Grand Opening of the Tasting Room!

This weekend is the official Grand Opening of In Vino Veritas - my new tasting room @ 118 North St in Healdsburg. Both Saturday and Sunday I will be there wine and food in hand - pretty exciting for a small producer like myself and in these times. Hope you can make it out - stop in and let me know you saw this!

So in anticipation of a big weekend and harvest about 4 weeks away, I am trying to relax a little. Right at the moment I am sitting on the deck with a glass of Point Reyes Blanc de Noir bubbly, looking out at my vineyard and making plans to vacation through Oregon. Wine tasting will be mandatory- always great for me to see what the rest of the world is doing from time to time.

Speaking of the vineyard- it is looking really good! The growth is looking balanced, berries smaller than I am used to- but just those two factors are making it look like a good year for Tempranillo winemaking- very excited to see the outcome. Frank is saying that it looks like harvest for this vineyard will be the end of September as we are not seeing the berries change color yet- unusual for this varietal.

Well, I have shrimp to put on the barbie and more bubbly to drink - more to come as harvest is coming! Hope to see you at the tasting room,
The Mustang Winemaker

I Spy Wine!

Yippeeee! Coral Mustang has been spied by the Wine Spies http://thewinespies.com/
You need to check them out-a new wine everyday-found or discovered stealthily by the Agents. Their mission, should they agree to take it, is to find great wines that are not 'mainstream' and bring them to you along with great information about the wine.

This is a busy time of the year- grapes are growing and events are fermenting. The Mustang Winemaker will be seen at :

COPIA- Aug8/9, 2008 for Grapes indigenous to Spain- - -Grown into Wines in the USA- - -Informative Seminars, Featuring a Walk-around Winetasting August 8/9, 1:00 – 4:30 pm
http://www.tapasociety.org/

Family Winemakers of California 18th Annual Tasting
Sunday, August 24, and Monday, August 25
Festival Pavilion
Fort Mason Center, San Francisco

The event at COPIA will be all about Iberian varietals-tasting included. This will be a fun and educational weekend, put this one on your calendar!

Family Winemakers is a great organization for small wineries like myself. They spend much time working on legislation that help wineries and growers. They never rest! This event features many wineries and the chance to taste a variety of wine in one place. Please stop by and say hello!

Well, off to the wines- stay tuned- a video on disgorging sparkling wine is in the works-Cheers

Happy Holidays- Looking ahead

It's that time of the year when many of us in the wine biz are looking ahead to where our business is going- where can we go, what can we do to make stay ahead of the game. One of the areas that I am very focused on is blogging! There are some great blogs out there from wine lovers, winemakers, wine retailers, wineries............what a great way to get info about what we are drinking or not. I am now following several blogs, as can be seen from the side list, and some more that I will be adding. Keep watching- I think I'm getting the hang of this and liking it!

So, the New Year is almost upon us- hard to believe. In a few moments I will be going out to taste the wines from 2007- this will be the last time this year. The 2007 Tres Palmeras is coming along beautifully, very complex- it is a 'field blend' of grapes from my own vineyard. The majority of the blend is Tempranillo with a good smattering of Grenache and Carignane. Then there are little bits of Cab, Merlot, Zin, Petite Sirah- all adding their contribution. There is warm spice, cassis, blackberry, blueberry, some plum, and a hint of dried herb.

The 2007 Vista Creek is all Tempranillo. This wine just finished it's second or malolactic fermentation-just in time for the new year. It is in a bit of a 'dumb' stage as it is trying to get itself together from fermenting. Wine is funny this way-it is always evolving- the trick is finding at what point that evolution has peaked. Hence one of the many challenges in winemaking.

On to the New Year- may you all have a prosperous, wonderful, fulfilling year!
Until Next Week-
Cheers to good food, good friends and good wine- The Mustang Winemaker

WineQ has signed on the Mustang Winemaker

Great News- you can now find my wines-Coral Mustang- on Wine Q! http://www.wineq.com/browse/wineries/17
You put together your own wine club by selecting the wines that you want, very cool for those of you that like a selction of wines from several sources.

Lot's of news on the Rose' front. It is summer and it is getting hot out there so the press has turned to writing about them. It has been interesting to see how many new ones are out there now as they are becoming acceptable as a 'real' wine. By the way, I am having a great deal on my 2005 Rose' if anyone is interested- free shipping in California, and free shipping for a full case anywhere else that I can ship to, which is expanding. Something I will be working on very hard to bring the wines to as many people as possible.

Which brings me to the direct shipping laws- wow- what a mess! Not much more I can say about that........www.freethegrapes.org does have more to say- check it out.

I have been tasting through some Spanish Tempranillo that has been in my cellar collecting dust for the last year. It has given me some perspective on some regions that I was not very familiar with. Very fun- I will post some of my comments on http://catavino.net/, a great blog about Spanish wines.

Well back to making wine, Cheers to good food, good wine, and good friends- The Mustang Winemaker

Rose' Season Part 2- and of course,Tempranillo

Well we are well into the season here in California- nice weather! I am running into the notion that Rose' needs to be very young. If it is not 2006 vintage, then it must be too old.

Most of my customers are asking for 2006 vintage, but I have to say that the 2005's, my own included, is tasting absolutely incredible. Part of this may be due to the use of certain varietals that can stand the test of time. I say this as it seems that Rose' made from Pinot seems to tire and turn orange, whereas Grenache, Syrah, and Tempranillo don't. In my opinion some of these even get better! Look at some of the vintages of French Rose' out on the shelves- not many 2006.

And even with all of the press that Rose' seems to be getting, it is still a tough sell. It is too sweet, too dry, only good when it is hot out- still some rough bumps before acceptance of one of the most versatile wine types out there.

So a little plug- I have an incredible 2005 Rose' still for sale(www.coralmustang.com). I have had to release the 2006 and I hope that this time next year I will have a 2007- the verdict is still out on whether it makes sense to continue making what I feel is a great deal for this versatile, yummy wine.

I am a glutton for punishment, I make Tempranillo, which is also a hard sell. But I can feel the excitement that is being generated by those that are looking for something different. The 'tipping point' is coming, I know it. Then again, you need to know that I am the 'eternal optimist'.......................untill next week, cheers to good food, good wine and good friends- the Mustang Winemaker