It started Saturday night with some steaks, sausages and bottles of Road31 Pinot and Arns Syrah. Overall a very good way to start things. Events lead Joe and I down the street to a wine tasting party held by the owner of a wine storage company. It was a school auction item party, but we were assured we could crash it anyway. So we grabbed a bottle of Wise Ares 2006 Merlot and headed down the block.
Next thing I know it is 2:00 in the morning and we are still in this amazing wine cellar drinking Miner, Pride, and other delicious wine. Morning came way too soon.
After a horseback riding lesson for my daughter, Joe and I picked up the press and got to work. First we did al lthe stuff we should have done the day before: cleaned and rinsed the Hungarian, racked the Syrah from the FOB (French Oak Barrel) to the HOB. Interestingly, teh HOB is about 2.5 gallons bigger than the FOB and we ended up barely filling it with all the topping wine. his may lead to an early-than-planned bottling, or topping with another wine.
People showed up to help just as we were finishing the winery barrel work and we ran the hose out the window and into the garage. IT took a while to remember where things went and what the process was, but we got everything grooving and the wine was flowing. It taste pretty good already, very nice ripe fruit.
After about 5 press-fulls and NO MECHANICAL FAILURES! We were done. The FOB is full and we have about 13 extra gallons for topping. Joe was the king of clean and a real finish-the-job man. Thanks to everyone else who helped: George, MJ, Jay, Joe, Heidi. Wine wine bottles are coming soon, promise.
Next step is figuring out how to choreograph racking these barrels. Again, bottling may be the answer. The Syrah tastes great, and the 2006 Merlot was popular, but my special cuvee, “Syrah Sludge” may not have a market.
The one lingering question is “What are the other kids talking about when they talk about the birds and the bees?”