Compost and Nebbiolo

Upon first glance this pile looks pretty much like any old pile of dirt. Hardly thrilling stuff, really.



But if we look closer, and take a sniff, we see that this pile is very dark in color and smells almost sweet. Compost is awesome stuff, teaming with microbial life. Full of organic matter building fungi and bacteria this stuff really rocks in the vineyard. We compost grape skins, seed, stems and mix in some Camel manure, from Camel Hill Vineyard obviously, and let the pile ferment. We monitor the temperature and moisture content, turning the pile and covering it to control these factors.

We are almost finished applying the compost to our vineyards, we applied most to a block of Merlot at Gist Ranch. By adding compost we are addressing nutritional problems, not just their symptoms. We are actively building life and structure into our soil that will benefit the long-term nutritional needs of our vines.



We did add some to our Nebbiolo at the winery, above you can see the small vines and the compost added around the vine.



I've named the 0.25 acre Nebbiolo vineyard, Domenicato. I read that it means forgotten in Italian and that was kind of how I found this vineyard when I arrived here in 2004. Slowly but surely we are replanting dead vines, addressing training issue and now adding some much needed nutrients, in the form of compost, to these struggling vines. The slope the vineyard lies on is quite steep with really thin rocky soil. We are bottling a barrel of our 2006 Neb this week, our first from Domenicato! We have a half bbl from 2007 as well. If we could get one barrel a year out of this tiny plot I'll be thrilled!

Racking

The racking of our 2007 reds is in full swing. Between bottlings (our 2006 Chardonnays go to glass at the end of next week) we are getting to the first round of our aerating rackings (see photos). After pumping the clear wine off the gross lees, we splash the young wine though a rough screen and then on to tank. The screen removes and solids (skins or seeds) and also aerates the wine. This splashing allows some oxygen to interact with the young wine and really helps to build structure and mouthfeel in varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.



Above is some 2007 Camel Hill Cabernet Franc from a newer planting. The special clone we planted seems to be doing phenomenally well as it was our favorite of all the Camel Hill Franc lots (we had 5 before some blending).

We also racked the three lots of Camel Hill Cabernet Sauvignon (2 from older plantings and some new clone 337 on the lower vineyard). These lots all had loads of red fruits, fine tannins and notes of currant and cassis.

Before racking the wines to tank Ryan and I taste each bbl, make some preliminary blends based on quality and style and then pump the wines to tank. Tomorrow the barrels will get washed and I'll run some analysis on the lots. We'll adjust the SO2 and then return the wines to barrel on Thursday. We try and rack our Bordeaux reds 3-4 times a year, using aeration each time in the first year, and then on a cases by case basis during year two of elevage.

Tasting the racked wines in tank gives us an even better idea of the quality of wines we have from 2007: so far things look spectacular!

Budbreak

Our first sign of budbreak is evident in some of our Chardonnay vines. These photos were taken from the top of our Portola Springs Vineyard. I'd guestimate that 30-40% of our Chard in that vineyard is pushing. This is a normal to late break for us. Last year we were out a few weeks earlier. We usually like a later break as it often means bloom occurs later in the year. The later bloom occurs the more likely we miss any rain/poor weather that can and has (see 2005) wiped out our crop.



The buds look like little balls of wool, with shades of pink, white and green. We like to see an even budbreak- both from bud to bud on a single vine and from vine to vine. We have had gorgeous weather lately, but the forecast looks to cool and it looks like we'll get more rain, which is a good thing.

Budbreak is always exciting, it brings back feelings and memories of spring and serves as a gentle reminder that the 2008 wines aren't all that far away. Harvest in 6 months already!

March: bring on the bottling season

Lots been happening around here lately, I'll try to summarize all of the myriad activities going on at Fogarty.

Vineyards: I helped Julio prune our small block of Nebbiolo last week. Our pruning is almost entirely finished, just a small block of Merlot at Gist to finish. The buds are juts beginning to swell. It looks like this year will be a normal to late bud-break, which is good for us, early bud-break usually puts us at more risk of shatter (bad weather during bloom which really limits our crop).

We have decided to prune our canes (we are 100% cane pruned) a little shorter this year, this should limit our crops a little more and minimize some bunching of cluster and shoots. A more "open" canopy is less of a haven for fungus and allows our sprays to be more effective.

