Last Friday August 7th, Honig Winery and Cake Plate Fashion came together to host what turned out to be a fabulous, fun, fashiony and delicious event and a wonderful way to kick off a weekend.
Cake Plate's new fall arrivals were quite the hit. The featured designers included Trina Turk, Milly, & Leifsdottir! We also enjoyed some decadent Sift cupcakes (gingerbread and chocolate) covered with frosting made with our Honig Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc.
We had a great turnout with many fun loving ladies (and two brave men) joining the party. And of course, there was plenty of Honig Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon flowing. The attendees were a mix of Honig fans, Cake Plate regulars, Facebook Honig Groupies, friends of Cake Plate and some new comers. Some locals came by on their way to attend the Cheers St. Helena, while others drove up from San Francisco to make a night of it.
Those who spent $100 or more on Cake Plate clothing and/or accessories, walked away with a complimentary bottle on Honig Napa Sauvignon Blanc, so the fun could continue at home.
If you missed it, you can still make another of our upcoming events. This was just one in an exciting series of Honig events. If you attended this event, you have an idea of what you’re in for at future Honig soirees. There’s a movie night this Saturday, followed by a Lobster Feed on Sunday, September 6th, and we’re partnering with Slow Food on September 27th . Some of these events are wine club events, but we always offer an option for non-members. So stay tuned for more information.
For information about upcoming Honig events, you can visit our events page at http://www.honigwine.com/events or visit the Honig Winery Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rutherford-CA/Honig-Vineyard-Winery/239585060480?ref=search
This is where the controversy comes in. Let's talk about Yelp! This is a site that was started in 2004, and is extremely popular in the S.F. Bay Area. (It actually covers most U.S. metropolitan areas, but I am only familiar with the Bay Area reviews). Honig got it's first review in July of 2006: a five star rating and a wonderful recommendation from Shawn S. who says, "this is my favorite winery ever," among other flattering comments. How cool is that? Unsolicited praise, that is out there for everyone to see? You can't beat that!Honig has been around for 30+ years. We do not advertise, aside from our annual postcard campaign, and that goes out to people who have signed up for our mailing list. We have always relied heavily on word-of-mouth to get people here, and to promote our wines, and it has worked very well for us. So now, here's one more way for us to get the word out. It's a no brainer. I am signed up to receive an email notification every time someone writes a review on Yelp! about Honig. I even have the opportunity to email the reviewer back to thank them for the review. From a marketing point of view, I love this, not just because I get to read about what we are doing right, but I also get to know if we do something wrong. And that is huge. We all know that an unhappy customer will tell more people about their experience than a happy customer. It sucks, but it's true. A happy customer will tell 10 of their friends about their great experience, while someone who had an issue will tell anyone who will listen. Unfortunately, they usually don't tell us. So we go merrily along, not realizing that we have done something that has made someone unhappy. If we don't know about it, we can't fix it.That's where Yelp! comes in. So far we have had 47 reviews on Yelp! Out of those 47 reviews, 36 have been five star reviews, giving us an overall 4.5 star rating. Not bad! But why, you ask, do we have a 4.5 star rating, instead of a 5 star rating? Don't we want to be perfect? Of course we do. But in the real world, no one is perfect. There is going to be the occasional visitor that is not perfectly happy with their experience. Thanks to sites like Yelp!, they can now share that information with us.This is not to say that every review that is written on Yelp! (or similar sites) is accurate, or unbiased. Maybe the customer was just having a bad day. I've heard horror stories about businesses that were negatively impacted by a bad review. They want sites like Yelp! shut down and don't feel that the general public should have a resource that allows them to broadcast their opinion and possibly cause a business to lose customers. While the idea that this can happen is really scary, I would rather be made aware of any issues, and have the opportunity to correct any problems that are brought to my attention. Ignoring bad experiences doesn't make them go away. In my opinion the benefits of having first-hand information from a customer, good or bad, is worth the risk.
Is it really June already? How did that happen? We have wrapped up bottling all of the white wines; 2008 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc (it’s already making its way into the market…check it out!), 2008 Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc and the 2008 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc. The cellar crew is now patiently waiting for me (Brett just has to set up countless trials for tasting so the blend will be just right), to put the final touches on the 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet blend. We will start that bottling run mid-June and follow it up with the 2007 single vineyard Cabernets.
