Anyone who loves pinot noir reveres the name and wines of Burgundy’s Henri Jayer and it is with great sadness I note his passing, just reported by Burghound’s Allen Meadows on eRobertParker.com : “It is with deep regret that I inform the board members that Henri Jayer passed away last ...

Well, it is that time of year again—new barrel shipments are arriving in shipping containers from France and one way or another find their way to wineries across America.  I have my barrels shipped this time of the year because I get a discount for receiving them early (ie, before ...

One of the most intersesting times of year is when we first sit down to try to make the preliminary blends of either the red or white wines from the previous vintage.  When we blended the 2005 whites earlier in the year, we became convinced that the 2005 vintage was ...

EPISODE22 - Cellar Dwellers - Home Winemaking...

We'll be pressing our Cabernet tonight.

As we bring the grapes from the last few sections of the vineyard into the cellar, we make space in our tanks by pressing off some lots that were more precocious.  With the beautiful weather we've been having, this sometimes makes for some nice scenes.  The shot below is of ...

Just like the Chef, the Winemaker is part artist and part business person.  There is no escaping the numbers.  In every step of the winemaking process, he/she has to keep in mind “the end numbers”, and make decisions in accordance with them.  The brand is important in the numbers, in that the brand acts as a pair of guardrails in limiting the upper and lower limits of both cost and retail price...

Or, From Talking to Turning! I look back on a satisfying career in telecommunications, first starting with GTE in So Cal and then moving to the (miserably hot!) Dallas area in the late 80’s. Moved through various positions in the company and eventually spent considerable time in international assignments before ...

One of the fun parts of winemaking is the opportunity to put together special lots for special causes.  Sometimes we put together unique blends of our own, but more and more when we are putting together barrel lots for auction, we have chosen to reach out to other producers who we admire and make blends that are truly unique: half wine from Tablas Creek and half wine from another winery...

Yes, it has been awhile since I last posted, but this is the busiest time of the year in production at the winery.  I have been in the winery planning, racking, blending, tasting and analyzing last year’s wine, getting rid of old barrels and putting new barrels away —with the help of ...