watched my 2012 chelle den pleasant cabernet franc being harvested october 27.  a short bit of rain, but vineyard and fruit looks to be in great shape

crushed on october 28; brix=22, ph=3.31, and ta=7; sugars a little lower than anticipated; let it soak up for a day and then added some sugar to bring brix to 24

pitched yeast - uvaferm 43; primary fermentation picked up quickly; added some french oak chips during fermentation; 5-6 day fermentation

pressed on november 6 into SS tank; ph=3.49, ta=7

racked off gross lees on november 10 and malolatic bacteria (enartis Silver ML) added; good deep color; taste has notes of blackberry, raspberry, red fruits

2011 mourvedre racked into neutral french oak; 2011 syrah racked to flex tank

2010 merlot & cab franc bottled this weekend.  pleased with merlot; cab franc is pleasant, but light this cool vintage

2011 sauvignon blanc bottled saturday.  good clarity.  apple, mineral, lemon & lime characters.

2011 cab franc and mourvedre racked off gross lees and innoculated with mlf bacteria last night.   very happy with color, aroma, and taste of cab franc.  mourvedre has typical pepper and black fruit.

2011 cabernet franc and mourvedre pressed last night

picked up chelle den pleasant cab franc on monday.  fruit looks in great shape even after cold had browned canopy.  crushed monday evening. brix=23.2; ph=3.34; ta=5.5. cold soak overnight outside.  yeast (bm 4x4 & ec118) pitched last evening.

chelle den pleasant cab franc 2011

picked up 2011 mourvdere from sugarloaf mountain vineyards this past saturday morning. a beautiful day in the vineyard and rattlesnake hills.  crushed on sunday morning, brix=21.5; ph=3.48; ta=7. brought sugars to 22.9 and pitched yeast on monday (rp-15 & uvaferm 43 yeasts).

native ferment (no yeast added) of small lot

sugarloaf vineyard mourvedre 2011