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Despite the Corona Virus scare, my wife and I went to the "Behind the Cellar Door" event in Amador county this weekend. In a weekend of marathon wine tasting, note taking, and some spitting, we managed to hit 13 Wineries, including many new to us. We took 2 other couples with us and had a great time. Unless you're local, many of the places we went are not widely known. Here's a list where we visited (see if you recognize any!)

Il' Gioiello (One of our long term favorites-)
South Slope Vineyards (New kids on the block, really good Barbera and Syrah)
Rombauer (Great Sonoma Producer, new second property in Amador-outstanding Zinfandel)
Dillion (super small family place--purchased Syrah futures there-really good price/quality)
Karmere--(Mob scene, good barrel tasting, great Barbera)
Bray-(Nice Tempranillo and several interesting ports)
Feist--(Available some Costcos)
Uphill Vinyards (Enjoyed the Primitivo)
Le Mulet Rouge (winery on Red Mule Street, hence the name, very nice wine/food pairing)
Drytown Cellars (Surprisingly excellent winery hiding in plain sight. I've been going up to the area for 20+ years and this was my first stop-will likely join the wine club)
Morse-(Probably rare back East, and most production goes to the Wine Club, but maybe THE BEST Amador winemaker-)

So over 2 days, this was a pretty full effort! Got to try a lot of new wineries, bought some nice wines, and several futures (which I virtually never do), and visit several new places for us.

The barrel tasting at Drytown:

831CCFBD-2598-471E-B958-C66CF91BEDB8.jpeg
 
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Despite the Corona Virus scare, my wife and I went to the "Behind the Cellar Door" event in Amador county this weekend. In a weekend of marathon wine tasting, note taking, and some spitting, we managed to hit 13 Wineries, including many new to us. We took 2 other couples with us and had a great time. Unless you're local, many of the places we went are not widely known. Here's a list where we visited (see if you recognize any!)

Il' Gioiello (One of our long term favorites-)
South Slope Vineyards (New kids on the block, really good Barbera and Syrah)
Rombauer (Great Sonoma Producer, new second property in Amador-outstanding Zinfandel)
Dillion (super small family place--purchased Syrah futures there-really good price/quality)
Karmere--(Mob scene, good barrel tasting, great Barbera)
Bray-(Nice Tempranillo and several interesting ports)
Feist--(Available some Costcos)
Uphill Vinyards (Enjoyed the Primitivo)
Le Mulet Rouge (winery on Red Mule Street, hence the name, very nice wine/food pairing)
Drytown Cellars (Surprisingly excellent winery hiding in plain sight. I've been going up to the area for 20+ years and this was my first stop-will likely join the wine club)
Morse-(Probably rare back East, and most production goes to the Wine Club, but maybe THE BEST Amador winemaker-)

So over 2 days, this was a pretty full effort! Got to try a lot of new wineries, bought some nice wines, and several futures (which I virtually never do), and visit several new places for us.

The barrel tasting at Drytown:

View attachment 59255
At the prices marked on the barrels, I would leave a poor man.
 
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So the price you can't see, if you got a case of each one, you got 4 cases for $550. So we did that and will split between 4 of us. The Reserve Barbera and Syrah were especially good, all were terrific.
$12/bottle (actually a little less) I would have been glad I was flying Southwest Airlines. Two bags for free so my wife and I only have carry-on.
 
Today I’m hating coronavirus more than ever. Not for the health risks, panic, bloody markets, no sports, Tom Hanks—- it all sucks. But now I’m directly affected. Yea I know people are dying—-but I’m gonna vent anyway!
A 6month job ready to start Monday. Tons of prep involved and hoops to jump thru w/ hospitals. 1yr+ in the works. Ready to rock n roll. Permits, phase 1 material, ICRA, endless procedural BS— all handled. Now today I’m told to take a hike.
“Beginning 3/13 All Temple facilities will be essential personnel only. Will re-evaluate in May”. Oof. Gutshot.

Backup plan. Have another nice job as a sub and able to start it early. At the VA hospital. Order to start submitted. —-no dice. Same deal.
“No construction indefinitely.”

