David Coffaro Winery and Vineyard Winemaker's Diary 2000 week 40

David Coffaro Vineyard and Winery Winemaker's Diary

Week 40

October 1 to October 7, 2000

Monday October 2 last few days high 102 low 44
Well we won a bronze and two silvers. The silver were for the 1999 zin and ZP2C. The bronze was for our cab franc which I feel is our best wine. The judges obviously felt at only one year old, they were not up to a gold. Like I said the other day golds are usually given to wines that are average, in that they do not offend. Oh well there is always next year. But if I really cared about the notoriety, maybe I should hold back 75 cases of one of my wines for 4 years and see if I win a gold. ( I don't think so!!!)
Brendan and I worked all day yesterday crushing and topping off our newly filled barrels. We now have all our 20 bins filled again so the new carignan and cab for the Estate Cuvee will have to wait another week. I think the sugar is only 22+ anyway, so another week will be great.
There are so many things for us to do in the next few days that Brendan and I will have no trouble using the time before we press later this week. We plan to press our stuck Teldeschi zin into the fermenting cab today.
I hope in the next few days to have our new 2000 form up on the internet. We do plan on including the 2000 Neighbors' Zin, but not the extra 50 cases of Aca Modot. Anyone interested will have to call us directly.
Tuesday October 3
I need to receive our new carignan and Estate Cuvee Cab fruit before I can make a better estimate of what we will make for the 2000 vintage. Those grapes will not come in until next week, but I would like to give you an estimate, as of today, on what we will produce. That way we can get the 2000 futures offer back up on our website.
We will make an Estate Zin and a Neighbors' Zin. The Estate Zin will include about 77% Zin, 10% Petite Sirah, 8% Cab and 5% Barbera. (800 cases)
Our Neighbors' Zin will probably include 75% Zin, 14% Cab, 5% Petite Sirah, 3% Cab Franc and 3% Carignan. (400 cases)
Our Estate Cuvee will include 32% Zin, 32% Cab, 23% Carignan, 8% Petite Sirah, and 5% Barbera. (700 cases)
Our Petite Sirah may include 75% PS, 25% Sirah. (400 cases)
Our Cab Franc may include 75% Cab Franc, 5% Zin, 3% PS and 17% Syrah. (360 cases).
Our Carignan, Block 4, Pinot and Aca Modot will only be offered by phone. The Pinot will include some syrah and the Aca Modot will include all estate grapes consisting of approximately 53% Cab, 16% Cab Franc, 13% Barbera, 11% Merlot, 4% Petite Verdot, 3% Malbec.
Since, as you can see, we have an abundance of Simpson Syrah this year in the Petite Sirah and Cab Franc. I am hoping to maybe offer 50 cases of syrah. That way I can lower the percentage of sirah in the PS and CF thus substitute other varietals in order to increase the complexity.
All these estimates are only that. I will not have a complete idea of what the possibilities will be until the end of October when all the fruit is in.. Then we will taste the 150 barrels with your help in order to make a final decision in January when we blend. We hope to have the new order form, with these preliminary numbers, up on our site in the next few days.
Thursday October 5
Well our new form for 2000 Futures is up on our website. We are offering a syrah for the first time and our prices are down from last year. I hate to raise prices, but I did not realize until I checked that we were charging $15 a bottle last year. Also we went to $16.20 a bottle for a case in November. As many of you know I am building a new storage building and thus I went into $150,000 more debt this year. I am selling more wine at a faster pace so it is working out, but I obviously can't lower prices from last year. We will hold these $14 prices until November especially for those who want to order Syrah for the first time, but we must raise prices then, because I have had to buy a great deal of grapes at high prices. Please order what you need until the end of October. Don't feel too bad for me, because remember I would have sold most of what we have left of our 1999 wines to my distributor. We dropped him, because of the high prices he was charging. Also this will help us make a little more money by eliminating one step of the three tier system.
Friday October 6
I must clarify what I said last night about my prices for our 2000 futures. We will honor these new prices through our pick up party on November 4 and 5.