Last week I decided to make a distributor change in New York. We had been with our previous company for many years, but they were purchased by a much larger company and Honig was no longer a good fit. As I sat on the phone, making hundreds of repetitive introduction calls, I started thinking about how sometimes people view the wine industry as a glamorous business. I have never understood why farmers that make wine are viewed any differently than someone in another profession. Making these mind numbing calls, saying the same thing over and over again (but with enthusiasm!) does not seem very glamorous. But it is important.
I spend about 80% of my time on the road, visiting the 50 states that carry Honig wines, or on the phone, calling these same accounts. It is time consuming, exhausting, and (my wife will confirm this) a challenge to family relationships. (Luckily Stephanie accompanies me on many of these trips). Over the years, I have learned that what separates Honig from other wineries, as well as other business, is that we go the extra mile. We take the time to develop relationships with the people who sell our wine, who drink our wine, and who are our fans. There is something so satisfying about meeting “Joe”, who works in a retail store in Louisiana, and who has been selling Honig wine for 10 years. Putting a face to the person, and taking the time to thank them personally for supporting your brand is worth more than any money you might put into advertising. It gives us the chance to share our story, and to be more than just another bottle of wine on the shelf or the wine list.
We try to apply this philosophy of going the extra mile to all areas of our business. Our tasting room is relaxed and friendly, and our loyal team has been with us for years. We develop relationships with our visitors and club members, and those same people visit us again and again.
We make just two varietals, so Kristin and her team can devote all their energy to making the best Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Some of my friends laugh and ask when we are going to have anything else to sell, but specializing has allowed us to like be a bullet, versus a shotgun. We are not trying to be all things to all people. With a focus on two varietals, we are able to get our message out loud and clear.
I guess what I want to say is, after 30 years, we are still focused and working harder to be the best we can be. We take what we do very seriously, without taking ourselves too seriously.
Growing up I ate potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner (just about every day), listened to “Oh Danny Boy” at nearly every family event, and always laughed at every one of my grandfather’s jokes. With his thick accent we would always get the “What is the largest city in the world?” And how could the answer be anything but “Dublin, because it’s Dub-lin everyday!” (it still makes me giggle). It would be a fair assessment to assume I came from very proud Irish roots.
As a little girl, my mother enrolled me in Irish Step Dancing lessons . If you have ever seen or heard of the Riverdance, or Lord of the Dance, it’s pretty much the same thing. It is a high energy dance that involves a lot of kicking, jumping and twirling, (not to mention very intricate foot work), all to the rhythm of an Irish jig or reel, without moving your arms. How does that not sound like fun!
My dance teacher always wanted us all to fulfill our dancing potential, so during my lessons it would be yells of “hop-two-three!”, “point your toes!”, “kick your butt!”, “shoulders back!” It was a pretty strict regimen. Classes would take place four to five times a week and would last between two to four and half hours.
Young Steven Honig
One summer, my brother Michael and I had the responsibility of watering the vineyard, which consisted of laying irrigation pipes on a row, flooding the area, piling them on a trailer and moving them three rows down and flooding that area. I can remember at 9 years old I used to sink almost to my waist. Our parents only sent us with one set of pants, so we had to do laundry every night. It sounds like a real #*&%! Job, but I really had a lot of fun. (It was probably because my brother did most of the work and I just played around which in a way is very similar to today). My praise goes out to my brother - he really has worked hard on building a recognizable and popular brand, so that my job is fun and exciting, which makes it easy for me to succeed.
The Honig family in the '70's(I'm the tall kid in the striped shirt)
Motor vehicles were a very big part of our Rutherford experience. It started with mini-bikes, then on to motorcycles, go-carts, and tractors. Then we got into cars. Since it was private property, the rules of the real world didn’t necessarily apply when it came to legal age of driving. We used to take out our parents cars, but after hitting too many posts or driving them into too many ditches, our Dad decided to buy us our own “beater car” to use on the property. It was a ‘64 Chevy with “three on the tree.” My brother and I were only 12 and 9 respectively, and we spent hours driving the car up and down the ¼ mile access road. At the end of the road we would rotate all the tires just for fun, and we jacked the car up with a kit. We spent hours upon hours with that car and as a parent today, paying for swim classes, afterschool programs, enrichment classes, yoga, basketball….. I understand that at $250 what a great investment it was. We later used our skills to drive grapes to the sugar shack (to measure the sugar quantity of the grapes ) and to weigh the load. Along the way we would pull-off the road and pull-off the leaves on the vines (too many leaves and they would bump down the quality rating and thus the price for the grapes). Our final destination was too drop them off at Inglenook.
