2010 Wine Update!

It’s been a crazy wine year, but I feel good! This year, we got about 3/4 of a ton of chardonnay from Clarksburg, which we picked in mid-September. I like my chardonnay like I like my…well, actually, I’m not crazy about Chardonnay. Because of this, I like to make it taste as much like a wine that I do like as possible! For example: Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio.  So, I keep it un-oaked, pretty acidic, dry, and I avoid malolactic fermentation. The French, and anyone who likes Chard would laugh me out of town for this heresy. Most of the time when I drink white wine, it’s while I’m cooking. If I’m cooking, I like something crisp, dry, and fruity. What this means in terms of winemaking is that I do very very little to my white wines other than make sure that the acidity is where I want it at crush and keep it all clean. Filtering is nice for whites, in my opinion, because of how important the appearance of a white wine is. But, to tell you the truth, I’ve made really really beautiful and tasty white wines without filtering. It gets cold enough in our winery that the wine gets pretty clear all on its own.

The whole group suffered from a lack of funds this year and so we really didn’t get it together to make a deal for some good red grapes earlier in the year. Nevertheless, in mid-October, I got a hankerin’ to do some red. So, last weekend, Sam and I headed up the hill to investigate some leads on some last minute grape deals.

Through a winemaker connection, we ended up finding out about an organic grower in Fairplay who had some grapes that were supposedly ripe and that he’d sell for a pretty good price. Normally, ripeness is not a problem at all in California…but this was a very cold year, and a lot of grapes never made it to a level of ripeness that’s adequate for making good wine before the vines shut down. We didn’t get a good look at the grapes before making a deal to pick them the next morning (it was pretty much our last chance, and it was a good deal, so we took a chance).

When we showed up at the vineyard the next morning, the ripeness and condition of the grapes was all over the place. Some clusters looked great. Some were all raisins. Towards the top of the vineyard (it’s situated on a hill), things looked ok. But, at the bottom, there was a LOT of mold. We ended up picking about 500 lbs (in 4 hours of picking, some of it in the rain) and brought it back to crush.

A week later, we pressed it…and I’m actually feeling like we might make a decent wine out of this. The most award-winning wine we’ve made to date started its life as very troubled grapes and a very troubled fermentation. So, it’s not out of the question that this will be great.

After the press, we kept the skins and seeds, added about 45 pounds of sugar, a pound of tartaric acid, and 30 gallons of water to it and started making a 2nd wine, as we did with our 2008 Zin. We have some new winemaking volunteers in our group who seem to think they have a good use for this stuff….

So, we’ll do one more pressing this year (of the 2nd wine), and then we’ll put the big equipment away for another year. Here’s hoping that 2011 is a HOT SUMMER!

Wine updates

Sam and I drew samples, tasted, and tested the pH on all 9 of the 2008 wines tonight. I’m happy to report that I’m very happy. The Chenin Blanc and Rose’ are stable, clear, tasty, and have good acidity. The Zin, Cab, Petit Sirah, and Barbera are all delicious and fault-free. The Merlot is an interesting case…we think it has smoke taint.

Remember all those fires during the summer? Well, things were particularly bad in Napa and Sonoma. Our Merlot came from northern Sonoma (Kenwood). The taste of this wine is spectacular for how young it is. The smell is sort of like a forest fire.

The question is: do we try to eliminate that smell, or is this a uniquely 2008 sort of a thing that people will come to love and will pay a premium for in 2010? We’re going to run this question (and the wine) by a couple people who have been in the business much longer and see what they think. Stay tuned!

Bad Astronauts Merlot

Here’s the merlot status so far:

I drove to northern Sonoma county (Kenwood) Monday morning to get the grapes. I got to downtown Sonoma at about 6:00, had some coffee there, and then drove up highway 12 for another 20 minutes or so to the vineyard.

Morrison Vineyard is the most beautiful place in the world. Ian Morrison, the owner of the vineyard, grows only Merlot, and he does it very well. He’s also a very nice man.

After chatting with Ian for a while, I walked the vineyard. The grapes were ripe and delicious. The yield per vine was definitely much lower towards the top of the hill, and I think I preferred the taste of the grapes at the bottom of the hill.

The picking crew started picking at about 8:00, and I had my grapes loaded into the truck by 9:00. I drove back to Sacramento, and arrived back at the winery at around 11.

Initial numbers:

24.5 – 25 brix (depending on testing method)
pH 3.66

After crush (thanks Priscila, Sam, Jim, Zach, and Dave for your help!) I added enzymes and potassium metabisulphite.

Tuesday, I threw 20lbs of dry ice on the grapes.

Wednesday, Margaret and Priscila put 20 more lbs on.

Wednesday night, the must temperature was 50 degrees. I added superfood, followed by yeast, and 800g of tartaric acid. My goal is to get the pH down to about 3.4.

Thursday, I added 2 lbs of untoasted oak chips (in a nylon straining bag).

Friday morning, fermentation was underway, but slow. I added my phase 2 superfood and DAP addition.

Everything’s looking great, and I’m very excited about this wine.