Juice, Juice and More Juice!
We have grapes coming out of our ears here at the winery and finally some of those grapes are red. We kicked off our red harvest on Tuesday with a fresh, plump truck full of juicy Syrah from both the Shell Creek and Vista Grande Vineyards. This dark skinned beauty is bound to produce a wine powerful in flavor; matching its smooth, award winning predecessor the Syrah Reserve 2010.
The first of our Chardonnay from the east side of Paso was quick to follow from our Hog Heaven, Blind Faith and Stone’s Throw Vineyards. Due to their high acid content, these grapes look eager to make a crisp, irresistibly delicious wine. We also imported new French oak barrels to give the Chardonnay the light buttery smoothness it deserves. I attached some pictures of the sexy new barrels to the blog for your viewing pleasure.
Next came the Muscat Canelli grapes, tasting of peaches and sure to be fermented into a sweet summer favorite and a most important addition to the white blend that dances in your mouth, Tango!
Gewürztraminer, hard to pronounce, but extremely aromatic, was the most exciting grape that came in Friday. Sherrie said she knew it was good before even tasting it because it filled the air with the scents of flowers and hints of ginger. I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty darn tasty to me. Sherrie also referred to the sample of Pinot Grigio grapes we received as very cute; however, I’m not sure if cute grapes make good wine. That debate is still up in the air.
Also on Friday, to finish off a great week, came the first growth Petite Sirah grapes which Niels said were bursting off our Blind Faith vines in ripeness. These young vines produced a limited yield of super dark grapes with perfect sugar content. This should create a fantastic wine rich in dark berry flavors and full bodied. Also, the deep tannins will allow for extended aging.
Next week it looks as if we are getting more Muscat Canelli, Chenin Blanc and the first of our cute Pinot Grigio. Until then, this is all the grapes have to say!
Thanks for reading,
Erik