I don’t think we were of driving age, but it was a different culture back then: We were rural –not the mega tourist attraction we are today. Also, there weren’t too many highway patrol. (I think someone once said it was because there weren’t any Denny’s or donut shops on the Silverado Trail or Highway 29 but please don’t quote me on that). Anyway, my brother and I have turned in our love of motor vehicles for a more environmentally friendly pastime: mountain biking, which takes us into the mountains above the Napa Valley.
It was very confusing to grow up as a child around adult discussions about wine. I was always confused when people would talk about aromas and flavors of grapefruit, lemons and limes, papaya, mango, passion fruit, red cherry, blackberry, currants. I really believed that we used to cut-up these aforementioned fruits and throw them in the barrel while the wine aged. Luckily, I know more about winemaking now.
The "Winery" in 1974
We’ve come a long way since the early days. I recently calculated that almost two million people a year taste our wine through By the Glass programs, friends sharing a glass, gifts, restaurants and retail, tasting room visitors, wine dinners, and consumer tastings. Honig wines are represented throughout the United States, and have reached Europe and Asia. In 2008, our Sauvignon blanc was rated third on the list of Most Requested Sauvignon Blancs in the country in the Wine & Spirits Annual Restaurant Poll. Our Cabernet Sauvignon was 13th. We get positive feedback from people and the press for making good wine the responsible way through our Solar Power and Sustainable practices. From the time we were little boys basking in the warmth of the sun, driving motorized vehicles, and laying irrigation pipes in the Rutherford Dust, I am amazed and humbled by where we started, what we have achieved, and where we are going.
We all like variety - it is essential for a healthy diet. And who could eat the same thing every night? The same reasoning goes for wine (which also makes wine and food pairing such an easy match). No matter what you are eating, there is a wine with a distinct flavor to match. This also applies for simply enjoying a glass: whether you’re in the mood for fruity, buttery, floral, robust, delicate, sweet, or acidic, there is a wine out there that will please your palate. This variation from varietal to varietal is what helps set wine apart from other beverages.
Variety doesn’t just stop with type of varietal or flavor profile of the wine, but continues throughout the entire winery “experience”. There are LOTS of wineries that fill different niches. If you’re looking for winemaking tours, caves, picnic grounds, weddings, or just a fun atmosphere, you can find it. This doesn’t just mean in Napa, but other wine growing regions as well. There are some great wineries in Sonoma, Central Valley, and Santa Barbara County (to name a few) and while we might jab at each other once in awhile, it’s mostly for fun. When it comes down to it, we are all friends.
Happy New Year Everyone! Harvest seems but a distant memory as we are preparing the delicious 2008 Sauvignon blanc for bottling. What a roller coaster of a year it was. The growing season seemed to have a record of about everything, except for maybe rain. Wind, spring heat, spring cold, dry, lightning, fall heat, fall cold…you name it. Grape vines are amazingly resilient and while the crop levels were all over the board, some up, some down, (mostly down), quality appears to be up.
But wait, there’s more! After waiting and waiting, and scheduling and rescheduling, we finally picked our late harvest Sauvignon blanc on…December 5th! The latest pick ever, for us. The fermentation of late harvest wines is quite slow, so in mid-January it is just now finishing up. Just like the earlier part of harvest, it was a long, somewhat impatient wait for the fruit, but well worth it. Wishing all of you the best for 2009!
But, even oldies like me realize that the younger generation of wine buyers is looking for the information they want and need online. They are no longer willing to wait for snail mail newsletters, or even emails from a winery, to find out what’s happening. They are the “instant gratification” generation, and if you want to be a part of their culture, you need to get on board.
