Folks down in the Russian River ap are trying to come up with a name for their winery and they could sure use your help!
Check it out
I tried a few but I hadn't had my full prescription of java at the time.
Things I'm up to today:
Going to take a look at the paper chromatography I prepared yesterday to see how my reds are faring in the malo-lactic department. I should have a handle on that and be able to make adjustments as necessary. A lot of the barrels are crackling and such so it's just a matter of seeing how far along they are.
Next, I've got to start with some analysis on the 04 reds and see how they are doing. I'll prepare a topping schedule for myself and my part-time assistant.
There's still plenty of grunt work around the winery. When you're the only full time feller you do it all. So, I've got some equipment cleaning to do before putting it into off-season storage and a mass of picking and fermenting bins to scrub, stack and tarp.
This afternoon I get to meet with a couple of money people regarding winery investments.
On the immediate horizon, the 05 whites are due for some stability testing.
WINE lately: Besides my own private stock of 03 ME I'm partial to ARG Malbecs lately.
Starting a winery called BLACK CLOUD in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. The ups, the downs and the everyday experiences as we build our dream.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Winery and Vineyard For Sale
SOLD!
Let me know if you're in the market for a cute little winery operation here in BC. The two parcels are about 12 acres. Winemaker and inventory included. Two cellar door retail outlets.
Long term contracts with growers in place. Three modest residential buildings on site. Production: about 5,000 cases annually with lots of potential in the existing plant to double that number. Loyal customers throughout the metro Vancouver market. It's essentially a turnkey operation. Drop me a line for more information.
Let me know if you're in the market for a cute little winery operation here in BC. The two parcels are about 12 acres. Winemaker and inventory included. Two cellar door retail outlets.
Long term contracts with growers in place. Three modest residential buildings on site. Production: about 5,000 cases annually with lots of potential in the existing plant to double that number. Loyal customers throughout the metro Vancouver market. It's essentially a turnkey operation. Drop me a line for more information.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Wine in a Tetra Box
If the link below works, it should take you to an interesting story about wine packaging.
If screwcaps didn't rock their boats, these little packages should really get the cork geeks cranked up.
http://www.decanter.com/news/69689.html
In case your didn't know. . . Peller Estates (Andres Wines) bought Red Rooster winery here on the Naramata Bench to give Peller some 'street cred' with the wine buying populace. Up til now all they've been was a brand with a very industrial street scene in Port Moody.
Also, the Holman empire continues to mushroom with the recent addition of Lang Vineyards.
So thats Spiller, Mistral, Benchland and still another being eyed at this time to join the stable.
http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/2005-11-10/news/feature.html
Love those retailers, click on the link above to read about one horrendous wine retailer. This is why selling wine to the public will always be an uphill battle with cretins like this dude around.
If screwcaps didn't rock their boats, these little packages should really get the cork geeks cranked up.
http://www.decanter.com/news/69689.html
In case your didn't know. . . Peller Estates (Andres Wines) bought Red Rooster winery here on the Naramata Bench to give Peller some 'street cred' with the wine buying populace. Up til now all they've been was a brand with a very industrial street scene in Port Moody.
Also, the Holman empire continues to mushroom with the recent addition of Lang Vineyards.
So thats Spiller, Mistral, Benchland and still another being eyed at this time to join the stable.
http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/2005-11-10/news/feature.html
Love those retailers, click on the link above to read about one horrendous wine retailer. This is why selling wine to the public will always be an uphill battle with cretins like this dude around.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Wine or SKI?
Time to head into the winery this morning to do some "caretaker" duties including monitoring and maintaining the last of the red fermenters.
I'm now heading into the next phase of operations where I begin to assess what's resulted from all that fermenting and make some decisions on how each batch will be handled.
Racking and barreling and such and working some tentative bottling dates into the 2006 winter schedule. Calendars are deceptive. All that white space quickly gets eaten up and soon I'll be on deadline, trying to get wine ready for market.
Speaking of fermenting, I'm sure I was the last to realize Tom Wark's astounding Fermentations blog had to change it's name and is now without an 's'. If you haven't had an opportunity to read Tom's stuff you should do that right now. Fermentation
I wonder if I'll get a call someday from legal beagles, telling me I have to alter something in my blog?
In the meantime... I'm planning a winter break and for me it's all about the snow. I'd like to get some skiing in somewhere I've never been to before. I'm thinking maybe Big Sky in Montana
or one of the Oregon spots or maybe Fernie. Got any ideas? Not interested in Colorado, NM, Utah, Nevada or California. Two hour plane ride max.
I'm now heading into the next phase of operations where I begin to assess what's resulted from all that fermenting and make some decisions on how each batch will be handled.
Racking and barreling and such and working some tentative bottling dates into the 2006 winter schedule. Calendars are deceptive. All that white space quickly gets eaten up and soon I'll be on deadline, trying to get wine ready for market.
Speaking of fermenting, I'm sure I was the last to realize Tom Wark's astounding Fermentations blog had to change it's name and is now without an 's'. If you haven't had an opportunity to read Tom's stuff you should do that right now. Fermentation
I wonder if I'll get a call someday from legal beagles, telling me I have to alter something in my blog?
In the meantime... I'm planning a winter break and for me it's all about the snow. I'd like to get some skiing in somewhere I've never been to before. I'm thinking maybe Big Sky in Montana
or one of the Oregon spots or maybe Fernie. Got any ideas? Not interested in Colorado, NM, Utah, Nevada or California. Two hour plane ride max.
Monday, November 07, 2005
The Longest Vintage
I don't keep records for start to finish dates in regard to vintage but...
It seems this has been the longest fruit receiving session I've experienced in some time. We started bringing in fruit in mid- September and I'm hoping to bring in some Cab Franc today to put an end to this endurance contest.
We don't make ice wine or any other sticky so this is all about standard table wine values.
The fruit has been good and sound; I wouldn't say exceptional. There is greatly varied levels of maturity that doesn't seem to follow any patterns. The only thing I can say about the harvest that applies across the board and has affected 90% of the wineries here in the Okanagan valley: the tonnage is down.
For the consumer: the quality will be there but the volume won't be. Expect many of your favourite aromatic whites to be sold out by late summer if not earlier. And 18 months from now certain reds from 2005 will be in short supply as well. Expect some producers to be quite happy as they clear out inventory that had been stockpiling due to stagnant sales or previous bumper crops.
It seems this has been the longest fruit receiving session I've experienced in some time. We started bringing in fruit in mid- September and I'm hoping to bring in some Cab Franc today to put an end to this endurance contest.
We don't make ice wine or any other sticky so this is all about standard table wine values.
The fruit has been good and sound; I wouldn't say exceptional. There is greatly varied levels of maturity that doesn't seem to follow any patterns. The only thing I can say about the harvest that applies across the board and has affected 90% of the wineries here in the Okanagan valley: the tonnage is down.
For the consumer: the quality will be there but the volume won't be. Expect many of your favourite aromatic whites to be sold out by late summer if not earlier. And 18 months from now certain reds from 2005 will be in short supply as well. Expect some producers to be quite happy as they clear out inventory that had been stockpiling due to stagnant sales or previous bumper crops.
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