Sunday, October 28, 2007

w.o.w. - chard is ready

Hopefully you have a few bottles of our 2006 Carneros chardonnay bottled just 2 months ago. The wine is already showing nice classic chardonnay character and you really should pop one now so you know how it started out. Sure, age a couple of them but don't miss the chance to try this solid charonnay early. cheers!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

w.o.w. - chilly sauv blanc

As summer draws to a close here in Texas there is still enough sun and heat to merit popping a well chilled white. I was pleased to open one of our own rockroom wines - a 2005 Napa sauvignon blanc - and find it full of good citrus and floral aromas and grapefruit and green apple flavors. Crisp, bright and great with light food and a hot day. Some of you still have a bottle or two of this wine - enjoy it now while the weather is warm! Better yet, sip it next to the 2006 version we made and lets talk about which is better...

Monday, October 15, 2007

you've read the book and drunk the wine: time for the movie!

On a recent winemaking excursion to California a roving cameraman grabbed me for a quick interview on the goings-on at rockroom as we make the 2007 wines. Click here for a link to the movie - a preview to yummy wine yet to come...

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Pressing pinot

Today we pressed the Hein Vineyard pinot noir to barrels. The first of the 07 wine is on its way! The wine went into Francois Freres French oak "zebra" barrels which are made from some new and some old barrel staves. This will moderate the oak flavors in the wine so that they do not overpower that yummy Anderson Valley fruit. Be ready come Thanksgiving 2008.

syrah pumpover

Deep color and bold fruit flavors come out during a cold soaking of syrah grapes. Here some Napa syrah from the Page Nord vineyard get a pumpover of juice to keep washing the good stuff from the skins before fermentation begins. Judging from the dark pink foam that is forming it looks like some naturally occuring yeast are beginning to have their way with the graps.

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Oregon pinot noir

A visit to Siduri in Santa Rosa, CA where we were busy sorting pinot noir from Oregon's Willamette Valley. It has been a challenging year in Oregon with overcast, rain and even hail in spots, but so far things look pretty good for Siduri as the fruit rolls in for some killer pinot.

picking begins

Harvest 2007 - Some picking bins of pinot at beautiful Van Der Kamp Vineyard in the Sonoma Coast.

Friday, October 05, 2007

One by one the rockroom vineyards are being harvested here in California. Hein Vineyard pinot noir was first as it came in last week on September 25th. Fermentation is going great and I think we are looking at a very good year for Anderson Valley. Bohemian Vineyard pinot noir, new for us this year, came in yesterday (October 4th). Little clusters with tiny tiny berries, I am very excited about this wine. Our wine will be a mix of Dijon grape clones 115 and 777 with a little bit of 667. The vineyard, just outside the tiny town of Freestone, was 36 degrees the morning of harvest and our hands were getting numb sorting grapes - this is one chilly site! As appelations go, this is much more of a Sonoma Coast climate than Russian River Valley, the designation that this vineyard carries. Another sorting yesterday was for a bit of a stealth project - a rockroom barrel collaboration on a single barrel of super-premium Napa cabernet sauvignon. But hey, if I tell you about it here, it won't be a stealth project any more!