Author: Paul

So I got a few emails asking what was up with the new flurry of local events we’ve been doing?

It’s official. As of April 1st we signed up with Central Coast Boutique Wines:

http://www.ccboutiquewines.com/index.htm

They will be representing us in Northern California and helping us get our wines into select retail shops and restaurants.

This was something Stefania and I targeted as a primary objective for 2009. It’s been frustrating for us to not be able to direct people somewhere when they want to try our wine. For our customers around the country who deal with mailing lists and order forms, it’s been no big deal, but locally most people are puzzled by the idea of having to sign up and wait to get wine.

Neither Stef or I are great sales people and we don’t have a lot of time to go knock on doors to sell wine, so we knew this was the best option. Now my Mom will be able to tell her friends where to go to get our wine 🙂

We evaluated dozens of companies starting late last year. By January we had it down to three that seemed like good fits. We finally picked Central Coast as the best match for us. Stef and I will be out helping the sales team get our brand launched. More pourings, more events, and maybe even a winemaker dinner or two.

We’ve budgeted in an allocation amount going forward for Central Coast so that they will be able to keep accounts stocked. Right now they will not be selling some of our lower production wines as those are already 100% allocated. Our Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Stefania ‘Chaine d’Or’ Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon will only be available via mailing list.

As we get information about placements in restaurants and retail outlets I’ll try to get those posted up.

Friday night from 6 PM until 9PM we will be at Vino Locale:

http://www.vinolocale.com/location/index.htm

We’ll be pouring the 2006 Chaine d’Or Chardonnay, 2007 Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah, 2006 Uvas Creek Cabernet Sauvignon and 2006 Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon. Cost is $10 and that is refunded if you purchase a bottle.

This is very late notice, but we are filling in for Grey Wolf Cellars who had to cancel at the last minute.

Saturday we will have the winery open for Pick Up Day. The winery will be open from 11 AM until 3 PM. Come join us for wine tasting featuring our Spring Releases: 2007 Syrah Eaglepoint Ranch and 2007 Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains. If you placed an order from our Spring Release your wine will also be available for pick up.

Directions can be found at: http://www.chainedor.com/directions.html

We will have light snacks available and please feel free to bring a picnic. The vineyard is just starting to bloom and the hill will be open for picnics. We will also be giving away free Thompson Seedless grape vines. I will provide a planting demonstration to get you started.

TTB ID: 09099001000132
Basic Permit: BW-CA-5631
Serial Number: 090502
New Status: NEEDS CORRECTION
Previous Status: ASSIGNED

That’s the message I got from the TTB.

So what needs correction? Take a quick look at each label:

Find the problem?

Saturday morning we headed to Chaine d’Or to start the process of getting our 2008 Chardonnay ready for bottling. Actually the process had started Thursday when the internal tank was turned on to lower the temperature in advance of Saturday.

The day started with the introduction of a new member of the Chaine d’Or family. Anne Anderson brought down ‘Ghillie’ for us to meet for the first time. She will join Sophie as a new vineyard dog. Sophie was just about this size the first time I worked at Chaine d’Or. Sophie is adjusting well to having a new sister and playmate and was much less interested in hanging out with us in the winery with a new friend upstairs.

We divided up the tasks as usual. My first job was to sweep out the winery. Stefania got the lab ready for the readings we’d need. We wanted to measure free and total sulfur in the Chardonnay so we could make any needed additions now as the wine went into tank.

I then pumped the 4 barrels of Chardonnay into the waiting tank. It’s a bit of a tricky process. I always try and not let any air get in the hoses but it’s more critical with a white wine to keep oxygen out. I also can’t just stick the regular racking wand in the barrel. The bottom of the barrel is full of the fine lees (muck) that the Chardonnay is aged on and you don’t want that in tank. I used a small bamboo rod that I taped on the wand as an additional block to keep the wand from hitting bottom and that way only clear juice was put in tank. Controlling the speed is crucial for the pump. Too slow and air will get in the hose. Too fast and the wine will slosh around going into the tank.

Even though the tank has a chilled jacket around it we still add additional insulation to make sure it gets cold enough. This is the tank almost wrapped all the way. We added one more layer of insulation to the bottom after this picture was taken.

Everything went smoothly and we are on schedule to bottle on May 7th.

Stef and I are both almost over our colds and fever now. It was a pretty rough week with at least one of us out of commission at all times.

Stef did manage to get most of the shipping out last week. All the California, Arizona and Nevada orders went out GSO and have been delivered. About 50% of the UPS orders went out to the rest of the states. More will go out Monday and the final bit should go out Tuesday.

Today we will be in the winery working on the 2008 Chardonnay. We will be transferring it into tank for cold stabilization and a light fining with bentonite. I’ll take pictures of the process and get a blog up today or tomorrow.

