Robin eggs in the Chardonnay

Empty nests, nests full of eggs and chicks. I found many surprises in the Chardonnay today!

It's in my blood

Why did I get involved in the wine industry? This is a question that I am asked constantly. My answer has been the same since my interest was peaked in my first wine class, Welcome to Washington Wines, at Yakima Valley Community College. It was meant to be a one credit class to fill my credit obligation, it turned into a life changing experience. My professor, Tania Krastanova, was so passionate and somewhat forceful about wine that I fell in love with the industry before I had ever tasted wine that I didn’t actively dislike. Tradition and technology, culture and science, farming and fancy people; this industry has everything! Then I was introduced to the wines at Paradisos del Sol in Zillah, Washington. I realized that you can make wines that you like. The winegrower Paul Vandenberg told me “I make wines I like, that way if they don’t sell I can drink it myself”.

None of that part of my story has changed. But just now as I let my mind wander I put some more pieces of the puzzle together. I come from farmers and loggers, on both sides. I never even entertained the thought that my interest may be in my genes. BUT, my grandfather and great grandfather were bootleggers in the olden days. The same grandfather let me help made hard cider from our homesteader orchard when I was very little. My father still has several stills in an old chicken coop at the old homestead. My grandma on the other side of my family was raised in a New England household were her mother made homemade wine from everything she could get her hands on, including the infamous dandelion wine. Both of my aunts have always made homemade schnapps from local berries and fruits. So I have come to the realization that booze, like farming is just in my blood!

A little vid about Washington wine

I am extremely proud of the Washington wine industry and my involvement in it. I think this video is a beautiful look into the heart of our community.

http://vimeo.com/95538746

International Sales!

We just received an order for three pallets of wine to ship to India! This is obviously exciting! EXCEPT, that every single bottle that we ship to India has to have a secondary sticker with some information from the Indian government. 

 

Yesterday my cellar guy, Mac and I started the process of stickering 2,160 bottles of wine. Keep in mind that this wine has already been put in cases and taped up. So the process; cut open box, remove bottles, sticker them, put them back, re-tape then put them on a new pallet is very slow. 

When we started we called the farm manager to see if we could borrow a couple members of his crew. They were busy so we trudged forward alone. Turns out we are rock stars, so of course we finished around 10am today. Now the trick is to find something else to do to keep us busy for the rest of the day. It is a little wet outside and here in eastern Washington we will straight up melt if we get rained on, so inside jobs only! :)

Sauv Blanc kinda Mornin'

We have recently received some showers so I am out checking for powdery mildew. So far so good.

White Bluffs Sangiovese Vineyard

Unexpected cleaning day

Plan was to bottle today. I spent Friday racking barrels to a tank and yesterday filtering it to our bottling tank. But in the wine world plans are only valuable if they include several back-up plans. So my back-up plan for today is to clean our press.

Halfway through last harvest it blew the bladder inside that squishes the grapes. In the process of blowing the bladder something else got messed up so, long story short, all the boys climbing around on it to fix it got grease everywhere! So I have two pressure washers, a scrub brush, extreme determination and all day to get it sparkling for this harvest. 

Movin' wine

Throwback Thursday

Getting barrel samples for winegrower Paul Vandenberg during my first internship for Washington State University at Paradisos del Sol Winery in Zillah, Washington. 

Impulse buy!

Impulsive but much needed!

Big things ahappening at the winery!

At Claar Cellars, the winery I work for, we are almost exclusively estate vineyards. Which means that all of our fruit comes from the vineyards surrounding our winery. Since we are growing every year we are in need of more fruit. So in February the last orchard on the property was removed and most of May was consumed with planting of new vines. This means I will no longer be able to steal an apple on my way to take maturity samples from the vineyards but more money for the company can't be too bad for me!
Our social media director put this facebook album together to illustrate the process. By the way, the only help I was to this process was as photographer.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152157656025108.1073741831.115225545107&type=1&l=961e8894a8

What wine is, really.

Flyin’ high: WSU flag launched into stratosphere | WSU News Washington State University

Flyin’ high: WSU flag launched into stratosphere | WSU News Washington State University

Cheese 101

After a very long day of sitting through seminars about barrels and winemaking, I was signed up for a Cheese 101 class at our local cheese shop, Cheese Louise. The cheese monger, Alex, was amazing! His is just as curd nerd as I am cork dork. We discussed the evolution of cheese throughout history and the process of making 7 different cheeses, which we also got to taste. The cheeses included a fresh Chevre, Brie de Meaux, Taleggio, a Wisconsin Pleasant Ridge Reserve, a cheddar, Isle of Mull (also cheddar), and Colston Basset Blue Stilton. The only cheese I didn't enjoy was the Taleggio, but my boyfriend loved it so it worked out. I had a great time and will be attending Cheese 201 when it is available!

Barrel Symposium

Today I get to attend the Washington Wine Technical Group Barrel Symposium instead of going to the winery. Eight full hours of discussing oak. There are 10 speakers, and 7 different topics. The topics include; oak alternatives, microoxygenation, barrel care and maintenance, microbiology  for wine aging,  chemistry of oak alternatives and flavors, and oak barrel decisions in winemaking. There are also 3 panels loaded with exceptional Washington winemakers discussing there opinions and methods on these topics.

I always love these seminars. The Washington Wine Technical Group is a serious group focused on improving the Washington wine industry through communication and science. The learning potential is extreme as well as the networking opportunities.  Some meeting are formal like this one. Others include varietal tastings, regional tastings and an awesome 'base camp' that's main purpose was to share icky wines and discuss reasons for the ick and possible fixes.

Today the main theme seems to be 'It's Complicated! Since we are talking about barrels I will say that there are around 15,000 aromatic chemical compounds just in the wood. There are about 12 that are normally focused on in research. Some of the compounds react with the wine, some don't. There are even more compounds in wine. So although every research project provides a new piece to the puzzle there is still a long way to go to complete the puzzle. This is why winemaking is an art as well as a science. Using the science to the best of your ability and creatively filling in the blanks to make a delicious product

Busy Bob

Tough life of a winery cat.

Filling barrels.

It's a little bit more complicated but this is a cute infographic!

A Fresh Start

I started a blog on Tumblr about a year ago and I have not been real satisfied with the platform but I do really like the blogging. So I am going to start here, where I left off on that blog, that has the same name by the way. I write about what I do day to day so there are a lot of lulls if I am not doing something new or getting any prompting. I love to take pictures and there is always something great to look at in the wine world! This week is going to be fairly exciting so make sure to tune in!