Harvest and weddings

Crush 2015 is done. Well, that is not entirely accurate. The grapes are harvested, destemmed, crushed, inoculated, fermented, pressed, and in barrel or in tank. Everything in barrel has been further inoculated with MLB and is starting malo-lactic fermentation, the 2015 Sangiovesé rosé is dry and ready for fining, and the 2015 Petite Manseng is well on its way to dryness.

I can’t tell you how excited I am for the Petite Manseng. Last year, we harvested a little bit of fruit from the Petite Manseng, only about 200 pounds. I did not take it to the winery; we used it for what I am euphemistically calling the ‘family reserve’. It made a little over seven gallons of wine, and we bottled a case of it yesterday. I should have had it in bottle much, much sooner, but truthfully, I have completely neglected that wine. It has been in the can house [you know, where we store all of the canning from the garden!], and I have given it absolutely zero attention. Nothing. No KMS additions, no racking, not even sampling until today. And guess what? It.is.incredible, if you will forgive my immodesty. If the 2015 is half that good, then I am really excited to share it with you in just a few short months.

Of course, the other carboy, the remaining five gallons? It still has sugar in it. That’s right; a year of neglect later, I found a stuck fermentation, so now I am coaxing it along. It is surprisingly tasty, and I am thinking of even leaving just a little sugar in it to try something I have not done to date, an off-dry wine.

We also just finished celebrating our last wedding of 2015, at least the last one that has been booked. We are proud to say that Laura and Chris, and Catherine and Brandon celebrated their September nuptials with us, allowing us to play a small role in their big day. Best wishes to both couples as they start their new lives together.

This summer, we worked with a couple of photographers and many other vendors to do a couple of styled shoots. Our contribution was the location. Both Sheila and Ilya did a fantastic job creating beautiful scenes; the image at the top of this post is from Wedding Nature Photography. The image below is from Sheila Nolt Photography. Both style shoots were beautiful works, and we are excited to have been a part of them.