Wine Outlook

Friday was the culmination of a season’s worth of late evenings and early mornings. Tons of grapes were driven in, crushed, fermented, and barreled, which meant bins and tanks had to be cleaned, pH levels measured, and a million other tasks. Finally, the big stuff is done, all there is to do now is wait (and rack, continue to run tests, and sample, but you know what I mean). As you may have gathered, at Rosenblum, all hard work is rewarded by hard play. Therefore we all gathered for an End of Harvest lunch. Sid was in charge of the rotisserie-style pig and smoking the salmon, making it quite the affair.

Each department was in charge of different courses, including apps and veggies. We had everything from crab dip to spinach salad, from the Filipino dish lumpia to pineapple upside-down cake, extra rum. That’s Chris, our chemist, who can also cook up some tasty red beans and rice. And I had all kinds of fun running around making squash, asparagus, and mustard greens–which I ordered everyone to put over the yummy corn bread Kevin had made. (more…)

End of Harvest

The last harvest update from winemaker John Kane left us with fruit from Sonoma and Mendocino and just a portion of the whites. In his next account from 10.13.07, we had received close to 1000 tons of red fruit and white juice from our offsite custom crush facilities. (Sometimes the grapes must be pressed offsite due to distance or weather conditions.) Speaking of the weather, it hasn’t seemed to be able to make up its mind. With the rain coming and going, there has been some cause for concern over the acid levels. What’s happening is that water is being taken into the roots, which dilutes the acid instead of allowing it to convert to sugar, all leading to issues about the ripeness of the grapes. John gave reference to some technical issues over pH and fermentation, but I’ll just sum it up with his take on trying to get yeast to ferment when the pH levels aren’t what they should be: like “washing barrels in the pouring rain– hostile work environment which leads to less production.” (more…)

I was getting ready to post John Kane’s third Harvest installment, when I realized I had never posted the second. (Here is the first, if you missed it.)

As of the last week of September, we had received 650 tons of fruit. The fruit that was coming in was looking very clean and evenly ripe. Rare for Zinfandel, which is known for looking like raisins at the bottom of the cluster and perfect at its top. Moving on, barreling down is in full swing. This is the first time we’ll be using puncheon barrels, which hold 500 liters. The 500 l barrels make the wine seem more mature than the normal 220 liter, without adding as much oak influence. They’ll be used for some of the smaller productions.

September also brought a new member to the production staff: the Diemme D80 press, brought over from Italy. Having only one press was quite chancey, as it could give at any moment and bring the whole process to a screeching halt. A great direct quote from John about how it feels with just one press in operation, (more…)

Funny, but some customers are surprised that we’re still getting grapes. Last Friday I took a group on a tour, showing them some Snows Lake Petite Sirah (from Lake County) going through the de-stemmer. Yesterday I saw a truckload of grapes being unloaded in the somewhat cloudy afternoon. And they’re still coming in….

I’ll try to get another update from one of the winemakers and pass that along to you, readers and drinkers.

Rosenblum Cellars harvest

This is paraphrased from our associate winemaker John Kane from a recent update:

What: Harvest got rolling with grapes from mostly Solano county, Contra Costa County, and Lake County. It looks to be an interesting harvest due to the mild growing season for the majority of the summer and then the last few weeks of extreme heat. The sugar rose moderately due to the warm days combined with high acid levels. What does he think of the quality? “So what I am seeing is a bit of a leaner year with possibly more spice tones and black fruits. In relation, more wines will have the appeal of our reserves across the board. This means Lyon’s, Maggie’s, and Rockpile style wines.”
Those are some of my favorites, so that’s good news

How: 40% American oak from Seguin Moreau, Radoux, and Keystone. There is Russian oak in a hybrid barrel from Seguin Moreau. The body of the barrel is American oak from Minnesota and the heads are from Russia (adding spice compared to heavy toast flavors–ideal for Zin). French Oak for other 60%– wood from forests all over France . We selectively use Ermitage wood from the Hermitage region. This cooper makes 1000 barrels, of which we get 150.

What else: Looking at Sonoma County to come in over the next two to three weeks. Mendocino County will also follow. As for Paso Robles, we’ve gotten two vineyards, including Richard Sauret, which was brought to the winery in refrigerated trucks.

Everyone’s working hard, and I’ll do my best to keep you posted.

winery harvest, Rosenblum harvest

Harvest is moving along at a fast clip. Last Friday we had St. Peter’s Church Zinfandel come in, unexpectedly, I think. I got an answer of ‘no’ when I asked if anyone would be working in the cellar over the weekend, but when I rolled in a little before 10 on Saturday, the door was up and forklifts zipping by. They were hard at work Sunday, for part of the day anyway. And this week we’ve seen trucks driving in, full of grapes, as we watch from the tasting room window. You can smell it in the air, and it gives me much-needed energy in the mornings, especially walking through the cavernous barrel room.

