Harvest Time in the Wine Country

It's a great time to be in the wine country. All the wineries are doing what they do best, making wine.

If you love wine and haven't experienced seeing wine being made, it really is worth a visit. It all begins with the pick early in the morning and then they transported to the winery to be processed for fermentation. At our winery we may have ten different types of grapes coming through at various times this month.

19th Hole Wine will be doing a Chardonnay this year from Alexander Valley. We'll be aging it in oak to give it that buttery touch that most of us enjoy. I expect we'll be bottling this wine next Summer in July or so. We expect it'll be a bargain at $20 a bottle. The previous vintages from this vineyard are award winning Chardonnays at $30 plus a bottle.

I'm really excited about a new merlot blend we're bottling this month. It is blended with 15% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon all from Sonoma County. We'll price this wine at $15 a bottle.

In the same bottling run we'll also put into bottle our Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. This is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from 2008 and we expect to sell this at $30 a bottle.

Give us a call if you'd like to watch us make the wine or if you'd like to come up to taste. Our phone number is 707-529-6458.

New wines being released from 19th Hole Winery

If you haven't yet had a chance to come to our winery, please do if you're in the area (Russian River area). It's in a beautiful area and I'd be very happy to show you around while tasting some of our wines.

This week I'm purchasing some Mendocino Chardonnay that we will have for sale in May just in time for the Summer. I'm also very happy to announce that I'll be putting into bottle some super special barrels from my 2007 vintage, a Dry Creek 100% Merlot.

We'll be at the US Open all week doing a wine maker dinner and a golf clinic or two at Poppy Hills. If you are a golfer get out and play Fort Ord's golf courses or if you can swing it, Spanish Bay.

19th Hole Wine Club Event!

It's about time for a 19th Hole Wine Club event and with the Schwab Cup in Sonoma I thought we should piggy back watching a little golf with wine tasting in some real cool places in the Sonoma Valley.

Saturday, November 1, 2008, we'll start the day meeting at Deerfield Ranch Winery in Kenwood at 11:00 a.m.. You'll see where we produce 19th Hole Wine and walk the caves where we store the wine. You'll taste some of our new wines and some of the releases like our Cabernet Sauvignon and our tasty Red Blend.

Heading back toward Sonoma, about two miles, we'll have lunch at one of my favorite destinations and gems of the Sonoma Valley, Olive and Vine in the the Jack London Village in Glen Ellen. You'll also get to see and taste a few other treats next door from vendors in the village who make chocolate, cheese and olive oil (this is why I live here). About another mile down is parking for the golf tournament and we'll shuttle in to event where you see up close Fred Funk, Jay Haas and Jeff Sluman play flawless golf. You may stay until play finishes, about six o' clock, or leave whenever you wish.

The cost for the day is $60 and this covers the wine tasting, lunch and the ticket for the golf tournament.

Call me if you'd like to attend and I'll save you a ticket.

707-529-6458

Making Wine in Sonoma

In many places in the wine country as you drive or walk around you'll get the sweet and distinct fragrance of the fermentation taking place in the surrounding wineries. I love each year being a part of this wine making process. It has so many interesting and satisfying steps and I'm happy to share some of those with you.

We just wrapped up our harvest and now we wait for the grapes to turn its sugars into alcohol. This year we made 250 cases (or 3,000 bottles).

I shot a couple videos for the fun of it and for you to enjoy what I am lucky enough to experience. Making wine is truely a joy (well most of the time). I love to visit the vineyards during the year and watch the grapes grow. Tasting them as their getting closer to picking time.

The barrel room is also a favorite of mine, the combination of oak and wine is something I'm never tired of. I would love to have more meals in the cellar surrounded by the abundance of wine and the enticing smells (keep an eye out, I'll be doing a dinner in the cave at some point and everyone will be invited).

Pulling wine from the barrel with a wine thief (glass gadget that can sucks in wine for tasting) is something I do and relish during the entire year. It's a rough job but someone has to do it. You really do have to stay on top of the wine as it's on it's journey to be a finished wine. Is it oaked enough? How's the acid levels?

At the end of a long day, you pull a bottle from the past, pop it open and toast all it took to make that tasty glass of wine.