Santa Barbara Winemakers. September Edition. California Wine Month.
Featured video.
Cabernet franc time. Ryan Carr, the brains behind Cellar 205, vineyard manager and winemaker talks about making his cabernet franc and pinot grigio. Ryan's 2003 cab franc was reviewed here back in January. He also broaches the subject of how long to allow wines to breathe. Click on the label to watch the next installment.
As usual QuickTime is the format for watching the videos, make sure it is loaded on your computer, you don't know what you are missing. Windows user get Quicktime for free here
For all our other video interviews head on over to the Screening Room.
September 22
Forgive my slowness in reportage but it has been an exceptionally busy month and I have a backlog of things to cover. I now have a new video camera thanks to all you new subscribers - your money will be used wisely. I think the sound will be improved, no more airplanes in the background especially. I've taken a week or so of study to get the right formula with sound and visuals. Many thanks to Shop Sunshine for their help in this part of the program, the best on-line store in my book if you want electronics - thanks to Danny, Simon and Michael. I also had to get a new monitor this month, as you can imagine my outlay has been more than my income so wine purchases has been minimal. Upgrades are needed when they are least expected, but nevertheless it is worth it.
September 22
Tasting notes Star Lane 2004 syrah.
September 9
Readers question: Should Reds be bottled straight from the barrel instead of spending time in a steel tank?
September 8
Tasting notes. A study in climate, terroir, location. atuned to the weather. How else to describe these two delights. Foxen syrah - Williamson-Doré 2003 and La Vie 2001 Fiddlestix vineyard pinot noir.
September 7
Harvest has begun. Brander started pulling in the sauv blancs on Thursday morning, around 22/23 brix. Look forward to a nice crisp, steel fermented wine Fred is known for. The pinot gris is coming in on Friday.
Central Coast Workshop
On September 14, 2006, from 8:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., Wine Institute will hold a member workshop at the Marriott Hotel in Buellton, CA. The workshop will include an update on the progress of California Wine Month, the anchor of Wine Institute's US Market Development program, led by Director of Communications Nancy Light. In addition to this progress report, members will also receive an in depth review of direct shipping rules and regulations led by Director of State Relations Steve Gross. Wine Institute's partner vendors, Fed Ex, Six88 Solutions and Choice Point will be on hand to answer any questions about their services available to members. Members may bring one non-member guest and may RSVP to Britta Purcell by September 8, 2006. Please call (415) 356-7537 with any questions.
September 1
No zin appreciation for the Governor. Instead of ZAP we could try RAP (Riesling Advocates and Producers). Just a thought.
September 1
Another tangent to consider too. I taste a lot more wines than get reviewed and some are just too much. So here's the next controversy wagon to jump on. We have Bourdeaux, Burgundy, Rhône, Alsace etc. So maybe it's time to coin a new style "Bourbonne", a play on words and an eyebrow raiser for those contemplating shifting up a notch above 16% alcohol. Bourbonne wine is going to be the watch word for high octane juice, lacking balance and burning oesophagi everywhere. There are some who can get away with high alcohol and preserve the balance of the wine, Chris Whitcraft springs to mind but some wines I recently tasted were too thin to stand up to the higher brix picking in the hope the flavour profile may save them. It's only my opinion but I beg to differ, there is no driving of mechanical equipment after a glass of the strong stuff so provide me with accommodation.
