Winemaking
It all begins with creative inspiration. It’s not too different from envisioning a painting or writing a song. The moment can come at any time and in any place. It might be that you’re sampling tapas and sipping a Rioja in San Sebastián or eating lasagna with a Barbaresco in Boston. Something about the wine calls to you.
Once we have a vision for a particular wine, we start the search for the perfect vineyards and grapes. Since we are blessed to live in a region that produces some of the world’s best fruit, we have hundreds of choices. We visit the vineyards and talk to the growers. Then we sample and experiment with dozens of blends. You’re never certain of what you will discover. That’s the adventure.
We all know that wine is a living thing and it evolves dramtically from the vine to the bottle. Mother Nature is temperamental so you never really know how the soil, weather, and time will influence the grapes. In the end, you take what nature gives and you “paint your canvas.”
We make our wines in the old fashioned way: by hand. We carefully sort the grapes and are meticulous about environmental controls. Working in small batches, we then seek the perfect fermentation path. By sampling each batch with dozens of yeasts, we discover the ideal flavor profile. Once the wine is nearly dry, we select the best French oak barrels for aging 12 to 36 months. New and neutral oak is used in multiple combinations.
The art of creating a final blend for a wine is pure pleasure. We trial dozens of combinations seeking the ideal nose, mouth feel, and finish. When we get it right, it's like really good sex.
Everyone has a siren song. What’s yours?
