Coral Mustang is on Vator.TV

First off - Yipppeeeee, it's raining! We are still in a serious drought, so every little drop is a blessing. Check out my website www.coralmustang.com contact page to see the weather at the vineyard- it's very cool!

So- last week went to a great event in San Francisco -Wine 2.0 . I was at this event last year and will be at future events. This is a great group that is helping the wine folks get up to speed with technology. I brought along the new Netbook that my husband got for me-so that I am not lugging around the 'huge' laptop. I set it up so that people could see my website, order, and then Twitter live to the folks there and on Twitter. I am not a true geek-but am bordering on such........

One of the sponsors was vator.tv - the Voice of the Entrepreneur. Great group if you are starting or maintaining a business- they have some great stuff. They were doing interviews with the principals of Wine 2.0 and decided to do some filming and tasting at the Coral Mustang and Terra Savia table - here is the film they did : Vator.TV

A funny thing happened at this event of tech/wine people- people were checking out my netbook-for their own use- kind of different! But it also got my wine and website out there-wish I could find a coral colored netbook.........

Vineyard update : the vines are growing like gangbusters! So far growth is looking pretty even and looking healthy. Now the next part of growing grapes that keeps me awake- frost danger.....this is what caused most of the havoc last year. The leaves and shoots are very susceptible to damage at this point-enough to prevent grapes from happening. Lots of checking on weather reports and hoping that Mother Nature wants to stay warm this year!

Well, back to the cellar and taxes..........the Mustang Winemaker, Penny

More Harvest 2008

Good Morning- another day of harvest! Harvest started for me on Aug 8th- so if I am sounding a little weary, you would be correct.

This is a tough time- trying to keep track of all of the wines that are fermenting, finished fermenting, need to go to barrel, racking, ML inoculations, as well as more grapes coming in that need to be processed and begin their life change to wine.

It is also evaluation time for those wines that have completed their journey, specifically the ones that will become sparkling wines. Blending is already taking place for these wines as well. I have to say so far these wines are turning out well- good year for sparklers.


The cool weather has created a lull in the amount of grapes coming in, but I know that the next rush is coming, especially if the days warm up. Right now, the grapes are enjoying the perfect weather to bring about real maturity. But they are also on the edge of being tapped for energy for the season. Leaves are starting to drop signaling that the season is coming to a close- not full on yet, again due to the weather.

Back to the winery- Cheers,
The Mustang Winemaker

Will the smoke never end? and Big Sale- the Wine Spies spy Coral Mustang!

Another interesting year for grape growers. There is a lot of smoke from the fires in Northern California and where I am in Hopland, it has been downright oppressive!

Grapes are progessing- in fact Tres Palmeras, the Coral Mustang vineyard, is in veraison-Yippee! This is the signal that ripening is on its way, the wakeup call to get things in order for the next vintage. Frank and I will be out making decisions on crop load, what to drop, water, more leaf pulling......so far not seeing any slowing from less sunlight due to the smoke. But there is more smoke on the horizon and some 'concerns' about what this may mean in the way of flavor profile. Ah, the mysteries still to be investigated.

ALERT! On the sales front, I want to let you know about the Wine Spies! In my last blog, I talked about them discovering Coral Mustang Wines. For only 24-hours, beginning on MONDAY morning (midnight Pacific), The Wine Spies will feature a small quantity this wine at one-time only price. The wine will run on Monday only and they are only making a limited number of bottles available, so be sure to take advantage of this special offer early.

To order, click on the big blue button with the countdown timer on it. It's first come first served and when they are out, they are out, so you may want to hurry- http://thewinespies.com/

Wine Spies Operatives (what they call their customers) tend to buy up wines quickly.

As an added special for our friends, The Wine Spies will provide Free Ground Shipping PLUS on orders of six (6) or more bottles. Just enter the promotion code 'SPYNOW' on the order screen and your savings will be applied at final checkout.

As another added special, they'll throw in a few surprises, including a copy of Imbibe Magazine, a great magazine about food and drink culture that The Wine Spies write a regular column for. If you’ve tasted this wine previously, please do us a favor and post a review on The Wine Spies. It’ll help other wine-lovers get to know our wines. Also, please feel free to share this special offer with friends and family by forwarding the email now.

Finally, be sure to sign up for their Daily Dispatch to learn about their daily wine sales and gain access to exclusive wine deal and savings codes. Also, you never know when The Wine Spies will feature one of our wines again.

Cheers to good friends, good food, and Family,
The Mustang Winemaker, Penny

P.S. For a complete list of states where The Wine Spies can ship, please visit their website. This offer is only good through The Wine Spies and it expires 07/28/08 @ 11:59:59pm. If you have any questions about placing an order on their site, or if you have general questions about their service, please email them @ info@thewinespies.com

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

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