What? No more grapes?
Hi Folks! Here we are on the brink of winter. There are a few leaves still left on the cottonwoods, and the temperatures are
beginning to drop. It has indeed been a flaming gorgeous harvest season. Most of the grapes around the valley have been picked unless someone's trying an ice wine. There may be a few tanks of unpressed reds left, especially if they are intended for port. If any white wines are going to be aged in barrels, they're probably there or close to it by now. The crush equipment is getting cleaned up for nine months of storage and the vineyards are entering dormancy for the winter. Seems like it was one of the best crops in Colorado history, at least in terms of quantity. We'll see about the quality soon.
Jolly Good!
It ain't over 'till the Fat Guy yells HoHoHo! Mix and match any 12 bottles of our fine Colorado wines and receive a 10% case discount. Beautiful bottle bags are now available for easy gift giving. Browse our selection of unique wine country gifts from all over the world for that special someone. Customer favorites include: Italian pottery, barrel head lazy susans, Riedel stemware, cork bulletin board and trivet kits, pestos, olivewood serving pieces, barrel stave candle holders, and Tuscan corkscrews. We also have great cookbooks, French linens, barrel stave coat racks, gourmet foods and wine racks. And if you enjoy giving "a little of this and a little of that", we have everything you need to create a spectacular gift basket for the oenophile or epicure in your life
Direct Hit
Diana "T" at DMT Worldwide Culinary Adventures came out and taught us all a few things about holiday appetizers while
we enlightened folks on the nuances of pairing wine with them. Together we had a great time, learned a lot and had an excellent culinary adventure. Hats off to Diana. We plan to do more food and wine experiences like this in the future, so if you missed it, stay tuned for announcements of our upcoming events.
Surfing the Jetstream
Those of you who know our Winemaker and co-founder Glenn Foster may not know that he's a confirmed flight fanatic. Interested in birds
since childhood, a licensed falconer since the late 80's, and a licensed pilot, he's pretty much infatuated with flight and things that fly. His most recent aviation accomplishment is now official and posted at www.groundspeedrecords.com. Acting as First Officer for Captain Lee Whitney in a Piper Turbo Arrow III, Glenn assisted in breaking the groundspeed world record for this type of plane by over 40 knots and roughly 50% over the old record. The record is now set at 212 knots. See the details at Groundspeedrecords.com.
To Good Friends . . .
Friends, artists, vendors, IT advisors, models, they do it all folks. We refer to him as Golden Boy, and her as . . . well . . . Amber! They've seen us through thick and thin, and we wish to express, publicly, how much we appreciate their friendship and support over the years. Above they're pictured modeling for our latest marketing materials, a new rack card to be distributed throughout the state and beyond. So raise your glasses and toast the health and well-being of our pals Sean & Amber!
To Barrel or Not to Barrel?
Some wines need barrel aging. Some wines don't. Sometimes it's a winemaking dilemma, or even a stylistic choice. For
example, we carry two Chardonnays. One is very much an oak-aged wine. The other sees no wood at all. Is one winery doing it wrong? No. It's a stylistic choice. Big, oaky Chardonnay isn't everyone's cup of . . . pleasure. Some people want a simpler, more fruit-driven Chardonnay. That's why we carry both.
What about Viognier? Same situation, different grape variety. Many winemakers put Viognier in barrels for several months or a year. Not many have tried it without barrel aging, and just like the Chardonnay, it's becoming more popular as people learn that it's not a sin to shun the almighty Quercas Alba, or White Oak, which is what we're doing with our Viognier. We don't feel there's significant benefit to barrel aging Viognier, so we'll bottle it as soon as we're done cold stabilizing it, which should be roughly February. So far, the wine is very tasty, with nice balance and very good flavor. Rounded yet robust, fruity but with serious weight, and no residual sugar. Look forward to it's release early next year.
Above you can see winemaking in action as Camille learns about siphoning. We hear your protest: What about not barrel aging the wine? Well, it just so happens that we used the barrels for a couple of days so we could get the wine off the yeast lees that had settled to the bottom of the tank. So, technically we barrel aged our Viognier for two days in the almighty cooperage. But now it's back in the tank. Call us rebels if you feel that way, but our 4 year old Ben would say: "Whatever!"
Happy Thanksgiving!
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