Hello again and welcome to the second half of “from the vineyard” where I tell you oddly specific things about vines that you’ll never really need to know. But hey, there’s nothing like obscure knowledge to impress people with! So in that spirit, here’s a couple of questions someone asked me recently that I thought you all would like to know:
What are rootstocks? This is a fun fact to drop at cocktail (or wine) parties. Did you know that almost no vines are grown on their own roots anymore? Most vineyards are grafted onto the root system from a different grapevine outside of the Vitis vinifera species. This is due to the phylloxera pandemic of the 19th century that destroyed many vineyards in Europe. Phylloxera is a nearly microscopic insect that feeds on the root systems of vines, and is native to North America, meaning the phylloxera plague that destroyed Europe’s grapevines probably came from the U.S.’s nascent wine industry in the late 19th century (sorry Europe). However, since the pest is native to North America, the wild species of vines that grew here were often immune to phylloxera damage. This lead to the practice of grafting Vitis vinifera onto the root systems of vine species native to North America. Today, nurseries sell vines already grafted onto rootstocks of these other species, protecting our vineyards from phylloxera.
What is terroir? Terroir is a French word that translates into about a paragraph’s worth of English. Essentially it is the combination of soil, weather, sunlight, topography, viticulture practices and even local culture and customs acting on the vineyard to create flavors specific to a localized area. And that’s barely scratching the surface. Whenever you hear someone (such as us in numerous spots on this website) talking about representing an area and making a unique wine, they are speaking about terroir. My apologies to any Frenchmen (or Frenchladies) if I mistranslated.
And with that I hope everyone had a good thanksgiving and is looking forward to the end of the year. We’ll be back with more interesting information soon, I’m sure. -Myles Lawrence-Briggs
Exciting times here at Senses Wines! Chris, Max, and I had the chance to sit down and taste through our 2012 vintage with our winemaker. The experience was very educational as we got to see the wines at various stages in barrel maturation.
Right now they’re going through what’s called malolactic fermentation, where the malic acid present in the wine is naturally being converted into lactic acid. This will make the wines smooth and more “buttery” with a fuller mouthfeel.
Most interesting to me was comparing our Hillcrest Estate Pinot Noir with the Tanuda Ridge wine. The two vineyards are only a mile or two apart, but have created some drastically different wines. Hillcrest tasted lighter and more delicate, with one sample showing some interesting candy cherry aromas and flavors. Tanuda, on the other hand, was bolder and extremely aromatic with strong dark fruit flavors. The wines have a lot of growing up to do in barrel, so they’ll change dramatically before they’re bottled, but it was exciting to see them so early in their development.
Check out our facebook to see photos! The 2012s are turning out great, maybe even better than the 2011s!
If you live around vineyards you may have noticed that all the vines look like they’ve been getting haircuts. Just as things have finally slowed down enough for everyone to catch their breath, the time for preparing for the next growing season has come. Since pruning is what’s on every vineyard manager’s mind right now, I thought I would share with you what exactly we’re doing out there.
When vines are pruned, the growth from the last season is cut off except for a select bit which will determine where the vine will grow from this coming season. This keeps the vines in balance, creating the desired amount of fruit, and eases canopy management. Well-pruned vines will be healthier and less likely to develop problems like powdery mildew during the growing season.
The two most common types of pruning in Sonoma and Napa counties are Cane and Cordon. Each has different benefits and drawbacks, and the decision about which to use depends largely on location and management style. In the photo below, the vine on top has been cane pruned, and the vine on the bottom, cordon.
Cane takes two (usually, but sometimes up to four!) of the shoots from the last season and lays them down the fruit wire, while cutting everything else off. The dormant buds on these canes will grow and bear fruit for the next season. When the time comes to prune once again, everything will be cut off except for two replacement canes which will be retied to the fruit wire, replacing the ones you just cut off. Cordon, you’ll notice, has thicker arms coming off the trunk. This is because this method of pruning starts the same way, laying down a shoot from the last year along the fruit wire and growing the fruit-bearing shoots from there. The only difference is you don’t cut off the shoots you laid along the fruit wire the season before when it comes time to prune again; instead you cut the shoots that grew from it and bore fruit that season down to short spurs. These spurs will have the buds that will grow for the next season and will bear the fruit.
