October 3
- October 16, 2021 
Monday October 4, 2021
Today we are harvesting grapes for our Escuro blend. Those will be Aglianico, Alvarelhao, Souzao and Tannat. It is going to be cool the rest of this week and since we need warm fruit we may have to wait a day or two to add our M/L culture to any other grapes we harvest this week. We still have our 2nd crop which goes into Dave's Cuvee and also Petit Verdot and younger Cabernet. And we have Mourvedre, Syrah and Peloursin which go into our Terre Melange blend. So it looks like we have another two weeks to finish.
Tuesday October 5, 2021
Finally I have time to do a diary after the Raider game last night............................................
OK, get over it Dave................
We brought in some great fruit today so I think Terre Melange may be the best ever. The Mourvedre, Syrah and Peloursin came in at an average of 26 sugar, perfect so may be 15 percent alcohol. We have been aiming for 15 alcohol or lower from the beginning of the Harvest and remember Bryan and I had to step up to help a few weeks ago when Jose was down with Covid...................
SOSOSOSOSOS Jose told me today we have stuck fermentations again..........don't get me into it.........look at past postings..............
Block 4 is our best selling wine, it is so complex with many varieties in the vineyard so it is complicated to when to know to harvest. Sometimes we can not harvest quick enough and we did harvest it at 26 sugar this year which is normal but there is raisins which cause the alcohol to go up during fermentation so we have to add water to control the resulted final alcohol..........yes we did not add enough water
So tomorrow is a big day. I am organized as usual. We need to bring in some of the second crop to blend with the Block 4 which is stuck at 1percent sugar........Wilson does win awards, I prefer to ferment to dryness................
So tomorrow we will bring in some second crop for where we pick our usual blend of Block 4. It is left over fruit, was not ripe, or just missed.
It usually has high sugar and we have had problems before to Keep Dave's Cuvee down to 15 percent sugar,
yes 2nd crop is used for Dave's.........but this year most will be used for our refermentation of our Block 4.
We have done it before. We bring in fresh fruit and start a fermentation and add much more yeast to get it going and then add a little of the stuck Block 4. The great thing about this is all the fruit left in the 2nd crop is in all the areas we picked Block 4, yes we missed some.........more tomorrow............IPA
Tomorrow is another day........I love what I do
Wednesday October 6, 2021
The warriors are out picking our 2nd crop. We have a problem........The winery is full of fermenting bins and we have very little room to put in the new bins to referment the Block 4 stuck wine. What we have to do is wait until Friday when we can press some of the past weeks fermenting bins and thus make room for the new ones. In the next three days we should have 10 full 2nd crop grape bins, about 4.5 tons. We have enough room in the winery to stack the grape bins 3 high and then we will destem them on Friday. We will add a lot of yeast to make a fast hot fermentation over the weekend and then start adding the Block 4 slowly after the bins start fermenting. We hope the new refermenting bins will finish to dryness by the end of next week.
7+...........
OK, down here tonight after having great Crab cakes........No filler, no Carbs, if any one interested let me know
It is complicated as usual at harvest time. Today we brought in 1.8 tons of 2nd crop and we have decided to use some in the next two days for Dave's Cuvee..........yes we have only sold 30 cases so for of 2021 Dave's Cuvee so we do not have to make more than that to make sure these great customers who have faith in us to produce another great vintage of Dave's Cuvee.
So that is complicated as I said. In the next few days we have to decide which bins come in that will be easier to ferment Dave's Cuvee. We need a bin or two that is under 25 sugar since we know with raisins out there, the alcohol will go up after we start fermenting
Catarino brought in 1.8 tons today so we are fine for now and then he says we will bring in another 2 tons so as I said we have to figure which bins will go into this Small amount of Dave's Cuvee we need.
The Block 4 refermentation is top priority
Tonight I go up soon and see who the Giants will play on Friday.......will it be the Dodgers or the team that just had 17 game win in a row..........IPA
Friday October 8, 2021
Cool today and maybe cooler next week until Thursday and Friday when we hope to finish our harvest.........................................
My wife. Pat and her sister are big Giants fans so that is why I am interested in the game tonight
A complicated day today.........So
We did 10 stainless fermenters today to start fermentation.. 8 of them are to referment our stuck Block 4. It was complicated since Jose has looked into this in years past and we need 600 pounds of grapes to start a new violent fermentation so we will put in 3 times the amount of yeast and add the stuck wine back on Monday after the violent fermentation gets too hot and would explode to dryness in one day.
