Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Drinks at the Winery

From the day we opened the winery in 2004 we always encouraged everyone to bring a picnic to our place and enjoy our wines with whatever foods you wish to prepare for yourself. Some have taken this to a high art by bringing elaborate picnics which can rival anything a caterer can create. Others tried to expand the concept beyond what is permissible.

We do allow food on the premises BUT we don’t allow drinks of any type. Why not? First we are winery and our license is restricted to allow customers to consume on our premises only what we produce. Second we are in a dry county. And third… would you go to a restaurant and bring your own food? Probably no. Would you go to a bar and bring your own drinks? I don’t think so either. Well… we manufacture and sell wine so we don’t allow any type of alcoholic drinks except our own. We used to allow customers to bring soft drinks and water. But after a few sleek people tried to bring rum and whiskey inside their soft drink cups we decided that all drinks (soft and hard) will not allowed at the winery. It protects our license and it protects our investment.

We would love for everyone to come and enjoy our place and the products that we create. However, for those that insist on bringing their own drinks we can suggest other places they may wish to support others than ours.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

To Oak or Not To Oak

One of the questions that people ask me all the time is how long I keep wines in oak barrels. The answers is… depends! There is no formula that I follow. Rather, wether a wine goes into oak or not is based on experience since the type of oak choice is almost limitless. We use American, Hungarian and French oak at San Martino. Within these types, the geographical location of the forests where the oak comes from also make a difference since staves have difference grains depending on the forest of origin. Barrels from American oak from Minnesota provide a different flavor profile than barrels made from American oak from Pennsylvania or Missouri.  In France and Hungary the same exceptions apply so it is important to know where the wood comes from and understand the different nuances that each wood and geographical area contributes to the final product.

But… then we have the aging of the staves! Are they dried and aged for 18, 24 or 36 months? Hmmm… Are they fire or water bent to form the barrels? Each provide different flavor profiles. Then as the barrel is made, what type of toasting do we want? This can be light, medium or heavy but within these we have minus (-) or plus (+). That is, a medium – is different than a medium or medium +. Then we need to decide if we want the entire inside toasted, or just the heads, or just the inner body of the barrel. Of, course we can different levels of tasting in the heads than the body. This is enough to make go nuts!

Every choice made has a positive or negative effect on the final wine. So how do you know? In our case, we read everything that comes across our desk, learn from years of trying different combinations and of course ask those that have been doing this a very long time and have produced great wines. Also, careful monitoring of the aging process is a must! A winery can produce a great wine from harvest to crush and on to press, but if they make the wrong choices in oak, the final wine may not be any good at all or will not be as good as it could be.

One of the most interesting experiments that we are doing at San Martino Winery is the production of very small batches of red wine (50 gals using the same grapes each year) without the use of oak in the aging process. We call this wine our “Family Wine” since it is not for sale. We have been doing this since 2004 and each year we learn more about how to make a better wine without oak. Very extended macerations, different yeasts than normal being used in the fermentation, the right combinations of grapes during the initial stages and several other factors go into making this wine. Although the first batches were not great, we drank them ourselves and our friends liked it too; after all it was free. However, I must say that the current batch made in 2006 finally hit the “bull’s eye”. This new batch is already in the bottle. No detectable sulfites, ph of 3.5 and good acidity bursting with flavors of dark berries and wonderful light aromas with a lingering finish. It is a wonderful table wine and I am now encouraged to attempt a large batch (maybe only 300 gallons) next year. I feel that it is possible to make a good red without oak if conditions are controlled and careful attention is paid. This could be the start of a new trend… who knows!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Zinfandel - Cucamonga

We are in the process of bottling our 2006 Zinfandel from Cucamonga Valley. It is the best Zinfandel we have offered since the opening of the winery and we have offered some very good Zins over the years. This wine was made from a vineyard that was 128 years old and it is no longer in existence.

For many years the origin of Zinfandel has been debated within the wine industry, with one side claiming it came from Italy originally, and the other side claiming that since it has been and propagated in the US for so long, it’s its own grape. Recently it was discovered to have DNA relating back to the Italian grape Primitivo, but it actually goes farther back than that to a grape in Croatia called “Crljenak.” Historians have traced it back to the 1820’s when a nursery owner brought back cuttings from Austria. It was widely planted by many of the Italian immigrants who moved to the wine country counties of California, and was made into table wine for mostly personal consumption, or used as a blending grape for other varietals.

Our 2006 Zinfandel from the Cucamonga Valley is smooth with hints of crushed black pepper and wonderful flavors of dark berry fruit specially blackberry jam and dark cherry. The body is full and the tannins are very present but not overwhelming. The color is concentrated and it is definitively a big wine. Pair it with BBQ, hamburgers and grilled meats. A wine for the ages! We plan to release this wine in December 2006 unless you bought futures in which case you will get it by the end of October.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Here we go again...

This is the second time we are trying to get a blog going. Our last blog although popular it felt into the hands of spammers and they clogged the system so bad that postings became impossible. So we changed companies and we are going to try again. We would love to get your opinion on what topics would be of interest to you so don't be afraid and send us your ideas.

One of the projects that I was thinking about working on is a collection of our best newsletters over the years. Many of the topics explored in the newsletters are still relevant and some of them are funny stories that showcase the evolution of the winery. Would you be interested in something of that sort? I hate to spend my time on projects that don't have much meaning. But I though a bit of history and some of the newsletters would make for fun reading. What do you think?