January Blending Sessions

First, I have to include this.  Over the weekend Matt and John came to visit Napa and we went out wine tasting.  I have very tall friends.

 Also this week we continued a series of Olfaction sessions.  Alexandre Schmitt is a former perfumer turned wine-consultant and aroma educator.  A few times a year he brings his vials of essential oils and tries to teach us the difference between Tahitian, Mexican and Madagascar Vanilla.  Or to be more specific when describing a wine as "floral".  Is it violet, hyacinth, lilac or gardenia?

 The other thing we do in January is blending.  We taste every lot several times to decide what will make the cut to the final blend.  This takes a lot of glasses, bottles, space and time.

 The counters are packed with sample bottles to make preliminary blends.

 At least 3 out of 5 days of every week in January, the table looks like this.  We keep revisiting and tasting blends to make sure that we are consistent.  

 Fortunately for me, I was able to bring back intern Joanna to help during this busy time.  Joanna and I set up two tastings at once.  The front section is one tasting, the middle glasses are a second tasting.

 Here we are tasting the front glasses.

Then we cleared away the front row to reveal a second tasting behind it.  So efficient.

So far no winery visits this month.  I need to hurry up to keep my new year's resolution!

Honestly though, when you taste this much wine during the week, tasting on the weekend is the last thing I want to do.

-L

Happy 2014 and Back to Work

Happy 2014 everyone!  This is exciting for me because it's the 4th year of writing this blog.  For me personally 2013 was an Ok year, with a lot of room for improvement so I'm determined to make 2014 really great.  This is the year I really need to get my wine sold and my garage cleared out a bit.  

Also, last year I made a resolution to visit more wineries and did well the first few months and the pooped out.  I'm going to bring that resolution back, but start with a more modest goal, "1 new winery a month."  And if anyone wants to visit my winery, let me know!

So now, a little about the last few weeks . . . .

 To me the Holidays aren't complete without a trip to San Francisco.  I love seeing all the decorations and lights downtown.

Tree at Union Square.  I had 2 weeks off work and made 2 trips to the city for last minute Christmas shopping.

 I also spent time with Deluca, a lovely Mastiff.

And I took Max to Home Depot.

And I put him in the cart.

 And then I spent time with some humans, like my lovely and dear friend Meredith, who came to visit from Oregon.

 The I came back to work this week and found this yummy growth in my favorite mug.  I don't remember what tea I drank last but maybe I should try a new brand.

And now it's time for blending!  Which is honestly one of my least favorite times of year.  It's tasting 30 to 60 wines per day, everyday of the week, for the next month.  We start early in the morning and its a lot of set up and clean up, and frankly pretty exhausting.  If the stars align and the quality is good, maybe only 3 weeks.  More on all the details of blending coming up . . .

-L