The fun begins!

Grapes finally started arriving Monday morning; 1.5 tons of Chardonnay, 2 tons of Cabernet and 3 tons of Syrah. Since this would be the only day we were getting any grapes this week, time was on our side. We decided to hand sort the Chardonnay, which came in with alot of bird damage and noble rot. Steve likes to keep some of the "raisinated" grapes in the mix with the perfectly ripe grapes as they really intensify the flavors so our job was slightly easier. The Chardonnay was to sit overnight in the cellar room so we added an enzyme to start breaking down the skins to add more flavor when we crush then Tuesday. After that was finished, it was time to de-stem all of the reds. The destemmer works like this; grapes go into the auguer (the metal bin up high) and then all down into the destemmer. Most of the large stems are removed and as you can see in the pictures below, the other little stems are fished out as the grapes settle into the bins. You can either crush the grapes after they are destemmed or you can let them sit in the bins for a few days with another type of enzyme to extract color from the skins and some sulfur to keep them from oxidizing. Again, as we have the time, we are letting them sit for a few days. This batch of grapes came from an area of California that isn't known for growing grapes. In fact this is the first commercial vineyard in Walnut Creek and Steve Reynolds has decided to help make the wine for the guy who owns the vineyard. If you see any wine in the market from Kalkoven Vineyards, that's the wine I've been stompin! Hope everyone had a great weekend. I went into the city Sunday to see the Dodgers and Giants (Giants won 7-2) and to eat some Thai food. Ciao~