Cane pruning is often preferred for cooler, coastal vineyards, such as our Hillcrest estate vineyard. This is because the buds further along the cane developed later in the season with better sunlight, and will usually produce more fruit, helping to offset the usually lower yields of costal vineyards. Cordon, on the other hand, only makes use of the first two or so buds on each cane, therefore usually producing less fruit.
Pruning is hard work, especially with this beautiful weather we’ve been having. So if you know anyone working on a pruning crew, or any vineyard managers tearing their hair out trying to get all the pruning done in time, buy them a drink this weekend and remind them to take it easy!
So I guess we’ve kind of been neglecting the blog lately, sorry about that. This is probably mostly because not much has been happening besides wine sales, which keeps us busy but isn’t all that interesting. So don’t worry, you didn’t miss out on much. But that’s all about to change as we go full-steam into the 2013 vintage. I guess it’s the nature of the wine biz: periods of relative calm punctuated by desperate flurries of activity, and we’ve definitely hit one of those flurries.
I honestly didn’t really know what to talk about with this post because so much has happened so quickly; the vineyard is growing and is at that point where it requires a lot of attention (I’m just now sitting down at my computer to write this at 3pm after being out there since 5:00 am), we just had our first blending trial of 2012′s at Red Car (they’re tasting fabulous), and we’re basically sold-out of 2011′s.
But that’s a huge amount of information and I woke up far too early for a Sunday, so instead I’m just going to talk about our Chardonnay. It’s tasting amazing. Seriously, go open a bottle right now. I’ll admit up front that I’m not a huge Chardonnay drinker, and I had my doubts about our Chardonnay right after we bottled it. To me it tasted like it was over-oaked and that the fruit didn’t have a chance to show through. I was afraid we’d be giving away bottles of by this point. Boy, was I wrong. The oak-tannins have softened and morphed into a wonderful caramelized backbone with some honeysuckle notes to it; and before you click this window closed in disgust be assured: I am not trying to sell you on this Chardonnay (I can’t anyway, we’re basically out). If it were crap, I would tell you. I don’t think my two esteemed business partners even know we have a blog, so it’s not like I’d get in trouble. But if you’ve been kind enough to give us some of your hard-earned money for some of our humble Chardonnay, I want you to enjoy it to its fullest. So I’m telling you right now, find where your stored that bottle away and cook up a nice seafood pasta dish and pop that baby open. You won’t be disappointed.
I’ll be back with another post sooner rather than later, I promise. There’s a lot going on to tell you about.
I’m a huge history nerd and have been listening to history podcasts (I highly recommend Hardcore History by Dan Carlin) in the vineyard, and recently I’ve been learning a bit about what ancient wine was like, especially from ancient Rome. So sit back, uncork your amphora and pour yourself a glass as we jump back several thousand years.
Myles has done a great job of keeping us up-to-date with progress in the vineyards, but it’s about time for another member of the Senses trio to start contributing to this blog. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Chris, and I, along with Myles and Max, am a co-founder of Sense Wines.
We’re back again and I’ve got some exciting news; we just finished bottling the Senses 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir! Those of you unfamiliar with the bottling process may think that this is an easy task–you just fill up empty bottles with wine, cork them and then place a pretty label on the bottle, right? Well, while you’ve named the major steps, so much of the bottling process for a boutique winery like Senses is hidden behind the scenes. That’s why I want to walk you through a highly condensed version of what it takes for the Senses team to get the grapes from the vine to your wine glass:
The Viticulture & Fermentation Process
You hand farm some of the best Pinot Noir grapes in the world, watch the grapes as they ripen (if you can call it watching) and then harvest and sort through them at the winery to begin the fermentation process. Tasting the berries/juice now would be like tasting extremely sweet Welchs’ Grape juice that you buy at the grocery store. As the grape juice completes fermentation into wine, we prepare to press the remaining whole fruit into its final liquid form so the ‘wine’ can age in French Oak wooden barrels for nearly 9 months! After ‘aging’ for all this time, you are left with a nearly finished product: high-end boutique Pinot Noir. Congratulations, you’ve made wine and now you are ready for the bottling Process!
