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Don't miss our older newsletters which contain tasting tips and other valuable information! December, 2005
2003 Stone Corral Vineyard Pinot Noir - Inaugural Release During the summer of 2000,
my wife Paula and I attended a barbeque at Talley Vineyards where Brian
Talley poised a question to us - would we be interested in leasing and
developing a Pinot Noir vineyard in the Edna Valley with
Talley Stone Corral Vineyard is located in the southeastern portion of the Edna Valley. It enjoys a south-east exposure and is positioned at the base of rolling hills that protect it from the Pacific Ocean breezes born four miles to the West. The vineyard consists of 27.45 acres, developed in partnership with Talley Vineyards, of which Stephen Ross occupies 9.15 acres. After three years of growing
grapes vines, we had our first small crop in 2003. There were seven
barrels
of Pinot Noir produced that year from a small quarter ton per acre
crop.
Three barrels from the lower part of the vineyard planted to clones 667
and 777 were selected for the Stone Corral Vineyard bottling. The wine
is remarkable for its concentration, its voluptuous tannins and dark
red
fruit expression. According to Jim Laube of the Wine Spectator - "Dark
plum in color, rich and complex, offering well-proportioned,
concentrated
plum, blackberry, spice and nutmeg scents, supported by firm, ripe
tannins
that give it a nice backbone. 88 points - Drink now through 2009." 816
bottles produced ~ $45 per bottle
Since we do not have a tasting room, this is a great way to receive the Stephen Ross and Flying Cloud wines on a regular basis and enjoy a discount. Through the wine program,
subscribers will receive three shipments of four bottles each per year.
The shipments will average $75, exclusive of tax and shipping, which
reflects
a 20% discount from suggested retail. Please see the outline of the
program
on the order form included in this mailing. Since our move to Santa Maria
last July, we have been very busy. The move was simplified in that most
of the winery Every year I work on improving
some aspect of the winemaking process and there were many good changes
that were a result of our move. This year for example, our new crusher
is able to destem only and therefore practically whole berries end up
going
to the fermentation tanks. This helps to make a more fruit forward wine
with less bitterness. The crusher is also set up to crush into picking
bins so we can then transfer the destemmed berries into open top tanks
with a bin dumping forklift without pumping. The open top fermentation
tanks are also wide relative to their height and this allows for a
good We are still settling in
to our new place, but as of Thanksgiving all wines were tucked away in
full barrels and our new Cellarman, Ryan Deovlet and I were able to
take
a well deserved break. Please come by and visit, we plan to have our
case
goods at the new location by mid-December and will have them available
for sale. The address is 2717 Aviation Way, Suite F1, Santa Maria, CA
93455.
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Vineyards.
At that time I was looking for a lease arrangement for a vineyard in
order
to have the control I felt I needed over grape growing to produce very
high quality Pinot Noir. Well, it took Paula and me no time at all to
respond
to Brian to let him know we would very much like to work with him on a
new vineyard. Here we are five years later and we are proud to
introduce
Stone Corral Vineyard Pinot Noir.
We
discovered last year when we started the Wine Subscription program that
it makes a nice gift. A gift Wine Subscription can be set up to
terminate
after one year, which would be three shipments - Winter, Spring and
Fall.
equipment
was purchased new and delivered to the Santa Maria location. However,
since
July we have installed all the new equipment and a refrigeration
system,
crushed 280 tons of grapes and moved and filled 600 barrels of wine.
The
wines are indeed better this year and it is difficult to know whether
it
is a result of a good growing season, or the new winery setup. It is
probably
a combination of both as I hear from other winemakers that they are
very
pleased with the quality this year.
"submersion"
of the cap during fermentation. Additionally the fermentation tanks are
just tall enough so our new basket press fits directly underneath and
the
skins can be moved direct to press by gravity. Our first day of crush
was
August 26 when we received Aubaine Vineyards Pinot Noir. That was an
exciting
and nerve racking day, especially with an audience of friends and
family
watching. Regardless, it was extremely gratifying to see the new
equipment
in action. The crusher performed wonderfully in removing stems without
breaking them apart and delivering only whole berries to the collection
bin. Often during destemming small parts of the stems break apart
ending
up with the berries. The small stem parts look like and are referred to
as jacks, like the ones from our childhood, and have to potential to
give
an herbaceous taste to the wine. When I tasted the first wine that came
out of tank, I was pleasantly surprised at its smoothness. That was the
Aubaine Vineyards Pinot Noir and it was so dark in color, with a
wonderful
perfume of raspberries and so smooth I thought we could bottle almost
right
away.