove all over, picking up bins, dropping off bins, dropping off trailers, and checking on wine. About 200 miles in the truck and a 12 hour day.
Friday we picked 4 tons of Cabernet from Martin Ranch. 2 tons went to Chaine d'Or and 2 tons to Big Basin, so lots of driving again. We decided to not use the trailer since it had been so difficult on Wednesday. Unfortunately there were no 8 foot bed trucks available so we used Millie's truck, my Dad's and a rental. Millie drove hers, I drove the rental and Stef drove mine.
As we filled up one bin we'd load a truck and take off for the winery. As soon as the truck was done at one winery, we'd rush back and pick up another and go to the other winery. It turned into a day that lasted 17 hours. We got to bed about 11:30 PM. The fruit came in good, a little low in TA but Brix was 24.9 and the fruit looked really good. We're treating each of 4 bins a little different to see what gets the best results for the future.
Saturday morning we were back up at 5:30 am for harvest at Chaine d'Or. We had a great picking crew and great help and were able to bring in a very large harvest of 3+ tons before 11am. Everything went smoothly and the wine came in at 24.2 Brix, .66 TA and 3.38 pH! Anne said the fruit was the best looking ans tasting she'd seen there.
It took us a few hours to clean up and finish up but we only worked 10 hours that day!
Sunday I was able to get to emails and shipping and get caught up on the books. Even though I worked about 7 hours it felt like a day off.
Monday we brought in the last 2 tons from Uvas Creek. We had to run a relay again with two trucks, but got it done by 3:45. Millie and I had to run t Chaine d'Or after that to do a pump over and remove about 200 gallons from the tank so it didn't over flow.
In the end we got it all in, 14+ tons and it is all doing well. I'm happy with the wines so far, flavors are great, color is really dark and the numbers needed a little help, but we got them under control. Now that the days are back to 8-10 hours of work, I should get regular updates out more often.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Elandrich Harvest (pictures soon)
Thursday we harvested about 1500 lbs at the Elandrich Vineyard. This was easily a new record for us there, as the vineyard is finally coming back after a long restoration project. The fruit looked and tasted excellent and was 25.9 BRIX in the bin after crushing.
We started about 8AM with the 'normal crew'; Millie, Daniel, Herrardo and myself, plus some extra help from a few friends and the vineyard owner who was able to come out and help even on a work day. The crew did a great job and we arrived at the crusher at 9:30 AM right on schedule.
We only had one back up with the pump and it quickly was fixed. The crew really has the routine now, and Jerry commented it was the best harvest day he'd ever seen, because all he had to do was remind me to turn the pump on before the crusher and fix the cellar door.
We should end up with 1 1/2 or 2 barrels of wine from this vineyard which will be really cool. We can evaluate it on it's own for the first time in barrel and get a better idea of what we might be able to do long term with these grapes.
We started about 8AM with the 'normal crew'; Millie, Daniel, Herrardo and myself, plus some extra help from a few friends and the vineyard owner who was able to come out and help even on a work day. The crew did a great job and we arrived at the crusher at 9:30 AM right on schedule.
We only had one back up with the pump and it quickly was fixed. The crew really has the routine now, and Jerry commented it was the best harvest day he'd ever seen, because all he had to do was remind me to turn the pump on before the crusher and fix the cellar door.
We should end up with 1 1/2 or 2 barrels of wine from this vineyard which will be really cool. We can evaluate it on it's own for the first time in barrel and get a better idea of what we might be able to do long term with these grapes.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Making Friends
I've wanted to write a blog for a few weeks about our company "Vision Statement." I haven't had time though to devote to writing it, I think it needs a good explanation to stay away from Dilbertville.
I did come up with one though, I actually thought it was really important to do that. In the still to be written blog about visions statements I'll explain why. The one I came up with though was : "Make Friends".
This release has been really satisfying in meeting that vision. I've gotten to email and talk with dozens of people all over the country. I have really enjoyed that a great deal. I feel like I'm making new friends all over and it's great to hear from you about our wine, and our adventure.
I know many winemakers like to avoid dealing with customers, they view it as a time drain, or are really uncomfortable with it. I love it. The last few weeks have been a real blast. The emails from people and phone calls have given us a lot of inspiration during the really long days we are putting in. It's been nice to take a break every now and then and just chat about wine with people.
I hope this continues and I hope I get to talk to and meet even more people in the months ahead. It's great to hear from everyone, and each phone call and each email, gets us closer to the vision statement of making friends!
I did come up with one though, I actually thought it was really important to do that. In the still to be written blog about visions statements I'll explain why. The one I came up with though was : "Make Friends".
