Wine and Farm Festival May 3

Plans are well under way for our second annual Canelo Hills Wine and Farm Festival. Last year's inaugural event was such a success that many participants assumed we would continue the tradition, and indeed we will host the 2008 festival on Saturday, May 3rd from 11:00-4:00. The festival will feature wine tastings with at least 3 Arizona winemakers, a farmer's market, local crafts and publications, winery tours, lunch from The Gathering Grounds Cafe, and back by popular demand, the alpacas from Square Top Ranch. See you May 3rd!

What the heck is that?

This one is for the wine geek in us all. Wine is spoiled grape juice. The initial spoilage is caused by yeasts that turn grape sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This vigorous and exciting process is called primary fermentation. Later secondary fermentation called malolactic fermentation, is caused by friendly wine bacteria. They convert malic acid (think sour green apples) to lactic acid (think the mouth experience of melted butter or milk) and carbon dioxide. It is usually encouraged in red wines and discouraged in whites. If it occurs after a wine is in a bottle the wine can get a little fizzy – generally considered a wine fault. In this picture I’ve used paper chromatography to figure out if a wine has gone through malolactic fermentation. Small drops of each wine are deposited at the bottom of the page. As the diluent travels up the fancy blotter paper, it takes with it the primary acids that are present in wine. The lowest yellow blotch is tartaric acid. The middle yellow blotch is malic acid and the upper most yellow blotch is lactic acid. The wines to the left of the paper have only tartaric and lactic acid blotches – voila, done! The wines toward the right have all three yellow spots. That would be five of the six barrels of Sangiovese clone 2. They are not done yet, but once the weather warms up those little bugs will get happy again and finish the job.

It's Pruning Time!

Tim and I are back in the vineyard. The winter pruning has begun. It feels good. As I work up and down the rows trying to pick the spurs that will produce the best fruit for the 2008 harvest I get very excited with visions of beautiful green shoots and big, thick clusters of grapes. I can't wait for the earth to warm up and the vines to start their swelling. This is the most hopeful time of year, before nature reminds me that she is the one who will be in control of the outcome of this year's harvest. Still, I can't wait!

Zorks!

Tim and I are considering using the new Zork bottle closure. We have set up a display in our tasting room. Customers are voting. We will soon have a page on our website for you all to follow and count the results with us. Join us online and in the tasting room!

Gone

Our Arizona wines are selling beautifully - acquiring more complexity as the time in the bottle progresses. The good news is that we have plenty for tasting and for sale. The bad news is that the Estate Syrah is sold out. As regular customers know, 2006 was a small harvest of our own grapes. But don't worry. The 2007 Estate Tempranillo and Estate Syrah are resting in barrels and are shaping up to be huge wines.

Certificate of Appreciation

Last Saturday we were visited by Steve Fletcher and Donna Boe from the Sierra Vista Natural Foods Cooperative. They presented us with a certificate of appreciation for having donated wine for their gourmet wine dinner that was held at Casa Adobe restaurant to raise money for their cause. Tim and I are supporters of sustainable and local products and wish the organization great luck in their adventure. Also, much thanks to customers Tom and Marylin Garcia for taking this wonderful picture.

Forward-Backward

It has been an eventful year. Our Farm Festival in April was our kick off event and brought together other SE Arizona winemakers and local farmers, authors and artisans. We opened for reals September 22 and have had a steady stream of visitors since then. The past few weeks have been cold and miserable weather in Sonoita/Elgin but the hearty souls that ventured out were serious about wine and frequently repeat customers. Joan and I, and Kathryn enjoy the tasting room and the opportunity to educate people about Arizona Wines. In early December we had our first Christmas and Holiday concert, featuring Oro de Suenos, which was a smashing success for our friends and neighbors and a moving tribute to my mother who died this year.

The year to come will bring pruning, spring planting of our remaining three acres, a repeat of the sparkling experiment, bottling, harvest, and so on as the rhythms of this life wind another cycle. I am especially excited about the wine from the 2007 harvest that is now quietly resting and coming together in the barrels in our winery (see December Tasting Notes).

All of us at Canelo Hills Vineyard and Winery wish for a healthy and prosperous year for you all and peace in our world in 2008.