Greetings Vayniacs,
QUIET BEFORE THE STORM
If you've ever watched a John Ford or Sergio Leone Western, you know at some point during the film, good guy sheriff is going to have to face bad guy outlaw in a shootout. To help set up the climatic sequence, the director builds tension by cutting the volume to a hushed level. Time is momentarily suspended. It's too quiet.
For the past few days, a silence of anticipation has enveloped the winery. Temporarily absent is the usual activity of buzzing forklifts and bubbling fermentations. It has been replaced with a focused tension similar to that of a runner awaiting the bang from a starting gun. We had been getting hiccups of a few tons of fruit every couple of days, but a cooling trough settled over many growing regions forcing us into a holding pattern. We wait, knowing that as soon as temperatures begin to creep northward, an exhilarating and exhausting industrial ballet begins.
Check out Michael's weather update from 9/20
TIMELINE
Once the fruit begins to arrive, here's what will happen. Each day, you will receive an update on each wine. Updates include a fermentation graph that shows the temperature and brix level. The message also details exactly what happened to the wine in terms of yeast inoculation, punchdowns, pumpovers or any additions/nutrients that were added. Whenever we handle a fermenting wine, the information is entered into a handheld computer that sends an email to everyone in the Vayniac Nation group. Since Vayniacs are sourcing fruit from 4 separate vineyards, you will receive 4 daily updates that include details on every single fermentation. If anything happens, you know about it.
Cabernet fermentations generally last between 7 and 10 days. During the fermentation cycle, we extract flavors and colors by keeping the grape skins in contact with the juice. Welcome to punchdowns. Punching down is when the skins are pushed back into the juice with a tool that looks like a giant potato masher. The first punchdown is fun. Number 100 hundred is brutal. There's nothing quite like punching down 300 fermentations 4 to 6 times each day to slim down the waistline. (I should do more punchdowns).
Once the sugars are consumed by the yeast, the wine is pressed into barrel where malolactic conversion will occur. Malolactic conversion is where the bitter malic acids are converted into softer lactic acids to produce a smoother wine. Want more malo?
Then we wait.
VOTE ON VAYNIAC CABERNET STYLE
Vayniacs will determine the style of wine being made. Each Crushpad client works through a wine plan called the Crushpad 30. The Crushpad 30 is a series of decisions that help shape a wine. A big and brawny stand-alone wine? Refined elegance? Somewhere in the middle?
We'll review your answers and use the information to determine what approach to take with the fruit. That said, important factors such as climate, elevation, clone, ripeness level, vineyard management and soils give the fruit unique characters that may lend themselves particular wine style. But, by sourcing from 4 unique vineyards across distinct microclimates in Napa, we have much more room to play. The wine plan will always be visible in Vayniac Nation Crushnet group. Links are provided to explain each decision and its impact along the way. Once the polls close on the 25th, we'll get started on the wine plan. Then we'll shoot a video of winemaker, Kian Tavakoli, detailing all the specifics.
Enter your choices in the survey below. The Vayniac Survey closes on Tuesday, September 25th.
WANT TO PLAY?
Vayniacs are welcome to help out with production. Once harvest dates are determined, you will receive an invitation to come to the winery and help sort the grapes. As I mentioned in previous emails, this is where it all begins in the winery. The Vineyard Updates you are now receiving include a window for estimated pick dates. Of course, weather can throw a nasty curve as temps rise, dip and drizzles come into play. This makes it extremely tricky to provide advanced notice of when the grapes will arrive. We generally know 2-3 days ahead of time when the grapes will be ready for picking. We understand this wreaks havoc for Vayniacs excited to travel to SF. However, we simply have to do what is best for the grapes.
If you are planning to come to Crushpad, please contact me with your travel info. In fact, many Vayniacs have already to come out to visit or volunteer with other wines in production. For those hoping for a more formalized visit, I'm offering hands-on tours and winemaking CRUSHCAMPS. To request a tour, please RSVP here. The web page to RSVP for additional CRUSHCAMPS will be up early next week.
You'll hear from me on Wednesday with results from the Vayniac Survey.
Stuart
