Archive for August, 2007

Allergies to Wine or Wasps?

Posted in Uncategorized on August 27th, 2007 by annette

bw wasps.jpgHere is some interesting research on what we have been thinking are allergies to wine, but really may be allergies to chemicals from insects, specifically to those found in the order of Hymenoptera, which includes ants, wasps and bees. The article states: “The doctors aren’t implying that all new wines or grape juices contain the insect chemicals, or that no aged wines trigger allergic reactions, or that all wine allergies are due to insect chemicals.” Interesting. This might be an answer for some people who are plagued by those damn wine allergies. I will look forward to follow-up research on the issue as we really don’t know much about why some wines affect certain people.
Now, for the uninitiated, one might ask “Why would insect chemicals be in grape juice or wine to begin with?” Heh, heh, heh. If you really want to know, harvest is upon us in some parts of the country, so I would recommend visiting your local winery and taking a look. Otherwise, try not to think about it too much…

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Joie de Vivre

Posted in Cima Collina, Food & Wine, News & Happenings, Uncategorized on August 22nd, 2007 by annette

happy bottles and people.jpgWord is that the big tasting at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco this past weekend — sponsored by the Family Winemakers of California was a big success. It was well-organized and the food was great. I was traveling this past weekend and couldn’t make it, but my husband (and our Sales Manager) Doug attended both days and poured Cima Collina. While in the city, he was able to visit a number of the restaurants that currently pour our wine, and he mentioned Frascati and NOPA in particular. We are invigorated and excited about having Cima Collina in a variety of Bay Area restaurants (go to https://cimacollina.com/newsreviews.html for the list) because, well, we are selling a good amount of wine (thanks to all who are enjoying it!!), but also because it warms my heart to be a part of the thoroughly erudite-yet-freshly-creative foodie movement happening there now. Doug’s description of what he saw and tasted and also of the people he met or saw again reminds me of the reason why I wanted to be involved with wine production in the first place — the beautiful liason that takes place with wine and food — and the inspiration one can take from this, as well as a connection that is created between all who are touched by it. The enthusiasm and vibrancy of restaurants in San Francisco just blows me away, and I am so happy to be a small part of it…..I am looking forward to visiting it myself (not vicariously) next time Cima Collina calls on “The City”.

Racking Warriors

Posted in Uncategorized on August 14th, 2007 by annette

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Fueled by fantastic Panang Curry from “My Thai“, here in Marina……

Keep on Movin’

Posted in Uncategorized on August 11th, 2007 by annette

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Time to catch-up here….I’ve been traveling around, looking at vineyards, getting ready for bottling, and nursing our little dog back to health (after a vineyard accident)…..here’s the lowdown on what we’ve been up to:

dark mountain.jpg“Night on Bald Mountain”

Yes folks, it’s that time of year again — the time when most winemakers go gray, start chain-smoking or have excessive daydreams of mai-tai’s and hammocks on sunny, quiet beaches — the dreaded season of bottling. For you classical music people out there, the sound of bottling to me is like “Night on Bald Mountain” or something equally brooding and scary. Yes, scary. This is the scariest time of year because you’ve got one last chance to get it all right and make sure you haven’t missed anything. We use a mobile bottling line, which adds a little more pressure to make sure I have all the pieces ready and waiting for it’s arrival — labels (printed correctly, correct number, in the correct unwind direction), bottles (correct number of type), capsules (shipped all the way from Spain), corks (Portugal), pallets (Salinas), twine, gloves, extra people, and of course the wine, racked, blended, SO2′d, clean, room-temperature, chemically and microbiologically stable…….etc.etc…..

For 2006, we’ve already produced (and bottled) our Cedar Lane Sauvignon Blanc, and now will also bottle: 2006 Monterey County Pinot Noir, Chula Vina Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Tondre Pinot Noir, Hilltop Ranch Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, and a new product — Howlin’ Good Red (more about this item at another time). We are going back to offering a Monterey County Pinot Noir from 2006 because I liked the idea of being able to blend wines from three distinct vineyards in Monterey County — Chula Vina, Tondre Grapefield and Hilltop Ranch. They all make such different wines that it was a fun and interesting — if slightly academic — project that has produced something that I like and hope others will, too.

Tanner Took One for the Winery

IM001481.JPG A few weeks ago, the dogs and I went out to the vineyard to have a look around. Most of the time, I walk the vineyards, but on this particular day, Appolonio — our vineyard manager at Hilltop Ranch — wanted to take me around in the mule/ATV. Well, to make a long story short — Tanner, our little Jack Russell Terrier got run over by the mule. Luckily it wasn’t more serious than a dislocated hip, but the poor little guy has been in a lot of pain and has had to go the vet many times. Here he is, in his sling, and his Elizabethan collar, all worn out and happy to be home sleeping in the sun. His sling is now off, but we have to keep him calm and quiet (!?) for another few weeks to insure that the injury has healed enough to keep his hip in place.

Recent Events

Doug and I poured Cima Collina for a KAZU Salon event hosted at Alfred and Kathy Herbermann’s (owners of the Carmel Valley Olive Oil Co.) incredible house in Carmel Valley. We had a wonderful time during a beautiful evening, and also listened to Robert Krulwich speak about the state of modern journalism.

We also poured at the MCGVA’s ever-popular Winemaker’s Celebration today. Again, it was beautiful weather and we met many great people.