Some degenerate eats a bat in China and now I’m out of work. And ain’t no “financial relief” in this industry. Thanks asshole
 
Just got back from the Eastern Winery Expo. Signed up for one session on yeasts which discussed what they referred to as ambient fermentation (natural), non sac yeasts and Anchor yeasts by Scott Labs which had multiple strains that react at different times. They primarily discussed the Alchemy line. I bid on a silent auction and won a 500 gram pack of HD S135 Fermentis yeast. It's a fast fermenting red wine yeast. I have no use for 500 grams so if anyone wants to research it and wants some let me know. I'll vacuum pack it and send it. All in all it was a lot of fun and very informative and I had a chance to play a new golf course.
 
Sorry to hear that AJ, we have a health care facility getting ready to start and I bet they wish they had given us the go ahead sooner so they could be open for business.

We’ll see. Just airing it out now since it’s got me all heated. But I’m a big believer in things just having a tendency to work themselves out. I’ll hustle. Something will break and will end up finding some work. I know I’ll be able to stretch a few weeks worth of small jobs while pursuing some other stuff.
 
Very sorry to hear, AJ. Things are getting lousy all around. I will likely be out of work in about a month. Knew this was coming and have a few good leads, along with some return/final interview requests. However, things are slowing and I'm afraid I'll be told they are on hold until this blows over.
 
Just got back from the Eastern Winery Expo. Signed up for one session on yeasts which discussed what they referred to as ambient fermentation (natural), non sac yeasts and Anchor yeasts by Scott Labs which had multiple strains that react at different times. They primarily discussed the Alchemy line. I bid on a silent auction and won a 500 gram pack of HD S135 Fermentis yeast. It's a fast fermenting red wine yeast. I have no use for 500 grams so if anyone wants to research it and wants some let me know. I'll vacuum pack it and send it. All in all it was a lot of fun and very informative and I had a chance to play a new golf course.

The more I learn about high end winemakers the more I’m noticing say they go native. proven high quality grapes have a lot less risk involved, starts slow allowing maceration, and actually heard one winemaker say it’s “honestly just easier for his tiny crew and one less thing to worry about.”
I’d think going sac to non-sacc to anchor would require a whole lot more monitoring/testing/control then a home winemaker can realistically give. (Although I do Think I’m gonna get the YAN test kit this year) That multi yeast deal Probably let’s them lengthen the time a good bit I bet and really max out the benefits from yeast selection. Cool stuff.
Btw- Hope ya didn’t hack up those new fairways too much!
 
The more I learn about high end winemakers the more I’m noticing say they go native. proven high quality grapes have a lot less risk involved, starts slow allowing maceration, and actually heard one winemaker say it’s “honestly just easier for his tiny crew and one less thing to worry about.”
I’d think going sac to non-sacc to anchor would require a whole lot more monitoring/testing/control then a home winemaker can realistically give. (Although I do Think I’m gonna get the YAN test kit this year) That multi yeast deal Probably let’s them lengthen the time a good bit I bet and really max out the benefits from yeast selection. Cool stuff.
Btw- Hope ya didn’t hack up those new fairways too much!

Probably wasn't clear but there were 3 speakers talking the three different approaches, natural, non sac to sac and Anchor.
 
Giving the Foodsaver a workout today. Stocked up on meat and need to split everything up and freeze. Got enough charcoal for a couple weeks. Only thing we need to worry about at this point is milk and fresh veggies. Hunkering down...
 
I'm about to leave The University of Alabama in Huntsville for a pre-planned half-day off. Beginning Monday, we are on remote classes so students and faculty will NOT be on campus. BUT WE STAFF WILL!!! lol.

Alabama has just reported its first confirmed COVID-19 case but I know there are thousands. Fewer than 50 Alabamians have even been tested. There are four exposed individuals in Huntsville not sick but self quarantined and one man who came back from Status 3 European countries and got sick who is awaiting a test result. His doc had to have the sample privately tested as he could not find anyone in state who would even test it.

Based on the symptoms, I believe I already had COVID-19 in January. All this and more, including many socioeconomic factors, are why I worry that the Southeast is going to be hit very hard.

Have a great weekend!
 

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