I’ve been down all late last week and weekend with a bad cold/fever. My voice is gone now from the sore throat and coughing but the fever seems to have stopped. That’s why there have been no blogs this weekend. Stef’s been busy keeping soup and water in me.

We did get a nice review from the San Diego event this morning though that I wanted to share:

San Diego Tasting Review

We will be pouring at another event this coming Tuesday in downtown San Jose.

http://www.ccboutiquewines.com/html/events.php

We are really excited about this event, it’s our first in the city of San Jose, and the location is fantastic. The cost is $50 and it runs from 5 PM until 7:30 PM.

I planning on pouring four or five wines, including our 2007 Syrah. Please stop by and say hello.

We arrived back in San Jose Sunday afternoon. It had been more days in hotels over the last few weeks than at home, and we’ve spent the last few days catching up on tasks and a lot of paperwork in the winery.

We visited Nashville last week. My sister had moved there last August and it was our first trip to see her and family. My Mom joined us for the trip and we left our computers at home. We arrived Wednesday night and had dinner with the family. Thursday Stefania and I went out exploring central Tennessee. We stopped at a winery, which we later found out was owned by one of the Brooks and Dunn country singing pair. I had no idea who the owner was while at the winery although the cheesy picture of the owner on all the handouts should have clued me in.

We also visited the George Dickle distillery. No small feat. One of the hobbies of folks in Tennessee is to steal road signs to the George Dickle distillery. We closed Thursday evening watching the Sharks play the Predators then listening to live music in downtown Nashville.

Friday we explored downtown some more and had dinner at our friend Gerard’s house. Really great smoked steaks and lots of good wine. Saturday there was a little tornado scare. Mostly the newscaster was in a complete emotional melt down and scared, but the storm passed through fine and we went to a wonderful wine dinner at Flyte in downtown Nashville. We had aged Hermitage Blanc (interesting), some older Bordeaux (very good) and a host of other great wines. It was a great multi course 5+ hour dinner. I brought along some of our 07 Syrah and 07 Pinot Noir for everyone to try.

We’re settled back in now and should have more regular updates on our activities as Spring starts.

I hate the telephone. But I love the new iphone. This piece of technology is very cool. I can still communicate without actually talking.

Here’s the thing. The only time I’ll answer the phone is if I happen to be sitting still at my desk and playing around, like now, writing a blog. This isn’t exactly “work” and I will stop this to pick up, should it ring. Otherwise, forget it.

Why?

Because I’m always moving, I’m always doing something. If I had a Facebook account, my status would change every 15 minutes or so. “Stefania is…. checking the rose garden, taking out the trash, making the bed, paying bills, re-designing the next label, filing, sending a fax, checking the chemicals in the hot tub, in the hot tub(!), etc”

I don’t take the phone with me everywhere I go and I don’t drop whatever it is I’m doing to pick up. If it’s important, leave a message and I’ll call back…usually. I called my brother just before the San Diego trip and wanted to check in and tell him about my new phone.

He called while I was in the pool at the hotel and left a scathing (not really) message that I never pick up or answer. When I called him back I was like, hey, baby steps dude, did you notice there was a voice mail greeting? First time in 8 years I’ve recorded one. Baby steps.

My hearing has been compromised since I was in high school. I’m not deaf, but I do have limits to what I can hear, and talking on the telephone is generally unpleasant if there are any other noises or distractions. So I avoid it. There are times when it is necessary and I do conduct winery business via telephone, but socially, there are better ways to reach me.

It’s even worse if you have an accent or are foreign born. I’m a lip-reader in those cases and you can’t read lips thru the telephone.

Email: [email protected]
Text: 408-888-0714
Yahoo IM: [email protected]

If a phone call is more appropriate, feel free, but leave a message and a call back number because I’m probably already doing something else.

Cheers.

In my blog about the recent trade shows I was talking about the public session and I said:

“I love the guy with a notebook… That notebook means the person is serious about wine, and more importantly looking for something new and memorable. I’m confident in my wine. I know if they are taking it seriously and giving it a chance, they’ll be impressed.”

Check out the posting below to see just what I meant:

http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/showthread.php?t=193496

Phil Carpenter actually introduced himself and we spent a good amount of time talking and visiting with him and his family. His Father-in-Law really liked our Cabs if I remember right and Phil sent me an email after the show offering to take our wines in to show a local retailer friend of his.

I never met Dustin Buchko. At least he didn’t introduce himself to me, he was just one of about a dozen people who took long and serious notes. He gave our wines great scores, 92+ for the Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah, 92 for the Uvas Creek Cabernet and 93 for the Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet. I also think he took great notes, consistent with how I describe the wines. He also pointed out the floral noses on our wines. That’s something I’ve very proud of and I work hard to get. I love that in a wine I drink and really want our wines to have that quality.

A thread like that can mean 10-12 new sign ups for us if people keep posting on it and commenting. I just know that from experience. 10-12 new people willing to try our wine is huge for us. That’s exactly the connection we’re after.