Dave

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	*Monday October 2 last few days high 102 low 44* Well we won a bronze and two silvers. The silver were for the 1999 zin and ZP2C. The bronze was for our cab franc which I feel is our best wine. The judges obviously felt at only one year old, they were not up to a gold. Like I said the other day golds are usually given to wines that are average, in that they do not offend. Oh well there is always next year. But if I really cared about the notoriety, maybe I should hold back 75 cases of one of my wines for 4 years and see if I win a gold. ( I don't think so!!!) Brendan and I worked all day yesterday crushing and topping off our newly filled barrels. We now have all our 20 bins filled again so the new carignan and cab for the Estate Cuvee will have to wait another week. I think the sugar is only 22+ anyway, so another week will be great. There are so many things for us to do in the next few days that Brendan and I will have no trouble using the time before we press later this week. We plan to press our stuck Teldeschi zin into the fermenting cab today. I hope in the next few days to have our new 2000 form up on the internet. We do plan on including the 2000 Neighbors' Zin, but not the extra 50 cases of Aca Modot. Anyone interested will have to call us directly. *Tuesday October 3* I need to receive our new carignan and Estate Cuvee Cab fruit before I can make a better estimate of what we will make for the 2000 vintage. Those grapes will not come in until next week, but I would like to give you an estimate, as of today, on what we will produce. That way we can get the 2000 futures offer back up on our website. We will make an Estate Zin and a Neighbors' Zin. The Estate Zin will include about 77% Zin, 10% Petite Sirah, 8% Cab and 5% Barbera. (800 cases) Our Neighbors' Zin will probably include 75% Zin, 14% Cab, 5% Petite Sirah, 3% Cab Franc and 3% Carignan. (400 cases) Our Estate Cuvee will include 32% Zin, 32% Cab, 23% Carignan, 8% Petite Sirah, and 5% Barbera. (700 cases) Our Petite Sirah may include 75% PS, 25% Sirah. (400 cases) Our Cab Franc may include 75% Cab Franc, 5% Zin, 3% PS and 17% Syrah. (360 cases). Our Carignan, Block 4, Pinot and Aca Modot will only be offered by phone. The Pinot will include some syrah and the Aca Modot will include all estate grapes consisting of approximately 53% Cab, 16% Cab Franc, 13% Barbera, 11% Merlot, 4% Petite Verdot, 3% Malbec. Since, as you can see, we have an abundance of Simpson Syrah this year in the Petite Sirah and Cab Franc. I am hoping to maybe offer 50 cases of syrah. That way I can lower the percentage of sirah in the PS and CF thus substitute other varietals in order to increase the complexity. All these estimates are only that. I will not have a complete idea of what the possibilities will be until the end of October when all the fruit is in.. Then we will taste the 150 barrels with your help in order to make a final decision in January when we blend. We hope to have the new order form, with these preliminary numbers, up on our site in the next few days. *Thursday October 5* Well our new form for 2000 Futures is up on our website. We are offering a syrah for the first time and our prices are down from last year. I hate to raise prices, but I did not realize until I checked that we were charging $15 a bottle last year. Also we went to $16.20 a bottle for a case in November. As many of you know I am building a new storage building and thus I went into $150,000 more debt this year. I am selling more wine at a faster pace so it is working out, but I obviously can't lower prices from last year. We will hold these $14 prices until November especially for those who want to order Syrah for the first time, but we must raise prices then, because I have had to buy a great deal of grapes at high prices. Please order what you need until the end of October. Don't feel too bad for me, because remember I would have sold most of what we have left of our 1999 wines to my distributor. We dropped him, because of the high prices he was charging. Also this will help us make a little more money by eliminating one step of the three tier system. *Friday October 6* I must clarify what I said last night about my prices for our 2000 futures. We will honor these new prices through our pick up party on November 4 and 5.

	*Dave*
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