What happens when a friend you have not seen in 7 years is wine tasting in a town 30 minutes away…invite him over! So why so many glasses? He said he was with his wife and 12 friends…so they all came over for a vineyard tour and wine tasting. Was a great time with Doug and Jenny Lucken and all of their friends!!!
As everyone knows farmers worry a lot about the weather…so here goes mine. California is in its 4th year of drought. Last year we finished with a little over half the normal rainfall and this rainy season is almost over and we are in the same shape as last year…unless we get a lot of rain in March and April.
What does that mean for us here in Russian River Valley? Well, last year bud break was March 11th with an early harvest of September 2nd. We had bud break February 25th this year, 2 weeks ahead of last year!
Why this is bad:
– The sooner bud break, the more chance of a heavy frost damages the shoots and ruins the crop. Normally we worry until 4/15.
– If all the other milestones are early, we will harvest mid-August. With an early harvest the grapes will not mature correctly leading to poorer phenolics.
– The chance of rain ruining fruit set is greater.
But what can you do but enjoy the nice weather and hope for a cool summer.
A few weeks ago we drove 2 hours north to Mendocino, along the California coast. Occasionally you have to get away to allow you to think what is good and what needs to be improved in your life and in this case Turtle Vines vineyard and winery.
Hard to believe, but we started on this adventure when we purchased our house in 2008. In that time we prepared the land, planted 3130 pinot noir vines (enough for 5-6 tons of fruit), made 3 vintages of wine, acquired organic certification, found a buyer for grapes and were permitted to sell wine! Wow…what a ride so far. But every year you have to see what works and what doesn’t and make improvements…so here goes.
Winery
– Let Pinot Noir ferment with wild yeast, if needed, then introduce assmenhausen yeast.
– Find a distributor/restaurant for wine and develop a bigger following. This could include wine-on-tap.
– Acquire the .organic name when it is available.
– Keep Merlot separate and pick later than Pinot.
– Obtain a professional review for marketing…perhaps Prince of Pinot.
– Determine optimal amount of wine to make
– Blend 2014 Pinot for optimal taste of 3 possible wines
– Become profitable.
Vineyard
– Add another 1/2 pound epson salt per vine to decrease potassium. It has come down from 2100ppm to 1200ppm but needs to be around 500ppm.
– Add Boron to spray prior to bloom. Only spray seaweed once at bloom otherwise it will increase pH of grapes later in the season. Add sulfur to spray rotation for cost and spider mites.
* Stylet oil/Boron prior to bloom
* Serenade/seaweed at bloom
* Alternate serenate/stylet oil/bicarbonate/sulfur the rest of the season
* Boron in the fall
– Dry farm as much as possible, especially the Pommard
– Hire out bigger jobs, especially shoot straightening/thinning in May to create airflow and prevent mildew. In addition…pruning and harvest.
– Fill out paperwork to become “Sustainable” in addition to being certified Organic.
– Drop more fruit for short canes
– Become profitable.
We just received a case of “The Gardener” 2013 Pinot Noir made from Turtle Vines grapes.
We sell excess grapes to Chris Condos and Suzanne Hagins, of Horse and Plow, and they make a Vineyard Designate wine. This is a big honor in the wine business. We like working with them, because as far as I know they only buy organic grapes. This agrees with our principles!
We can’t wait until we open this bottle and compare it to our very own “Turtle Vines” 2013 Pinot Noir! Of course, support Turtle Vines Winery first, but consider getting a bottle from “The Gardener” with our grapes as a second choice.
Here at Turtle Vines we are trying to minimize tiling of the soil. However, it is essential that you replenish the nitrogen that is taken from the soil from the shoots and grapes each year. It is that time of year where you need cover Clover is a legume which fixes nitrogen in the soil. It provides small white “puff” flowers, which attracts bees. White clovers will tolerate most soil conditions, but thrives in moist conditions. Plant in full sun or partial shade. Sow seed in the fall in mild climates or in the spring.
“A good stand of a perennial legume like white clover often produces 100 to 200 pounds of nitrogen per acre per year,” says Don Ball, extension agronomist with Auburn University. “Annual legumes, on the other hand, usually produce about 50 to 150 pounds of nitrogen per acre.”
The 2- to 3-pound per acre seeding rate of white clover appears low for a simple reason — seeds are tiny! On average there are more than 750,000 white clover seeds per pound.
