Experimental Trials

Every year we perform a few experiments in the cellar: different fermentation techniques, pressing cycles, new types of barrels, etc.. Some are very interesting, some not so much. A few produce results we adopt as standard procedure, most are forgotten.

One of the areas we played around a bit with the 2008 vintage was with lees additions and stirring in our Pinot Noir.

Lees, the spent yeast cells left over from fermentation, are the source of a lot of interest to winemakers. They contain lots of interesting compounds and stirring the lees, or batonnage, is very common in barrel-fermented Chardonnay and occasionally used in other white wines. Stirring Pinot Noir isn't unheard of but is relatively rare. The effect of aging sur lie is enhanced by stirring. Our experiment was set up as follows (with my tasting notes):



08PNED (2008 SCM Pinot Noir from the Edmunds Vineyard in the Summit Rd. area)

Control- Beautiful, bright, black cherry fruit with earth and plum skin, medium-long finish with some awkward tannins on the finish- shows its youth.

Stir- More subdued nose, some muddled fruit, earth, smoke and gravely/rock flavors. The mouth is more put together, rounder and integrated.



08PNBP (2008 Pinot Noir, Regan Vineyard, Corralitos area, Pommard clone)

Control- Forward fruit, some decent tannin, full bodied, masculine

Stir- More rounded, but fruit is subdued. slightly muddled with better mouth, but less delineated flavors.

+1 gal Chard lees- Brighter fruit, complex, still some youthful tannin

+1 gal Chard lees and stirring- brighter and somewhat more muddled. black and red fruit, with round mouth

Some brief thoughts:I think that adding a bit of Chard lees can freshen and brighten a lot, but it does seem to add some none varietal notes; maybe use this in a small percentage of barrels?

Stirring seems to round out the mouth and improve the palate, but it muddles flavors and dampens the fruit and spice character.

All in all the tasting was educational. I don't think we will implement either of these across the board. These techniques are probably best used on problem lots, I would hesitate to use it on our best barrels, but I think I have a better handle on the effects these techniques bring to the table.

New Year, new tasks

Ryan Teeter, Cellar Master, finishes topping our 2007 reds

Back from a long (and hopefully much-deserved) break and we are back into it up here on the mountain. The cellar crew finished barreling down and topping right before the holidays, this ensured everyone was able to get away for a spell.

The New Year brings new tasks and a definite switch in mind-set. No longer are we in “post-harvest” mode; the next range of tasks involve lots of racking and getting ready for our bottling in February. We had originally planned to bottle in the beginning of the month, but we were unable to secure our Stelvin “screw-caps” for our aromatic white wines (Gewurz, Pinot Gris and Riesling). Kind of a bummer, but these things happen. We re-scheduled for later in the month. We are using Bay Area Bottling for the first time. Our friends at Clos La Chance in San Martin recently purchased the line and we are excited to have a local mobile bottling option.

My last post was right before our ‘assessment’ of the ’07 vintage, I was unable to get my thoughts down before my vacation but definitely want to get them down at this time.

Without a doubt, 2007 has the potential to be the finest vintage yet, across the board, in my four harvests here.

Our first flight consisted of three wines: 2007 Monterey Gewurztraminer and Riesling, and our Estate Pinot Gris from Gist Ranch. The wines were already aromatic and showing great definition. The Gewurz has great balance and texture and should prove to be a worthy successor to the fabulous 2006 that is in the marketplace now.

The second flight featured four different lots of Pinot Noir (We skipped tasting the Chardonnays as they are in the throes of Malolactic Fermentation and are difficult to asses at this time). We upped the percentage of whole-clusters we used in our fermentations to about %25 this year and this, combined with great fruit has yielded some pretty awesome Pinot. They have great structure and texture, yet they are not heavy or cloying. I am super-stoked on the Pinots this year and can’t wait to see what they are like in bottle a year from now!

Our third flight was a combination of Merlot and Cab Franc, our ‘Right Bank’ flight if you will. The Cab Francs were very aromatic and pure, particularly the Gist Ranch. However, unquestionably the showstopper of the tasting was the Merlot samples. Huge tannins, dense fruit, but definitely not over the top. These are classic mountain wines that should prove to be long lived. It is gong to be very interesting to see the Camel Hill and Gist Ranch lots progress over time.

The fourth flight was a horizontal of Cabernet Sauvignon. Cab is notoriously tough to taste when so young but all the wines showed great character- dark fruits mixed with spice and mouth-coating tannins. The Gist Ranch and Raines Cabs seemed to be the strongest lots.

The final flight included two lots of Fat Buck Ridge Syrah (one 50% whole cluster with 30+ days of skin contact, the other %50 whole cluster with about three weeks of skin time) and our 2.5 barrel lot of Malbec. All three were impenetrably dark with complete saturation of color. The Syrah lots were quite different, the longer skin time lot (Lot #1) was much spicier and austere, while the shorter maceration lot (#2) was fruitier and lusher. The blend should prove interesting, and may make our best Fat Buck Ridge yet.

Malbec is a grape we have struggled with in the past. We decided to let the crop hang this year and the resulting hang time seems to have worked in our favor. This is certainly one of our more exotic lots, it is brimming with black fruit and wild exotic flavors. Too bad we only have 150 gallons!

As you may have guessed we are quite pleased with the vintage. Certainly feels good to justify all the hard work!