Today we are out sampling Bressler Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. We were joined by our buddy, and experienced Sauvignon Blanc leafer, Chris Hendrix. As you can see the Bressler Cabernet fruit looks yummy. While I was walking down my row sampling I came across this birds nest. It was probably used earlier in the year. It [...]

Today we are sampling Dead Fred Vineyard. We have separated the remaining vines in three blocks. Rows 1-14, Rows 15-25 and Rows 26-35. As you can see here, we already picked Rows 36 to 66, and the 5 rows of vines on the side. While we were there, we had a chance to watch the [...]

Today we are taking the Sauvignon Blanc (from the first pick at Hyde) out of all the French Oak barrels and putting it in Stainless Steel barrels. Mia likes it to come out of the Oak after fermentation. These are bull dogs. The juice in the barrels will be pushed out of the barrels by [...]

As we leave summer and head into fall, this 2008 vintage is one of the few where I’ve been able to really enjoy one of my favorite times of the year. Varieties and locations prone to early ripening were all ready to pick in the latter half of August to the first half of September. [...]

After we sample, we head to the wineries. Mia is at the wineries (we crush at two different facilities) everyday. There is a lot going on even after the picking. Wine is being put down to barrels after pressing, fermentations are moving along, and work orders have to be written and submitted. Mia tastes and [...]

Today we went out to Dead Fred Vineyard to sample the Cabernet. As you may remember we found some variation in the vineyard last year, so we have been keeping track of the different blocks within the vineyard. Mia sampled the side block that is planted on St. George, and the upper block. I sampled [...]

Well, it’s the Harvest Moon also known as the Wine Moon! This is the full moon closest to Autumnal Equinox. Seems appropriate since we may be picking half of the Dead Fred Vineyard Cabernet and the Bressler Vineyards Cabernet this week. We love to watch the full moon rise. It’s a cool thing to have [...]

Today we are also ‘near topping’ the Sauvignon Blanc barrels from the first pick of Sauvignon Blanc. Since fermentation causes expansion and foam, the barrels are not filled completely during the fermentation process, or they will overflow. Once the fermentation is done, or almost done, you can go back and fill the barrels almost to [...]

Today we have a few things happening at the winery with our two picks of Sauvignon Blanc. The old block of Sauvignon Blanc from Hyde was pressed into this tank on Monday and is ready to go down to barrels today. They are preparing the barrels by cleaning them before they fill them. Mia decided [...]

Well today Mia was at Frediani Vineyards up in Calistoga for the second Merlot pick. We call this block ‘J Merlot’, since it’s old dry farmed Merlot on Jordon rootstock planted back in the 70′s. I had end of month compliance reporting to do for all the states we are licensed in, so I missed [...]