Putting the last of the 2008 wines to barrel for a winter slumber.

After the completion of vintage, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly time passes and before you know it, the holiday season is upon us.  

I have spent the last few weeks in the cellar finishing up ‘rack and returns’ of the barrels of 2008 red wines that have completed malolactic fermentation. It is also the time of year where I begin blending trials of the early to market 2008 white wines (Sauvignon Blanc, Vidal)  and the 2007 red wines (SHV Estate Merlot, Renaissance Merlot, Cabernet/Merlot blends).

 I have also spent some time tasting through some of the library of prior vintages of SHV wines in order to compile enough information to build a Drink/Hold Vintage Chart.  The chart will provide you with a snapshot of how we feel that our wines are drinking right now. I should have it completed and posted on our website early in the New Year.

 Aside from the cellar update, I would like to take a moment to wish you a happy and safe holiday season that is full of love, laughter and quality time spent together with family, friends. and a little bit of wine.

God in His goodness sent the grapes, to cheer both great and small; little fools will drink too much, and great fools not at all. - Anonymous 

Dwight

The meaning of "hand crafted" wines.

I thought I would share a laugh that my wife and I had on the last day of this year’s vintage.  Somehow in the last 5 weeks, my golden wedding ring has been lost in one of the many vats of wine that I have handled this vintage. While I was a little upset about the loss and somewhat concerned about how my wife would take the news, she simply chuckled and stated that “there dam well better be some gold medal winning wines this year!”   She is a great lady.  I am sure that there is no winemaker out there with a wife that is more supportive and understanding than the one that I have.

I can certainly see that you know your wine. Most of the guests who stay here wouldn’t know the difference between Bordeaux and Claret.
John Cleese (Basil Fawlty)
Fawlty Towers

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I have lost track of time in the last 10 days of vintage as we have been very busy processing the last of this years fruit. The final day of processing was on October 31 which makes the total number of processing days a very short and intense 31 days. Our total tonnage crushed was appoximately 70 T. The winery is now stuffed full of fermenting wines and other than pressing off the red fermenters in the next week, we are finished on the crush pad. Thank goodness because in the last 48 hours the weather has changed dramatically and there can be no mistaking that winter is on it’s way.

We have made some changes in our portfolio of grapes and in some of our contract growers, but our overall production numbers are essentially the same as last years totals. The main difference is that we have reduced production levels in the vineyard where it was necessary and as a result of this, the quality of the fruit is of an exceptional high level. You can anticipate some truly great wines this year.

Here is a handful of photos from the last few days of crush.

A man cannot make him laugh - but that’s no marvel; he drinks no wine.
SHAKESPEARE
Henry IV Part 2

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the team at work pressing off Syrah

Walking out the last of the must from the "Anaconda" hose

Fall becomes winter.

Day operations often become night

Mother Nature must like wine because she has been sooo good to us this vintage.  The warm and sunny days have continued over the last 4 days and the extended forecast is showing more of the same weather over the next week.  As such, we have decided to delay harvesting and extend our hang time on several grape varieties (lot 2,3 Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier, Vidal) which should add greater depth to the wines. 

Today, day 23, we have no grapes coming in to be processed nor do we have any red ferments that need to be pressed so, we will finally have a day to do some “catch up” jobs.  We have enough cleaning jobs, fermentation management jobs and barrel work jobs that we could fill several “catch up” days.

Here are a few shots of just another day at the office.

Good wine needs no bush.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
As You Like It, Epilogue.

Dwight 

Viognier being hand sorted.

Vidal waiting to be harvetsed.

The Boss of the operation.

Close up sorting.

It has been a busy week of fermentation management, lees filtration and getting ready for the next wave of fruit processing.  So far, we have processed just over 41 tons of grapes.  This coming week, we will be processing our final lot of Syrah (2.5 tons), the first lot of Cabernet Sauvignon (approximately 5 tons), Cabernet Franc (2 tons), and new to the winery this vintage, Viognier (2.5 tons).  That will only leave 1-2 lots of late harvested Cabernet Sauvignon (10-15 tons), and Vidal (1-2 tons) to be processed in the following week.  We have also begun pressing off some of our red fermentations, starting with out Estate Pinot Noir and Merlot.

The quality of the fruit and the resulting wines continues to exceed my expectations and although everyone is starting to feel the effects of the long days, we are all still smiling.  I hope you enjoy the montage of photos from the week.

And Noah he often said to his wife when he sat down to dine,
‘I don’t care where the water goes if it doesn’t get into the wine’.
G.K. Chesterton(1874–1936)

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Early morning punchdowns include multi-tasking with coffee.

Rod still smiling while completing the "fun job" of lees filtration.

The fourth punch down of the day for the Estate Merlot.

The beautiful color contrast of co-fermenting Syrah and Viognier.

Presssing off the Estate Pinot Noir.

First time tractor driving lessons for Tyler.

