Check out this month's Northwest Palate Magazine - September/October 2007. Http://www.nwpalate.com Kay Simon of Chinook Wines is a featured winemaker in the "Rush to Crush" article about crush time at Northwest wineries.

I forgot to mention that a crew shooting a documentary about the rise of the Yakima Valley was filming while we were cleaning and rinsing down the crush equipment on Thursday. Another 15 minutes of fame. Or not.

Another warm and beautiful day here in Prosser. We crushed and pressed our LAST white wine grapes for the 2007 Crush/Harvest season. Hurray! Today's line up of crush crew were me, Kay, Clay, Kristen and Sharon. Here's a photo of Kristen and Sharon.

We hand sorted about two tons of Semillon from the Carter vineyard. These grapes were handpicked by a careful crew and the bins contained barely any leaves or bad clusters. There were large clusters of verdant green and other clusters of a more yellow, sun-kissed color. I tasted berries from each lot and all were sublimely sweet and balanced.

When we hand-sort, the grape clusters are placed on a conveyor belt and we pick up and turn over each cluster as we visually assess questionable clusters. The interesting looking ones go through another examination as we sniff, snip and toss any bad grapes into the dump bin. The bad grapes are ones which have any signs of mold, sour rot or uneven ripening. Kay is very meticulous about which clusters make the cut into the grape must and which ones end up on the floor. Everything is done at an even, but fast pace. Yet, we still find time to talk and have pleasant conversations as we hand-sort. During much of the crush season, I have been the designated lug washer. This means washing out the plastic bins that the grapes are picked in. Each bin or box weighs about 30-35 pounds each when full of grapes. When the bins are emptied, they are then placed on a bin washer which I manually pull through and hose down all the sweet and sticky grape juice and stack these bins in towers of twenty. These twenty stacks are then placed five towers each onto a pallet. However, today I was on the hand-sort line while Kristen did the bin washing. Sharon has the "fastest hands" on the line so we have her spot and sort, while Kay and I snip and toss.
We had a little lull in the crush as we waited for Dennis to bring in the second load of grapes. I took advantage of this lull and got a lesson in driving the forklift. It isn't Rocket Science to drive a forklift, but you do have to be very aware of your surroundings. No need to have a forklift rodeo and go around needlessly endangering your colleagues. Not that any of that would happen around here at a small scale winery operation. We rarely operate both forklifts are the same time. Still, safety first!

After crushing, we rinse, clean and sanitize the crushing line and then dump the must into the press. The press is mostly an automated operation so we get another break and have a light lunch. It's an idyllic scene as we sit around the picnic table making sandwiches from artisan bread with some yummy gourmet cheese, basil and tomatoes fresh from Kay's garden. The grounds are warm and sunny in the noon time glow. Copper and Autumn, the two golden retrievers are playing in the grass with my little chihuahua Prensa, nervously prancing about the fringes of their play. I want to hang onto these memories. I know that cooler temperatures and wet weather are around the corner. But for now, I will enjoy these warm memories.

The rest of the day is routine operations: punch downs of the merlot from last week. The two totes are coming along nicely and with the yeast doing their job of turning the grape must sugars into alcohol and making a lovely wine. These will soon be ready to press and then tank. The other totes are a few days away from press. But already it's getting a little crowded in the facility and we will soon need to find space for everything else that is coming in. Not to worry, Kay has a plan as usual and has already worked it out in her head where everything goes.

Tomorrow's agenda calls for cellar work. Tonight's agenda calls for a nice hot bath and a good night's rest.

Cheers!
Alice

Crush/Harvest Update 3 - October 12 - 14 Weekend

It's been a busy week at Chinook Wines. We've been crushing and
pressing grapes practically everyday this week: Semillon and
Chardonnay. The fruit is coming in beautiful with the right combo of
brix (sugar levels) and acids. And the weather has been gorgeous! The
only exception was this morning. We had to crush grapes in a steady
drizzle of rain. This always makes me a bit cranky, but the upside is I get really focused on my work.
Then surpise, surprise.... the sun came out full force after
lunch and it's been very pleasant and sunny all afternoon here in
Prosser. I just came back from a nice relaxing walk through the
vineyards and I'm watching the sunset across the Horseheaven Hills.
It's really gorgeous this time of year. I wish I could capture in photos what I see with my naked eye, but there's no way to capture it. You just need to experience it for yourself.

This weekend's forecast looks good partly sunny. We are crushing more
Chardonnay tomorrow and possibly picking the estate Cab Franc this
weekend. IF we don't pick the estate cab franc, we will likely bring
in cab franc from one of the vineyards and there will be some activity
of one kind or another.

Send me a note if you'd like to join us this weekend. There's always
room here at the "crashpad" for volunteers.

