Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Rhone Blend Goes t...

Our Grenache, Mourvedre and Cinsault have been happily sitting in steel tanks for their second fermentation (with a few rackings to clarify out dead yeasts). This weekend, it was their time for the destination of all good wines: oak barrels. We had the further ambitious plan to develop a few Southern Rhone style blends from our separate varietals. Or at least get as close as we could...

More and More Mourvedre

Don’t look now, but here at Two Terrier Vineyards, we may be leading a trend. (If so, it’s going to be the first time we’ve been ahead of the curve.) Seems the San Francisco Chronicle is declaring this The Year Mourvedre Breaks Through. (Okay, the San Francisco Chronicle stopped producing anything close to real news decades ago, but they’re always one of the...

Elvis Schmelvis. Here’s the REAL K...

Two years ago, as I planned a cross-country roadtrip with my niece, she said: “We have to swing by Graceland to see The King.” I had to tell her, “Don’t look to Graceland, if you seek the King”. On the trip, we drove right by the boyhood home of the REAL King as we headed into the Smoky Mountains. We didn’t plan a stop. There was no need...

Another British Benchmark for Two Terrie...

I told you in this post how we are at a place of delicate balance in our wine-making efforts. It generally takes at least three years for young vines to start producing usable grapes. But a late rainy season when we planted meant our grapes, which we harvested in what was technically their third year, were really only two and a half years old. So we can bravely offer up our resulting...

Winemaking Solution: Throw a Little Brit...

Last week, Two Terrier Vineyards hosted a prestigious group: The McNabb Family of England. Old friends from way back, the McNabbs are also very knowledgeable about wine. Knowledgeable as in lifelong oenophiles with two members (Paul and John) being graduates of a prestigious and difficult wine course in France which I understand is aimed at training top level sommeliers. You may ask...

Cinsault You Asked. . .The Great Grape H...

Just as we feared, the unusually warm spring and summer in Sonoma have cause the harvest to happen early and way too quickly for us as we are still putting the final touches on our crush pad. On a routine check of the Brix level Sunday, we suddenly found that our Cinsault was ready NOW. Nothing to do for it but drop everything and start picking. Of course, that meant no time to get a...