Summer at Summerset...

NEW WINES

MEAD (Honey wine)

It is not for everyone.  This new batch was bottled on July 6th and was made with a different yeast, a more aromatic blend, more residual sugar and slightly reduced alcohol.

MARECHAL FOCH

This 500 gallon batch was fermented and handled separately from our other Foch.  It has an intensely deep color, with rich tannins and oak.  I had intended to use this as a primary blending base for one of our dry reds, however when Ron sampled it one day, he liked it on its own.  It has been bottled and is now available. 

KISS ME

A new complex white wine blend. This wine was released at our 10th Anniversary party on July 4th and bottles flew out the door.

PINK FESTIVA (carbonated wine)

When Ron, Linda, and family were out of town, Nick and I blended up 575 gallons based on an initial test batch of five gallons Ron invented.  I think Ron stumbled on a real winning combination and it has received some wonderful reviews so far.  We have started bottling and are working on a label.  Much of the wine in this blend also comes from my personal vineyard in addition to Summerset.

BOTTLING PROGRESS

Another batch, (1000 gallons) of Caba and a batch of Rose’ are being cold stabilized.  It will be bottled shortly. 

Four to five more batches of Caba need to be finished before the end of July along with one batch of Kiss Me, one batch of Summer Blush, and one batch of Harvest White.  There is not enough time in a day.  These wines must be bottled ASAP so we will have enough tank space before harvest.

Come visit our new high capacity, combination lees and wine plate frame filter. Or as Ron calls it "that darn expensive thing Dave kept bugging me to buy" or "that's where Dave's raise went!" The new filter will allow us to save more juice during harvest, save more wine when racking (moving wine), and to more efficiently clarify wine. We can also do two filter operations in one pass, so there is less opportunity for oxidizing wine.

Vincent, our university intern from France, has been very helpful in the filtering and bottling processes.

HARVEST:

We sustained some bud loss due to the weather early in March, but we did not have any plant loss.  Vineyard spraying is behind schedule due to all the rain and windy days.

Look for my upcoming quarterly articles in the wine magazine "Make More Wine," in the column "Blending Thoughts."

Dave