Marking Time

Amazing-  in only 3 weeks

The Third Week since Bud Break

It is only three weeks since bud break at Kitchak Cellars and the vines are really growing rapidly. You can almost watch the vines grow.  It has been in the 80s the last week and we have seen tremendous growth.  Exactly what is expected.  Plenty of water still in the soil, lots of sun and nice warm temperatures.  It should be a great year. The vines are doing well and the frost season is about over. There is only one day in the next 2 weeks (this Thursday) where the temperature is forecast to be under 40 degrees and then only a low of 38 degrees that night.

European Grape Vine Moth - Under Control. We hope.  We received a report today that the European Grape Vine Moth seems under control in the Napa Valley.  Not a single one has been found so far this year in the hundreds of traps that the Commissioner of Agriculture has placed around the valley.  This is very good news about this very serious pest.

The Mallards also like the lake

Lake Cynthia (the small lake of about 15 surface acres on our property) remains full to the brim and we are expecting a bit more rain this week. It is an amazing wildlife sanctuary that serves the added benefit of improving our grapes. Since it is the low point on our property, it helps prevent grape vines and buds from freezing in the spring.  The cold air flows downhill to the lake and the lake warms up the cold air.  The part of any vineyard that is the most dangerous from a frost point of view is the lowest point; and our lowest point is essentially a heat sink.

We have even seen the large mouth bass in the lake building their nests and getting ready to spawn in the shallow water along the edges.

Lake Cynthia is formed by a small dam near the westerly edge of our property and it supports a great array of wild flowers at this time of the year. The photo of California Poppies was taken yesterday, Sunday April 22,

California Poppies

Stirring the Lees. Today is a day to "stir the lees" in our 2011 Vivace' Ermitage Blanc which will be a blend of about 46% Marsanne, 46% Roussanne and 8% Chardonnay. The lees are composed of no longer active yeast and the sediment from the bits of grape pulp that are left when the wine is put in the barrel. Instead of racking the white wine to clarify it (the way we rack red wines), we leave the sediment in the barrel and occasionally stir it up. In doing so, we enhance both the flavors and the mouthfeel of the wine.  Ultimately before bottling we will filter the wine to clarify it.  We always filter both the white wine and the rose style wines before bottling.  But we do not filter the reds. The Marsanne and Roussanne are already blended, 50/50 but we will wait a number of months before we will do the trial blends and decide the exact amount of Chardonnay to use with this blend.  Most likely it will be between 5% and 10% of the final blend.  But that is a way off.  In the meantime, the wine is aging gently in 2 "neutral barrels", barrels that have been used many times, and two new French Oak Barrels.

Back to work in the winery.  Until next time...

Bud Break in Napa

Bud Break + 1 day.

Bud Break - April 2

Bud Break is always an important event in the Napa Valley, but this year it is particularly important since it is the time that I committed to re-start this blog and keep it up to date during the entire wine-making season.

Do you want to know about growing grapes and making wine?  And what is happening in the vineyard and the winery? Follow us throughout the year and we will keep you up to date on the events, the successes and the non-successes and the issues that we face during the season.  We will also comment from time to time on what is going on in the Napa Valley and our thoughts about it.   

Bud break on April 2 was right on schedule.  While much of the country has been enjoying (or worrying about) substantially above average temperatures and a very early spring, the Napa Valley weather has been very typical.  February was a warm month and everyone was worried, but March was very typical.  As we conduct tours at our winery we tell people that bud-break will happen about April 1, plus or minus only a few days.  And with an "official" bud break in our own vineyard on April 2 we were not disappointed.

Generally the Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay grapes bud first, then Cabernet Franc and Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot are generally last.  And once the buds burst open they grow rapidly.

Five Days after bud-break and growing fast.

Frost is now the big danger.  For the few weeks after bud break frost is our biggest concern.  If the buds freeze, the shoot dies and we will get a smaller crop. We will not be "out of the woods until something close to May 1.

This past week, we had three days in which the temperature got below freezing.  Fortunately it never got below 31 and it only got there for a couple of early morning hours. 28 degrees is the real danger point.

Frost Fans. Many of the vineyard is the valley have frost fans -large propellers, mounted atop large steel poles to circulate the air mix warm upper air with the colder air near the ground. The are propellers like you would see on a large old airplane, powered by and old V-8 car engine running on propane from tanks located in the middle of vineyards.

So on a number of nights this past week we were awakened around 4AM with frost fans all over the valley sounding like an entire squadron of large helicopters circling the valley. Just part of the risk of farming and the Napa Valley life style.

Lake Cynthia a heat-sink. We don't have any frost fans on our property because Lake Cynthia, which sits in the middle of our vineyard has about 15 surface acres.  It warms up during the day and at night as the surrounding cold air sinks to the lake surface it is warmed and circulated substantially reducing our risk of frost damage.  It seems like we made it through the last week just fine and we will keep our fingers crossed for the next couple of weeks.

Dry Winter followed by a wet cool March. We did have a very dry winter and a warm February that had everyone worried, but March was cool and wet.  We received about 8 inches of rain during the month and another inch and a half are scheduled this week. This is the ideal time of the year to get the rain so everything seems to be on track and we are smiling.

Concerto Release Completed.  This last week we also completed the release of our 2008 Concerto Napa Valley To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. A spectacular wine that we will talk more about later. It is only available direct from the winery so if you are not a wine club member and didn't get any, contact the winery.