Cheers!
Alice

"will work for wine"

I splurged on a pair of waterproof Danner boots. I already have the water resistant rain pants, I may as well complete the outfit with waterproof hiking boots. These are not to be mixed up with my rubber boots which aren't that flexible. Hence, my "need" for the waterproof hiking boots. Damn, they were $50 more expensive than the Columbia ones, but it actually didn't matter. For no reason at all the sales guy gave me a 10% discount. I guess being a cute girl comes in handy sometimes. He was a real boy scout and a great salesman. Although, the boots really sold themselves. The difference in comfort was really amazing which is especially important since I am currently sporting a broken toe. An important feature of Danner's is that they have a "box" toe versus a rounded one so my broken toe felt way more comfortable and protected. I suppose that was the real deciding factor. Also they match my rain pants. Ok, I'm a girl.

Crush/Harvest Update for this week:
-This week we brought in Merlot, Semillon and more Semillon.
-The Lark Restaurant folks were an awesome crush crew on the Merlot. Chef Jonathan made us a to-die-for bouillabasse and roux for harvest dinner along with fresh bread and Kay's fresh tomato salad. Lunch was another gourmet event of grilled King Salmon, fresh bread and salad. Yum. I miss them already.
-David has been the "heavy lifter." Yesterday alone was 3 tons of grapes, that's 6000 pounds! What a workout! He's lifting more today
-I started "punching down" the Merlot grapes from the Bouchey Vineyard.
-Clay will be checking brix on the estate Cabernet Franc today to see if we're picking, crushing or doing both this weekend.
-Next week: more Merlot - days tbd
-Next weekend: Cab Franc or Merlot

Events in and around Yakima Valley:
10/6 Yakima Valley's Savor the Arts Event:
http://www.wineyakimavalley.org/events/eventsD.asp?evid=284
10/5 - 10/7 Help Stomp Out Breast Cancer:
http://www.wineyakimavalley.org/events/eventsD.asp?evid=316

2007 Crush and Harvest Update
We are well into the 2007 Grape Harvest and Crush in the Yakima Valley. I'm already a month behind in updates which gives you some clue into how busy it has been out here. Granted, this year, I'm not the wide-eyed newbie. I have a bit more knowledge and a bit more experience, but that does not mean this year's crush will be any easier. I've said it many times: Winemaking is hard work. It's wet work. And while the hours are long and muscles are sore at the end of the day, I still find it rewarding and satisfying.

My sources tell me that the grape expression this year is marked with high brix and high acids. Good stuff to make good wine. The usual growing season was marked with gorgeous hot summer days but less 100 degree plus highs. Less sunburn for grapes? Maybe. However, the diurnal temperature differential was still high which made for the high acids. This combination makes winegrape growers and winemakers happy. I'm banking on 2007 to be another great year for Washington wine.

This week we brought in a few tons of Merlot grapes. Joining us on the hand-sort table were the good folks from Lark Restaurant. Jonathan, JM and crew with their many hands made for light work. K remarked that some of their best volunteers are restaurant folk. Something about chefs - they understand the need for process and cleanliness. Sous Chef, Christopher was handling the cleanup equipment between lug loads with an ease and expertise of an experienced crush crewmember, yet when I asked whether he had worked crush before, he blithely shrugged his shoulders and said, "no" as he aimed the hose and directed the water stream where he wanted like a Jedi Knight. Hmm. Still he has no reason to withhold information like that. We're all friends here. Anyway, I can appreciate it. I'm a "clean as I cook" kind of gal and winemaking is best when you "clean as you crush." I'm also a "snack as I sort" kinda gal and the fruit today was lush and ripe. Hardly any unwanted MOG (materials other than grape). Not that it matters. Every grape is hand-picked and hand-sorted. Tomorrow's Semillon will be a different story. The recent rains make conditions ripe for sour rot on the grapes, but it's also been very windy. Many of the grapes sourced around the Yakima Valley are on hillsides and good locations. We'll see what the flatbed brings.

Loved having the Lark crew. Made for some of the most memorable harvest dinners and lunches I've had in a while. The bouillabasse was to-die-for. The roux that went with it was also divine. I can't stop eating like this...oh well. You only live once and THIS is the way to live. I don't have Jonathan's recipe but if you're hungry, this is a version of it. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bouillabaisse/Detail.aspx except instead of saffron, use fresh dill. I'm obsessed with olive bread and that is a nice choice to go with this seafood soup. For lunch, everyone had grilled King Salmon with a fresh garden salad. I had a little but opted for more of last night's delicious soup.

