Winter Vineyard News Additional Information

Harvest 2024 Cont.-All the red wines have been sent to our Wine Press where the wine is separated from the skins. After they were pressed, they were then sent to barrel. In barrel they are going through secondary fermentation or Malolactic fermentation (this fermentation is where a beneficial bacterium takes Malic Acid and turns it into Lactic Acid). Secondary fermentation softens and rounds out the body, which helps balance the tannins and alcohol. The Merlot and Pinot from Regan were our final picks and are the final wines finishing up Malolactic Fermentation as we speak. 

 

Due to the heat waves the 2024 Chardonnay grapes did not survive, though we have two different Roses from the 2024 vintage. We have our traditional Rosato of 100% Sangiovese grapes, and we have a Rose of GSM or Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre. Our White and Rose's traditionally don't go through Malolactic Fermentation, due to our desire to retain the crisp fruity varietal characteristic. With lower tannins and heavy body, it can be desirable to skip secondary fermentation to create a lighter more fruit forward wine. 

 

This season was extremly unpredictable between the rainy spring season, the hot July, cool August, and the final heat wave in October. Unfortunately, we harvested less fruit than we were expecting for some varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, though the quality and intensity of flavor is through the roof. While the 2024 vintage has a long way to go with barrel and bottle aging, we are optimistic this it will be a harvest for the history books. We look forward to sharing more with you in person at your next tasting. Please email or call us if you have any further questions on the 2024 Harvest.                                                                                 

Chardonnay Gold Cont. -The Stainless steel fermented and aged Chardonnay is loaded with crisp green apples and tropical notes on the nose, and has a smooth finish. For years we have gotten silvers for our Chardonnay, though this is our first Gold Medal. While, silver is still a great accomplishment, we stuck to our guns and pushed forward for this Gold. Nothing changed in our Winemaking style we just took the excellent fruit that 2022 had to offer and made it in a crisp stainless steel fermented and aged chardonnay. This is different than the typical oak and buttery forward Chardonnay California is known for. If you haven’t already tried this wine, please try it today.

 

A little insight into competitions as a small boutique winery with limited production, we are restricted in what we can and can’t enter. There are rules on entering wines into competitions that some of our wines don’t always meet. For example, one rule is that the wine must be available for public purchase (which rules out all our Wine Club Exclusive Special Reserves and Blends). Competition is always fierce as our fellow winemakers all strive for recognition. We do our best to submit all eligible wines to different competitions every year. We will always notify the Wine Club of any Golds we recieve. We will continue to bring more award-winning wines to our customers in 2025.