Wonderful weather and work in the winery.

I know it sounds like an excuse but I didn't write last week because the blogger site was down when I was ready but both of us are back now.  I don't actually have to much to report so enjoy the pictures.  Last week I racked the Gewürztraminer to stainless steel drums.  We decided that it wasn't ready to bottle on its own and maybe more time will help or maybe some of it will help the 2011 Seven blend.  Not sure what will happen but since at the moment it seems weak we decided to wait on it.  We did finish tweaking the Pinot gris and Riesling and will be bottling them next week.  I can't wait.  Tomorrow's program is to finish the lab work on the wines checking sugar, pH, and TA (titratable acidity).  Also I will recheck SO2 levels and CO2 levels though with bottling so late in the spring I don't think that will be a factor.  If there is too much CO2 in the wine then it foams up during bottling and makes bottling harder and creates under filled bottles so I like to be forewarned.

This week the guys started cleaning the barrels for me that are sitting empty for the year.  Guadalupe and Rosario have to move each barrel outside, empty out the old solution, rinse the barrel and then refill it with the new solution.  We don't fill the barrels full, that would be a wasteful amount of water but just put in four gallons mixed with SO2 and tartaric acid.  The SO2 is more effective in an acidic environment and the small amount of water keeps the chemicals in solution as well as helping to keep the barrels hydrated so they don't dry out and leak this fall when I will fill them wine because this summer is going to be one of the nicest on record!

I had to get out in the sun today, the start of that aforementioned summer, and so took a nice walk in the vineyard.  Some of the vines are starting to show their leaves, especially the young ones, and the chardonnay vines near the concrete driveway.  The reflected heat and light make a big difference.  Of course the dogs came with me, they had to break in their new summer cuts they received yesterday.  Besides, what self respecting farm dog wants to smell like floral shampoo?!

My brother came to visit this weekend and while we didn't get a lot of sun there wasn't any rain so we took the canoe out on the Willamette.  It's only about 2 or 3 feet longer than his 1972 BMW 2002 and besides he has a roof rack.  And, even better, he let me drive.  What fun!  He's planning to drive it from Seattle to Connecticut this summer and wanted to take it on a test spin so I lucked out by getting to see him.  For the curious, it's a cedar stripper canoe that our parents built about 15 years ago.

After the Turkey

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.  I meant to let you know that I worked in the tasting room on Friday after Thanksgiving, which I don't normally do but as I didn't you'll have to come in during the week sometime to ask me your really gritty questions.  Thanksgiving was great, we had a little cold snap a few days before with a splash of snow which helped make it feel more like a holiday.   We have been eating leftovers ever since of course, last night was turkey and dumplings, with dropped biscuit dumplings loaded with fresh herbs instead of rolled ones and it can out very good if I do say so myself.  My husband said it was so pretty I should take a picture but I was ready to eat so you'll just have to imagine it.  Now we have leftovers of that so I am going to try freezing the liquid part with the thought that I'll make fresh dumplings when we thaw it out.  A great meal some cold winter evening.

As far as in the winery, things are going smoothly which is good as I have no space today as all the wine is still out from the Thanksgiving weekend, though Barry is fast taking care of it.  The Riesling needed a lot of food but it finally is smelling good and seems to be happy and chugging along nicely.  I think the Pinot gris and Gewurztraminer are almost done.  I'm going to spin them out with the centrifuge so that I can evaluate them better as well as get a more accurate sugar reading.  As the wine finishes up I use Clinitest tablets to check the sugar, same as doctors use to check sugar in urine.  I also need to check the progress of the ML on the pinot and the foch in the barrel room.  The cold snap definitely dropped the temperature in there, even in my little fort, so I think I am going to have to beef up the heater.  I have a better one here next to me in my office and I think I'll move that one out to the barrel room.  We'll see after I get the results back from the ML sheets tomorrow.

On a side note, Rocky and Riley went to the groomers last week, don't they look handsome and Riley's litter mate Cooper won the best of show at the National Dog Show in PA on Thursday.  Kind of fun, no?  And just to make you laugh, Ferb in his hammock.  We rolled up the area rug to do some cleaning and put it on the couch, he made himself at home.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well I had the best of intentions to post before Thanksgiving when we had a beautiful fall day and the neighbor dogs came for a romp. Yes, that would be 7 dogs; three Irish Setters, two Australian Shepherds, one Golden Retriever and one long haired Dachshund. It was a lovely muddy walk after the rain the last two days but fun none the less. I have to admit that I didn't take the time to take the walk but sent my camera along instead and I think all were having fun.
Of course I couldn't post on Thursday as I was having a wonderful time with friends and family.

So back to work on Friday for a short day, I just needed to stir the Chardonnay barrels. I do this about once a week and it is always kind of fun. The Chardonnay is done with primary fermentation, that is converting the sugar to alcohol and is now in the midst of secondary or malo-lactic fermentation which is converting malic acid to lactic acid, this is done by bacteria rather than yeast. I am stirring the barrels to keep the yeast in suspension which helps increase mouth feel and texture.If you don't have any plans for today or tomorrow I recommend heading out to the winery for some of Mary's wonderful appetizers and some great wine, not that I'm biased. The 2008 Chardonnay is now available and while a little more time in the bottle would be recommended I think its very tasty.