We are excited to announce that Chris Nelson, an old friend and
colleague, will be joining the Wineworks team as an on site consultant
for the 2012 winemaking season. Chris has been the winemaker behind a
number of premium boutique wine brands over the past few years and has
received high praises from the wine media including recent scores of
91-93 from James Suckling (not that any of us pay attention to scores
;-). While Chris is known for his work with Pinot Noir, he has a wide
range of experience working with all of the grape variatals that we
source here at Wineworks. Chris will be involved in monitoring
vineyards through the growing season, production plans and harvest
activities. In addition to the skills that Chris brings with him on the
winemaking side he also makes a mean pulled pork BBQ that hits the spot
during the long days of harvest. We are looking forward to having
Chris's winemaking talents and sense of humor in the winery this fall.
The tasting bar is OPEN
This past weekend we opened the doors to our tasting room featuring two
of our partner wineries wines. Jazz Cellars and Qualia Wines are
currently available by the taste, glass and bottle as well as a
featured flight. The collective tasting room will rotate wines produced
by our commercial clients which will keep the list fresh with new wines
to taste every time you visit. The next addition to the tasting room
line up will be Carlotta Cellars followed by... stay tuned.
The tasting room is open Fridays from 2-8, Saturday and Sunday 12-8.
For more information about the tasting room or hosting a private event
here at the winery please contact Carrie Crespo at carrie@dpwineworks.com
2012 Growing Season
It is still early in the growing season but so far all signs for the
2012 vintage look like we are in for a good year. Here's what Casey
Hartlip has to say about the year so far at our Anderson Valley Pinot
vineyard: "Compared to 2010 and 2011, ’12 is starting out like one of
the ‘normal’ years we’ve been wishing for. The past two springs were
wet and water logged and vines had a hard time getting started. Soils
were too saturated and root activity was hampered by low oxygen levels.
When we got a much needed 10 inches of rainfall in March (some refer to
it as ‘the miracle of March) we were starting to wonder if we’d keep
raining. Needless to say, we’re looking great. Vine health has been
even and strong. We’re just about done with bloom (maybe a week behind
normal) and flower counts and size looks better than average. Next
up…fruit set and berry development."
And here is what Sean Higuera of Atlas vineyard management has to say
about Napa: "The growing season in Napa is shaping up very well. The
onset of warm weather early in the season has spurred great growth and
set. We have completed suckering, and are now moving into leaf pulling
and hedging. So far the 2012 vintage is turning out great."
We have some great fruit still available to work with this year so
round up a few friends and join in the fun. Contact dave@dpwineworks.com for more information.
It's going to be a great year to make wine here in the city. There are
a ton of fun things going on and we hope you will join us.
Cheers,
The WineWorks team