This release has been really satisfying in meeting that vision. I've gotten to email and talk with dozens of people all over the country. I have really enjoyed that a great deal. I feel like I'm making new friends all over and it's great to hear from you about our wine, and our adventure.
I know many winemakers like to avoid dealing with customers, they view it as a time drain, or are really uncomfortable with it. I love it. The last few weeks have been a real blast. The emails from people and phone calls have given us a lot of inspiration during the really long days we are putting in. It's been nice to take a break every now and then and just chat about wine with people.
I hope this continues and I hope I get to talk to and meet even more people in the months ahead. It's great to hear from everyone, and each phone call and each email, gets us closer to the vision statement of making friends!
Monday, October 08, 2007
First Shipments Released
Just a quick note that I released about 20 orders for shipment this morning. Mostly going to the north east, and upper midwest. I was torn about Illinois, but it looks like temps will cool there tomorrow and a went ahead and let those go.
I released some for Northern California, but almost 90% of the California orders choose to pick up at Chaine d'Or (or have Kenny pick them up at Chaine d' Or ;) ) so only a few will actually ship. Next week if things continue to cool, I should release another batch of orders.
We also sent out a final offer to the 26 new sign ups we got in the last 3 weeks. That should get us close to selling out. The sending out offer letters in waves worked out well and I think everyone who wanted wine will be able to get wine and there are probably just a few requests for extras that we'll be able to meet.
I released some for Northern California, but almost 90% of the California orders choose to pick up at Chaine d'Or (or have Kenny pick them up at Chaine d' Or ;) ) so only a few will actually ship. Next week if things continue to cool, I should release another batch of orders.
We also sent out a final offer to the 26 new sign ups we got in the last 3 weeks. That should get us close to selling out. The sending out offer letters in waves worked out well and I think everyone who wanted wine will be able to get wine and there are probably just a few requests for extras that we'll be able to meet.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Our First Pinot Noir
Friday morning we picked up 1 ton of Pinot Noir from an old vine vineyard in the Southern Santa Cruz Mountains. This will be the first Pinot Noir we make.
The grapes were small and the flavors very intense. It was very cool Friday morning. Temps were in the high 40's and the grapes came off the vine cool, which is perfect for transport and winemaking. Millie was able to load both bins in the back of her pick up truck so we didn't have to rent a big flat bed like normal.
We were a little late leaving the vineyard, but by 10:00 am we were on the road and headed towards Chaine d' Or, about a 45 minute drive. We arrived just before 11:30.
I was a little worried about how things would go. This was the first time anyone had brought grapes into the winery, everything else made there had always been estate grapes. That meant we had some new processes to set up, new equipment to use, and a new layout of all the equipment. With so much being done for the first time I was counting on some problems.
We got very lucky! Everything went better than planned and we quickly worked out a couple of small details and had a system down. 85% of the grapes went through the de-stemmer and 15% went into a t-bin in whole clusters. We just filled up one bin, or about enough to make 50 cases of wine.
The Brix tested at 25.2 in the bin, right in the range I like and I covered the grapes and let them start their cold soak. With temperatures so low, we won't need to do anything artificial to lower the temperature. The grapes should just soak for 2-3 days before natural fermentation starts. My plan is to be pretty gentle in push downs as the juice already seems pretty intense.
We'll have another 1-2 tons coming in from a second vineyard soon and eventually we'll combine the two into a "Santa Cruz Mountains" Pinot Noir.
The grapes were small and the flavors very intense. It was very cool Friday morning. Temps were in the high 40's and the grapes came off the vine cool, which is perfect for transport and winemaking. Millie was able to load both bins in the back of her pick up truck so we didn't have to rent a big flat bed like normal.
We were a little late leaving the vineyard, but by 10:00 am we were on the road and headed towards Chaine d' Or, about a 45 minute drive. We arrived just before 11:30.
I was a little worried about how things would go. This was the first time anyone had brought grapes into the winery, everything else made there had always been estate grapes. That meant we had some new processes to set up, new equipment to use, and a new layout of all the equipment. With so much being done for the first time I was counting on some problems.
We got very lucky! Everything went better than planned and we quickly worked out a couple of small details and had a system down. 85% of the grapes went through the de-stemmer and 15% went into a t-bin in whole clusters. We just filled up one bin, or about enough to make 50 cases of wine.
The Brix tested at 25.2 in the bin, right in the range I like and I covered the grapes and let them start their cold soak. With temperatures so low, we won't need to do anything artificial to lower the temperature. The grapes should just soak for 2-3 days before natural fermentation starts. My plan is to be pretty gentle in push downs as the juice already seems pretty intense.