To this end, we launched the Honig blog in October 2007 with the help of Stephanie Honig, who took on the arduous task of resident blogger. She stepped up to the plate, and worked diligently to come up with an interesting and informative blog every week for the past year. However, on January 3rd Stephanie gave birth to her second child, daughter Lola. And so, with an infant in hand and a toddler to chase after, decided to put her blogger duties on hold. Which gave us an idea…
At Honig we’ve always been known for doing things a little differently. We don’t advertise, we don’t overcharge for our wines, we work hard, but we have a lot of fun. The cornerstone of our marketing program consists of our annual postcard, in which you will find family members and employees dressed up in crazy costumes, parodying something in pop culture. It’s a way to connect with our customers and friends, and remind them that winemaking is a fun business. It’s different, but it works.
So, in keeping with Honig tradition, we are going to change the way we write our blog. Rather than have one dedicated voice, we are going to have lots of voices, lots of stories and lots of opinions. Our employees (whom we fondly refer to as our extended family) are a team of interesting, creative and dynamic individuals. They have agreed to share with you their expertise and opinions on a broad range of subjects. So stay tuned for Steven Honig’s blog about his childhood adventures in the vineyard; David Cruz’s fishing tales; Kristin Belair’s vintage updates, and lots more. It won’t be your typical blog, we we’re not your typical winery.
Thank you for visiting the Honig blog in 2008. The web has extended the world we live in beyond imagination. It has changed many of the ways we interact with others, broadened our networks and given us a new way to share and find information. We started our blog in the fall of 2007, and created a Facebook group for our fans in 2008. This is just the beginning and I can hardly wait to see what this next year will bring.
We are launching a new and different blog in 2009, which we hope you find as exciting as we do. On our renewed blog, our vivacious team will take turns in sharing fun stories, suggestions and experiences that revolve around Honig, wine and The Napa Valley. We are blessed with some wonderful personalities and I think you will enjoy meeting each one of them. They are all a little piece of Honig and make us who we are. Look for detailed information about the new blog (and how you can participate) during the first week in January.
In the meantime, we want to thank you again for making the Honig blog a success in 2008 and wish you a happy and healthy New Year! Drink wine (responsibly) and be merry! Cheers!!!
With the end of year upon us, I decided to celebrate the vine by addressing what it does all year long. Harvest occurs once a year, but we work with the vine all year round as it prepares to provide us with its delicious fruit that will become wine.
Pruning The winter is a quiet time in the vineyard as the vines rest from all of the recent activity. Although we are busy in the cellar, working with the newly arrived vintage (racking and pumping into tanks and in barrels), the vines are dormant. In January we usually begin pruning our Cabernet Sauvignon. Pruning gets the vines ready for the growing season. Prior to pruning, the vines are bare, with one year’s worth of cane growth. We cut off most of this growth, but we leave behind a selected number of spurs (a short part of the cane containing buds). These buds will generate shoots, which will grow into new canes, and the newly grown canes will grow fruit. The number of spurs and buds we leave behind is determined in advance, to control the amount of clusters each vine will produce. It is important to have a balance between the amount of canopy growth (vines and leaves) and the amount of clusters, so the vines are able to channel their energy into the right amount of fruit. This way, the fruit will receive enough nutrients, creating intensity of flavors and allowing it to ripen properly.
FloweringIn late spring or early summer, small clusters of grapes appear on the vines. Each of the clusters contains tiny flowers that bloom. If a grape flower pollinates successfully, it will turn into a grape. Wind, rain and other weather conditions can affect the number of pollinations that occur on the cluster. If any of the flowers fall off, or if they do not pollinate that cluster will have less fruit. This is known as “shatter”.
VeraisonAs we move from spring into summer, the grape berries begin to grow. By the time the vines finish flowering, we have a sense of what the size of the upcoming crop will be. Sometimes, if we determine that there are too many clusters on a vine, we cut off some fruit to allow the vine to focus its energy on ripening fewer grapes. At some time during the month of August, the red grapes will begin to turn color (from green to purple). This process is called veraison. Veraison represents the transition from berry growth to berry ripening. The acid in the grapes begins to drop gradually as the sugar starts to rise. It's a beautiful time in the vineyard as the red wine grapes become purple and the white wine grapes take on a translucent green color with a golden hue.
Harvest Harvest can begin as early as August and can continue through mid- to the end of October. However, in recent years (with the warmer weather conditions), harvest has begun earlier. Different grape varietals ripen at different times. As a general rule, white wine grapes ripen earlier than red wine grapes (with a few exceptions). Each grower, winemaker or vineyard manager determines when to pick the grapes based on a number of factors such as PH, acidity levels, sugar levels (called Brix in grapes) and flavor development. Determining when to pick is a complex, stylistic and strategic decision since it depends a lot on Mother Nature. If it gets too hot too fast, sugar rises before flavors are able to properly develop. If it’s too cool, it slows the ripening of the fruit. Kristin Belair, our Winemaker at Honig, has proven to be a pro at this, and time and time again, has been able to find that perfect balance.
