Top N Taste: March 25

We topped up and did some "quality control" tonight.  All the wines were very good. Some were excellent!

 

We started with the Super Tuscan and compared the stainless to a barrel.  Both were coming along very nicely. The barrel had the edge, but both were surprisingly good with not a hint of rotten egg!  Color was light.  We still expect to do a little more blending to fill out the flavors. Maybe a little merlot to accent the cherries and some petite verdot to give some body and deeper color.  Not sure it needs more cab.  The trial blending will be fun!

 

The WA Malbec was sound, but still had a light HSO2 rotten egg smell. Not bad, but another racking over copper is in order (sooner, than later, before MLF). Mike said he would coordinate racking.

 

The ID Malbec was the surprise of the night. Great flavor, dark color and a great finish. Not a hint of green or vine. The best Malbec we've done so far!!

 

The merlot was full flavored, rich and hot (alcoholic). Almost port-like.

 

The Williamson cab was very full flavored and had a great cabernet nose. A little rough/bitter (seeds), but the barrels will round it out over time. We all agree that the Williamson is "Reserve Worthy" this year. We'd like to hold over 30G or more.

 

The WA Clone-6 Cab was surprisingly closed. Not much nose. Dark fruit and a little bland. It will be interesting to watch it over time. It was disappointing.

 

We talked about storage for the summer. We all thought that the Super Tuscan was coming along nicely and was a good candidate for early bottling, which would solve our storage problem. We'll give it another month and make a decision. That would empty 2 barrels, and 1 or 2 stainless kegs, depending on the blend. The other option is to increase cooler capacity.

We talked about grape sources. Getting Wood River grapes is our highest priority. Lee will continue to try and talk with Neil. We also need to communicate with Roger how pleased we are with the grapes and that we want to get more this Fall.  We're unsure about RiverRock. It's a long way to go, and increases the number of crushes. Michele said she would be willing to pick-up the RiverRock Clone-6 for a year, if needed.  Once we loose RiverRock, we won't get it back. There's also potential for some Syrah and maybe Grenache.

 

We broke-down a 3G ID Malbec into 1G carboys and a platypus for topping both the ID and WA Malbec.  We used the Clone-6 cab for topping all of the cabs.