Greetings Vayniacs!
Runners, on your mark. Set. The gun sounds. Marathon or sprint? Yes. Harvest 2007 has begun.
I can't convey how excited we are to work with Gary and the Vayniac Nation. In the coming days, you'll start receiving Vineyard Updates from 4 sites from which we'll be sourcing grapes for the Vayniac Cabernet. Every week or so, we walk the vineyards to gather samples, run numbers and keep an eye on how the fruit is developing. Vineyard Updates will be our way of passing along our findings to you. These will be unfiltered, genuine assessments of how the grapes are progressing.
As soon as we narrow down possible pick dates, I'll schedule times to sort the fruit at the winery in San Francisco. Since we'll be pulling the fruit from multiple vineyards, you'll have several opportunities to come to the winery and actually help with the production of your wine.
Vayniacs can really help with the wine? Yup. It's starts with sorting the grapes. Grapes travel up a conveyor belt so that leaves, sticks along with over-ripe/under-ripe grapes can be removed. This ensures that only the best fruit is fermented. Everyone who sorts fruit mentions a certain I Love Lucy episode where Lucille Ball is stationed aside a speedy conveyor belt frantically trying to stuff chocolate truffles into boxes. While your first few minutes of sorting can seem stressful, once you unlock the basics of sorting, you won't feel like Lucy anymore.
While sorting grapes, you'll learn about each varietal, different clones, individual vineyards and fruit quality. You'll also discover a tremendous amount of information about wine production simply from talking with other clients, "cellar rats" and the winemakers.
If you can't make it out to the Bay Area, don't fret; you'll be able to check out the entire process live via the Crushnet Cam. There, you can chime in with encouragement...or point out the leaf that we may have let slip by. Look for the camera links on the right side of the screen when you visit the media section of Crushnet. Check it out here.
In addition to helping out with the Vayniac Cabernet, beginning September 29th, I'll be offering free Vayniac Wine Camps on Saturday afternoons from 2 pm until 4:30 pm PST. The hands-on sessions will send you into a state of grape stained bliss. Working a "crush" is incredibly exciting, educational and extremely dirty. Make no mistake... creating wine is anything but glamorous. However, if you don't mind purple stained fingers, wine splashed clothing and really want to learn how top quality wines are produced, your time in the Vayniac Camp will be well spent. (THESE SESSIONS ARE NOW FULL. PLEASE SEE MESSAGE #3 FOR ADDITIONAL CRUSHCAMP DATES/TIMES)
Not up for the hands-on experience? I'll also be offering an insider's tour of Crushpad. This won't be one of those "watch through the Plexiglas" tours where it feels like you are experiencing the action from the penalty box. You'll see the whole life-cycle of the fruit once it comes to the winery. You'll meet a few winemakers, dodge a couple forklifts and learn more about winemaking in a half-hour than you got from that $600 weekend course you took. Sign Up For Tour
That's enough for now. I'll send another update sometime next week. If think you can make it to one of the Saturday Vayniac Wine Camps, send me an email ASAP to reserve a spot. (I'm trying to limit the sessions to 10 people so that you get a genuine experience). If you are interested in joining on of my Wed through Saturday tours at 5:30, let me know when you'll be in town and save you a space.
In next week's email, I'll let you know how you can participate while the fruit is fermenting.
Stuart Ake
stuart@crushpadwine.com
