2010 White Line Up

This past weekend I racked the white wines from the 2010 harvest. The grapes are sourced from Dragoon Mountain Vineyards in Kansas Settlement and Sierra Vista Wineyards in Sasabe. Each batch is fairly small but very distinctive and true to variety. The Gewurztraminer is completely dry at this point and Joan and I like it. I was thinking of returning a little fresh juice to the wine to sweeten it but perhaps not this year. The Riesling was more ripe when harvested compared to last year and consequently is more complex - still piercingly dry and acidic but rounder and richer in the mouth. It's my first year working with Pinot Grigio and I was totally faked out when I saw the grapes. They are greyish red. How strange for such an ethereal light white wine. The Viognier comes from what must certainly be the most southern vineyard in Arizona - Melissa Owen's vineyard in Sasabe. It is the second harvest from the vines so the wine is consequently fresh and light and crisp, but true to Viognier. Look for them all to be released during our Memorial Day Weekend White Wine Release.

Creativity, wine, and holiday cheer

Yesterday we hosted our 3rd annual Holiday Wreath-Making Workshop and Wine Tasting. Again it was a special afternoon of good spirits, good people, and good wine. Our group included both Canelo Hills regulars and first-timers. Everyone was in good spirits, crafting, conversing, and even helping each other with wreath-making and design ideas. We also enjoyed a tasting of all our wines including both sparklings, and delicious holiday cookies from Nadine's Bakery. Looking forward to next year!

Making wreaths

Decorating

The finished product

The whole wreath-making crew

More photos coming soon to our website - stay tuned!

A Blank Slate

So far, this is what the new Canelo Hills website looks like:


a blank Design View page in Dreamweaver. I'm just getting started with a total re-design of our site, which hasn't changed much since we launched it before our Grand Opening in 2007.

I want the new design to be familiar, and just as easy to navigate as our current site, but to look more modern. I created our original site in Dreamweaver MX, a software program that dates back to 2002! I'm looking forward to trying out the powerful tools in my new, modern version of Dreamweaver, but that means some manual-reading and tutorial-watching on my part.

Of course we've involved Ian and Rhian on the design end--we're awfully lucky to have them and their expertise on call. I emailed them my initial page design, and they sent back some helpful comments. When I incorporate them I'll share the basic design with you, so stay tuned!

Got any comments or suggestions for our re-design? Post them here!

Whazsis?

The next in an irregular series of quiz questions.







The person who provides the most accurate identification of this picture will be awarded a free wine tasting. But there are some new rules to this quiz. Since all the answers will become public once entered on this blog or on facebook it's OK to revise your answer. If there are multiple correct answers, two names will be randomly drawn from an empty spit bucket.

On your mark, get set, go!