The Fast and the Furious Harvest

I am totally immersed in harvest - the grapes keep a comin' and I keep a pressin'. The past month of harvest has been primarily grapes for Sparkling wine and we are just beginning to see some of the 'Still' wine grapes, like Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc start to trickle in. For those of us that make bubbly, harvest starts about one month ahead of those that do more of the still. Since the winery I work with does both, it makes for a very long harvest- about 2 1/2 to three months.

Speaking of Sparkling wine, my dayjob with Rack and Riddle has partnered up with CrushPad to make bubbly- whoohooo! When they were here with their first load of grapes they did a video interview with me about the process - CrushPad Sparkling
This was a fun day with them and am looking forward to working with them on this project.

So far the grapes are looking pretty good. Yields are down from what was anticipated due to the weather patterns of the year. Clusters are undersized or have shot berries for some varietals, but quality is good. It is always interesting to me to see how the weather patterns effect the vineyards- rain or heat at critical times of growth can have major effects on the grapes- specifically at budbreak and bloom. Since not all grapes set bud or bloom at the same time, every varietal is effected differently, sometimes escaping what has effected another varietal. Last year was a good example of this- some vineyards wiped out, others not effected-an extreme example.

I have promised videos of harvest - still working on that. Today I have a bit of a lull between grapes, yeast inoculations, barrels, pumpovers, rackings, and the endless paperwork.........

Cheers, the Mustang Winemaker, Penny

Grape Harvest Over?

The grape vines think it is!
This is what the vineyards are looking like now, getting ready for the big sleep of winter. There is still a little green, but for the most part the reds and yellows are kickin' in. Where I am in Hopland there is another color- brown- due to the frost damage that happened here after the vines were already putting out their crop. Mother Nature was tough this year on growers. For the first two months of harvest I was getting the phone calls of "well, thought I was going to have 50 tons, only have 10"- happened across the board with large and small. There are some small wineries that didn't have grapes to bring in.

Hopland is in Mendocino County, California. The smoke here was horrendous with the fires that were happening north of us- settling into the valleys. I have to admit, when I first heard the words 'smoke taint' - I poo-poo'd it as another ploy for some kind of wine services. But now I have seen it first hand- it does exist! It is interesting how it has exibited itseld in different varities. In some wines it is a beautiful smoky oak, in others a burnt rubber that can also be found in some french oak barrels. There has been a running 'joke' that there will not be the need for as much oak- between the smoke taint and the lack of grapes there may be some truth to this.

On a different note- I had a suggestion form a fellow vintner to promote the seahorse. I love seahorses- they are fascinating creatures! I have my seahorse logo now featured on logo wear at CafePress- go to http://www.cafepress.com/coralmustang
For every shirt, hat, whatever, I will be donating $2.00 to Project Seahorse (http://seahorse.fisheries.ubc.ca/). This is a great organization dedicated to the preservation of seahorses and their habitat. Some of you know that my first major in college was marine biology. I went a different course, but my heart is still with the ocean.

Time to get back to fermenting wine, but dreamin' seahorses,
The Mustang Winemaker

Harvest, Harvest, and more Harvest

I am five weeks into harvest and it looks like the next big rush of grapes is about to begin. Since I work with sparkling wine as well as still, it can result in a very long harvest and usually in two big groups. First is the Pinot noir for Sparkling, then Chardonnay. Short lull, then some Sauvignon blanc, Pinot noir, and smatterings of Chardonnay for still wine. Now the rush is beginning for Zin, Cabernet, some Petite sirah, and some other fun grapes that are going to be new to me this year like Orange Muscat. I love the wine from this grape, but this will be the first time I will ge to work with it. One of the great things about working in a Custom crush winery-lots of new experiences!

Saturday I will be picking my Tres Palmeras vineyard- I will be sure to take pics, especially since I was not able to with the Paso Robles grapes. By the way, these grapes are perking along quite well-which I could share the smells, one of the many things that makes harvest special.