Last Box of the 2006 Harvest Season



Hurray! We had our last crush today. This is a photo of the last box of the 2006 Harvest/Crush season. Yes, the very last one. Many of the surrounding wineries are also winding down their crush season. I thought we were done this season with the Cabernet Sauvignon. But, we got a small load of Lemberger from Kiona. These will become the "Lola Red" house wine for Tom Douglas's Lola Restaurant in Seattle. Shhhhh! Don't tell Cab Sauv, but I think I have a mad crush on Lemberger. When I first encountered this wine. I admit I turned my nose up at it. The name. The unfortunate, un-sexy name. It just didn't do anything for me. Lucky for me, this red grape varietal from Germany-Austria flourishes in Washington and Oregon and there are a number of great expressions of this wine. Kiona is where I first fell in love. Kiona Wines describe their Lemberger Red as, " rich red wine aromas, nuances of Cabernet or Merlot are present, but with a spicy intriguing background not easy to identify at first tasting. Wonderful and well-defined aromas of blackberries and cloves emerge with more experience. This mildly tannic wine sports great structure, with a velvet mouth feel. American and French oak is evident in the long smooth finish." Indeed! As an eating grape, it is delicious and sweet. What I like about Lemberger is its deep color and earthy fruitfulness. Kay makes a gorgeous Lemberger Dry Rose which expresses the very thing I love. I had a fun time following that grape to wine. Here I am yeasting the Lemberger grapes for the Lola Red.
Thurston Wolfe also makes a nice Lemberger which sells out very quickly. Although Lemberger is not widely planted with only about a 100 acres planted in the state, it was the favored grape of Dr. Walter Clore "Father of Washington Wine." Kiona Vineyard was the first to plant it commercially in 1976 and release the first commercial vintage(1980) in 1983. But don't feel bad if you've never heard of it. Lemberger is also known by other names: Blaufrankisch in Austria, Franconia in Friuli and Kekfrankos in Hungary. Some wineries are marketing the wine as Blau Franc, Blue Frank or Blue Burgunder. These sound promising. Every wine has it's day. When that day comes, I'm sure that Dr. Walt will be smiling down at us. What a long way Washington Wines have come since the early days of the WSU Experimental Station in Prosser, WA.

"Mog, Mog...Who's there?"



"Materials Other than Grapes," that's who....
"Mog" or Materials Other than Grape as it's called is exactly that: all the stuff except the grapes. This includes leaves, canes, stems. petioles and yes, the occasional spider or two. Anyway, this is what our box of MOG looked like today. All of our grapes here are hand-picked so there is much less MOG than there would be in grapes that are machine harvested. Of course, this photo was taken after we swept and cleaned up. Between sorting, the floor looks like a tornado has come through with leaves and stems strewn all over. First, the person picking up the lug boxes dumps about 30 pounds of grapes at the start of the sorting table conveyor belt. While the grape clusters are traveling down the belt, our hands fly everywhere as we hand sort and pick out stems, leaves, spiders, and substandard clusters. A lot of large scale wineries do not do this step of hand sorting which is another differentiator for small-scale versus large-scale. There's a cost associated with taking this step. But for K & C, this is what sets them apart. Their wines are hand-crafted all the way through. Today we went through 180 boxes (that's 5,540 lbs or about 2.4 tons). During the short break between pallets of grapes, we swept up the mess on the floor and dumped those into bins along with the pressed pomace. One cool thing I've discovered is that many production wineries take this stuff and basically compost it. Here at Chinook, we spread it out over the edge of the vineyard and Mother Nature takes care of the rest. It becomes a wonderful ground cover and puts nutrients back into the soil as it breaks down. Circle of life!

Crushing Cabernet Sauvignon


I finally meet you! It has been with sweet anticipation I have been waiting for this day. Ever since I walked the denHoed Vineyard and saw his "extreme" trellising and listened to Bill tell me all about Biodynamics, I've been waiting to follow this grape to wine. On Halloween, C delivered over 2.5 tons of the smallest cab sauv berries I've seen. They looked like little blueberries. Tasting the grape, the flavor was intense and concentrated. Already, I know this will be a good ride. We crushed them on Wednesday and tonight we threw the yeast. K and I gave them a little cheer as we always do. "Be good, make great wine..." The color extraction over the last 24 hours was not as intense as I expected. But K did tell me this is normal. The smell was clean with no off whiffs. In the next few days, the aromas will intensify and so will the color. This is what I experienced with the cab franc and then the merlot. The first punchdown was easy with a white foam, then as the cap thickens, the punchdown will become harder to breakthrough and the foam will become a rich reddish pink with intensely dark red juice. The juice tastes slightly different every day as you follow the grape into wine. My flavor is 22Brix. Oh how I wish I could bottle that juice. So perfect, so effervescent, so sublime....then as the sugars turn to alcohol the flavor changes from sweet to wine. And the CO2 dances on your tongue.

The Cabernet Sauvignon is one of Washington State's two major grape plantings. The other being Merlot. As evidenced today as we crushed another late batch of Cab Sauv in the wet, cold, freezing rain, the grape's late ripening makes waiting this long for the crush/harvest season to be over somewhat intolerant for a California girl like me. But I waited and I'm glad I waited. This will be my last crush for the season before I say goodbye to this beautiful and fertile place.