Wine update photos and more!
Boise Idaho Real Estate and 09 Cabernet
For those of you that missed out.... Our Viognier was the first wine we produced that really turned out as a good quality, drinkable wine. Fresh and fruity with a nice crisp finish. Alas it is about gone and we are a little disappointed.
But are looking forward to the Chardonnay that sits on the oak as we speak. We did a barrel tasting during a battonage last week and are holding out hope that it is going to rock. We (our investor Suzanne Gore) are shooting for an oakey buttery, creamy mess. At this point it does not have enough oak, and the lees have not melted in enough yet to give it the smooth buttery mouth feel that the style demands. As this is the first time we have made a chardonnay I am not sure if our grapes will stand up to the amount of oak we are shooting for, or how long it takes on the lees to get the butter. Time will tell. Part of the fun of it all is trying to figure out the nuance's of each different grape and batch. I learn something and get thunder struck with new realizations at every step along the way.
For you red drinkers, Our 08 Cabernet Savignon has been taken off the oak and is being aged in bulk in stainless container's. With the help of a couple of more experienced wine makers we did an addition to remove some of the tannin that was giving it an astringent finish. It helped out as the overall perception is way smoother. I will attempt to get a couple of others to taste it and will put back on oak if they think the fruitiness up front will not be forever lost with more oak.
We did another batch of cabernet in 09. The quality of the grapes was alot better than in 08, none of the mold like fungi and an overall better looking bunch of grapes. The crush was way better than last year. We learned alot about setting up a line and using pitch forks etc to move the grapes. the fact that we did not have to sort thru looking for fungi this year was a major step up. We would like to thank everyone in the crew who helped with the sorting and crushing. Even with a big bunch of folks, it is hard tiring work. thankfully we were done while the sun still shone. We have high hopes for this years batch as I spent more time researching yeast and additives. The wine is defiantly more mellow than the 08 was at this same point in time. Went with a malo lactic fermentation that is supposed to give a full round mouth feel. Check out the photos. If you are in the area stop on by, you just might get a taste of the last bottle of Viongier.
posted by Mike Carr at
12:04 PM
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