Hi Folks,
It look like our grape crush will be over today. The great weather we’ve been having for the last week has really paid off with the rest of our Tempranillo and Cabernet ripening with rich flavors and good acidity. .. a real relief after the uncertainty cause by the rainstorm earlier this month. The first batch of wine was pressed Wednesday and will racked to barrels in about a week or two after the gross lees settle out. I’ve been tasting the Tempranillo samples here in the lab and I’m stoked about how much blackberry and minerality notes have been picked up by the fruit this year… its gonna make a hell of a wine! 
Oct 30, 2009 | Categories: blog, tempranillo | Tags: Crush 2009, sunfire, tempranillo | Leave A Comment »
Hiya folks, it been an eventful week plu since my last update so here goes… Right after the storm week befor last the first batch of Tempranillo ambled into the winery (we got it off the vines before it got wet but it sat a day under a pole barn while I searched for a trucking company who could haul on short notice. Although a little less ripe than I had hoped for the grape flavor leaned heavily to red berry/raspberry the fruit was clean and chemistry in balance. We did a 4 day cold soak (yay!) and innoculated the wine with D254 yeast which is great for maximizing mid palate fruit expression. A coulple days ago it was at 4 brix. Looks like fermentation will be done just in time for the next batch to arrive probably on Wednesday or Thursday. The fruit on the vines had matured and the pH is up where it should be.
On another note, beginning in December, when Crush 2009 is over, I will getting back to the real purpose of this blog and that is to TryTempranillo. So I will be purchasing and tasting a new bottle of Tempranillo each week and posting tasting notes as well as where you can find the wines. The wine could come from Spain, Australia, Chile, here in the U.S. or anywhere else Tempranillo is made. folks, it been an eventful week plu since my last update so here goes… Right after the storm week befor last the first batch of Tempranillo ambled into the winery (we got it off the vines before it got wet but it sat a day under a pole barn while I searched for a trucking company who could haul on short notice. Although a little less ripe than I had hoped for the grape flavor leaned heavily to red berry/raspberry the fruit was clean and chemistry in balance. We did a 4 day cold soak (yay!) and innoculated the wine with D254 yeast which is great for maximizing mid palate fruit expression. A coulple days ago it was at 4 brix. Looks like fermentation will be done just in time for the next batch to arrive probably on Wednesday or Thursday. The fruit on the vines had matured and the pH is up where it should be.
On another note, beginning in December, when Crush 2009 is over, I will getting back to the real purpose of this blog and that is to TryTempranillo. So I will be purchasing and tasting a new bottle of Tempranillo each week and posting tasting notes as well as where you can find the wines. The wine could come from Spain, Australia, Chile, here in the U.S. or anywhere else Tempranillo is madeHiya folks, it been an eventful week plu since my last update so here goes… Right after the storm week befor last the first batch of Tempranillo ambled into the winery (we got it off the vines before it got wet but it sat a day under a pole barn while I searched for a trucking company who could haul on short notice. Although a little less ripe than I had hoped for the grape flavor leaned heavily to red berry/raspberry the fruit was clean and chemistry in balance. We did a 4 day cold soak (yay!) and innoculated the wine with D254 yeast which is great for maximizing mid palate fruit expression. A coulple days ago it was at 4 brix. Looks like fermentation will be done just in time for the next batch to arrive probably on Wednesday or Thursday. The fruit on the vines had matured and the pH is up where it should be.
On another note, beginning in December, when Crush 2009 is over, I will getting back to the real purpose of this blog and that is to TryTempranillo. So I will be purchasing and tasting a new bottle of Tempranillo each week and posting tasting notes as well as where you can find the wines. The wine could come from Spain, Australia, Chile, here in the U.S. or anywhere else Tempranillo is made.
Hiya folks, it been an eventful week plus since my last update so here goes… Right after the storm of october 13 the first batch of Tempranillo ambled into the winery (we got it off the vines before it got wet but it sat a day under a pole barn while I searched for a trucking company who could haul on short notice). Although a little less ripe than I had hoped for the grape flavor leaned heavily to red berry/raspberry the fruit was clean and chemistry in balance. We did a 4 day cold soak (yay!) and innoculated the wine with D254 yeast which is great for maximizing mid palate fruit expression. A coulple days ago it was at 4 brix. Looks like fermentation will be done just in time for the next batch to arrive probably on Wednesday or Thursday. I looked at the vineyard and the fruit on the vines has matured and the pH is up where it should be so I have high hopes for Vintage 2009. The Cabernet is currently (as of Monday) at 23.5 brix with a pH of 3.4 so it will be coming off the vines I expect Friday morning. Since the clone 337 cab tends torward granite and cherry notes I picked up a couple beautiful barrels from Tonnellierie d’Aquitaine which will really help frame in that fruit.
On another note, beginning in December, when Crush 2009 is over, I will getting back to the real purpose of this blog and that is to TryTempranillo. So I will be purchasing and tasting a new bottle of Tempranillo each week and posting tasting notes as well as where you can find the wines. The wine could come from Spain, Australia, Chile, here in the U.S. or anywhere else Tempranillo is made.
Oct 27, 2009 | Categories: Uncategorized, blog | Tags: Crush 2009, Spain, sunfire, tempranillo | Leave A Comment »
10/14/09
Hiya folks, its time to find the tylenol, TUMS, and valium- aka, winemakers’ best friends during harvest. Crush ‘09 started yesterday kinda urgently– Ya see, last Friday I went out to our see how our tempranillo vineyard was doing with an eye to choosing a harvest date. The fruit was at about 24-25 brix and already displaying lots of darker berry characteristics and
about a week off from harvest. Unfortunately there was only a few days to get it off the vine since there was a big storm coming in that was projected to drop several inches of rain. So in order to deal with the rain my grower and I decided to harvest roughly half the Tempranillo fruit yesterday. We are going to let the soil dry for a week or so then take the rest with, hopefully a tad more sugar. The couple tons that have come in will be cold soaked for 3-4 days then I’ll start pulling samples to get “the numbers” i.e. pH, TA, and actual brix. With any luck, by the time fermentation is done, my barrel order will have arrived.
On an entirely unrelated note, while pouring last week at the Monterey wine festival, the folks next to me were serving samples of a gorgeous sangiovese. Rich fruit, huge spice and just plain yummy… undoubtedly the finest example of the grape I’ve tried from California. The wine is made by the legendary Chuck Ortman and his son. Check out Ortman Family Vineyards 2007 Sangiovese at roughly $25 its well worth the price of admission.
Oct 14, 2009 | Categories: blog, tempranillo | Tags: Crush 2009, grape harvest, sunfire, tempranillo | Leave A Comment »
