Tuesday, October 04, 20052005 Rose is now in barrel
Well, we had a really big weekend. Thursday night I drove east with my father in-law. Friday morning we picked up a ton of nearly perfect Syrah - the pickers were fastidious. Each cluster was literally placed gently in the bin. (Peach pickers are wonderful!) At the same time, Tracey and Dave drove south and picked up a ton of Brosseau Syrah. Friday afternoon, we crushed everything into a combination of barrels and puncheons - we like to ferment in wood. Between yesterday and this morning, cold soakes ended and it is now warming up. Saturday, Dave and I pickeds up 2 tons of old vine grenache gris. With the help of 10+ friends, we processed it Sunday afternoon while celebrating the 2005 harvest. We had homemade peanut butter and jelly cookies from Jen Luan, yummy lentil and goat cheese w/ chive crostini from Heidi Swanson and of course the requisite cheese and bread with A Donkey and Goat wines flowing freely. And best of all - Isabel got a chance to stomp some grapes for her cuvee! This morning (after 36 hours soaking in the cold room) we pressed and barreled down to 3 older oak barrels and one stainless steel barrel. The juice tastes fabulous and we are very excited for the 2005 Rose. |
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