July 24 Topping Report

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Troy, Mike and Lee topped up wines tonight.  Tasted the ID Cab, Clone 6 Cab and Malbec. ID cab was the surprise of the night--it continues to get better as it gets more tannins/body from the barrel. The Malbec is smoothing out and the Clone 6 is like a blackberry liquor!  (Note: The WA Clone 6 was 28 brix, which translates to a potential alcohol of 15.5%!)  Other wines were smelled and we decided to try the Merlot 1/2 because the barrel has a small weep and a small amount of film was seen on top. It seems fine--but we sprayed the weeping area plus the wine.

 

Broke down 3G of Id Cab into two 1G carboys + 1G platypus for topping.

 

Broke down 5G of Malbec into a 3G carboy + 1G carboy + 1G platypus for topping.

 

Taped the vent-tube to the A/C again to try and improve air flow. We could use to get the return air fan working to help keep it cool.

 

We briefly discussed  meta additions for barrels. We started with less meta (25%?) on some of the grapes--at least the malbec and merlot #1. Plus our wine schedule calls for 15-20ppm in the summer, which we haven't added yet.  A 20ppm addition across the board would suffice.  We could also use to do a light additional sulfuring on the empty barrels soon.

Chateau Meesha

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Michele and Tom stopped by to borrow the bottling equipment as they get ready to bottle their 07 Wood River Cabernet and Chardonnay.  They have the:

 

- Bottle Washer

- Bottle Filler

- Bottle Tree and Meta Washer

- Corker

- A 1G platypus

 

Their Cabernet has been aged in a 15G Hungarian barrel now for 8-9 months, plus they added some French Oak Dominoes to get some more oak flavors about a month ago.  We still "owed" them another gallon of wine from the 2007 grapes and Lee and I sent them home w/ some Malbec and about 500ml of Petit Verdot to add to their blend.  That will make their blend be roughly:

 

89% Cabernet

5% Merlot

5% Malbec

1% Petit Verdot

 

Sounds yummy! Looking forward to tasting it. :-D

July 11 Topping Report

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Topped and tasted Friday evening. All wines were sound and tasting
good. The malbec is starting to smooth out and the WA C6 cab is
mellowing in the nutral barrel. We didn't find any ID cab in a
platypus or a 1G carboy so we topped with the clone6. We need to
breakdown a 3G carboy next time.

Bob's American oak barrel is showing a small seap leak at the bottom
of the front head. We sprayed it down with meta, but we need to keep
an eye on it.

The cellar was about 68-70 degrees at the far end. We connected the
dryer hose up to the A/C to try and improve circulation. We should
hook up the return air fan too.

We had some friends (Kurt and Stephanie) over to barrel taste, and
they enjoyed the tour.