Today in Napa Valley, the vines are dormant; the leaves have turned colors and fallen to the ground. We (just like the vines) are ending an exciting year and are about to begin a new cycle in 2009.
On December 5th, 1985, a record was broken at the Christie’s auction house in London. A dark green, hand blown bottle, hand etched bottle etched with the year 1787 and with the word “Lafitte” and the letters “TH.J.” was sold for $157,000.
Hardy Rodenstock had been the one to bring the bottles to Christies and to be credited with discovering this collection along with many other rarities throughout the years. This sale awarded him one of the most renowned names in premium wine and was the beginning of his lucrative career as a wine dealer. Hardy Rodenstock conducted numerous wine tastings throughout the years with members of the wine press, as well as with other well known figures in the wine trade, such as Christies wine auctioneer, Michael Broadbent, wine critic Robert Parker and wine writer Jancis Robinson.
He made a fortune over the years selling “one of a kind” bottles, but always kept his sources very close to his chest and always had an excuse as to why he could not disclose more about the sources of his bottles, such as wanting to protect tax evaders or protecting information from competitors. He also partnered with George Riedel to develop a series of Rodenstock glassware, and even put his name on a line of cigars. He became quite a celebrity.
The controversy began when a German friend of Rodenstock who had privately bought one of the Jefferson bottles became suspicious. He sent one of the bottles to lab and the results showed that some of the wine in the bottle was from 1963. Rodenstock denied the accusations. The press and wine experts stood by him.
Over time, the scandal may have been forgotten if it wasn’t for a billionaire named Bill Koch who had purchased four of the famous Jefferson bottles in the 1980’s. Koch ended spending over 1 million dollars on the investigation while uncovering lies about Rodenstock past and finding a basement that is believed to have been used to prepare bottles of wine. He also found that the engravings were made with a modern tool that would have not existed during Jefferson’s time.
Rodenstock dismissed the accusations and avoided the suit claiming the Koch did not have jurisdiction over him. The New York court initially agreed with him but Koch was now able to re open the law suit by making some additional legal arguments. This astonishing story remains a mystery although the truth about the Jefferson bottles has been uncovered. Since then, many questions about fake and precious bottles have come up. In May, 2008, Benjamin Wallace published “The Billionaires Vinegar” which also tells this story in great detail and paints a picture of how the events occurred and its characters. There is also a scheduled movie release about the story in 2010. By then, maybe we’ll have full closure! The irony of this is that if the owners of the bottles had never questioned its origins, they would have probably retained their value forever.
Click here for an in-depth article about the Jefferson wines, written by Patrick Radeen Keefe for the New Yorker Magazine. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/09/03/070903fa_fact_keefe?
Since gifting is on everyone’s mind these days, I thought I would share more about what wine clubs are about (or at least the ones I am familiar with) and why they make such a wonderful holiday gift for a family member, a good friend or even for you. Some reasons to give a wine club membership as a gift:
Determine what your goals are with the membership.
There are numerous styles of wine clubs, so think about what is important to you before you purchase a membership. Is it to share your favorite style of wine with the recipient of the gift? Is it to learn about a specific region or a specific type of wine? Is it to taste diverse and/or exotic wines? Is it to obtain wines that are unavailable elsewhere? Is it to be included in social functions aside from tasting the wines?
Determine what your budget is
Some wine club shipments cost about $20 a month while others are $100 a month. Other wine clubs send shipments quarterly or every six months and range in price. Are you looking for quality, quantity, or a balance of the two?
Weigh the additional perks that the wine club offers
Some wine clubs offer discounts for members on all purchases. Others offer members free tastings, and some offer events that are exclusive to members only. Others have all of these perks, as well as gifts, recipes, etc.
