October 6-
November 23, 2024 
We are officially through with our 2024 Harvest. We actually ended up harvesting a ton each of new Syrah and Grenache from our newly leased Alexander Valley vineyard. We had already harvested 2 tons of Cabernet from the vineyard.
We have run out of barrels so we are purchasing 20 neutral barrels and also trying 6 reconditioned French oak barrels from a new barrel company. At $450 these new reconditioned barrels are less than the new French $1100 barrels. I have tried some barrels like this before and found they did not last as long as new but if we can get 2 years of good oak flavor out of these we will be happy. I have been told new barrels give off oak flavor for 5 years but my experience has shown I perceive flavor for only 3 years.
Now I soon will start deciding where all these 250 barrels will fit into all the wines we have.......fun......fun....fun.........
Thursday October 17, 2024
Not much happening for me but Pat is busy with the Wine Club. Some of you may know we are using a new system for our website and orders so it has been complicated! It has now been over 3 months and finally things are coming together. The Wine Club so far has been easier with the new system through OrderPort, than before with Shopify so we will see!!
Wednesday October 23, 2024
Finally I have all the info from the Harvest. That means I have what is in our barrels, some just finishing fermentation. Jose gave me over 250 barrels with alcohols and percentages of varietals in each barrel. Now it is my time to figure out the blends. One thing I can say at first: every thing but Zinfandels will be much lower in alcohol, most below 15%. I will taste our Nebbiolo tonight which looks to be under 14%. That is more like Bordeaux! In the next few weeks I will have more to say about the potential of this Harvest.
Thursday October 24, 2024
Last night I tasted a barrel sample of our new Nebbiolo and I was very happy. Even at 13.7 Alcohol it stood up to last years Nebbiolo and an Italian Barbaresco (100% Nebbiolo) I brought up from my cellar. We found an AI generated description of Nebbiolo, see below and I will try to harvest the Nebbiolo grapes next year at closer to reach 15% alcohol. I want a concentrated wine from the many vines we budded over last year, yes we will have much more fruit next year.
AI Generated:
In Italy, the average alcohol percentage for high-quality NebbioloWednesday October 30, 2024
wines, particularly those from the Barolo and Barbaresco regions,
generally falls between 13.5% and 14.5%. Some exceptional vintages may
reach up to 15%, but the focus is often on balance and structure rather
than high alcohol content. The specific percentage can vary based on the
producer and the vintage conditions.
After further tasting of the 2024 Nebbiolo I have decided to not make it this year. It is lighter than the 2023 and less intense but does have nice fruit. It will be blended into our New Ultimate Cuvee which is my version of a Super Tuscan, and has the Nebbiolo, Cabernet, Sangiovese, Merlot and a touch of Zinfandel in the blend. It will be interesting to see how it evolves over the years with all those different varietals in it. The good news is I am making a 100% 2024 Sagrantino this year. I will taste a barrel sample tonight and say what I think.
7PM
I tasted the Sagrantino and it is more like the 2003 Nebbiolo and 2001 and 2002 Sangiovese, so good acid upfront and a great finish, intense if you swirl. The Italiano is more balanced. The new Ultimate Cuvee with Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Merlot, and Cabernet and also a touch of Zin will be balanced also.
Wednesday November 6, 2024
Survive Trump? I hope some of you are happy. I sure hope the USA survives. I know all my stocks are up big, especially Tesla, The winery and I will survive!!
I finished my spreadsheet showing the barrels that will make up all the 2024 wines we will bottle eventually. If anyone wants to see it, I can send it to you.
As I have said, we are producing Sagrantino as a new wine. Here is what we say about it:
In 2012, after being impressed by Sagrantino’s intense color, structure, and long finish, we planted vines from eastern Washington and later added grafted vines from a local nursery in 2013. Sagrantino is an Italian red grape variety that is most famously grown in the Umbria region of central Italy, known for their thick skins which contribute to their bold, tannic structure. While the grape is relatively obscure outside of Italy, it has gained attention in recent decades due its unique characteristics.This makes wines from the Sagrantino grape very powerful and age-worthy. Previously blended into our Italiano for structure and color, we will continue to blend a portion of our production, but will keep enough separate to showcase this distinctive varietal.
Thursday November 14, 2024
I decided to purchase a few Italian Sagrantino wines and see how they compare to my wines. I first found in my cellar a 2007 Sagrantino I had purchased several years ago so I decided to compare it with an Italian 2007 Aglianico and a 2018 Aglianico that we produced. I also just received a 2018 Sagrantino from Italy. I tried all blind over 3 days and found some surprises. At first I thought the 2007 wines were showing real well with great fruit, balance and structure. I have felt Aglianico always had more balance than Nebbiolo and Sangiovese. Those later wines have far more intensity up front with long finishes but less in the middle. So I was surprised that the Sagrantino wines had great intensity but more balance, similar in a way to Aglianico. After three days I was most impressed with the 2018 Sagrantino than the Aglianico wines and the older Sagrantino.
In the past few years, I actually am more impressed with Nebbiolo and Sangiovese because they are so different than what I have tasted before so I am fascinated with them. I am more familiar with Cabernet Sauvignon which has so much structure and balance with a great beginning, middle and finish and Zinfandel wines have so much fruit and spice character.
Yesterday I received a few more bottles of Sagrantino so Tuesday night I tasted 2 2019 Sagrantino wines compared to a barrel sample of our 2024 Sagrantino. I also included the 2018 Sagrantino from the last few days. I was surprised again, I could not pick out the 2018 Sagrantino even though it had been open for 4 days. So last night I tasted them again. Our barrel sample of Sagrantino is extremely intense with little balance although it did tame down the second night. The 2018 Sagrantino was still showing well and the 2019 wines were great. I will taste again tonight......As you can tell I am having fun as usual!
Tuesday November 18, 2024
As some of you may expect, I am not a fan of what Elon Musk has been doing lately. So I sold 100 shares of TSLA today, about $36,000 so then I thought about getting rid of my great Tesla Model S. First I looked at what other electric cars are being offered today that would compete with my model S. I found a Lucid that would be interesting but no dealers around me within 100 miles and the car would cost $120,000 far more than my model S, I am trying to pay less, enough to use my $36,000 I have now by selling TSLA stock......SO, I went out today and first tried a Tesla Model 3 so I could downgrade and then I went over to the Ford dealer and tried an electric Mustang. Both cars are real nice, I recommend both but they are not as nice in many ways to my Tesla Model S. This is my fourth Model S and it will probably be my last car. Maybe I should try a GM, not, or a BMW could be interesting. I had real fun today!!........
For any comments or questions I encourage any of you to e-mail.....david@coffaro.com
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