Fall Wine Festival

It's now one of the most successful events in the province and probably the country. The Okanagan Fall Wine Festival draws thousands to the valley starting today and ending on Sunday, October 8th. There's literally hundreds of events organized by wineries, vineyards, hotels, restaurants and community groups.
I'd love to meet some of you...
I'll be at the Toasted Oak in Oliver for a winemaker's dinner tomorrow night. Sunday I hope to be wandering around with the other 1000 folks at the Festival of the Grape in Oliver. Next weekend I'll pour you a taste at the Penticton Convention centre on Friday and Saturday.

Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer In

At Township 7, all of the SB and Gew is in with the Chardonnay beginning to come in. Picking in Cawston (Chardonnay) on Saturday while the Pinot Gris on our property is harvested simultaneously. It'll be a long day but we'll get it all done with our new Sutter 35.

Things are heating up at Stone Mountain as well.

Looks like Monday will be the day for the first day of Gewurztraminer there. Over 17 tons are expected. This new winery is going from about 30 tons produced off premise last year to 120 tons in a newly converted building this year. Photos here today show arrival of the new press and Terry hand-loading some primo Gew for whole cluster pressing.

Hamilton Street Grill & Township 7

Had a great time at the Hamilton Street Grill back on the 11th and 12th when it was Township 7 night. Folks were invited to come down and taste some T7 wine and enjoy some of Chef Neil's great food. The events were oversold on both nights. We gave away a double magnum of 2004 Merlot as shown by T7 owner Mike Raffan.

Big thanks to Neil and his team for great hospitality. We'd love to do it again! If you're down there - try the hanger steak!

Last Safety Meeting

We had our last safety meeting of the season on Friday. The season where you can sit around outside without layering on various bits of clothes or where your drink gets warmer as time goes by rather than cooler.
The format was simple. BBQ/Beer to start off and finish with bits of wine.
And always the safety.
We talked about proper location of beverage holders, thirst quenching ratios, transporting potables during vintage and dynamic progressive conviviality theory (DPC).

There's a couple more photos in the Flickr panel at right.

Running The Black Dog

Racked out the Black Dog the other day for a little look.

For those who don't know, 'black dog' is our working name for a small batch of exquisite 2005 red that's a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. It's dark and brooding; the structure is perfect and the contributions by the barrels are noteworthy.

It goes back to barrel today. If we chose to follow this project to the end we'll be looking at about 100 cases in the $25 - $35 / bottle range.

Woof.