Read between the lines
Flexibility is a beautiful thing. Some wineries allow you to cancel your membership at any time, while others have a minimum time period commitment. Make sure you inform yourself of any cancellation policies. In the case of a gift, it is best to discuss the number of shipments to be gifted upfront with the winery to avoid misunderstandings. If the gift recipient chooses to continue their membership after those shipments have been received, that’s up to them to decide. Some wine clubs, like Honig, are very flexible, allowing members to opt out of shipments if they choose to, change or add to shipments. Others send and charge every shipment automatically. Also, ask about sign up and shipping costs to avoid surprises. Some wineries charge a flat fee while most charge shipping based on where the wine is going. Make sure the recipient of the gift doesn’t live in a “non-ship” state. There are ten of them right now but the laws change pretty frequently.
Happy clubbing!
Halloween Harvest Party - Martin Brothers Members
Wine Club Blending Party
Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Release Party for our Wine ClubTo learn more about the Honig Wine Club, please visit http://www.honigwine.com/wine-club or contact our Wine Club Coordinator, Kelly Snowden at Kelly@honigwine.com or at 707-963-5618 extension 330.
Everybody is talking about what to do for Thanksgiving, but I think that is pretty settled and we all have our own traditions (more or less). I don’t believe there are ideal wine and food pairings in any situation, but especially for Thanksgiving. The most ideal pairing occurs when people drink what they like (of course, there are some basic paring rules of thumb but those don’t apply for this holiday, see my food and wine pairing blog post).
The flavors on a Thanksgiving table are so diverse that no one wine will go well with everything. I am more concerned about what happens after Thanksgiving to best preserve all of the food and wine. I’m sure I’m not the only one who loves leftovers.
For food: Ziploc bags, disposable Styrofoam and plastic containers are loading up landfills like crazy and can take up to hundreds of years to decompose. Also, some plastics, such as PVC, may contain chemicals that can permeate into food (look for #3 inside the recycle symbol on the container) and polystyrene (#6). Try to use glass and ceramic containers which can be used for serving, freezing and heating. Also, this will help avoid any off-flavors from the plastic leaking into the food.
For wine: Left-over, sealed wine, can be consumed in days after the holiday, as long as it is kept in a cool area without direct light (which should be fairly easy to do in November). Just don’t store it on top of your stove or next to a window (especially if you live in Florida or Southern California).
My early winery experiences consisted of riding around in a car with my parents and their friends while they tasted wines at the five or six Napa Valley wineries in existence at the time. My brother and I would run around the cellars, joyfully unsupervised, echoing our voices inside empty wine tanks. We were not allowed to taste. Can you believe it?
High School in Palo Alto led to a mostly random choice of college at UC Davis. A short stint in psychology was followed by a slightly longer stint in biochemistry and the realization that me in a white lab coat could cause me to be escorted away in one of those other white coats, aka straight jacket. With that thought in mind and a chance meeting with a classmate (who had already figured out that wine was the answer), I was guided to the enology department, where I finally found what I was looking for: winemaking.
After graduating in 1981, I spent my first two harvests as an intern at Trefethen, where I perfected forklift driving, cleaning tanks and topping barrels while learning a lot about winemaking. A southern hemisphere harvest experience in Australia taught me even more. My first full winemaking position was making Cabernet and Chardonnay with Johnson Turnbull. JT was subsequently sold and became Turnbull Cellars. In 1998, after being in one place for nearly 13 years, I joined Honig as winemaker.
Since then I have played the role of a mermaid, a game show contestant, a cheerleader, an old lady gambler from Las Vegas and a rock star, to name a few characters from the Honig postcards. Being able to craft award winning, nationally recognized Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon and being part of the dynamic Honig team has been nothing but rewarding.
When not feeding my passion for making wine and growing grapes, I can be found taxiing my teenage daughter and her friends around town, on the ski slopes, riding horses or playing in the kitchen or the garden.
At the same time, due to the heat, the Cabernet Sauvignon sugars began to escalate. Kristin thought that this might speed up the harvest and was concerned about running out of tank space. But instead, the weather cooled off, allowing the Cabernet Sauvignon to remain on the vines for a few more weeks while the Sauvignon Blanc underwent fermentation and was moved out of the tanks to make way for the Cabernet. After the first round of tastings she says the Sauvignon Blanc is delicious!
The bad news is that we won’t be able to enjoy the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon until the fall of 2010. After playing hard to get during harvest, now it will play hard to get again as it ages. As they say, the best things in life are worth waiting for (and patience is a virtue).