So for the unititiated, the fact that we are writing about harvesting our Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in November is nothing short of extraordinary. We have been harvesting from our three Stags Leap rows, located in the Steltzners’ vineyard, since 2007, and in the last five years we have never harvested this late (we are almost two full weeks behind even last year’s exceptionally late harvest). But we are the lucky ones . . . our fruit looks GREAT, it is finally ripened after some magical halloween heat (80+ degree days all last week!) and no rain. So when we brought in our grapes and started the process of hand sorting the harvest on the sorting table at Reynolds Family Winery, we were thrilled: ripe, plump, dark purple berries with rich, sweet flavor. In short, DELICIOUS! So what is the sorting table you ask (picture below)? It is a vibrating conveyor belt that slowly moves the grapes from the destemming machine (where the grapes are separated from the stems and taken off the cluster) to a bin or barrel where the initial fermentation of the wine will take place. Ian and I stand on either side of the table with other sorters (like awesome Alma (in the sunglasses in the picture next to Ian) and we pick out the bad looking grapes, any leaves, stems, and hitchhikers (little spiders). So it is a little like that scene in “I Love Lucy” at the chocolate factory, and we do eat a lot of the grapes as they come along the conveyor belt (for fun, not out of dire necessity like Lucy and Ethel).
Ok, so the volcano didn’t erupt again. Actually it has been erupting non-stop since June 4th. So we are the misfortunate downwind recipients of the volcanoe’s subterranean lithic flatulence (a silent and deadly ash cloud) that has blown across the Andes Mountain range and across Argentina. Even if we could get back to B.A. by the wonderful and scenic (read sarcastic) 14-hour bus ride, our flight to IAH would probably also be cancelled. The airport is shut down technically but, on technicality the airline booking system has not yet updated with that information. Ryan was politely informed by the Star Alliance Priority Desk associate that their current ticket change policy did not mention anything about volcanoes and that we may incur a $250 change fee. His response “Are you sure? Did you look under “V” for volcano?” came out with a grin, clearly amused by his own mocking.
The good news is that after three days of tedious blending and tasting we finished creating our Nice Malbec 2009! Success!!! Here is Ryan, Mario and Alberto sampling the wine directly from the tank. It all came down to getting the perfect balance of wine aged in French Oak Barrels for some of the dark chocolate flavors we like, wine aged in American Oak barrels for a touch of vanilla, and then having just the right acidity to pair well with food. It also has the characteristic Malbec plum, red and black cherries, and lite tobacco and cedar aromas.
So we finally arrived in Mendoza yesterday! Our flight barely made it into Buenos Aires before all of the incoming and outgoing flights were cancelled due to a Volcano eruption in Chile. The volcanic ash cloud blowing across Argentina caused our next flight from BA to Mendoza to be cancelled as well, so our only other option was to catch a last minute, 14-hour, bus ride.
So after one night on an airplane and the next one on a bus, we got to our hotel 2-hours before we were to arrive at Bodega Cecchin.
As always, we were shown amazing hospitality by our grower Alberto Cecchin and his wife Fabiana, who treated us to lunch in their restaurant located on their farm. Ala Sombra is named after the big tree canopy that covers a main part of their outdoor dining area that is located right in the vineyards. They feature authentic regional Argentinean cuisine in a very simple, warm and inviting atmosphere. The food is awesome!
Our design firm Revel attended the Dallas Ad League’s 2011 ADDY’s awards, which recognized excellence in advertising across several categories. Revel won the Silver ADDY Award for packaging for Nice Wines. Congratulations to Heather Moore and Horacio Cobos on their award!
Check out some of the photos from our recent trip to Napa!
Kind of like the Disneyland of Tasting rooms!
We just returned from Napa Valley where we spent the week blending and then bottling our 2008 Nice Cabernet Sauvignon at the Reynold’s Winery. I only posted pictures of the few other places we visited since I already have pictures of bottling lines in previous posts.
When we weren’t hanging out at the winery, we were running up and down the valley making connections with local wineries (such as Bell Wine Cellars) who we will feature in one of our up and coming wine club shipments!
One of the most well known places to stop for lunch while making your way up Highway 29 is Dean & Deluca. The pictures speak for themselves!
Of course Del Dotto is not one of those small wineries, we just stopped in to check out the over the top tasting room and try out some of their Clay Pot wines, that are fermented and aged in large Amphora instead of Oak Barrels.
After spending ten months in new and second use American and French Oak barrels, the Nice 2007 Malbec is ready for the bottling line. How does the bottling line work you ask? Check out this short video of the bottling line.
