Its Getting Cold...

I'm referring to the 2009 white wines that are cold stabilizing, not the frigid outdoor temperatures that we have been getting in the Bay.

Cold stabilizing is the process of chilling the wine to near or below freezing temperature in order to get tartrate crystals to form in the wine so they may be removed. This is done as a step to help clarify the wine before it is bottled. It will also lower the acid levels in the wine, since it is the tartaric acid crystallizing. Here is a link for info regarding the cold stabilizing and clarification process with wines: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_stabilization.

That's right, we are preparing to bottle our 2009 white wines next week! Well, not all of the white wines, only the ones that do not see oak. So, we will be bottling our Viogner, Sauvingon Blanc and Muscat Blanc. (some of the Viogner and Sauvingon Blanc did see neutral oak during the primary fermentation in order to help the mouthfeel of the wine). It is exciting to see the grapes that you helped turn into wine being bottled, and it is cool that it is such a short process for these wines. When talking to the head winemaker, he stated that for these particular wines it is best to bottle them early in order to capture the bright fruit and aromatics.

I cant wait to try some of the 09's!

Sanity

Well, it has been a long while since the last post... there are a few reasons for this, mostly being that late October through mid November was really the belly of the beast in the cellar. But now there are no excuses, so here we go...

The leaves on the grapevines are turning to beautiful different shades of fall colors, and things are quieting down in the cellar. with all of the final drain and presses done, all that is left to do with the reds are some splash racks and barreling down. I believe that the only red wines in tanks right now are Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvingon, which were the two last varietals to come in. Things seem really quiet, and the mood has changed... everyone finally can take a deep breath and relax.

We actually did our last drain and press last week, which was kind of hard to believe. For the longest time it felt as if things would never end. It is a bit bittersweet with the harvest ending. It was a lot of fun and a tremendous learning experience, but it is a position that doesn't last forever. Furthermore, it is in my opinion an unstainable one regarding the work itself, as it wears on the body and mind. Crush is a job that is worked full throttle, and it is hard to go at that speed for longer periods of time. Don't get me wrong, I love it and will do it again and again, but it gets crazy! So, I am sad that it is over (my last day in the cellar was last Wednesday), but I look forward to what the future holds.



shoveling out the grapes


preparing to enter the tank


This is the inside of the press... the white part on the right is the bladder that fills up with air. The purple is all of the grapes that we clean out when we get inside.