They say that January is time for new beginnings and resolutions. Therefore here is mine in regards to this blog, I'll post once a month. After missing the past four months and trust me I thought about writing but found I had no desire, I decided that maybe a monthly update might be more easier for me to do. The trade off will be that I won't write such detail about what I do from day to day but I think I have written about most of my usual tasks which was part of the writing problem. I didn't want to repeat myself. Hopefully this will provide a nice balance of keeping you in the loop as to what's happening around the winery and be a reasonable and enjoyable amount of writing for me. I love to be able to share my picture too, another excuse for this blog. Now to the business of writing.
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| Marechal Foch - mid verasion |
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| Gewurztraminer - end verasion |
We had a very nice harvest. The weather cooperated by staying fine until we got everything ripe and picked. A wonderful change after the past two years. I was happy with the fermentations and look forward to seeing what you think of the wines. The Gewurztraminer will be the first to be released and will feature the new label, it should be available late spring.
Two rather special things also happened during harvest. One is that my parents came to work. I know, crazy! But, it was great to have them and they enjoyed seeing what I do during my busiest time of year. My mother was here last year so she was prepared but it was a first for my dad. Thank you to them both and I hope they come again next year. The other great thing that happened was that many people chipped in and built me an office with windows! Yes, windows! Very exciting. I still spend time in the cave, it's more convenient for lab work but as I sit here and type I can look out at the falling rain. And as you can tell by the picture we do get some sunshine!
And as always, lab work continues, here I was checking sugars. Also racking wines to get them ready for filtering and bottling next month. I love the colors in the pinot gris lees. The yeast settles out first, the yellow streaks showing through, and then the little bit of color in the wine drops out creating the pink layer on top. I've also been taking advantage of the cold weather by getting in a little disgorging. If you haven't tried our bubbles I highly recommend getting a bottle. I think they have continued to get better with time. We had a cold snap at the start of the year which allowed the crew to get right into pruning. The frosting of everything was great to see (pictured above) as well as the accompanying sun. Now back to work, I need to do some topping and check MLs.
Two rather special things also happened during harvest. One is that my parents came to work. I know, crazy! But, it was great to have them and they enjoyed seeing what I do during my busiest time of year. My mother was here last year so she was prepared but it was a first for my dad. Thank you to them both and I hope they come again next year. The other great thing that happened was that many people chipped in and built me an office with windows! Yes, windows! Very exciting. I still spend time in the cave, it's more convenient for lab work but as I sit here and type I can look out at the falling rain. And as you can tell by the picture we do get some sunshine!
And as always, lab work continues, here I was checking sugars. Also racking wines to get them ready for filtering and bottling next month. I love the colors in the pinot gris lees. The yeast settles out first, the yellow streaks showing through, and then the little bit of color in the wine drops out creating the pink layer on top. I've also been taking advantage of the cold weather by getting in a little disgorging. If you haven't tried our bubbles I highly recommend getting a bottle. I think they have continued to get better with time. We had a cold snap at the start of the year which allowed the crew to get right into pruning. The frosting of everything was great to see (pictured above) as well as the accompanying sun. Now back to work, I need to do some topping and check MLs.