This is complicated in the long run. Sure we could put in a lager amount of yeast and finish fermentation in a few days but we would do at first like most all wineries do and bring in all their fruit cold, 50 degrees or lower. Maybe I should try that next year?? Those famous wineries ferment over two weeks............so far I prefer different.........long story
So we do have 10 fermenters going and two are for Dave's Cuvee so we should produce about 125 cases of Dave's Cuvee this year.
Giants Dodgers.............IPA
Saturday October 9, 2021
Not much happening today. We pressed Italiano and will press more bins next week. It is warmer today and will be warmer tomorrow and then cool down on Monday through Wednesday so we will keep our Warriors busy until they get their final check on Friday after harvesting Petite Verdot and the newer Cab on Thursday and Friday........
Fight tonight and Giants and of course IPA
Monday October 11, 2021............went to the bank, but closed and we are cooler today and will finish on Thursday and Friday
So in Santa Rosa today, I went to the wound center and i was given a date to put the box in my back on October 20......Pat's Birthday is on October 24 so I will be in a restaurant with wires on my back........more later
OK, depressed the Raiders and 49ners looked horrible yesterday on offense. I thought both their defenses did better except for penalties.......That is why I only got 5 hours of sleep and I am not doing well now.....................................................................
As far as the winery we are fine and started to add the Block 4 slow wine to the new 2nd crop fermenting with a lot of yeast. So today Jose and Salvador added the first of 3 barrels to the new fermentation which we hope will be finished by Friday
Sure TSLA is doing well but that is something I can not sell and hope it goes higher.............
Giants and Dodgers tonight so who will be up one game and tomorrow will tell so............................I need sleep after the game and also there is NFL.........and IPA to keep me alive................
OK, now I remember this feeling, back in Auckland. We arrived after a Business Class flight and it was long as you know so I got very little sleep but even so the business Class seat was much better than a young kid thumping in my back, 225 pounds of me. So with excitement and little sleep we had a great time on that first night with room service and a drink and a nice bottle of wine.........all two days there were fun............no more planes for me............or maybe this box in my back good help?????????????????
In closing I have made pizza as you know for every week I have been here and I like Brad and Bryan's dough better so those my best friends. male, will inspire me to try both of their recipes on this Sunday, I have them but could help with more info, I suspect Brad and is great wife are still down in Pasadena and Bryan may be here...........fun........fun......And Kate..........soon to be a mother............. did not reread, after the below, may be typos above oooooooohohoh
And then
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/sports/football/what-did-jon-gruden-say.html
Wednesday October 13, 2021
Get over it Dave, Gruden is gone it may be for the best
We will finish Harvest on Friday so I will have plenty of updates in the next two days...........
Thursday October 14, 2021
We did harvest some Petit Verdot and will finish tomorrow. We will also finish our Younger Cab vines which look intense so we will age it in some new French barrels......fun tomorrow, our last day of The Harvest.
Now Giants and Dodgers, who will win.....also NFL to see if Brady has a bad hand.........and IPA
Friday October 15, 2021
This is was the most complicated today for the Harvest. We did finish but we had too many things to consider, like a jig saw puzzle...........
There is a reason it is the last day because we have so many younger vines that take longer to mature. In a few years these vines will be harvested earlier.
So we had a small amount of Merlot that was planted a few years ago and also some Petit Verdot, young. We harvested our best Petit Verdot yesterday and held off to destem until today. So we did do a 100% Petite Verdot and made some younger Cabernet to blend with the small amount of Merlot. BUT it was complicated to make sure we had enough fruit in the 4 fermenters we chose............
We also have Aca Modot that is slowing down so we had to pick some of this fruit to referment the Aca Blend from a week or so.
We also had our new long rows of Cabernet that is looking great and we kept those vines separate to store in French Barrels..........Tomorrow is another day IPA
Saturday October 16, 2021
Sure the Harvest is over, so it makes me think.......Now I have to decided like every year what I blend to make the best wine. It is complicated and I hope to continue for many years making these decisions.
We did make a derision to referment the Aca Modot bins that were harvested 10 days or so ago and we took 600 pounds of Cab and mostly Petit Verdot to referment
Refermenting the Block 4 stuck Bins has been great and we will press those tomorrow, they will finish to dry
Harvest is over, but tomorrow is another day...........................................
For any comments or questions I encourage any of you to e-mail.....david@coffaro.com
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