We'll have another 1-2 tons coming in from a second vineyard soon and eventually we'll combine the two into a "Santa Cruz Mountains" Pinot Noir.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Shipping Update
I finally got a little break yesterday afternoon to start processing payments. The weather looks pretty good next week and we'll start sending out shipments to those areas that also have good weather.
Right now we stand at about 60% of the wine 'booked', that is orders in, entered and waiting for billing. There are commitments for about 25% more. I'll make a call one way or another tonight to send out order forms to the last group of people to sign up after the initial release.
By the end of next week we should be sold out and by the following week we'll have shipments going out to everyone but people in the hottest areas. If you've been holding on to your order form, please try and get it to me soon. Last release I kept back some wine for people who I knew would be stragglers and was able to fill a few orders into June. This time around I don't think I'll have anything left.
Right now we stand at about 60% of the wine 'booked', that is orders in, entered and waiting for billing. There are commitments for about 25% more. I'll make a call one way or another tonight to send out order forms to the last group of people to sign up after the initial release.
By the end of next week we should be sold out and by the following week we'll have shipments going out to everyone but people in the hottest areas. If you've been holding on to your order form, please try and get it to me soon. Last release I kept back some wine for people who I knew would be stragglers and was able to fill a few orders into June. This time around I don't think I'll have anything left.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Snakes and Bees
There are lots of unglamourous things to do in growing and making wine. We often joke as we work about feeling 'romantic' or glamorous', as we clean things or lift things. The past two days have given some good examples of the un-fun side of winemaking.
Saturday after picking and crushing the home vineyard grapes we stopped by the Elandrich vineyard to take sugar readings. A 2 foot rattle snake greeted us on the walk way up to the Zinfandel section. The little snakes are the worst. Their rattles don't rattle yet, they are too soft to make noise, and they bite everything, since they haven't learned yet not to waste their poison.
With a rake and a pair of hedge trimmers we were able to eliminate the little dude. The head keeps on biting well after being removed from the rest of the critter, so you've got to bury it. That task done, we went on to test the Zinfandel. 23.4 BRIX, almost ready, another week or so.
Yesterday was spent at Chaine d'Or picking Chardonnay and Merlot. As soon as the picking starts, the bees and wasps show up. Hundreds of them if not thousands. They hover around the crushpad where there is lots of good grape gunk to feast on.
I got my first two stings of the season. Luckily I'm not allergic to bees, but one of the pickers had a pretty bad reaction on his hand. That's a little secret of picking. You can't sneak up on the clusters, you have to give the plant a good shake before you reach in to start cutting. That lets the bees know you are there and they move on to another plant.
At the end of the day I was crushing about 600 pounds of Merlot. My shirt and pants were covered with grape gunk from the crusher. The little bits of grape are too much for the bees to resist and they crawl all over you. It's not unusual to have 10-15 bees on you and many more hovering around. You've got to just let them be bees. If you leave them alone they'll happily harvest the sugar and be on their way.
So add two more skills to the winemaking playbook. Snake wrangler and bee herder.
Saturday after picking and crushing the home vineyard grapes we stopped by the Elandrich vineyard to take sugar readings. A 2 foot rattle snake greeted us on the walk way up to the Zinfandel section. The little snakes are the worst. Their rattles don't rattle yet, they are too soft to make noise, and they bite everything, since they haven't learned yet not to waste their poison.
With a rake and a pair of hedge trimmers we were able to eliminate the little dude. The head keeps on biting well after being removed from the rest of the critter, so you've got to bury it. That task done, we went on to test the Zinfandel. 23.4 BRIX, almost ready, another week or so.
Yesterday was spent at Chaine d'Or picking Chardonnay and Merlot. As soon as the picking starts, the bees and wasps show up. Hundreds of them if not thousands. They hover around the crushpad where there is lots of good grape gunk to feast on.
I got my first two stings of the season. Luckily I'm not allergic to bees, but one of the pickers had a pretty bad reaction on his hand. That's a little secret of picking. You can't sneak up on the clusters, you have to give the plant a good shake before you reach in to start cutting. That lets the bees know you are there and they move on to another plant.
At the end of the day I was crushing about 600 pounds of Merlot. My shirt and pants were covered with grape gunk from the crusher. The little bits of grape are too much for the bees to resist and they crawl all over you. It's not unusual to have 10-15 bees on you and many more hovering around. You've got to just let them be bees. If you leave them alone they'll happily harvest the sugar and be on their way.
So add two more skills to the winemaking playbook. Snake wrangler and bee herder.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