And it is not just the fermentations; it is the smell of the earth early in the morning in the vineyards, the smell of the grapes in the bins, the tractors, and just the smell of Fall- hard to explain unless you have done it or are in it. This is the romance part that gets the press over what it really takes to make wine. But it is also the part that keeps me from remembering how much hard work it takes to make a bottle of wine-

It's 6:30a, time to get back to the winery,
Cheers from the Mustang Winemaker

Tempranillo Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the first day of the Mustang Winemakers grapes! Keep your eyes open along the 101 from Paso Robles to Hopland for the white half ton bins with the seahorses on them-you will see my esposo driving the grapes the 5-6 hour drive up.

I will take pics and post them over the weekend. Then the real fun begins- crush and destem to a stainless steel tank. Then cold soak for a couple of days. Next is the yeast - T73 a Valencia strain that works nicely for me. A week of great smelling fermentation. When finished the juice will be drained and the skins press lightly to about 1.2 bar depending on the taste and mouthfeel.

So, let the games begin!
The Mustang Winemaker- happy, happy, happy

2008 Harvest Update- Coral Mustang and More

Well, it seems like forever since I blogged!
Just got in from another day of harvest with my day job at Rack and Riddle. So far things are going well. Crop is light, but the fruit coming in looks good.

Friday will be my second harvest of my own grapes at R&R- yippee! Vista Creek Vineyards grapes clocked in at 23.5 this last weekend, so Friday I am calling them in. This is always an exciting time for me- a new vintage. Even though I have worked with this vineyard for almost 5 years now, it is like a new start every year.

I hope to bring in a Russian River vineyard the following week- a new vineyard for me that I have been watching for four years and patiently waiting for. My own Tres Palmeras vineyard should be ready next week as well. This will be the third year that I have gotten these grapes and this looks like it will be a good one.

I will be trying out some new barrels on this vintage-experimentation is good. Since I am working with several clients I have had the opportunity to try some barrels that I might not otherwise have been able to try out. Nice when you can see how they work on other wines before you try them on your own!

I have gotten a little time to do some phone video'ing and when I learn what I need to do to download them, I will be posting them- hopefully this weekend.

The weather has been perfect for the grapes- a few HOT days thrown in, which gets everyone moving wondering if the vines that go into shutdown during those hot days will recover. With the drought conditions, this can be real concern. A lot of watering going on.

Time to get some shuteye- 5a comes early,
The Mustang Winemaker, Penny

Feels Like Spring!

Let's hope this is just a breather before more rain- we are starting to move below average for the year. But it is still early and as a winemaker you learn not to make any predictions this early-weather, crop load, quality- Mother Nature can do so many things between now and harvest!

But for now I am thinking about those days when I can catch some rays and drink.........yes, pink wine. Better yet, St. Patricks day is coming and a perfect pairing with corned beef and cabbage- yep, Rose'- it will be there on my table! And if you are in need- I can supply it- http://www.coralmustang.com/. While there, sign up for the newsletter where every month is a wine special only for subscribers.

Now for wine news: a couple of weeks ago the preliminary 2007 Grape Crush Report came out. It is full of numbers; number of tons crushed, comparison numbers, cost numbers- for anyone into stats this is the grape publication for you, www.nass.usda.gov/ca. Being somewhat of a statistical geek I read this to see where the state of the grape for wine. You can find out how many tons were used for other grape products as well, but too much info for me. My big interest the last couple of years is to see what is happening with Tempranillo. To my delight there were approximately 1200 more tons harvested this last year compared to 2006. That means about 76,000 more cases produced if it all went to wine- not bad. And if I figured it right it was about a 25% increase from the year before- woohoooo! The word is out- Tempranillo is making the news. In fact there was a recent article in the Ukiah Daily Journal about Tempranillo - http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_8407024?source=email.