Winery: We are bottling our 2007 aromatic whites this week (Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Gris) as well as our Skyline Chardonnay (100% stainless steel) and a Barbera Rose.

Bottling is always a stressful time, there is a lot going on and getting the wine into the bottle soundly is your last chance make and final changes. Luckily all the wines are looking great and things have been running smoothly (knock on wood)

World of Pinot Noir: This weekend we are participating in the world of Pinot Noir celebration in Shell Beach, CA. I am a panel member at a Seminar on Old Vines/Old Clones vs. New Vines/New Clones on Friday morning and we are pouring at the Saturday Tasting. If you are into Pinot Noir, especially from the Central Coast, this is a must; one of California's great wine events.

We also are thinking ahead to the end of the month when we will bottle our 2006 Chardonnays!

It's here!!!!

Check out our new website

Thomas Fogarty Winery & Vineyards

It's finally up!

Challange Accepted, just little late

My old co-worker and friend Farley, who blogs at Behind the Vines and at Wine Outlook, offered up a challenge for me to tell a little bit more about myself, stuff most people probably wouldn't know. I think it's called a meme, or something (I have to admit I'm just getting hip to blog culture) so here goes.....

1.I was really involved in acting as a young child. I attended A Montessori Children's house in Lansing MI, in grades 1-3 we wrote and acted in Greek Myths. Grades 4-6 was Shakespeare. I played Petruchio in 6th grade, don't know how I memorized all those lines? I also did some community theater, including a role as Thor Waldgrave in Larry Shue's "The Nerd". And my crowning achievement: getting to meet former Wolverine and Buffalo Bill, John Kolesar (my idol at the time for his ravaging of OSU) in a local "America needs me Drug Free" commercial.

2. Every summer i spend at least a week in the back country of Kings Canyon National Park. It's the most wild, exciting and peaceful place I think I've ever been. It is therapy at it's best.

3. My favorite author right now is Michael Pollan. His works on the science and state of our food system (Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto) should be required reading for everyone who wants to eat, oh wait that means everyone.

4. One of my favorite things in the world is the Detroit Industry fresco cycle in Rivera Court, at the Detroit Institute of the Arts. Diego Rivera is one of the most fascinating and intriguing muralist ever.

5. ...boy this is getting more difficult... i became a member of my local NPR affiliate, KQED, for the first time this year. So necessary.

6. When my right knee isn't barking, I'm a pretty avid runner, especially the hills here in SF. When I lived in North Beach, I's run down the Embarcadero around the ballpark. When I lived in the Presidio, I'd run all over the numerous trails that criss-cross the park (it's a runners paradise). Living in Noe Valley is a little more challenging, I hate running around traffic, but I've found a good route for running to the top of Twin Peaks, awesome view and a great workout. Should really get me in shape for the back country this summer. I've been using the Nike+iPod accelerometer on my shoes. It's pretty cool to track your runs by speed, distance, etc..

7. Finally, I want to give a shot out to my favorite coffee shop in the city, they carry my favorite green tea, Sencha, just for me (they put my name on the bag!) It's Bernie's on 24th st and it rocks. I makes me nauseous watching people go into Starbuck's with this place basically across the street. Support your local coffee shop!

Well there it is..

Disgorgement and Dosage

A week ago Friday Michael and I headed out to beautiful Santa Cruz to visit with Barry Jackson, who produces Equinox, one of the best sparkling wines made in California.

We are getting ready to disgorge our 1998 Blanc de Blanc SCM sparkling wine, and we are having Barry handle the logistics of the project (we don't own the equipment necessary to disgorge, dose and cork sparkling wine.

It was a fascinating process as Barry prepared a series of flight with various components in the dosage and at varying levels of sweetness.



Our 2000 Blanc de Blanc was bottled with no dose, so called brut natural, brut zero or ultra brut. We began our trials at that level but found that the complex yeast aromas of this late-disgorged bottling demanded a bit more. Following another series of samples we decided upon 5g/L, or .5%, still well under the maximum of 10g/L or 1% for 'brut' designation. This 'dry' style seems to better fit our taste for sparkling wine as the acidity is emphasized.


I think the extra time en tirage has really benefited the wine and I'm pretty excited about the result, some 10 years after vintage!