In an earlier post, http://blog.cedarrivercellars.com/2009/11/wine-is-buzz.html, I wrote about the hype about Charles Smith's 2006 Royal City Syrah and how I acquired a couple of bottles. Well, I have not opened them yet, but I was able to enjoy a bottle with some new friends. I suppose anyone who shares a nice bottle of wine would be your new friend.
Anyway, after some banter over at Sean Sullivan's blog about the 2006 R.C.S, an invite for wine and dinner was broached and the plans started to take shape. Originally, I pitched dinner at our house and will supply the 2006 R.C.S, but Sean re-raised and said that he would supply the bottle of wine. Wow!
I prepared Pacific caught sockeye salmon on a cedar plank, artichokes, pasta tossed in olive oil, garlic, and sun dried tomatoes. I made a sauteed mushroom appetizer and creme brulee for dessert. We bought a Charles Smith Riesling (2007 I think), as well as barrel sampled Cedar River Cellars Bella Bella Syrah 2009, Cedar River Cellars Ava's Crush Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, and Cedar River Cellars Kennydale Viognier 2009.
Sean and his friend Lindy arrived and after introductions, he poured the 2006 R.C.S into a decanter. Sean had opened the bottle up earlier in the day, so the wine had already been exposed to some air.
I did not take notes, so here we go from memory...
We all thought the nose was a bit closed, however, the strong ethanol presence helped volatilize what was there. My first whiff was of French oak barrel spice. I said it smell like a barrel room, and then further referenced the smell of the Taransaud barrels in our cellar. There was another aroma that everyone was having trouble identifying. After a couple of more sniffs, I said is smelled like milk which is most likely coming from lactic acid. Heather said it smelled like Guinness Stout, which is a very lactic beer.
The flavor had the typical Syrah notes, blue fruit and dark fruit, however, I got this awesome orange peel note when breathing back through my palate. It was just beautiful...like one of those chocolate orange candies. Speaking of which, I thought there was a bit of bitter-sweet chocolate notes as well as the barrel flavors. I felt that the body was a bit thin..not light..but thin. I would call the body a solid medium, but I was expecting a bit more glycerol and fuller.
Overall, a great wine, but maybe all of the hype of the scores and reviews may have biased my perception of the product to be more than it was. I have been drinking a lot of Syrahs lately and the 2006 Royal City Syrah beats them hands-down. However, I like ours better :-)
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Handcrafted
Handcrafted:
"Made by hand or using the hands, as opposed to by mass production or using machinery." - some internet dictionary site.
I was reading consumer responses on a wine blog the other day and the word "Handcrafted" got kind of bashed a bit. It is a term that is used a lot in wine marketing materials, websites, and labels. I got the impression that most of those consumers seemed to shrug off the word as an "air quotes" term that the marketing department uses to give the illusion of being small or intimate with their product. And I think that these folks are also thinking of very large wineries and not the small craft wineries.
I saw a 5000 case a year wineries use the word handcrafted on their website. Five thousand cases a year is small compared to a lot of wineries, however, I doubt that they hand fill, cork, label, and capsule, their bottles, or use a bucket to scoop out must. I think that as a winery gets a bit larger, you have to use some automation to keep costs in check and speed up production. Is it sill handcrafted? Sure, but the word loses a bit of cache.
A winery that uses machine grape picking, belt-driven sorting, hydraulic bin dumpers to fill the crusher/de-stemmer, pump must to fermentation tanks that are then pumped over as fermentation happens (if red), pumped to aging barrels, pumped through a plate filter on to the bottling line and bottled to the tune of 50,000+ cases a year. Is it still Handcrafted? I would not use the word in their marketing material or back label. However, the vines are farmed, the yeast are cared for, and the product still has some kind of a human touch.
Cedar River Cellars uses the word handcrafted in our mission statement and we believe that the word is a synonym for small, intimate, variable, and unique. In other words, we are so damn small that we have to do things by hand and that our product may have a bit of variance from bottle to bottle as each fill comes from a different barrel instead of a larger blending tank.
Our grapes are hand-picked. The grapes are hand dumped, bucket-by-bucket, into the crusher/de-stemmer, and then hand dumped bucket-by-bucket into the fermentation bins. We kept our red fermentations agitated by hand (yeah..yeah.. I hate that word punch-down), we moved thousands of pounds of grapes and must around with a manual pallet-jack (on a slightly graded crush pad I might add). And we will hand bottle and cork when our product is ready.
As Cedar River Cellars gets a little bit bigger, we will introduce automation to save our backs and to speed up production. But we will still be handcrafted because we care about our operation, we have fun doing the work, and love getting our hands dirty. Our product will be more consistent, and maybe a little less intimate, but it sure as hell will be unique and small.
