Wines I'm Making: 2020 Sangiovese Rosé Labeled

 

Finally got around to making labels for our 2020 rosé of Sangiovese. The grapes at harvest were dusted with ash from the wildfires in August and again late in September. I was concerned about the possibility of smoke taint, but the wine seems to be fine. I lightly rinsed the grapes before crushing and pressing them and they spent only a short time on the skins.

I've heard, however, that smoke taint can develop over a few months, but I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful also that our Cabernet grapes from 2020 will not have been tainted, but we won't know for sure until next autumn when it comes time to bottle that wine (so far, it tastes fine). Next winemaking chore will be pruning the vines. I also want to post an image of our 2019 Cabernet, which I've just labeled. 

Wines I'm Making: Wine Labels (June 18, 2013)

I finally got around to designing, printing, and affixing labels to our 2012 Sangiovese Rosé and the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc. I created a suitably sunny label for the rosé, which normally disappears over the summer and a somewhat more sober and serious-looking label for the 2011 Cabernet wine. I will bottle the 2012 Cabernet sometime before or just after harvest this year, so, in the next couple of months. Right now, the biggest chore continues to be cleaning weeds and debris from under the vines so I can get the electric fence up and running again and get the nets on before the berries start showing enough color to interest the raccoons...

Wines I'm Making: 2011 Sangiovese Rosé Labeled

I finally finished designing a label for the 2011 Sangiovese. I got it printed yesterday, and found a few minutes today to paste the labels on the bottles. We made only 15 bottles this past year, so it wasn't a big project, but it feels good to have it done and out of the way.

Wines I'm Making: New Rosé Label

Just finished designing the label for the 2009 Sangiovese rosé and having it printed. Looks good on the bottles. Ready for drinking. Two cases made.

Wines I'm Making: Rosé Label Finished

Here's a shot of the label I designed today for the 2008 Sangiovese rosé made from the vines in our backyard. The wine turned out a very pretty salmon red this year. I think it looks good with the gold capsule. The wine is delicious. Wish you could taste it.... 

Only 1.25 cases made--very limited availability, very expensive. If you have to ask, you can't afford it. Actually, it's so exclusive, it's not for sale. If you want a taste, you have to come visit.

We call our "winery" (the garage) "Clos du Tal," a play on "Clos du Val," but more than just a pun. A "clos" is a walled vineyard of the sort common in the northern Côte d'Or (the heart of Burgundy--at least from a winemaking perspective). Many of these walled vineyards in Burgundy have been owned by monasteries, and I believe the word "cloister" is related. "Tal," of course, is short for Talcroft. So, the name means "walled vineyard of the Talcrofts." As our vines happen to be planted behind a stone wall, that is quite fitting. We call the vineyard (all 32 vines) "Stone's Throw Vineyard," first, because it's a stone's throw from the house, and, second, because there are an awful lot of stones around here. We live on top of an abandoned basalt quarry. Next time you see Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, pay attention to the Santa Rosa train station. It was built with rock from what is today our front yard (the station building still stands in the old part of downtown Santa Rosa). According to Press Democrat articles, much of San Francisco was paved at one time with cobblestones made from this rock. The Hotel La Rose across the street from the old station building and a number of other notable structures in Santa Rosa were also built from the basalt quarried on this hill.