Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Well the new year has started and thoughts of harvest for 2011 have already begun. Focus to the vineyard- pruning, discing, tying- assessing what happened last year to do what is needed to bring the vineyard to it's best potential this year. Last harvest fruit was not taken from the Tres Palmeras vineyard-a hard decision to make for me. But some years warrant that action and from what I saw this year for grapes overall, a few more vineyards might have been better off left behind as well. A tough year....

Assessing the wines and how processes worked to produce those wines is also happening so that any changes can be started now. Last harvest brought a lot of challenges- molds, less than mature grapes, sunburn- things that I see, just not in the magnitude that I had this last harvest. So being ready for these situations is always warranted- though I hope not to see this happen for at least another 20 years!

This year Coral Mustang Wines will begin a wine club- yea!!!! Stay tuned to see updates on the website as well as an upcoming e-newsletter. Update on the tasting room- open by appointment only for the winter- let me know if you are in the area and would like to taste. Or if up you are willing to go just a short 30 minutes North, you can visit the winery. Either way give me a shout or an email.

In a tribute to Tres Palmeras, I would like to re-share a clip from a previous harvest - I hope you enjoy it and on with the new year 2011! 

It is Wine Event time of the Year!

The vineyards are growing strong, the wines are resting in barrel, taxes are done, summer is nearly here- now it is time for wine tasting events. Next month there are a few that I will be attending:

TAPAS Grand Tasting - June 5 at the Herbst Pavilion in Ft Mason-The consumer tasting will run from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Consumer tickets are available at tapas2010.eventbrite.com . The most extensive annual tasting of domestically produced Spanish and Portuguese varietal wines in North America along with great food- can you say Paella?

The Monterey Wine Festival - a multi day event June 11-12 in Monterey. There is a great evening event in the Aquarium- giving you a great chance to see the Seahorse exhibit!

CigarBQ - June 19th at the SaraLee vineyard in Santa Rosa. This benefits the YWCA of Sonoma County- a fun event whether you are into cigars or just tasting wines along with some great food vendors from the area.

A busy month, but a fun break from the winery and a chance to share the fruits of our labors.

Back to wine talk- the vineyards are looking pretty good considering there have been below average day and night time temps, but above average rain. The real effects of the temperature and the rain will be better viewed next month when we can see the fruit coming on. We are also dealing with the Grape Moth quarantines taking place in Sonoma, Mendocino, Napa counties. It has not made its way to the Tres Palmeras Vineyard, but the line is not far away. Big debates on how best to deal with this critter, especially for the organic vineyards which are becoming more prevalent. This really brings home the effects of bringing in plants, animals, insects, etc. that are not indigenous to an area and how quickly they can take over when their natural inhibitors are not present.

I hope to see some of you next month- or if you are in Healdsburg, stop by the tasting room- In Vino Veritas- and taste some wine and if I am not at an event I will be there as well!

The Mustang Winemaker, Penelope

It's April....

It is April- the month for wierd weather. First it was cold and rainy, then dry, cold and windy, now it is sunny and 90F. Later in the week it is going to be cold and rainy again. The rain will be good, hopefully it will not be too cold.

The vineyards are growing like weeds- fast and furious. This time of the year it is amazing to watch- you can actually see them change and the shoots get longer throughout the day. So far the vineyards are looking great- nice even growth. Soon the flower buds will become more pronounced and bloom, it is just around the corner!

This is the time of the year that there are many events being planned. Friday I will be at the Google Complex in the South Bay and next month Cigar BQ in Santa Rosa.

Also next month I hope to be in a new tasting room in Healdsburg, though the ABC is saying that they will not have my paperwork done by then..........will keep you up to date on that. Gotta love the permit process.

Well gotta get back to the wines- more bottling tomorrow!

It's Wine Blogging Wednesday!

Cheers to the first addition of Wine Blogging Wednesday on the Tempranillo Tango Blog. Once a month those of us crazy enough to try, describe a wine to fellow wine lovers of the world. For more info and to join : http://www.winebloggingwednesday.org/
What I really love about being a part of this is that I have a good excuse to taste wines I might not otherwise try. Then when everyone has posted about the wines they have tried, there is a great wealth of information about the wine(s) of choice. And not only from people that make wine, but people that love wine, want to love wine, a broad range of palettes.

This months choice was Cabernet Franc from France. I purchased this wine as a WBW three pack from Domaine 547, an online wine retailer that was kind and brave enough to put these together.
http://domaine547.com/She has wines that I would have to travel a long way for and with gas prices- well- this was the way to go for me.

Now, on to the review!
The wine is from Chateau Du Hureau of the Saumur-Champigny region-their non-designated 2005 bottling (http://www.domaine-hureau.fr/uk/fichestechuk.htm)
I really like to taste wines with food, so the first night of tasting (yes, more than one, explanation to come) I put together a cheese fondue made with gruyere. My thinking was that it would help to bring out certain components, like fruit, of the wine. I opened the bottle and the aromas of the wine immediately started flowing out- good sign. A great precursor when you are about to taste-get the senses moving. Poured the glass- aromas of blackberry, vanilla, some warm spice, and dried herb came first. then a little more of the barrel wood-smoke, burnt rubber. There were no 'technical flaws', meaning volatile acidity or Brett or any other nasties. A very clean, young nose.
Tasting the wine brought a lot of hard tannins-not harsh, but young, need more time and less wood tannins. A little of the blackberry fruit came through, but was mostly overcome by the oak for me. Perfect acidity, making this potentially a good food wine. It also had a lower alcohol-very refreshing for me since I am immersed in high alcohol reds here in California......
With the cheese fondue this aspect of the wine was intensified, with the fruit totally fading away.

With this I decided I had not made the right food pairing decision and decided to cork up the wine and try it the next day with a beef and mushroom dish with egg noodles and steamed broccoli. The stay overnight I though might help to 'loosen up' the wine a little, allowing the beautiful fruit I could find to perhaps emerge. I am always the 'eternal optimist', but this was not the perfect pairing I was hoping for either. The overnight partial bottle did soften up just a tad, but the fruit still struggled to be free-the oak definitely kept it's hold!

I would love to try this bottle in a couple of more years- allow the fruit and oak to merge and become more as one.

I have said enough about my wine adventure- the Mustang Winemaker, Penny

Oh by the way, many of you may not know-I have an e-newsletter with monthly wine specials for news subscribers only and updates-www.coralmustang.com and click on the sign me up or respond to this blog.