Post-Press Press

Hello. For those of you that missed it, the press went quite well. This year's models, the GSM (now with Mourvèdre!) and the Primitivo/Petit Sirah (the happy accident) are tasting veddy veddy good. The days have been warm, the nights getting darker earlier and cooler. To paraphrase wine/zen master Jay Muzio, "It just feels right to be making wine this time of year."

 

The Previous Year's Models, Voltaire on cultivating one's garden in interesting times

Speaking of Jay, he tipped us off to an interesting post-pumpkin wine event in HMB. More info here. Depending upon interest, carpools are a possibility.

"Jess one mo' thing..."

Two more things:

1. There's talk of the "pressing" need for a Fall Wine Club Social. A few people have mentioned the possibility of hosting, the possibility of games (guess the Pinot vintage!) and the possibility of getting together without all that winemaker's work going on. Interested parties should contact me about establishing some dates and details. Stay tuned.
2. There are some shares available for this wonnerful 2011 vintage. $175 per case, on a first come, first served basis. A number of usual suspects have so far not followed up. Every year I get asked about the availability of more cases after we've allotted everything. So please act now before it toooo late.

Wine Press: This Tuesday, October 18th @ 7PM

After last week's epic Crush (detailed in the previous post, below), it is time for some serious juicing: one barrel after the other. After the usual tough negotiations, we are scheduled for this Tuesday night, the 18th, at 7PM. We certainly hope everyone can come and see the progress to date.

Clothing Reminder: (1) wear clothes you won't mind getting wine spilled on and (2) wear comfortable shoes to counteract the concrete slab floor.

Wine pressing is, like pretty much every thing we seem to do, pretty thirsty work, so bring a bottle of something interesting (white and rosé work, too) paired with a bottle of water, con gas or non. And, this would be an excellent opportunity to uphold our fine industrial park picnic dining tradition by bringing simple hearty peasant fare that will be easy to eat with wine-splotched fingers.

The reply form can be found here and the responses can be found here.

Look forward to seeing you all Tuesday night.

We Came, We Saw, We Crushed

Well...we didn't quite do this...

The 2011 Harvest came upon us like last week's early Autumn rain: unexpected and on short notice. So, Frank and I, assisted later by Jay, tended the crush operations. I worked with Rick (of Rick and Sara Lewis, GSM barrelmates) on the front end, forking grapes into the ladder while Frank got all dirty with splashing grapes on the back end.

I have to say that the quality of fruit this harvest is the best I've ever seen. The Grenache and (Dominck's own) Syrah were very nice (the Syrah pick still dirty but much cleaner than last year), but the Mourvèdre, the Primitvo and the Petit Sirah looked and tasted especially good.

Huh? Wha? Primitivo and Petit Sirah?  If you were following the earlier emails, like last year's Mourvèdre troubles, this year there were acquisition issues with both Zinfindel and Barbara. So, an executive decision had to be made, and Saturday's group (sounding sort of like NFL GMs on Draft Day) went with "the best grape (and blend combo) available." Primitivo is certainly a functional and varietal equivalent of Zin (1),  and Petit Sirah has a long "field blend" history with Zin and Primitivo (2). So there we have it: our accidental 50/50 blend.

(1) "DNA fingerprinting revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatian grape Crljenak Kaštelanski, and also the Primitivo variety traditionally grown in Puglia (the "heel" of Italy), where it was introduced in the 18th century. The grape found its way to the United States in the mid-19th century, and became known by variations of the name "Zinfandel", a name of uncertain origin." Mirosevic, N; Meredith, C (2000). "A review of research and literature related to the origin and identity of the cultivars Plavac mali, Zinfandel and Primitivo (Vitis vinifera L.)" (PDF). Agriculturae Conspectus Scientificus 65 (1): 45–49.)

2)"Historically, California Zinfandel vines were planted as a field blend interspersed with Durif (Petite Sirah), Carignan, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Mission and Muscat. While most vineyards are now fully segregated, California winemakers continue to use other grapes (particularly Petite Sirah) in their Zinfandel wines." [Clarke, Oz (2001). Encyclopedia of Grapes. Harcourt Books]