Photo was taken just after I pitched the yeast to this Merlot.

Every November when nearly all of the grapes have been picked, thousands of swallows descend on our vineyard and will stay for days. There are still some grapes left on the vine and some have actually started to ferment because of the indigenous yeast on the  grape skins. Some swallows eat too many of these alcoholic grapes and become so inebriated (more…)

Nearly all red wines and some whites are put in oak barrels for maturation. The main reason for this is that the barrels soften the wine and add body and depth. The barrels actually “breathe” and some of the water content of the wine evaporates, concentrating the flavors. This small portion which evaporates at a rate 2-3 bottles of wine per 60 gallon barrel per month is sometimes called (more…)

One of the most important things a winemaker looks at when deciding to harvest grapes is the sugar level or Brix . A winemaker will usually walk the vineyard during harvest to select a random sampling of grapes from clusters from many different vines. They will than measure the Brix using a simple tool called (more…)