It is up to the consumer to take a look at some of the marketing terms wineries use and follow-up on their websites and get to know the wine they are drinking. Then at that point is when the consumer can determine the weight of the word handcrafted.
"Made by hand or using the hands, as opposed to by mass production or using machinery." - some internet dictionary site.
I was reading consumer responses on a wine blog the other day and the word "Handcrafted" got kind of bashed a bit. It is a term that is used a lot in wine marketing materials, websites, and labels. I got the impression that most of those consumers seemed to shrug off the word as an "air quotes" term that the marketing department uses to give the illusion of being small or intimate with their product. And I think that these folks are also thinking of very large wineries and not the small craft wineries.
I saw a 5000 case a year wineries use the word handcrafted on their website. Five thousand cases a year is small compared to a lot of wineries, however, I doubt that they hand fill, cork, label, and capsule, their bottles, or use a bucket to scoop out must. I think that as a winery gets a bit larger, you have to use some automation to keep costs in check and speed up production. Is it sill handcrafted? Sure, but the word loses a bit of cache.
A winery that uses machine grape picking, belt-driven sorting, hydraulic bin dumpers to fill the crusher/de-stemmer, pump must to fermentation tanks that are then pumped over as fermentation happens (if red), pumped to aging barrels, pumped through a plate filter on to the bottling line and bottled to the tune of 50,000+ cases a year. Is it still Handcrafted? I would not use the word in their marketing material or back label. However, the vines are farmed, the yeast are cared for, and the product still has some kind of a human touch.
Cedar River Cellars uses the word handcrafted in our mission statement and we believe that the word is a synonym for small, intimate, variable, and unique. In other words, we are so damn small that we have to do things by hand and that our product may have a bit of variance from bottle to bottle as each fill comes from a different barrel instead of a larger blending tank.
Our grapes are hand-picked. The grapes are hand dumped, bucket-by-bucket, into the crusher/de-stemmer, and then hand dumped bucket-by-bucket into the fermentation bins. We kept our red fermentations agitated by hand (yeah..yeah.. I hate that word punch-down), we moved thousands of pounds of grapes and must around with a manual pallet-jack (on a slightly graded crush pad I might add). And we will hand bottle and cork when our product is ready.
As Cedar River Cellars gets a little bit bigger, we will introduce automation to save our backs and to speed up production. But we will still be handcrafted because we care about our operation, we have fun doing the work, and love getting our hands dirty. Our product will be more consistent, and maybe a little less intimate, but it sure as hell will be unique and small.
It is up to the consumer to take a look at some of the marketing terms wineries use and follow-up on their websites and get to know the wine they are drinking. Then at that point is when the consumer can determine the weight of the word handcrafted.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Wine is a Buzz
I have never been one to be influenced by wine scores. I like to just drink wine and explore as much as I can with local wineries and shops. I do try recommendations from friends, family, and the occasional wine blogger or local wine writers. However, this damn 2006 Royal City Syrah from Charles Smith is getting all of this buzz. Perfect! some say...alright..almost everyone. OK, just like a stock tip from Jim Cramer, I am late to the game. Where the hell do you get this wine?
Our, Cedar River Cellars, beloved owner Heather (Freeland) Nasarow is from Sandpoint, Idaho and we venture out there quite a bit for holidays, parties, and special occasions..and to see the in-laws.
Where am I going with this? This week on a "date night" we went to a Sandpoint restaurant to have some cocktails and appz. As I looked over the wine list, I saw the 2006 Royal City Syrah. After some chit-chat with the bar-keep, I asked if there were any bottles left? She looked and said "Four". I said, "I will take two of them, please."
Why not all four? I have not had this wine..I may not like it...plus I still have Christmas presents to buy. Seriously..from what I read..how can I not like this wine. Also, for those of you reading this thinking...aw man this dude got raked over the coals with the restaurant mark-up. Well No. I got a very good price. And there are two left for someone else to enjoy.
So, did I open one of the wines? No...not yet. That is for another posting. :-) But I do plan on drinking this wine real soon.
Who knows, maybe in the future I may be sipping Cedar River Cellars Syrah along with Charles Smith comparing flavor and aroma profiles and say "Yo dude..I have a 2006 Royal City Syrah in my cellar..hold on let me go get it."
Our, Cedar River Cellars, beloved owner Heather (Freeland) Nasarow is from Sandpoint, Idaho and we venture out there quite a bit for holidays, parties, and special occasions..and to see the in-laws.
Where am I going with this? This week on a "date night" we went to a Sandpoint restaurant to have some cocktails and appz. As I looked over the wine list, I saw the 2006 Royal City Syrah. After some chit-chat with the bar-keep, I asked if there were any bottles left? She looked and said "Four". I said, "I will take two of them, please."
