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:
“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
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.