Winter Update
Winter in the winery
It's a mid-week morning here in the winery. The sun is
shining, not a cloud in the sky, the temperature outside is somewhere in the
mid 60's and hovers a little lower inside our concrete building. The perimeter
of the winery is stacked with barrels three rows high some 300 barrels in
total. A lone eight foot long banquet table sits in the middle of the 12,000
square foot main room. In the back of the winery an air compressor kicks into
gear quickly muffled by a closing loading dock door that has its own unique
noise. The banquet table has an assortment of wine glasses, graduated
cylinders, pipettes and small bottles of wine pulled from the barrels that
surround the room. White butcher paper graffitied with scribbles and splashes
of wine hangs off of the table. It is winter in the winery; we are tasting red
wines that have been in barrel for 16 months, wines that are ready to be
blended. It is winter in the winery and we are getting ready to bottle white
wines from this past
harvest. It is winter in the winery and we are racking wines
that have recently completed secondary fermentation in the barrel and still
have another year or more of time in barrel. It is winter in the winery and
this is what is coming in the spring...
Thirsty Thursday's Kick off in April
Thursday April 4th will kick off the first of our
"Thirsty Thursday' educational events. Our old friend Stu Ake of TheTasting Lab will be conducting monthly
educational tastings the first Thursday of every month. The first session is a
Pinot Noir blending experience. Stu has been involved in presenting wine
education and informational seminars for years and is a master of mixing
obscure music and film references with wine. The guy is a treat to work with
and really knows how to approach wine education in a fashion that engages
people new to wine as well as providing "experts" with new knowledge
to ponder. The bottom line is that he is consistent with our approach to making
wine, it should be fun! For more information about attending our first Thursday
session take a look here: website
Next up: Meet the
winemaker. Thursday April 18th Cindy Cosco of Passaggio wines will be in the
tasting room talking about her wines and pouring a Passaggio
featured flight.
2013 Vineyard List
We've been putting in a fair amount of time on the road the
past couple of weeks talking with our growers, providing feedback from this
past vintage as well as meeting new growers and walking potential new
vineyards. We will launch the 2013 vineyard list in the next couple of weeks
with a few new vineyards and varietals being added, Sauvignon Blanc and
Gewurztraminer (delicious!) to name a few. Our goal is to make great wine and
provide a great experience. Keeping that in mind we limit our production each
year. Last year we sold out of 95% of our allocated grape sources before we
crushed a single grape. If you have been thinking about making wine start
rallying the troops and get a group together. Just as a great bottle of wine is
best shared with friends so too is the experience of making wine best shared
with friends. Contact Dave@dogpatchwineworks for more info and a sneak peak at
the list.
Tasting Room Hours: We now have five boutique wine brands
being poured in the tasting room. Each month showcases a featured flight put
together by our tasting room staff as well as around 10 other wines available
by the taste or glass. Stop in for a taste and see what's going on for yourself.
Thurs and Fri: 4pm-8pm Sat: Noon-7pm Sun: Noon-5pm
It's going to be another great year to make wine in the
city. There are a ton of fun things going on here in the Dogpatch and we hope
you will join us.