Why not all four? I have not had this wine..I may not like it...plus I still have Christmas presents to buy. Seriously..from what I read..how can I not like this wine. Also, for those of you reading this thinking...aw man this dude got raked over the coals with the restaurant mark-up. Well No. I got a very good price. And there are two left for someone else to enjoy.
So, did I open one of the wines? No...not yet. That is for another posting. :-) But I do plan on drinking this wine real soon.
Who knows, maybe in the future I may be sipping Cedar River Cellars Syrah along with Charles Smith comparing flavor and aroma profiles and say "Yo dude..I have a 2006 Royal City Syrah in my cellar..hold on let me go get it."
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Getting High On Your Own Supply
This week has been the wine pressing week in our operations. I like to press when there is a couple of degrees Brix or bit over 1.000 Specific Gravity of fermentable sugars in the must. So far, Cabernet Sauvigon and Merlot are completed and in the barrels. This weekend the Syrah will be pressed off into the barrels and then I can stowe away all of the fermentation tanks and transfer buckets and regain some of my winery space.
So, I wanted to share that I think that the wine pressing process is my favorite of the entire wine making process. Why? Because the product is at a point where the true flavors start to shine and is not masked by so much of the sweetness of the grape sugars. And the fact that we are pressing, transferring, and sipping..ooohhhh..12-13 percent ethanol wine.
I love sipping the first runnings, with a bit of particulates and getting an idea of the flavor profile. Then once the must is transferred to the press and the bladder starts to push out liquid, I take another sample that is a bit clearer from the natural filtering of the skins. Mmmmmm...thats-a-niice.
Finally there is the final press runnings that shows me it's time to slower 'er down and not let too many harsh flavors make it through, but enough to give the wine some balls.
By this time, I probably have had my equivalent of a bottle of wine in sampling through out the pressing process and I just love every bit of it. It is very, very hard to resist putting your sample glass under the stream of red liquid flowing like a fountain from the press.
Hell, it is the results of my damn hard work..why shouldn't I get high on my own supply.
So, I wanted to share that I think that the wine pressing process is my favorite of the entire wine making process. Why? Because the product is at a point where the true flavors start to shine and is not masked by so much of the sweetness of the grape sugars. And the fact that we are pressing, transferring, and sipping..ooohhhh..12-13 percent ethanol wine.
I love sipping the first runnings, with a bit of particulates and getting an idea of the flavor profile. Then once the must is transferred to the press and the bladder starts to push out liquid, I take another sample that is a bit clearer from the natural filtering of the skins. Mmmmmm...thats-a-niice.
Finally there is the final press runnings that shows me it's time to slower 'er down and not let too many harsh flavors make it through, but enough to give the wine some balls.
By this time, I probably have had my equivalent of a bottle of wine in sampling through out the pressing process and I just love every bit of it. It is very, very hard to resist putting your sample glass under the stream of red liquid flowing like a fountain from the press.
Hell, it is the results of my damn hard work..why shouldn't I get high on my own supply.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The Joys of Food Processing
Well we got off to a bit of a rocky start, and for anyone who has worked in agricultural food processing (cannery, fishery, brewery, winery, etc.) knows that when the green light is lit, something goes wrong or breaks. I remember back in my days as a QA Tech for Norpac Foods, I would ask the line mechanic why my line wasn't running.
"The sealers too hot and is melting the packaging", he would say. "We just got started", I would say.
Well, all of those memories came rushing back last night.
Our first hiccup was on I-90 East just about 8 miles before Cle Elum, where two lanes converged to one...parking lot. We lost about an hour of time, but no big deal, we have time. We get to the winery at 6pm and I start setting up shop. Buckets, crusher, bins, hose, personnel..check. I direct a bit of traffic, tell everyone their duties and lets start tossing grapes in the crusher.
I hit the green button and immediately something is not right, but I did not see it at first. Three people are tossing grapes in the hopper, but nothing is coming out. Hold it! Hold it! Hold it! WTF? Yup, the crusher broke..sort of. It appears that one of the gears slipped out of position. After a bit of inspection and cursing, I start to wrench on it and take the machine apart.
Ok, problem fixed and machine back together..we lost about 20 min no big deal, it is only 6:45pm. "OK..everyone ready?" Green button..go! The crusher whirred and juice and skins started to flow...for about 5 seconds. Hold it! (more cursing).. take it apart again.
We noticed that there was some other loose bolts that were sliding the rollers our of position during the force and weight of the grape clusters, I cranked them down, and put everything back together.
Now, it is getting dark and a bit after 7pm. I get some cheer leading from the group and we press on. Guess what?.......it held.