Another Okanagan Fall Wine Festival has come and gone and while it is a very busy time of year at the winery, it is always rewarding to meet with the festival participants at the various functions.  At this years festival, Stags Hollow was awarded 2 medals at the competion, a silver for the 2006 Pinot Noir and another silver for the 2006 Estate Merlot. 

The Thanksgiving weekend also featured Mother Nature selecting the havest date of our estate grown Tempranillo as the over night temperatures dropped to below freezing and frosted out our vines which ended their growing cycle. The fruit is lovely and the large bunches of ripe fruit are full of intense flavours that should make very promising wines.

Tempranillo harvest begins.

Tempranillo Being processed.

Extra help on the Thanksgiving longweek end from Tyler.

Here’s to the corkscrew - a useful key to unlock the storehouse of wit, the treasury of laughter, the front door of fellowship, and the gate of pleasant folly.
W.E.P. French

Dwight

On a side note from our vintage action, I feel I need to talk about an issue that, until recently, didn’t seem to be much of a problem but now is affecting the wine industry as a whole. 

I have to admit that I always thought that the private direct sale and shipment of our wines to individual customers residing outside of British Columbia was allowed.  Apparently I was wrong and, it seems, I was not the only one that has been unaware of this issue.  Recently there has been a buzz in the press in regards to several Okanagan wineries being reprimanded by the Provincial Liquor Control Board for inter-provincial wine sales.   

There is an archaic federal legislation dating back to the 1920’s and the days of Prohibition called “The Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act”.  This act prohibits manufacturers from selling and shipping wine directly to customers outside of their province and, in fact, states that inidividuals are prohibited from directly buying wine out of their province of residence and then transporting it home for their own personal consumption!  

I find it preposterous that Canada, a country that prides itself and thrives under NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), that we still do not have free trade between our own provinces!   

With our Federal Election taking place on October 14, 2008, I feel this an issue that we need to have our Federal representation amend.  Please, if you feel as strongly as I do about freedom of choice, take the time to ask your local prospective MP’s what they will do to change this law.  We, as a Nation, have freedom of choice but apparently not when it comes to buying and consuming wines made and sold in other provinces.   More importantly, ask your prospective MP’s what wine are they drinking tonight with their dinner and how did they obtain it?  Their answsers may surprise you as much as they did me.

In vino veritas.

Dwight

Although the weather man keeps threatening us with scary forecasts, great weather has continued and we have been working on completing the processing of our Estate Merlot and Pinot Noir.  The processing of the Merlot was labour intensive as I decided to hand sort through the destemmed fruit to remove any unwanted stem jaxs from the fruit.  Fortunately, Larry and Linda obliged my decision and all hands were on deck for the operation.  I left approximately 60% of the fruit as uncrushed whole berries going into the fermenters.

Hand sorting Merlot on the "I feel kind of sea sick" sorting table.

Linda getting sticky hands.

Keeping up to the grape pickers with bins was a a constant job for Rod.

Pinot Noir clone 667 ready for processing.

Pinot Noir clone 115 awaiting harvest. Note the slightly shriveled grape berries on some of the fruit clusters visually identifying the completely ripened fruit.

Pinot and Kula waiting for Mom to take them home for dinner.

“Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence”
Robert Fripp

Dwight

Day 5 went as smooth as it can possibly get at crush.  Here are some of the highlights of the action.

It is well to remember that there are five reasons for drinking: the arrival of a friend; one’s present or future thirst; the excellence of the wine; or any other reason.
Latin saying

 Dwight

Rod "Bucchus" at work.

Grapes being moved towards the destemmer.

Destemmed fruit falling into the must pump.

Press being loaded from the must pump.

Sauvignon Blanc juice flowing from the press.

Day 4 of vintage brought a touch of rain but it was still very warm and pleasant for this time of year.  Work wise, it was a continuation of yesterday and the processing of the third lot of the Heritage Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc.  Our total tonnage was down slightly from last year but was at a respectable yield of 16 tons (20 tons last year).  In tasting the juice from the press, there is a nice balance of tropical fruit with lime zest and the typical grassy aromas of Sauvignon Blanc in this year’s fruit. 

The Estate Chardonnay juice will be racked off of its fruit solids today and a yeast inoculum will be added to it prior to being transferred to French oak barrels to complete fermentation.

The Okanagan Wine Festival starts today so make sure you get off the couch this weekend and partake in this unique experience.  http://www.owfs.com  Even more importantly, make sure you stop by the tasting shop at Stags Hollow and check out our new fall wine releases. http://www.stagshollowwinery.com/wines.asp

Stags Hollow will be the guest of honor at Villa Rosa Restaurant tonight (Friday, October 3rd) for their Winemakers Dinner series and from what I have heard, it is a dinner not be missed!  (A few seats are left but don’t delay!)  http://www.thevillarosa.com

For when the wine is in, the wit is out.
Thomas Becon (1512–1567)
Catechism, 375

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