The Bottling Process
Step 1– Don’t ever forget the law. Get your label approved by the TTB (Alcohol & Tobacco Tax Bureau) and double check that the label has the right size text, proper placement of words and government warnings, appropriate spacing and everything else you can possibly think of. Oh, and I forgot to mention that it will take at least 40 days to receive TTB approval.
Step 2 – In the meantime, order empty bottles. Bottle aesthetics are deceptively important: make sure that the bottles are the right shape, size and weight and don’t forget that the size of the cap has to be ‘standard’ so you can actually buy capsules (those colored things covering corks at the top of the bottle) that fit properly!
Step 3 – Order and print the labels. With approval, you can order customized labels that are ready to print and slap on the bottle (these take the longest to receive since there’s actual printing and customizing involved). However, before placing your order you need to make sure that the label fits the bottle (fuzzy math will lead to a costly mistake). BUT WAIT! What about the corks?
Step 4 – Order cork samples so that you can pick the appropriate type of cork for your wine, and if you’re feeling fancy, you are going to want the corks printed with your winery’s name. In order to do this, you must design the text and order a dye so the cork company can print and dry your corks adequately before bottling.
Now you’re almost finished with the bottling process: government approval, check; glass bottles, check; labels, check; customized corks, check. The last phase of the bottling process brings me to step 5.
Step 5 – Order capsules in the right size, color and style, and make sure they arrive at the winery in time for your bottling day. And now you’re basically set for bottling success…oh wait, I can’t forget about those pesky little things called logistics.
Hopefully, you have arranged for a mobile bottling company (Senses recommends La Petite!) to arrive on a weekday, and have at least a few extra hands to help you bottle. The cellar should be notified of this scheduled event. Most importantly, make sure that all your supplies show up no more than a few days before the bottling date, so that you don’t have to move them around (trust me, moving near 300 cases of glass wine bottles is no fun).
And voilà! You have a rough behind the scenes look at the bottling process for Senses 2012 Pinot Noir. Easy, right? See our photos and let us know what you think!
Someone asked me recently about organic farming. They actually asked me something like twenty questions about organic farming and I quickly realized I was out of my depth and didn’t quite know enough about it. So I did a bit of research to try and answer as best I could, and I thought it would make an interesting blog post to share with all of you.
It seems like the 2012 harvest just wrapped up yesterday, but here we are at the tail end of the 2013 vintage already. It’s been an interesting year and we are excited to watch the wines develop as they age in barrel over the next 10 months; though 2013 hasn’t been without its challenges.
We had some weird rains mid-season and some early ones in the middle of harvest that increased the botrytis pressure, especially amongst coastal Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Some heat waves also meant harvest arrived early with high sugars and high acids. This translates into more sorting and work in the cellar to keep the quality up, but our cellar crew did a rockstar job making sure we got the best of the fruit crushed and fermented and into barrel. Overall we expect great and interesting things from 2013, as it was a far from normal year.
Our family owned vineyards performed amazingly this year, Hillcrest pumping out a record-breaking 6 tons of Pinot Noir and Thieriot coming close to a new record with just over 8 tons of Chardonnay. With high sugars and acids we expect bright fruit and strong structure which should make for some excellent wines that will age exceptionally well.
And finally we can’t praise our new winemaker, Thomas Brown, enough. He brought everything through natural fermentation and has a great looking oak regime set up to maximize the unique flavors of our vineyards. We’re very excited to be working with him as our wines will benefit from his many years of experience making some of the best wines Sonoma and Napa has to offer. Stay tuned to our brand new website for a 2012 release announcement, and thank you all for reading! We look forward to sharing a glass with you and toasting the end of harvest!
Harvest is finally over, which means I have time to interact with the world outside the crushpad again. Venturing out on my first day off in weeks, shocked and amazed at how different my driveway looks in the daylight (I think the landlord got tired of waiting and pulled my dead sunflowers out himself), I noticed some changes.