We finished 3000 lbs of grapes in about an hour and a half. We cleaned up a bit, moved the fermentation bins from the crush pad to the winery, and I checked the must and added enzymes and 50ppm SO2, took a shower, and hit bed by 11:30 pm.
Whew!
5000 lbs more to go next week.
Thanx for the help Ben, Tara and Heather..oh and little Ava who helped with her plastic wrench and hammer.
"The sealers too hot and is melting the packaging", he would say. "We just got started", I would say.
Well, all of those memories came rushing back last night.
Our first hiccup was on I-90 East just about 8 miles before Cle Elum, where two lanes converged to one...parking lot. We lost about an hour of time, but no big deal, we have time. We get to the winery at 6pm and I start setting up shop. Buckets, crusher, bins, hose, personnel..check. I direct a bit of traffic, tell everyone their duties and lets start tossing grapes in the crusher.
I hit the green button and immediately something is not right, but I did not see it at first. Three people are tossing grapes in the hopper, but nothing is coming out. Hold it! Hold it! Hold it! WTF? Yup, the crusher broke..sort of. It appears that one of the gears slipped out of position. After a bit of inspection and cursing, I start to wrench on it and take the machine apart.
Ok, problem fixed and machine back together..we lost about 20 min no big deal, it is only 6:45pm. "OK..everyone ready?" Green button..go! The crusher whirred and juice and skins started to flow...for about 5 seconds. Hold it! (more cursing).. take it apart again.
We noticed that there was some other loose bolts that were sliding the rollers our of position during the force and weight of the grape clusters, I cranked them down, and put everything back together.
Now, it is getting dark and a bit after 7pm. I get some cheer leading from the group and we press on. Guess what?.......it held.
We finished 3000 lbs of grapes in about an hour and a half. We cleaned up a bit, moved the fermentation bins from the crush pad to the winery, and I checked the must and added enzymes and 50ppm SO2, took a shower, and hit bed by 11:30 pm.
Whew!
5000 lbs more to go next week.
Thanx for the help Ben, Tara and Heather..oh and little Ava who helped with her plastic wrench and hammer.
Dude, Miners.. Union Gap
My buddy Ben from Walla Walla, who lives here in Seattle, came with me to Zilah to pick up 1.5T of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. He suggested that we stop for lunch at Miners in Union Gap. I am like "ok"..and he is like.."you have not been to Miners"?!?
I ordered a double Miner burger with everything on it plus bacon, strawberry shake and seasoned curlys..16 bux. umm... I am still full 24 hours later and after working my ass-off loading grapes, crushing, moving 1000 lbs bins around, cleaning..you get the point.
If you are on your way to WA wine country via I-82..you MUST stop in and eat at Miners. Here is a link to a review site http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3723212611
I ordered a double Miner burger with everything on it plus bacon, strawberry shake and seasoned curlys..16 bux. umm... I am still full 24 hours later and after working my ass-off loading grapes, crushing, moving 1000 lbs bins around, cleaning..you get the point.
If you are on your way to WA wine country via I-82..you MUST stop in and eat at Miners. Here is a link to a review site http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3723212611
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Fermentation Bins Arrive
For those who are following along...today my Oregon State bro brought up our Macrobin brand harvest/fermentation bins from McMinnville, OR. It just happened to be good luck that he wanted to come up to Washington and play golf with some of his co-workers and myself (his employer is headquartered in Puyallup). And I told him that I was planning on going down south to pick up the bins and he offered to bring them up here. Excellent timing!
Here is a pix...
So these plastic bins are an inexpensive piece of equipment to harvest and transport our grapes. They are also a great way to open-top ferment small batches of red wine grapes...hell you could do white wine as well in these bins and sure shit I probably will. But the benefit is that you can easily manage the skins cap and work in small batches. Temperature control is tricky, but with our Northwest cool climate in the fall, it really is not that big of a problem.
Once fermentation is in play, I will cover the top of the bins lightly with some cheesecloth to let the CO2 gas to escape, but keep large air born debris form falling in.
That's it!!! We are on our way to harvest and crush next. Stay tuned.
Here is a pix...
So these plastic bins are an inexpensive piece of equipment to harvest and transport our grapes. They are also a great way to open-top ferment small batches of red wine grapes...hell you could do white wine as well in these bins and sure shit I probably will. But the benefit is that you can easily manage the skins cap and work in small batches. Temperature control is tricky, but with our Northwest cool climate in the fall, it really is not that big of a problem.
Once fermentation is in play, I will cover the top of the bins lightly with some cheesecloth to let the CO2 gas to escape, but keep large air born debris form falling in.
That's it!!! We are on our way to harvest and crush next. Stay tuned.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
