Vino In My Dino

  • Weighing Grapes

    September 19, 2014 15:47

    Our weigh station is the first stop our grapes make after they are harvested. It is one of the many requirements by the government to report tonnage since we are in the business of making wine, an alcoholic beverage—we call it part of everyday life. We are meticulous in sending the correct information, nevertheless. My dad Jim remembers the scale was installed in the late 1940s to weigh in trucks loaded with grape boxes and later gondolas overflowing with fruit. The building has expanded a bit, like the other parts of the winery, to make room for our growing production. During the early years, it was the epicenter of the winery with side-by-side offices for both Jim and John (the building is about 100 square feet!) and has played an important role in both marketing and winemaking over the years. I remember when my mom used to weigh in the trucks and gondolas as she balanced (pun intended) raising my three sisters and me. Our home, now our marketing offices, was just steps away. You can see our former home through the window! My Uncle John’s office and wine lab that he shares with Montse is now across the yard. The weigh station also contains our Cellarmaster Polo’s office today. As you can see, this is no digital scale--we prefer the ‘hands on’ method even when weighing our grapes.

    Montse, associate winemaker, is at the ready for another load of grapes in the photo below. I can see we’ll have some delicious vino for my Dino in the next year or so.

    Montse at Scale

     

    Tags: Pedroncelli, Cellar, Harvest
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  • Barking up the right tree

    September 11, 2014 15:51

    I am taking a moment, a bit of a breather so to speak, during harvest to bring you this blurb on just where corks come from. We bottle two thirds of our wine with them. Wine corks have been around for a long time, shortly after the goat skin and right around the time winemakers wanted to securely stopper the containers. They are harvested from the bark of the Quercus suber or Cork Oak Tree. In the photo you will see how the corks are punched from the bark. It takes about 9 years for the bark to attain the right thickness to produce a 1 ¾” cork. A lot of patience goes into these cork forests mostly planted in Portugal, the multi-tasking country that also brings you Port, and Spain. It is akin to waiting for a fine Cabernet Sauvignon to age. For all kinds of background on cork oak and the harvesting of them please check the Cork Quality Council’s website here. 

    While you peruse the pages, I’ll pull a cork on some vino and enjoy!

    Corks Display

    Tags: Pedroncelli, wine, Cellar
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  • Harvest 2014 Begins

    September 5, 2014 15:58

    We’re weighing in our 87th harvest and our harvest t-shirts say it all: ‘Keep calm and crush on’. We kicked off our 87th vintage with our Sauvignon Blanc on August 19. While this is a bit early, I checked our records from last year and I see we brought in fruit from the same vineyard on August 22—very close! The earliest picking on record for this vineyard, located on the valley floor just a mile from the winery, is on August 12,2004 (if anyone is keeping count). I have to say, as a family owned and operated winery, the weeks leading up to this day has everyone on pins and needles the month or so before the first grape is picked. It is like waiting for your baby to be born. And we have been waiting each year through 87 harvests.

    Sounds like a toast is in order, to the generations working together and our loyal crew who always gets the best out of the harvest. Pour some vino in your Dino and join me!

    Tags: Pedroncelli, Harvest, Crush Report
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  • Veraison Pt. 2

    September 1, 2014 16:02

    Last month I talked about veraison, a key moment in the vineyard when the grapes start to turn color, develop and ripen. I thought it would be fun to follow the same vines over the next couple of months as they get closer to being harvested. The first photos were taken on July 11. I sent Ed out to take photos on August 11. You can compare the two here and see what a difference four weeks makes in color and size. We have had near-perfect conditions for the third year in a row and are happy with the quality we are seeing on the vines. We were out tasting the grapes right around the time of the photos with Lance, our vineyard manager. When discussing our picking philosophy he said “while we rely on taking samples (from different areas of each vineyard and testing them at the winery for sugar, acid and pH) it is actually tasting the grapes I find most important when deciding to pick.” It becomes second nature to know when the grapes are ready. Just ask John or Jim—they’ve been tasting these grapes longer than any of us here.

    Veraison Comparison

    Tags: Pedroncelli, Veraison, vineyard, family
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  • Veraison Pt. 1

    August 1, 2014 16:06

    Turning color

    Veraison, the moment in the vineyard when it all becomes real for vineyard owners. We have 6 weeks, give or take, before we start to pick. It is the Ready, Steady, Go in the wine world. I chose two grapes to talk about this month: Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. Typically they are between 3-4 weeks apart when we do pick, Zinfandel ripening before Cabernet Sauvignon. The pattern begins with bud break in March, followed by crop set in May and finally veraison. The growing season is then dependent on the weather with balanced amounts of daytime heat and cooling evening fog. Hopefully the season will develop without extremes in order for the grapes to ripen at full maturity. The photos were taken on July 11 and, as you can see, the color change is substantial in the Zinfandel while the Cabernet Sauvignon, which experienced bud break later is also scheduled to be picked later. You’ll also notice the difference in the bunches with a range of smaller and larger, tighter berries in our Zin and small berries and looser bunches in the Cabernet.

    Right now I’m told picking will commence mid-August as our Sauvignon Blanc is ripening up nicely. This is about one week earlier than ‘normal’ for us but not unusual. In September’s edition, we’ll likely be in the thick of harvest, our 87th!

    Veraison

    Tags: Pedroncelli, Veraison, vineyard
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