Visits, Tours and Tastings are by appointment only.  Schedule an appointment by calling 707-225-2276 or by e-mail at tours@kitchakcellars.com. You can visit our winery website here.  And you can take a virtual tour of our vineyards and winery here.  



 

Wine Making Begins at Kitchak Cellars

This morning, October 1, we tested these grapes. They are perfect and we are ahead of the rain that is forecast for this week.  BRIX (sugar content of the grapes is perfect at 25.2.  That should give us an alcohol level in this wine of about 14.8. pH of the grapes is 3.47 and the Titrateable Acidity is 6.2. Virtually perfect numbers.
The acid will go down as we ferment and the BRIX may go up just a bit because we can't really check the the amount of the sugar in the skins.

We will begin our pick tomorrow and will try to keep you up to date on what is happening and how. Hopefully we will be able to give you an update on the harvest and the development of the wine daily.

So, tune in tomorrow for the first day of the 2011 Harvest.

Getting Ready for Harvest -2

Preparation for Harvest in Full Swing at Kitchak Cellars.

We are back in Napa and getting ready for harvest. All of the grapes in our vineyards are now in their final color.

Testing BRIX.

Yesterday we check BRIX of the grapes for the first time.
BRIX is a type of measurement of of ripeness.  BRIX is actually a measurement of the amount of sugar in a grape, and it is the sugar that makes the alcohol.  Grapes will naturally produce at full maturity a BRIX of around 25 or 25.5.  That means that the grape is 25% sugar or 25.5 sugar.   At 25% BRIX, grapes will produce an alcohol level in the wine of 14.5%.l  We get there by multiplying the BRIX by .58.  That formula gets us very close and is very reliable.

Sauvignon Blanc Grapes almost ready to pick.  
Notice the translucent yellow color

Yesterday the BRIX Sauvignon Blanc was 23. We are getting very close.  The Merlot was 19 and the Cabernet was 18.  Both have more than a month to go.

 Great Color in the Cabernet Sauvignon on September 3, 2011.  
Another month to go.

Bottling the Red Wines September 15.

On September 15 we will be bottling many of our Red Wines. So we have to get ready for that.  We have already done all of the sampling and test blends so we will be getting tanks ready this week and getting the blend wines into the tanks for the blending and they will stay in the tanks until they go into the bottles on the 15th.That day we will bottle the 2009 Adagio, the 2009 Franc and the 2009 Piacere. You may not have heard about our FRANC or our PIACERE.

FRANC is a Napa Valley Cabernet Franc that we do a small amount of and sell in the tasting room. Cabernet Franc is regularly used as a blending wine in Bordeaux Blends and mixed with Merlot and/or Cabernet Sauvignon.  It is seldom used as a "stand alone" wine.  But we are making a small amount and it has been quite popular in the tasting room.  It is very interesting and sells for around $48. It is aged in oak and it gets the same high quality wine making and handling that our other best wines get.  Is not presently included in any of our wine club shipments, but you can order it direct from the winery.

Introducing PIACERE (pea-a-chair-ay).  

PIACERE is an Italian word meaning "to enjoy" or "to have pleasure." In music it is a phrase indicating that the piece may be played at a tempo in the discretion of the performer. Blended from estate grown varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, this wine has been made to enjoy now, or it will age for years...at your discretion. It is designed to be more approachable early than its big sister ADAGIO. It sells for about $45.  Like the FRANC it is not presently included in any of our wine club shipments, but you can order it direct from the winery.

Tours and Tastings by Appointment.

We are open during the harvest season for Tours and Tastings; by appointment only.  They are always private, one group at a time. We do 3 tours per day, one at 10:30, one at 1PM and one at 3:00. If you are a wine club member or a follower of our blog, just mention it and the tastings are complimentary.  Call 707-225-2276 for an appointment or send an e-mail to tours@kitchakcellars.com.

Bring a Picnic.

We have a beautiful picnic patio on the shores of Lake Cynthia in the middle of our vineyard. It has picnic tables and overlooks the lake. Come for a 10:30 tasting, bring your lunch, buy a bottle of Kitchak Cellars wine and enjoy a picnic in the vineyards overlooking the lake under the spreading branches of a 200 year old Oak Tree.  Or come for a picnic and follow it with a tasting at 1PM.  Either one works. But, you need an appointment. Call 707-225-2276 for an appointment or send an e-mail to tours@kitchakcellars.com.

Bordeaux - Monday AM Tasting Chateau Carbinoux

Peter & Patricia in the courtyard at Chateau Carbinoux

8:45 AM and the bus picks us up for the tasting. We are traveling with a group from the San Francisco chapter of the Commanderie de Bordeaux, who have organized the trip.  What a fabulous job by Kent and Chuck.  This is a very old Chateau, in fact, one that Thomas Jefferson visited on the 25th of May in 1787.  That Chateau is in an old Benedictine Abbey built in the 13th Century...800 years ago. Owned by the Perrin family, the Chateau makes both a red and a white wine.  But it also has an interesting, if small car collection. The vineyard is in the Pessac-Leognan appellation. I think their white wine is better than the red.  White wine is 64% Sauvignon Blanc and 35% Semillon. Red wine is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot.  The vines are planted 7200 plants per hectare which equals 2914 plants per acre. Our most dense planting in Napa is about only 1210 plants per acre. A very big difference that causes a very different type of machinery to work the vineyards. Our tasting consisted of a 2009 White Wine and their 2008 red.  The white was very nice the red, undistinguished.

A small collection of old French automobiles

 The group with whom we are traveling

The Chai and Chateau Carbinoux