March is a special month for me- it is my birthday month. I like to try to celebrate the entire month, try something different, learn something new. It is also the month that the Family Winemakers of California does an annual event in Pasadena and the Mustang Winemaker will be making her debut there this year. This is a great time of year to talk with retailers, restaurateurs, brokers, and distributors because this is when they do their purchasing- the big holidays are over and time to restock!

It is tax time and I hear the IRS calling my name- so until next week, cheers to good food, good wine and good friends- the Mustang Winemaker

Shhhhh- the Grapevines are Going to Sleep

The short days of winter are here along with dropping temperatures. This has prompted the vineyards to drop their leaves, eat less, and go into hibernation mode. It is always beautiful to watch as the leaves turn color and litter the ground. So ends another year for the grapevines. It won't be long before they will awaken for another year to bring us one of the pleasures in life- wine.
This is also the time for many celebrations-some religious, some pagan, some just for thanks that we are here- a time to reflect.
This past harvest has brought some incredible wines. This year has brought me some incredible opportunities for me as a winemaker. I am now getting the chance to work with a nice spectrum of wines and the many challenges that go with starting from scratch. The sparkling wines will be following next harvest. Pretty exciting!Sometimes you never know where your life will lead you with all of the twists and turns.
I have finally sent out my first newsletter-if anyone is interested please email me or you can signup on my webpage. Speaking of webpage-I hope to have some updates soon. With the new opportunites I have not done the updates that I had envisioned.....Stay tuned!
I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving-until next week,Cheers to good food, good wine and good friends-The Mustang Winemaker

Harvest has Ended and the Wines are Incredible!

Back from a very crazy harvest year- construction going on as grapes are being crushed, barrels of wine dodging construction workers- craziness! But I have survived what is shaking out to be an incredible year for wine.

My day job is with a custom crush facility. This means that I got to work with many varietals and from a variety of areas. This was a cool growing season allowing the grapes to mature slowly, but it almost looked like it might be too slow for some cooler growing areas. Mother Nature did bring in enough warm waether, just a little bit of rain to give a little boost in a drought year, and, WOW- grapes at their best! I heard one winemaker say that he thought this might be the best year in the last 30 that he has seen. I can only go back 21 years, but I have to say this is right up there.

So, now that have come up out of the pomice of harvest, I would like to let you know that I have finally composed a newsletter. I will be putting this out monthly and will be attaching some kind of wine special to them. If interested you can signup on the website- www.coralmustang.com

This month's special is 2005 Rose for the holidays- no rolling of eyes- this is the perfect holiday wine! Goes with Turkey for Thanksgiving, then if you are into ham for Christmas- the best pairing.

Well, it is great to be back to the 'real' world.
Until next week- Cheers- the Mustang Winemaker

I'm back- Tempranillo Tango is alive!

After a much too long hiatus, I am back! I have just transitioned into a new day job to try and keep Coral Mustang Wines alive. About a month ago now I left J Vineyards and Winery- actually I was replaced- nepotism is alive. First time I've have had this happen to me. My naivete has always led me to believe that hard work and loyalty would be worth something and get one ahead in life............I'm old enough to know that business is business, but my optimism always takes over.

This has been a fortunate turn of events as it made me get out there and see where else I could use my skills. I am now part and partner to a brand new venture! Very exciting- retrofitting an empty warehouse into a working winery- before harvest- this year- in fact in a couple of weeks! So far it is looking good. Press and destemmer are in, floor finished tomorrow, then tanks will arrive. Most of the lab has been set up, then there is the myriad of paperwork- yikes- gotta love the government. This new facility will also allow me to make my own wines on site, which will make my life a lot easier.

With all of that going on, I have just arrived in Paso Robles where the grapes I source for my wines are located. It's a five hour drive from where I live, but this is a great vineyard. I am going to be checking on the sugar levels and taste lots of berries to get a feel for what I'm in for this year.

Also this year I will get a chance to see how my own vineyard grapes will be for wine. So far the fruit is pretty tasty, which is a good start.

Well back to work on paperwork for the new venture-see you next week!

The Mustang Winemaker