White Clover (pH 6.2-7.5). There are many cultivars of white clover grouped by size. The shortest cultivar is Wild West. Intermediate height cultivars includes Dutch White, New Zealand White, and Louisiana S-1. These cultivars are more heat tolerant and flower earlier than the tallest white clover cultivars such as Ladino and Alsike Clover. White clovers are very vigorous! They require moisture for establishment and to maintain good growth, prefer cooler growing temperatures, and germinate best at soil temperatures of 40-50o F. White clovers are the best choices for areas that receive heavy foot traffic. White clover stores 45% of the nitrogen it gives back to the soil in its roots. This is more than any other legume and is important to consider in managing white clover for nitrogen addition. Mowing the top growth of white clover will not give you a fast boost of nitrogen, but white clover is a great recycler of nitrogen.
This time of year the vineyard is losing its leaves, the wine has finished primary fermentation and you get a small break to catch your breath and find out if your wine is ready to age. What does that mean? Well, first you have to see if the malolactic fermentation is complete. Then determine the acid profile (pH/TA). Get an alcohol content to pay taxes to the Feds. Finally, taste the wine and see if the oak has incorporated into the wine and you are ready to rack, sulfur and put the wine to sleep until spring.
We are sending off samples this week and will find out our status and make adjustments if necessary. We did a taste taste last night and it is so interesting that the Pommard and 667 clones are so distinct in taste. We think some of it is due to the clonal differences, some from the fact that the Pommard was riper with more raisin’ed berries, and some that the Pommard looked to start fermentation prior to our inoculation with Assmanhausen yeast. The best news is both taste great at this point in time and we will find out in 9 months which is better for the 2015 vintage! I’m guessing for 2014 we will make three Pinot’s…Pommard, 667 and a Reserve wine that is a blend of the two clones. We are really looking forward to our blending party in August!
I moved the wine into our new temperature controlled wine room anticipating the ML had finished.
Wine room temperature/humidity.
Garage temperature.
What’s in your Wine?
Even if you’re not a vegan you may not relish the idea that the wine you are drinking was mixed with gelatin from pigs, cows, and fish bladders, egg whites, and other distasteful animal ingredients, during the wine making process. And for those of you who are lactose or gluten intolerant, you may be concerned that milk protein and wheat gluten may also have been used.
Why is this done?
Many wineries have a formula for making wine that produces a consistent product from year to year that is less dependent on the quality of the grapes they use. The commercial process that is used to create a clear and stable wine or to fix defects is calling “fining”.
Fining
Fining is the operation of adding one or more compounds to wine to bring it into balance and keep it there. Many of these compounds are from animals, gluten and other surprising materials. Although these compounds are filtered out of the wine before it is bottled and sold, there potentially could be some residue in the wine, albeit very minuscule amounts. Here’s are some examples:
* Isinglass (fish bladder) is used to clarify wine.
* Gelatin (pork, cow and fish skin and bones) clarifies wine and removes excess tannins.
* Plant proteins (either green peas or hydrolyzed gluten) is used to clarify wine and remove excess tannins. Pea protein is appropriate for vegan wines.
* Egg albumin is used to clarify wine and remove astringencies in red wine.
* Potassium caseinate (milk protein) improves aromatic defects and treats oxidized wines.
* PVPP (plastic) is used to treat bitterness.
* Bentonite (clay) is used for rapid clarification and to treat protein-unstable wines.Bentonite is appropriate for vegan wines.
Is Fining Necessary?
Our Turtle Vines Pinot Noir is not fined or filtered. No animal products, plastic, or gluten is used in the production of our wine. It is simply not necessary.
To achieve clarity, we “rack” our wine. Racking is the process of letting the wine settle and then siphoning it into another vessel. This is done three times. Occasionally there is a bit of residue at the bottom of our bottles but that doesn’t bother us – it’s better than adding these odd and distasteful compounds listed above.
To balance our tannins, we “cold soak” our destemmed (and about 5% whole-cluster) grapes for five to ten days before fermentation to bring out the beneficial, water soluble skin tannins.
We prevent excess tannins by ending fermentation and pressing the wine before the wine goes completely dry. This controls excess tannins from the grapes seeds by limiting how long they soak in the fermented wine.
Tannins can also seem out of balance if the acidity and alcohol levels are inappropriate. Acid levels are controlled by measuring and adding tartaric acid when necessary. Correct alcohol levels are controlled by picking the grapes when their target sugar content (and flavor) is achieved. With the proper acidity and alcohol levels, fining is not necessary to adjust tannins.
