Month: November 2013

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Small Business Saturday Sale

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I love to cook turkey and stuffing and everything that goes with the meal.  For years now we’ve hosted what we call ‘refuge’ Thanksgiving and invite over anyone who is far from family (or looking to avoid family).  It’s always a great time.  I also have always loved the day after.  There’s nothing better than leftover turkey and college football and hockey are on from 7 AM until 10 PM.  I look forward to that lazy Friday.

One of the things I’ve loved the most about Thanksgiving is it’s avoided the commercialism that takes over every other holiday.  There are no gifts to buy, or dinners to book or really any excuse to spend money on things we don’t really need, so I’ve hated the ‘Black Friday’ curse that’s gotten worse and worse over the past 10 years.  I boycott Black Friday and don’t spend any money at all, especially at retailers who force their employees to come in at 3 or 4 AM or even worse on Thanksgiving day.

There has been a response to this though called Small Business Saturday, and I like that idea.  We usually go to an arts and crafts show on that Saturday and support people making things by hand themselves.  This year we thought we’d participate too.  Running Saturday through Monday we will offer 25% off all our Library wines.  I’ve dug through the inventory report and pulled everything we have enough of to offer for sales.  In some instances there are just 2-3 cases of a wine left so things may not last.  We’ll have three wines from 2006:  Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah, Uvas Creek Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, and Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon.  From 2007: Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah, Uvas Creek Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and from 2009 Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon.

To get the 25% off enter the code SBS  (for Small Business Saturday) at check out.  I’ve entered exact inventory numbers into the system so as soon as a wine sells out it will stop showing on the website.  Happy Thanksgiving!

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Chaine d Or Harvest Pics and Pressing

So – It’s been more than a month. We finished harvest on 10/12 at Chaine d’Or. The earliest we’ve ever finished by 16 days.  It was the biggest, best, earliest, harvest ever for us and from what we’ve heard and read for everyone in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Santa Clara Valley.  We worked hard in the winery from the 12th to the 15th and then spent 6 days in New Orleans.  We came back to finishing fermentation’s and completed all the pressing and barrel work by the 27th.

We also got a trip to Nashville in and otherwise have been laying low.  We are doing a gluten free diet right now and no cocktails to try and avoid the post harvest 15.  I had a bunch of pictures on my phone so thought I’d get them all up.  First one is the press running the day before the Chaine d’Or Harvest.  The timing was perfect.  We had a few lots finish just as we needed the space.
press running

I’m not really sure what I was taking here.  It’s a hose in a barrel soaking t up so we can use it.  Barrels dry out and won’t seal after a while so they have to be soaked back up before use.

soaking barrel

 

Wine in the collection tray.  Stefania loves it at this point.

juice

 

Our pallet mover – which has been the best piece of equipment we’ve ever bought.

the pad

 

This was the day of the Chaine d’Or harvest.  Not too early but cold.  The stuffed shark is our driving warning.  ‘Don’t move the shark’ is the rule when going up the twisty road to Chaine d’ Or.

CDO Clock

 

More fog pictures and Stefania getting the pruners ready for the crew.

fog

 

Everything is ready here for the fruit to start coming up.

waiting winemaker

I always try and pick at least one bin of grapes when we get started.  After the bins start to fill I get busy hauling bins and running the crusher so don’t usually get to pick past the first 20 minutes.

 

my bin

 

At Chaine d Or we keep everything in the 30 pound bins through the entire process.

bins coming in

 

This is a view I rarely take pictures of.  It’s a section of the property I only access on the tractor.  This morning I stopped the tractor to take this picture of the vineyard.

vineyard above

 

Axel looks grumpy but he likes getting all the cash before Christmas.  This was the first year he really helped out through the entire process.  We’d lose him in past years to playing with the dogs or running around the vineyard but this year he wanted to help with everything.

axel

Cabernet raw.

 

must

 

This is one reason we love the pallet jack so much.  We can move the fermentation’s inside where the temperature is easier to control and it’s much easier to keep out bees and leafs.

the line up

 

Final picture was of a full barrel of ‘Roxy’ Cabernet/Zin.  The vineyard owner was excited that we might be able to do his wine on its own for the first time without blending with other vineyards.

roxy

 

I know Stefania has a bunch of pictures she wants to get up so hopefully those will come soon.  Look for a special sale too for Small Busines Saturday from us and Winter Futures will be out right after Thanksgiving also.