Christmas lights and plastic snowmen adorn my neighbor’s house, my local coffee shop is offering peppermint mochas and the occasional Christmas jingle can be heard at the local grocery store. Thanksgiving must be near.
This brought on a fresh wave of panic as I contemplated the prospect of visitations from relatives and all the preparation and stresses a big family thanksgiving dinner ensures. Like how that one aunt still thinks you’re in college, or mom and dad worrying about your lack of a girlfriend. Or maybe how your niece or nephew has yet to grow up or how your son or daughter doesn’t get out there and socialize enough. I suppose it depends on your perspective.
My fears were quickly assuaged, however, by two things. First, my mother is a rockstar chef and does most of the cooking (I swear I’m going to help out this year though). But second, and more importantly, I remembered our 2012 pinot will be ready to drink by Thanksgiving and we’ll have more than enough in the house to keep everyone mildly tipsy and mostly civil. But what turkey dish pairs well with a pinot? I did a little googling and asked my chef friends and came up with a suggestion. It’s lighter than your usual turkey roast, and should pair well with our 2012 pinot!
-Myles
Honey and Thyme Brined Turkey Breast: Ingredients:
7 cups water, divided
3 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper, divided
6 thyme sprigs
1/2 cup kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups ice cubes
1 (6-pound) whole bone-in turkey breast, skinned
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
Cooking spray
Fresh thyme sprigs (optional)
Preparation:
Combine 1 cup of water, 2 tablespoons pepper, and thyme sprigs in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and remove from heat. Pour into a large bowl; cool to room temperature. Add remaining 6 cups water, salt, honey, and sugar, stirring until salt and sugar dissolve. Pour salt mixture into a 2-gallon zip-top plastic bag. Add ice and turkey; seal. Refrigerate 24 hours, turning the bag occasionally. Remove turkey from bag, and discard brine. Pat turkey dry with paper towels.
Rub turkey with oil. Combine 1 tablespoon pepper and chopped thyme; rub over turkey.
Preheat oven to 400°.
Place the turkey on a roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 1 hour or until thermometer inserted into thickest portion of the breast registers 180°. Place turkey on a platter. Cover with foil; let stand 15 minutes. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.
We’re proud to announce that Senses Wines’ 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is now available for purchase! It’s hard to believe we’re already releasing our second vintage — it feels like only yesterday that we released our first. We can’t thank our amazing customers and friends enough for helping to make Senses’ second vintage possible!
The Vintage 2012 was a phenomenal vintage, with many growers calling it the best year in living memory and wine enthusiast lauding it as the “goldilocks year.” Temperatures were mild and the weather was dry, allowing for maximum hang time and development in the grapes. Visit Senses Wines to be a part of this extremely limited production. We expect the 2012’s to sell fast because we may not see another perfect year like it for a long time.
The Wine Focused, bright red fruit on the nose with cherry cola and hints of grapefruit zest. On the palate, bright red cherry and wild berry with a blend of earthy notes and undertones of cinnamon and baking spice. Combined with structured acid, soft tannins and a rounded mouthfeel, our 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir has a depth and complexity that can only be produced on the Sonoma Coast. Tasting wonderfully now, the 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir will only improve with age.
All orders will begin shipping on December 9th.
If you place your order by December 16th, then we’ll guarantee delivery by Christmas!
Be sure to raise your glass with us this holiday season to another year filled with great wine and good company!
The time has finally arrived! We are thrilled to officially announce the launch of our label: Senses. After much thought, collaboration and hard work, three childhood friends have come together to create two handcrafted wines representative of the area in which we grew up: Occidental, or the True Sonoma Coast. This area is home to some of the best cool climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyards in the world. Our name reflects how wine should be approached – that is, using your three “wine senses” to see, smell and taste.
With 2011 production under 100 cases, this is a very limited release – and highly anticipated thanks to the incredible support we’ve received during this journey. The wines will sell out quickly – so stay tuned for our exclusive release in November and experience Senses Wines from the very beginning!
We look forward to sharing our adventure. It’s been a wild ride so far and this is only the beginning!
