Merry Christmas!!!

The holiday season is in full swing and Earl is getting excited to share good times and good wine with friends and family.  We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

California Grapes

Picked up our fresh California grapes this morning and went straight to work crushing and pressing them.  Two lugs (72lbs) of Cabernet Sauvignon and 1 lug (36lbs) of Merlot were picked up from Washington Winemakers and mechanically crushed/destemmed on site.  Back home we went to work pressing the grapes to get a beautiful rose-color.  It will be a few months until the wine is ready to drink, but after some "lessons learned" from Harvest Fest, we have high hopes for this batch!!

Yo Ho Ho and a Bucket of Grapes

The First Annual Harvest Festival was indeed an Event!  Our neighbor, Benjamin set (perhaps) a new world record for youngest grape stomper, nearly 108lbs of grapes were manually destemmed and quality inspected by our guests, and Early Wines "Rin Zin Zin" came in 1st place in the latest Double Blind Taste Test!!!

Final Results:
1st   Early Wines "Rin Zin Zin" ($9)
2nd  Truett-Hurst ($20)
3rd   Montoya ($14)
4th   Bonterra ($10)
5th   Ravenswood ($7)

Picking Grapes

We had a wonderful time meeting Bob White of Quail Vineyards in Manchester, MD.  He generously loaded us up with ~100lbs of Sangiovese and Barbera grapes.  We also got a personal tour of the vineyard where we picked up samples of 4 other types of grapes to show back at the party (Cabernet Sauvignon, Chancellor, Pinot Grigio, and Nebbiolo).  Next year we hope to be back for even more delicous grapes!

Harvest Fest 2012

It's our first fall season here at Early Wines, and what better way to celebrate the Harvest Season than with a First Annual Harvest Festival!?  We'll be ordering 200+lbs of California grapes and 100+ from a local vineyard for...wait for it...good ol' fashioned foot stomping!

And the winner is...

With six wines and seven judges, the selection of Meridian was unanimous as the winner.  There was significant debate over the rankings, but the results tallied up as:

 

1st Place: Meridian ($6)

2nd Place: AbbeyVille ($13)
3rd Place: Apex ($17, 91 pts)
4th Place: Trellis ($6)
5th Place: Duboeuf Pouilly Fuisse ($18)
6th Place: Dingo ($10)

Despite finishing last (Four 6th place, two 4th place, and one 2nd place votes), the judges commented that all the wines were very drinkable.  Dingo was described as, "A classic chardonnay: full bodied, oaky and buttery."  While it may not have been the style prefed by the judges, the buttery character of Dingo was created by the "sur lies" technique used in the making of the Chardonnay.  If you like heavy Chardonnay's, a "winter white" as one judge called it, you'll love the Dingo!

Taste Test: Results to Come

Early Wines Chardonnay will go up against some stiff competition this weekend:

• Meridian Chardonnay – California (2011) $6
• Trellis Chaonnay - Sonoma County  $6
• AbbeyVille Chardonnay – Napa Valley (2010) $13
• Apex Chardonnay – 91 pts  – Yakima Valley, Washington (2010)  $17
• Duboeuf Pouilly Fuisse Oak, White Burgundy – France (2010) $18 

 

Assessed by returning judges Jeff, Kristen, and Kyler; we will also joined by Jim and Jeremy - flown in from Nasheville for the competition.