September 19, 2012. A day that will live in wine making history. Well, at least for a little while.
As you can imagine, I've been closely monitoring the vineyard for ripeness and paying attention to both numbers and physiological factors. The stars came into alignment last Wednesday and we picked both Fincas Alta and Vieja. There were seven of us including Susan, Stacie (my sister) and me.
It was an absolutely beautiful day and everything went smoothly. We took the first load in just after noon and it went right into the fermenter. We're trying a carbonic maceration on about half of the 4000 kilos we harvested. This is a technique that boosts the aromatics and minimizes the tannin. We ended up with 24.3 Brix and a pH of 3.75 in the tank we will conventionally ferment. All things considered, I couldn't be happier. We pressed the tank of garnatxa on Friday. It's down to .3% sugar and will be completely dry in a couple of days. The color is just incredible as you can see from the picture.
Stacie will be here through most of next week and we've been showing her around. This is her first trip to Europe and there's a lot to see. I'll put some highlights of her visit on our next post.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Hey, Y'all!
You may remember that Matt McGinnis and his family were the first folks to visit us here. Matt has a terrific blog called "whatareyoudrinking.net" based out of Austin. Please click on the link below to read his very kind article and make sure to keep up with his way-cool blog! By the way, would you believe we're up to almost 1000 views of our blog? Once again, thanks for keeping in touch!
You may remember that Matt McGinnis and his family were the first folks to visit us here. Matt has a terrific blog called "whatareyoudrinking.net" based out of Austin. Please click on the link below to read his very kind article and make sure to keep up with his way-cool blog! By the way, would you believe we're up to almost 1000 views of our blog? Once again, thanks for keeping in touch!
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
September 11th
September 11th will probably be a solemn day in the U.S. for at least the rest of this century but, here in Catalunya, it is the "national" day of Catalunya and is celebrated with gusto. It's like a combination of Labor Day and San Jacinto Day (except we commemorate a victory). As usual, the party here started a day early with a dance just a little way from our house that lasted until 5 a.m. The dancers went to the bar for a few hours and then staged a parade past our house at 8:30. Do these people know how to party, or what?
The parade ended up in the Plaza Major where there was a sardine roast. For a euro, you get a nine inch sardine, a loaf of bread, olives, onions and as much wine as you can drink. Fish for breakfast is not unusual around here. As you can see, there was a good turn out. I sat with some folks we've come to know and it was great fun for a couple of hours.
Catalan separatism is running at a fever pitch these days. As I write this, we're watching TV coverage of an independence demonstration is Barcelona. The organizers are estimating attendance at over a million and it wouldn't surprise me. A chartered bus with over 30 people from here left this afternoon for the demonstration. That's a significant since there are fewer than 500 residents of El Masroig .
Susan has done a hero's job with our almonds. Our neighbor let us use his cleaning machine and it speeds things up. We still have quite a few to pick.
My garnatxa is fermenting well and picking up some color. I'm really pleased with the color since garnatxa can be problematic. Fincas Alta and Vieja are now both over 23.3 Brix with a pH of 3.30. We had a trace of rain on Sunday but there is none forecasted through next week. I want to harvest at 24.6 Brix and pH of 3.5. Probably next Wed. or Thurs.
The parade ended up in the Plaza Major where there was a sardine roast. For a euro, you get a nine inch sardine, a loaf of bread, olives, onions and as much wine as you can drink. Fish for breakfast is not unusual around here. As you can see, there was a good turn out. I sat with some folks we've come to know and it was great fun for a couple of hours.
Catalan separatism is running at a fever pitch these days. As I write this, we're watching TV coverage of an independence demonstration is Barcelona. The organizers are estimating attendance at over a million and it wouldn't surprise me. A chartered bus with over 30 people from here left this afternoon for the demonstration. That's a significant since there are fewer than 500 residents of El Masroig .
Susan has done a hero's job with our almonds. Our neighbor let us use his cleaning machine and it speeds things up. We still have quite a few to pick.
My garnatxa is fermenting well and picking up some color. I'm really pleased with the color since garnatxa can be problematic. Fincas Alta and Vieja are now both over 23.3 Brix with a pH of 3.30. We had a trace of rain on Sunday but there is none forecasted through next week. I want to harvest at 24.6 Brix and pH of 3.5. Probably next Wed. or Thurs.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
My 30th harvest
It's a little hard to believe that thirty years have passed since my first harvest at Joseph Phelps in 1983. To be able to mark that anniversary in Catalunya is a dream come true. In addition to our two vineyards, I've contracted to buy garnatxa (grenache) from an organic vineyard near Falset. We'll blend this with part of our carinyena to make a traditional Montsant wine. This vineyard is 14 years old and is in perfect condition. It's been owned by a Dutch family the past few years. As you can see, the fruit is as pretty as it can be. We started picking by hand at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 3rd (Labor Day). Everything went smoothly and we were finished by 2:30 p.m.
This (2012) has been the warmest and driest year in Catalunya for 30 years. The grapes are ripening early and mine are no exception. This garnatxa was harvested at 25.6 Brix with a pH of 3.70 (damn good numbers, if you ask me!). I can't tell you how absolutely thrilled I am with the way things are going here. Also, I want to thank each and every one of you for your support and encouragement over the years. You've given me the courage to pursue a dream and I plan to reward you with some killer wine! Thanks again for keeping in touch.
Russell & Susan
This (2012) has been the warmest and driest year in Catalunya for 30 years. The grapes are ripening early and mine are no exception. This garnatxa was harvested at 25.6 Brix with a pH of 3.70 (damn good numbers, if you ask me!). I can't tell you how absolutely thrilled I am with the way things are going here. Also, I want to thank each and every one of you for your support and encouragement over the years. You've given me the courage to pursue a dream and I plan to reward you with some killer wine! Thanks again for keeping in touch.
Russell & Susan
Guess what you're getting for Christmas!
You've heard about our almond orchard next to Finca Vieja. We have a little less than an acre of assorted almond trees in various states of health. This year they are loaded with nuts. We go out every other day and spend a few hours knocking them out of the trees and bagging them up. I'm not sure how many kilos we'll end up with but it will be more than we can eat. We already have more than 50 kilos and there are a lot more out there. The good news is that they are absolutely fantastic! We'll probably devote one suitcase to almonds on the return trip if it's OK with the USDA.
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