Topping

Caught with my finger in the bung hole again. I'm checking the barrels to see how low the level of the wine is. If its too low, its time for topping.

I was reading a post from the Goosecross Cellars winery blog and it got me thinking. Topping barrels probably takes up more time and costs more money that any other activity in the winery.

Barrels that are full of wine don't stay full on their own. We have to add wine to each barrel every few weeks to avoid fill the void in the barrel caused by evaporation. The void contains air and that is the enemy of wine at the ageing stage (vinegar anyone?).

Evaporation takes about 5% of your wine away every year. Prime is in barrel for about two years. So for my production of about 700 gallons of Cabernet I can expect to lose about 70 gallons of wine. That's 348 bottles of wine never to be seen again.

The Show and Prime 2007

Part One-The annual Unified Wine and Grape Symposium "the Show" is wrapping up tomorrow and this year was a huge success.  The entire show was packed with thousands of people.  Vintners were shopping for tons of high priced toys.  The state of the industry lecture pieced together lots of data that pretty much reads that aside from heath care the wine industry is doing better than most in this crappy economy. 

Part Two- I just tasted through the PRIME 2007 Cabernet lots and this is hands down the best yet from our young winery.  Some of the best Cab I have had period.  Very exciting stuff.  Here's a shot of the barrels just recently racked and topped up.

Thank you for the support!

So we have been meaning to mention for awhile now that there are a few places you can find Prime besides here online. So if you find yourself in Tracy, Danville or hungry (and thirsty) in Napa you can get a quick fix in the following locations! Hopefully there will be more to come soon.

Vino 100 - Tracy, CA

The Vine at Bridges - Danville, CA

The Little Gourmet - Napa, CA

Is it January?

Its the time of year now where we venture into the muddy and/or frozen vineyards and prune the vines back to a mere trunk with arms.  Getting rid of 2008's growth gives us the ability to train the vine to get optimal fruit sun exposure, placement, and ultimately- quality in 2009.  Ok, so why is it 70 degrees and full sun out here?  I heard rumors that people saw buds pushing, a sign that the vines think it is Spring.    Spring in January?  

Silly anti-wine laws

I really think it is just ridiculous how wine (beer & spirits too) is regulated in this country. Prohibition ended 75 years ago, can't we move on at this point?  It is a mess of regulation to get the proper permits to sell wine for each state and that's not enough!  Each county then can decide how to restrict wine being shipped and sold.  Hard to believe we still have counties that are "dry" in the USA.  The fact that Napa County will not allow wineries to serve food is also a stupid thing to do if you want to promote responsible wine consumption.  The latest news that got me started is a stupid New York state law that prohibits a wine shop (illegal to buy wine in a grocery store, of course) from selling wine gift bags.  This poor shop owner gets a $10000 fine for having a bag available to put your wine in.  Just so odd it is hard to believe...

Top 10 stupid wine laws:

10. Required state owned wine stores (good luck finding a good selection) 

9. Utah

8. Dry Counties

7. Bans on buying wine at a food stores (just too convenient)

6. No wine on Sundays

5. No food in Napa wineries (except two grandfathered in)

4. The three tier racket (greedy distributor arm twisting, leagal mobsters)

3. Franchise states (ties into number 4, means you cannot fire your under performing distributor)

2. The stupid argument that these laws exist to protect children

1. NO GIFT BAGS!

Its cold outside...

Snow in Napa yesterday. This picture however is not Napa. The snow melted as it hit the ground but it was still rather exciting. The bad news I want our Cabernet to finish up ML fermentation and the colder the wine, the slower the fermentation. Go, bacteria, go! (Technical note: the reason that one would want their red wine to complete ML quickly is so one could then add sulfur dioxide which protects the wine from nasty microbes and smelly oxidation.) The wines will hit the lab in a few days for a check-up. Fingers are crossed.

Our First Review!

Our first review that we know of anyway. Joe Roberts of 1winedude.com gave our wine a spin and here is a clip of what he had to say.

"The nose is dominated by black plum, with a hint of dried black fruits and elegant spice (rather than hefty oak). After several minutes in the glass, pepper and dried herbs start to creep out, and once in a while you sniff some wet dirt (but in a good way).

Take a sip, and and the fruits get a little more red (cherries and currants), but still "feel" dried. The tannins are smooth but almost coffee-thick, and the coffee notes stick around on a finish that is almost half a minute long."

see whole review here