Winter Red Wine Release - 2012

I’ve been looking forward to the release of these wines for a long time. 2009 was a near perfect year in terms of the weather and growing season, near perfect that is in Southeastern Arizona grape growing terms. The fruit was not injured by any summer “weather events”, it was warm and dry at the end of the season and we could time the harvest around the ripeness of the fruit instead of a threatening hurricane from Mexico. We will be releasing the 2009 Estate Tempranillo, 2009 Sonoita Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009 Estate Finalé (an intense port style dessert wine), and 2009 Estate Scavenger’s Blend (a Syrah based blend). Also for the first time the 2008 Sangiovese Select will be available. It is comprised of the Brunello Clone of the Sangiovese grape and was barrel aged for 36 months. These are big wines with very limited production. We will have all of them available for tasting the weekend of February 10 – 12. It will be the only time all these fabulous wines will be on the tasting table at the same time. Come pay us a visit; you’ll be glad you did.

ET - 08

The day before The Storm - Amber, Katelyn, Dave and Casey put in a full day's work bottling the 2008 Estate Tempranillo. Although Katelyn is new to the task, the others are old hands and within a case or two the group was humming like a well oiled 4-person powered machine. Seventy cases of absolutely scrumptious wine was bottled. As I was originally composing this blog the next night, The Storm blew in, the power went out and Joan and I were worried but (for the moment) oblivious to the vineyard damage that ensued. I haven't had the heart to get back to it until now, but thanks to the efforts and good wishes of these four and hundreds of other friends, fans and well-wishers, Joan and I are back on track. Another one of life's lessons learned. Mother Nature is has a mind and desire all of her own. The '08 Estate Tempranillo needs some serious bottle time - huge, dark, rich, oaky wine flavors of a classic Sonoita AVA wine. Look for it to be on the tasting table around New Year 2011. Amber by the way is working on a new member of the Polivchak family - due to arrive in 2011. There is always room for one more on the bottling line.

In the Can

Actually in the stainless steel tank. I combined all the barrels of the 2008 Tempranillo into this tank to settle and to do a little bulk aging. The aging in the oak barrels had reached a lovely spot so it was time to think about bottling the wine. It will need 4-6 months of bottle aging to show it's magnificence. This is a fully concentrated and complex Tempranillo. Estimated release? - New Year's 2011.

Bubble, bubble . . .

For me there are a couple of favorite things during harvest. Whacking my shins against equipment is not at the top of the list of items, but these two photos capture one of them. Somewhere around day 2-5 of the primary ferment, the multiplication of the yeast cells really takes off and those little critters voraciously eat up the grape sugar - an activity that eventually leads to their fatal encounter with ever increasing amounts of ethanol. The yeasties are really happy during this exponential growth period and punching down the "cap" (the mass of skins, intact grapes and some seeds that congeal and float to the top) results in a huge mass of purple foam. As the foam bubbles burst the most incredible smell of young wine and fresh grapes emerges. This is day three of the 2009 Estate Tempranillo. Intoxicating!!

Temprano!

Tempranillo derives its name from the Spanish word temprano which means early. Early in terms of ripening and as it turns out fairly early in terms of beginning to turn purple. The viticultural term for this phase in a wine grape's cycle is veraison. This is when the birds and pests begin to get very interested in the fruit. Prior to now grapes are just too sour and bitter. But the beginning of turning color marks the beginning of the softening of the grape skin and the beginning of accumulation of sugar. This week was the first hint of the Tempranillo turning color. The Syrah will be close behind and before we know it harvest will be upon us.

Grapelings

So much is happening in the vineyard this time of year. As a farmer it’s a challenge to keep up with the plants. Thankfully Joan does an amazing job and manages to deliver incredibly luscious grapes for our Estate Wines. (Did you know that according to the Federal Government a wine can only be called an Estate Wine if it is totally the product of the owners’ vineyard and winery and only if the property is located in an American Viticultural Area? For us that is the Sonoita AVA, the only AVA in Arizona). So busy farmers we are. But the grape vines just keep chugging along, single minded in their pursuit to make a biological impact on this earth. These young Tempranillo grapes are gorgeous and will make a dynamite 2008 vintage wine when they grow up.