The Young Up-Start!

Cheers to the winemaker, Ted! Erol Senel talks about our Cabernet and Chardonnay and we can't help but agree.

http://content.corkd.com/2010/09/14/napa-valley-ushers-out-the-tired-names-of-yesteryear-and-replaces-them-with-up-and-coming-superstars/

2009 Chardonnay- bottling already?

I can't believe its May already and we have bottling scheduled for the end of the month.

The Chard blend consists of two parts: Oak and Stainless.  The stainless portion is a real home run, great fruit and floral notes and serious acidity.  The oak (used, older oak that is) has a bigger mouthfeel and more creaminess.  I put the correct percentages together in this vial to take to the lab.  Its a really interesting blend, similar to the '08 but with a bit less oak flavor.

I just finished fighting with the TTB (government label approvers), scheduling bottling, ordering corks, glass bottles, capsules, labels and trying to get the wine in the right size tank.  I think I'm ready to get this bottling done.  I'll make sure to take some pics and post them here in all their glory.

Chardonnay- Truckin'

This is the pic you get when you are driving across Hwy 29 in Napa, hauling a truckload of Chardonnay barrels and you stick your iPhone out the window.  

The Chard is such a small ammout I am trucking the wine from the winery to a place that rents out a bottling line.  So, two trips later the wine is in place.  

First step- transfer it to a stainless steel tank and cover the headspace with a thick blanket of Argon gas.  Its now in the deep freeze at 25 degrees to drop out the tartrate crystals.  A shot of Bentonite will precipitate out excess protein and the last step is to filter out all the dead yeast and grape solids.  A week from now it will happily in bottle at out 55 degree storage warehouse.

This is when I go through my mental (perhaps I should write this down) checklist:

1. Certificate of Label Approval (COLA) -Uncle Sam needs to sign off on every single label.-Check.

2.Bottling date set.Check, confirmed 6/11/09 with Chris.

3.Labels ordered.-Check , due on 6/9/09 cutting it close!

4.Bottles ordered.-Check, I'm picking them up on 6/10/09.

5.Corks ordered.-Check, Terry's going to call me when ther're ready.

6.Pick up foils- I tried but Rui closes the office whenever he feels like it (Europeans!).  I'll try again today.

Bottling is the least fun part of winemaking.  There are a lot of vendors and supplies that need to come together at the right time.  Bit stressfull, but once its safely in the bottle its all good. (and tasty!)

Chardonnay label FINAL!

Thanks so much for all that commented on the creation of our Chardonnay label.  The idea of having the inverse of the Cabernet label really did work in our minds.  Several of you pointed this out so thank you again.  The colors were changed a bit, the final is darker in the both the yellow (now gold-ish) text as well as the brown-ish background.  I'm happy with the way it has turned out!  

The photo is a mock up and will be printed in a slightly different paper but you get the idea...