Cellar work with Ed
For the last few weeks, I have been in San Francisco (off Bayshore) at August West lending a hand with racking and washing barrels, bottling and anything else that pops up. Working with Ed Kurtzman is such a pleasure. I can’t say I know a more intelligent or more kind friend. The feeling in the winery is so relaxed, yet focused. There is an amazing energy around Ed and the winery.
So, I’ve been sore. All of the physical repetition of moving from Sonoma County to Marin County reminded me that I need to work out more often than just Harvest and lifting cases of wine. Its a good sore though. And, moving barrels, stacking cases, climbing in and out of tanks…I missed it more than I could ever attempt to describe. With everything going on with the project in France, and working in San Francisco leading up to Harvest, I feel exceptionally thankful to be in this position.
Next week, we’ll be racking Roar barrels. Be sure to check it out, I’ll have some vids of lees dumping, etc.
Cheers
Beaune: Out/ Puligny-Montrachet: In
A short while back, I posted about my find in Beaune, an excellent facility. Well, as things happen at times, it fell through. With excellent fruit on the way, along with equipment you can say I went looking for something better with a fury. As luck would have it, I found something better, more suitable to the project.
Located in Puligny-Montrachet, the house comes with a petite cave and an adequate cuverie. I have a good amount of room to work with and some clever options to play with. This time around, contracts are in play. With harvest rushing at me at break neck speeds, I now have a calm over me, knowing that things worked out best in spite of the hurdle that was Beaune.
I’d like to give a big thanks to Francoise for doing all of the legwork.
Guys, wish me luck.
Working with cement
As we get closer to harvest, things are really starting to move quite quickly. At times, it seems nothing is happening, then all of a sudden, things take off again.
The last few weeks have been really interesting. Late last year, and early this year, things weren’t looking too good for having grape sources above Village level. Lately, I have been offered a nice group of Premier Cru and two sources for a Grand Cru. Things are getting more and more solid. Early on, I didn’t want to fuss over what types of equipment would be used. I didn’t want to be premature in getting these items figured out. Well, now it needs to happen, which leads me to Marc Nomblot and his amazing cement vats.
I spoke with Marc yesterday about grabbing some cement vats from him to accompany the wooden vessel I am getting through Frederic at Rousseau Tonnellerie. I’ve thought quite a bit about what to ferment in. Stainless steel is an easy choice to make. However, I wanted something more traditional to the region and something that would encourage longer ferment times, while adding a nice touch of insulatory characteristics. From what I have seen, Marc is considered the best in the cement vat business, and he is local to my project. I am currently speaking with Marc about getting two tanks from the tonconique and tronconique 26% designs. Reality will set in once I am shovelling pomace out of it. Still, I can’t wait…
Visit Marc Nomblot’s site Here