All these methods of carefully balancing tannins prevents having to deal with astringencies and bitterness.
Controlling aromatic defects is much easier to control when you grow and hand-pick your own grapes. At Turtle Vines we examine every grape cluster continually throughout the growing season, discarding any that have mold or mildew or that are not ripe enough to pick. Many large wineries machine-harvest their grapes allowing more bad grapes to end up in the fermentation tank.
The Importance of Organic Grapes
When you go grocery shopping for grapes, many of you buy those that are organically grown. Every year table grapes are listed as one of the Environmental Working Groups “Dirty Dozen“. Their 2014 audits showed that table grape samples has residue of at least 15 pesticides. But when you buy a bottle of wine, most people don’t even think about whether or not the grapes used to make the wine are organic. Conventionally grown wine grapes can be treated with synthetic pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, and fertilizers.
According to the California Department of Pesticides Regulation, 25 million pounds of pesticides were applied to conventionally-grown wine grapes in California in 2010. These wine grapes had far more pesticides than table grapes. According to the USDA Pesticide Data Program, there are up to 34 different kinds of pesticide residues found on conventionally-grown grapes!
Our grapes at Turtle Vines Vineyards are certified organic by the California Certified Organic Farmers Association. It is not only important for our wine to be free of these toxins to protect you, but we did not want ourselves, our workers, our neighbors, or wildlife to be exposed or subjected to these harmful chemicals.
We do not, however, make organic wine. The difference between organic wine and wine made from certified organic grapes is that organic wine does not allow for the addition of sulfur dioxide. Since sulfur dioxide prevents bacterial spoilage, very few wines are made organically as they have a short shelf life. We feel that the majority of benefits to the consumer are obtained by wine being vegan and made from certified organic grapes.
Is Wine Raw?
During fermentation, temperatures rise but generally stay below 85 degrees so, from that standpoint, wine is considered raw. However, some winemakers add sugar during the wine making process to achieve their target alcohol content (not to make the wine sweeter). Unless the sugar used was raw sugar, some would consider this wine not to be raw.
This process of adding sugar to wine is called “chaptalization” and it is generally done in regions that have poor climate and produce grapes with low sugar content. This practice is illegal in Argentina, Australia, Austria, California, Italy, and South Africa. So you can be assured that wines from these regions were not made with sugar. Our California wines have plenty of sunshine and ample sugar content and don’t need this added sugar.
Our 2012 Turtle Vines Pinor Noir is Now Available
If you are interested in purchasing our Pinot Noir, please go to our main page and send me a note for delivery.
Our wine is raw, vegan, unfined, unfiltered, gluten-free, and made with our hand-farmed organic grapes.
The 2012 Pinot is about 80 percent Pommard and 20 percent 667 with a lower alcohol content of 13.0%. This produces a feminine style wine with a taste of ripened strawberry, currant, and cassis. It is a very versatile and food friendly wine which complements almost any dish from pasta to chocolate truffles!
If you mention Foods For Long Life, you will get additional 10% discount. Stock up for the holidays!
California Wine Month in September celebrates one of our signature agricultural products and all that vintners and growers bring to the economy, culture and lifestyle of the Golden State.
Whether you are drinking Russian River Valley Pinot, Napa Cab or White Zinfandel, chances are they were grown and made in California. So…find what you like and think of us here in California fondly! Better yet, contact me for some Turtle Vines Pinot Noir.
“What does the fox say?” Normally it is very difficult to catch a fox, especially in a raccoon cage with only a peanut butter sandwich. But, this little guy must still be learning. I released him a few hours after he was caught, and I can definitely say, they sure do run fast!!!
September 2nd, 2014 was the start of our harvest activity. Friends of ours came over and picked 1300 pounds of Pommard (Pinot Noir clone). The next day, with the help of Bernadino, he and I picked 1100 pounds of 667 (another Pinot Noir clone). Then on September 4th, Rob’s crew came in and picked the rest of the Pinot Noir that was sold to Horse and Plow, 5100 pounds. Since my truck and Bill’s trailer only hold 2 tons, I had to make two trips to the winery.
So for those following the last few years…we planted 3130 vines in 2010 and had our first harvest in 2012 of 1400 pounds. 2013 was 5200 pounds and this year was 7500 pounds. Next year we should be close to a fully mature vineyard and will get close to 10,000 pounds.
By the way…a few months ago I predicted 7780 pounds. Pretty close when you add in the 100 pounds I will pick for Rose this week and the 200 pounds I dropped due to mildew damage.