As I was heading to the back of the building to retrieve some score printouts from the marketing offices, I saw John and Kevin hard at work with the Snows Lake Zinfandel and ran back to my desk to get the camera. Sadly, I’ve been too busy to get any really good shots, but I’m hoping once I get moved, I’ll be able to roll up my sleeves and join in.

California winery harvest

Well, readers and drinkers, harvest has officially begun. We received Syrah grapes from the Rominger Vineyard in Yolo County and the England-Shaw Vineyard in Solano County. They are now crushed and nestled in open-top tanks awaiting punch down’s. I tried to get some action shots, but the cellar guys are too quick for me. Although Associate Winemaker John Kane promised (threatened?) to put on his speedo the next time I bring my camera over…

What you see there are stems and what was passed over from the Rominger.

harvest, Rosenblum Cellars harvest

I love to garden, but living on the second floor with limited space doesn’t make that easy. Therefore, I can only do so much with what I have. The windowsills are filled with parsley, mint, basil, chives, etc, along with a jade plant and something I only know as angel’s wings, a clipping of which I somehow managed to bring on the plane coming back from my Christmas trip home and which has returned to life rather impressively. Thyme and daisies are starting to bud, but I have to worry that those dang bugs from last year will show themselves again.

With that fear in mind, I take great joy in watching the grapes come along at the winery. When I enter the gate, make the curve around the pond, and the vineyards come into view, it’s always with a sense of happiness and awe that I mark their progress. From brittle, empty vines to small green leaves uncurling…I get to watch them grow. Some days I might forget to really look, but when I do, the changes are even more noticable. That’s what happened the other day during a tasting room lull. I walked down the driveway and was delighted to find baby grapes, all the while taking pictures like a proud mama.

grapes, growing season

Some very nice wine club members–Steve and Karen Dubosky–sent me this picture of grapes that they took when winetasting in Placerville last fall. It appears to be at the very end of the harvest, as the grapes look like they’re about to burst open with juice…

harvest, grape picture, Placerville

Last night we celebrated the end of harvest with dinner at the winemaker’s house. It’s been quite stressful this year, with more grapes than we knew what to do with, though this is my first, and I wouldn’t know the difference….

The vineyard manager and his wife cooked up some delicious El Salvadorian fare of pupusas, rice, and a refreshing salad/slaw. And of course, there was plenty of wine (and beer). I had a little bit of Fogarty wine, then gave it up for some Keystone cause sometimes you really can have too much of a good thing!

As the night went on and more bottles were emptied, everyone loosened up and so did their jaws. I thought it was funny when the winemaker told his wife to be careful what she said because it might end up in my blog. (His wife is known to get a little crazy –an artist…go figure– and I’ll choose not to repeat what she said, though it would make for an interesting read.)

That’s the way it rolls, kids. Sometimes a writer runs out of things to say and has to borrow from others. But I do edit so that people will not be scared to drink around me.

harvest

The very reason I decided to write another post on harvest was the very thing I forgot to include. Some of us girls went down to the building where many bins sit, holding lovely grapes of varying colors, depending on the stage in fermentation and the varietal.

One bin held Syrah, of almost purple, giving off delicious berry aromas. I leaned over to smell more deeply and almost got knocked out by the CO2 fumes. But it was worth it. Even more delightful, though, was to sick my arm, elbow deep, into the warm fermenting grapes.

Whether on my person or in my belly, just can’t get enough of the stuff.

harvest

As you may have heard, this has been a stellar year in California, as far as yield goes anyway. The grapes have been pouring in. And now they are all crushed. Problem is, some still fermenting may not have any place to go. (i.e. Barrels are all full.)

What this means:

We may have an unoaked Chardonnay this year. I’m voting, “Most definitely yes!” And news to frugal ears…wine prices should be very competitive. Not only that, but those companies like Charles Shaw and such– who buy excess juice or grapes from other wineries– will have much higher quality grapes to choose from. Because it seems no one anticipated quite how good the crop would be this year, therefore, too much wine, not enough places to put it.

Anyone else foresee wine kegs?

harvest, wine glut

Harvest is that magic time of year at a winery when everything happens. The sugar levels are right; the pressure is on to pick the grapes at the precise moment. Forklifts zoom by, and trucks roll in with full loads. Walking into a winery while the grapes are being pressed, especially when it’s cold, is like taking a bite out of a wild berry popsicle.

It sounds glamorous, but trust me, it is not. Exhilarating, yes. Hard work, most definitely. And I’ve only had a small taste.
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