Gelfand Vineyards
Winter 2011
We have just arrived at the halfway point this winter – tomorrow is ground hog day – and all is quiet in the vineyard; it will still be another 2-3 weeks before we begin pruning the vines. But its been quite a bit different at the winery, where we have been bottling our ’09 wines. We are about a month behind in this process, having taken a most needed vacation over the holidays. But fortunately, upon returning, we found numerous requests from club members volunteering to come out and help in the bottling process (our bottling always takes place in December and January every year). So with their help, we were able to bottle all our wines in just 9 days! Almost 17,000 bottles were filled, corked, labeled and foiled by our “wine family”. We couldn’t have done it without them. So thanks to each and every one who came out and helped. I would name them individually, but they all asked to remain anonymous in case one of you opens a bottle and finds it only ½ full, or with 2 corks, or with the label missing. Just a reminder that if any of our members would like to participate next year, just drop me a note around December and I will give you our schedule.
Our son, Jonathan, filling the bottles
Our newest family member (granddaughter Lily )
showing off her new label
Some comments about the wines we just finished bottling – and will be released over the next few months.
Overall, it just may be the best wines we have produced since we started 6 vintages ago.
Why?
It started back in the spring of ’09.
Four years of little or no rain followed by a very mild summer yielded an extremely small crop – only about 1 ½ tons of grapes per acre.
(we plan for about 3 tons/acre – some commercial growers push around 8 tons/acre).
This ’09 crop was the smallest since we started…..but the quality was OUTSTANDING!
Small ripe berries which turned into some of the richest wines we have produced to date.
The nose – on all of the wines – is ‘WOW’ – all fruit!
The taste – on all of the wines – is a rich mouthful.
And the finish – on all of the wines -
is long and full.
So bottom line is that we are thrilled with this currant vintage.
But, with production down about 30%, these wines are going to be very limited, so if your cellar needs to be refilled, don’t wait too long.
As for the new 2010 vintage, which we just picked a few months ago and is now resting in their barrels, it was an entirely different picture. A year ago, Mother Nature made up for all the rain we didn’t get the prior 4 years. This resulted in some explosive growth in the vines, and even though we ‘dropped’ a substantial amount of fruit over the summer, we still ended up with the largest crop of grapes ( now wine) that we have ever produced. Unfortunately, what Mother gave to us in the form of rain, she then took away all our summer heat and sunshine. This summer has gone down as the coolest summer on record for our area. But we were lucky…most ‘Eastside’ vineyards received enough sunshine to ripen their grapes. Many of those on the ‘Westside” lost their entire crop because the grapes never did develop their necessary sugars. So where will that leave the quality of our ’10 wines? Stay tuned, or better yet, come visit us over the summer when we will start barrel sampling this new vintage and see where everything is headed.
The Ol’ Winemaker with our official wine taster, Syrah
Tasting with the West Coast Cobra Club ( 14 of them)
Being a winemaker is tough enough, but having to read thru some of the emails I receive from club members…well, here is an example of one, commenting on our Lajur –and turning it into a 6 act play:
Act 1
4 P.M.
Open bottle.
Color-Syrah & Petite Sirah purple with dark Zin lurking in the background- Out came the hard charging Syrah strong spicy favors jumping all over the place with the plum favors of the Petite and peppery Zin trying to hold on with the Cab created a good finish
Act II
5 P.M.--Still the Syrah was racing all over the up front favors, but the Petite rich favors are more pronounced, and the base of Zin is just starting to come forward. The Cab just allows a smooth wonderful long finish.
Act III
6 P.M. The goat cheese with olive oil is down to the last few bits and the bad boy Syrah is getting tired, but still there and the strong Petite Sirah is in full favor, the Zin is still opening up and the Cab just sits there and allows a great finish with the Zin tannins. Very nice.
Act IV
7 P.M. now I get a piece of meat with a sip of this blend of actors and I find the subdude Syrah, and rich Petite Sirah, wonderful peppery Zin with great balance of tannins and the Cab allows all the players to interact for a smooth long finish.
Act V
9 P.M.
With
strong hard cheese and dark olives, the Syrah bad boy was asleep, the Petite was still there, but the Zin and Cab stole the show and the last sip was wonderful.
The wine was totally different from the start to the finish.
Final Act -
10 P.M.
my wife says that was one of the best bottles of wine she has ever had; “
drink the last sip and
I will see you upstairs.” Now if I can just get the Glasses clean!
This is a tough job!!!!!
For you Zinfandel lovers – or if you just want to smile, this video is a MUST:
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=XVaNxB5TN2M&vq=medium
On behalf of our entire family, we want to thank all of you who helped make 2010 such a stellar year and look forward to seeing you, your friends and your family during 2011 so we can all continue to celebrate together.
“DRINK THE DREAM”