Yesterday we brought in the Mourvedre and Counoise — the last of the grapes from the Estate. It is good to have it DONE, especially with rain forecast for this evening, through the weekend and beyond. With the grapes all in, here’s the overview:
Archive for the ‘Winery’ Category
Harvest 2008 Winding Down
The Syrah is fermenting merrily along. Tomorrow we pick the Grenache and Wednesday we will finish up harvest 2008 when we bring in the Mourvedre and Counoise. Friday it is supposed to rain. Whether I was prescient or just the beneficiary of dumb luck, the decision to prune the Estate vineyard so late this year [...]
Treading Syrah
In my last post I said that I was planning on doing some of the Syrah this year on stems.
Ferments Off And Running
Our Pinot Noir ferments hit their tempertature peak over the weekend. This year, for some unknowable reason, the peak is lower and happened later than it has in past years. Ordinarily I expect my Pinot Noir ferments in T-bins to reach a peak temperature
Pinot And Tannat In
It was a very long day Friday. Seems like everyone was picking to beat the rain, not just us. My crew of ten guys had already pulled in over 50 tons under lights before they got to our Estate at dawn. They were tired. And SLOW. And the picking was light – very light. A [...]
Waiting Game
Bottling yesterday went smoothly. I am happy with the wines, especially with the redFour (Rhône blend) – the package turned out well also. Now I can focus all my attention on the coming harvest. When that is going to be, who knows? Clear skies this morning for a change, but the Wundermap is showing mid-40′s [...]
Oh Great…
Yesterday I brought in a tiny bit of Pinot – some young-vine stuff that was going to the birds if I were not to take it first. The Pinot on the mature vines is still a week away. And now the forecast is calling for rain Thursday-Friday. At least it does not look to be [...]
New Banking Relationship
Earlier today I got official word that the new financing arrangement we have been working on for what – forever? – funded. Westwood is now one of the brands supported by the wine division at Silicon Valley Bank.
2005 Blends And Bottling Plans
I am seeing an emergent pattern here from vintage to vintage. Our even-numbered years have been giving us wines that are beautiful, scrumptious and forward. Our odd-numbered vintages are slow-to-develop, closed, brooding and a bit massive. I’m learning to deal with it.
Ready To Release 2004 Pinot Noirs
We are selling through the 2003 Pinots and I am exited over how the 2004′s are tasting. The 2003 vintage gave us monumental wines from all three vineyards – Los Carneros, Nicholson Ranch and Haynes – wines that are still closed in, still developing, and may age another 20-30 years.
