Left Coast Cowboys

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 to a Southern Rhone style blend, given that we haven’t yet planted that key Rhone varietal, Syrah. And we don’t have half the dozen or so other grapes that go into a true Rhone wine. But, baby steps.

The first step was to pull samples of all our varietals from the steel tanks.

Then set up a blending station.

Yup. There’s no fancy blending at Two Terrier Vineyards. We just think of a possible mix and adjust and take notes until we think we have a combination we like. We started with a couple of classic Southern Rhone blends like Chateauneuf du Pape. Well, we got as close to Chateauneuf as we could given that we don’t have the thirteen or so grapes they use. But hey, their blends are mostly dominated by Grenache and Mourvedre with half a dozen other varietals at 1% of this and that, so we thought we could get close enough for amateurs. So we developed a Grenache dominant blend and a Mourvedre dominant blend.

Once you have the formula for your blend, it all becomes a matter of, not shutes and ladders, but hoses and pumps.

You need really long hoses. And lots of them.

See you have to pump the wine in the tanks...

into oak barrels in the wine cave. With a short stop in a carboy for measurement purposes.

This is a complicated and time-consuming process. So note to self: start early. Which we didn’t.

Instead we hot rodded down to Sonoma for lattes in the morning.

And took a hike around the property.

And activated Mole Patrol.

So by the time we were at the messy, wet clean-up stage, it was dark and cold.

But we did get to see this wonderful sunset.

Which was still amazing even while viewed cold and wet.

After a few weeks’ hiatus, we’re back up at the ranch to see how things are progressing. With just about everything in dormancy, that means nothing is really progressing anywhere. But it makes for a good opportunity to put on cowboy gear and sleep in a barn.

As you heard in a recent post, the only crop I have going are the Brussels Sprouts, which I’m afraid are completely ruined by the recent warm spell of temperatures in the seventies. NOTE TO SELF: Sonoma Valley is not Brussels Sprouts growing territory.

The next thing to check was the wine, which has been safely resting in oak barrels. For an expert opinion, we invited our friend, Julian, eccentric and wine connoisseur, and his lovely wife, Vickie. Julian gave the stamp of approval to our Cabernet which is showing a lot of fruit, body and structure. He was very kind about the Grenache, Mouvedre and Cinsault. But what can you say about wine made from grapes from immature vines. It’s a little thin and not yet ready for primetime as bold Rhone varietals. Maybe we’ll pass those off as Rose.

Wine aficionado, Julian, passes judgement on Two Terrier Vineyards' latest vintage.

The Cabernet was judged as best.

Did I mention that Julian brought his giant hounds?

Accompanying Julian and Vickie were their giant hounds, Elsa and Dougal. They are a breed called Leonberger. These are dogs of German origin and were developed from Newfoundland , Saint Bernard, and Pyrenean Mountain Dog. I’d say there is also a fair amount of Sasquatch in them. These dogs are massive. But then Julian has never been known to do anything by half.

These dogs are so huge, they even made Oscar scared. And Oscar is a fifteen pound dog who thinks he’s bigger than the biggest Pitbull, Shepherd, or Labrador in the park. At Crissy Field, playing in the Bay, he’s actually figured out how to get Labs to go fetch things from further than he can swim, then drop them on command so that he can take them. Oscar is a BIG dog in a small package.

Oscar reassessed his size self-image when massive Dougal jumped into Lake Charles after him.

And he beat a hasty retreat from the huge hairy monster.

Oscar and Lucy only reappeared when Julian got out the hose.

Unfortunately, Julian had not gotten the memo that terriers are ALWAYS on hose patrol.

And that's the report on cowboys, dogies and doin's at Two Terrier Vineyards.