Oh yeah, Hyde Chardonnay

A picture is worth a thousand words…so I’ll just say a few:

Our 2011 Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay was just bottled and it is just amaaazing, can’t wait to release it!

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Bottling ’09 Pinot

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350 Cases of wine bottled.  Thanks to Uzi, Caleb and our volunteers for all the hardwork!

 

Racking to Tank Before Bottling

racking before bottling

This Friday we bottle the 2009 Stomping Girl Pinot Noir.  So much preparation goes in to this one day (design and print labels, get federal approval for labels, order capsules and corks, find workers [thanks volunteers!], line up warehouse to store bottled wine, etc. etc, but the most important thing is always the wine.  We sample and blend wine, decide which barrels are ready to bottle, run lab test on the wine to determine alcohol level, ph, etc., and we rack the barreled wine off the lees.  To do this, all the barrels are moved to the floor of the winery, no small feat in a small space, and the wine is pushed through hoses into large stainless steel tanks using argon gas (see picture above.)  Then the wine is allowed to settle for a while before its big day.  It is our last opportunity to taste and make any adjustments before it goes into bottle. Or as someone (wise?) once said, this is last opportunity for the winemaker to screw up the wine.

 

Bottles and capsules and corks, oh my

bottles, capsules and cork samples

Winemaking is not always about making wine.  There are always less glamorous tasks to be done, like packaging, which we are working on now. Later this summer we will bottle our 2009 vintage and we are lining up packaging details now. This means decisions have to be made on what size, color and nationality the bottle will be. We must choose what type of cork to use and if our logo will be branded on it. Then there is the capsule–what material, color, size do we want? Logo or no logo?  And last, but not least, we must update our label for the 3 different vineyards 2009.

Under my radar, downstairs, Uzi has been busy mixing and matching different colored capsules with various styles of bottles with our 2008 label slapped on to get a visual of what we want to end up with.

During his mix and match process, Uzi put a filled bottle with our 2008 Stomping Girl label, a red capsule and a Stomping Girl branded cork in it on our kitchen counter for me to see.  In an ironic twist of fate, later that same day a sommelier/wine director from a very well-known restaurant coincidentally paid me a surprise visit on an unrelated matter (we were working together on a project for our kids’ school.) He knows we make wine and spontaneously asked if he could try it.  I obliged, of course, after all there was the bottle of it right there in front of us on the counter. Had I followed rule #1 of pouring your wine to trade, I would have tasted it, and I would have known that it was not the 2008 Stomping Girl Lone Oak Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands that was clearly indicated on the label and that I portrayed it to be.

The gentleman gave it a sniff and a whirl.  His feedback was brief as he was in a hurry. He observed cranberries on the nose and the palette and then had to run to an appointment. Cranberries???  I should have known something was up at that point.  Our Lone Oak definitely does not invoke cranberries.  It has a much darker red fruit component.

That night I discovered the wine that had been on the counter, that I had poured for our new friend was not what I thought it was.  Aack!  I had been waiting weeks for the perfect opportunity to pour our wine for this man and I blew it!  How was I to know that a bottle labeled 2008 Stomping Girl Lone Oak Pinot Noir was in fact a bottle of our 2007 basement Pinot? Still a perfectly drinkable Pinot but not our Stomping Girl that retails for $38.

Luckily, we had a nice chuckle over it later and I promised to pour the real Stomping Girl for him next time.  Wonder if he’ll believe me?

 

Bottling Sonoma Coast – 2008 Split Rock Vineyard

Last Thursday we bottled the last of our 2008 wines.  “Last” sounds like we made many wines, we only made wine from two vineyards, but it does feel good to have our 2008 vintage safely in bottles. Now we wait for the delicate Pinot to recover.  As many of you know, wine goes thru a shock when it is bottled and needs some rest to recover before it is ready to drink.

Even though the bottling process is mostly automated, contrary to our home wine bottling in the last 7 years, we still make sure we touch every single bottle and leave our prints on  it. Such are the joys of winemaking.

Take a look at the steps in pictures:

First the bottles are emptied of oxygen, filled with wine and the wine level is adjusted.

Bottling Machine

Corks are inserted and the red sleeves are put on and spun into place.

Corks inserted and bottle sleeves put on.

Next, the labeler applies our lovely label to the bottles.

Labels applied to Stomping Girl Pinot Noir

Then the bottles come off the line and are boxed by hand.

Kathryn boxing Stomping Girl Pinot

 

Bottling the 2008 Lone Oak, Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

Our maiden commercial vintage has been bottled.  I know the age of some our laborers looks a little young but I seriously could not pull them away.  I barely had a chance to get my own hands in there!  Look for this wine to be released in early November!

 

Blending the ’08 Pinot

tasting and blending the Pinot clones

For the winemaker, this time of year is not only about preparing the winery for harvest but also about making blending and bottling decisions for the previous vintage.  Friday we had the pleasure of evaluating the progress of our 2008 Lone Oak and Split Rock Pinot Noir.  We compared the influences of the different barrels (new oak vs. neutral oak) and different clones that go into each.  We blended different ratios of new oak to neutral oak and different clonal combinations (more on clones) to bring out the aromas, flavors and complexity we are looking for.

We swirled, sniffed, tasted, gargled and spit our way through the morning.  Our consulting winemaker is extremely knowledgeable of the different Pinot Noir clones and helped guide us as we blended, tasted and tweaked glass after glass.  

In general, we strive for well-balanced, food-friendly wines that express the fruit and floral notes typical of the varietal and the vineyard from which it comes.  Combining different Pinot Noir clones from the same vineyard brings complexity and intrigue to the wine.  Certain clones help provide incredible aromatics, some lend a note of creaminess while others provide structure. When tasted side by side, it became evident to me that a single clone, in contrast to a blend, can appear one dimensional.  Creating the right blend, though hard work ;), was a great learning experience and critical to creating an exceptional wine.  

In addition, we also made some bottling decisions.  We will bottle the Lone Oak this month.  The Split Rock we will hold in barrel until after the 2009 harvest is complete and bottle in November.  Stay tuned for their release soon after that.

blending Pinot trials and tribulations