2011, A Year In Review

As the New Year begins it is worth saying that a little introspection by Winemakers is needed in this club and quite possibly beyond. There is always a risk of resting on one’s Laurels when one has some experience under their belts. But for those with only 3- 5 years experience even that cannot be an excuse for a disaster or mishap should it occur. It seem s to me from listening to reports from members that some have not only been resting but ignoring some important things that need to be accomplished to insure the quality of their wines.

So you have to wonder why this is happening. Often we joke about the Old Timer that ignores everything and manages to destroy decent grapes and make a wine only to discover that it has gone bad or turned out to be horrible that he cannot even drink it. Usually the next thing you hear is the Moon was not right or the grapes were bad or his wife’s period, which she hasn’t had in years, screwed up the batch. I am not sure what members of this club will use as an excuse.

As I said before I have received reports, admissions would be more accurate, that certain members have done or ignored the following. Let’s start off with the Member that was too lazy to move ALL of his wine to the cellar for MLF. So now get this, some of his wine of a varietal ended up at 72 degrees for MLF while the remaining carboys of the same varietal were in the garage at 60. Why the admission to me? The burning question this member had. Is Mlf done and can I rack? With wine at different temperatures my advice to this member is to purchase MULTIPLE Accuvin Malic Test kits. Moving along…

Then there is the Member that prides himself in medals and bragging about them. Yet when we discovered that we had a slight H2S issue in one of our Zinfandels before Thanksgiving and MLF was completed we advised a course of action. The application of Reduless and Ascorbic acid worked and the wine is fine. Yet this member has not found the time to rack 6 carboys to date. I suppose he is testing the limits of producing Mercaptains. My guess there won’t be any medals with those 6 carboys.

And then have the member who relies on others to tell him if his MLF is complete. This member calls and asks if yours are done and then decides to rack his. Of course when reminded that he should be testing his to be sure, he says yes he needs to order the Accuvin Test kit. The problem is he has been saying that for the past three years.

Finally we have the underground members who with the latest harvest season for making wine on record forcing us to try to get MLF done before Christmas , which we did accomplish, were also blessed with the warmest December in history. A blessing when can rack and wash carboys at 50 degrees instead of 30. How much do you want to bet those quiet members have not racked yet. Of course this spring when confronted about this , there is one that will expound the benefits of not racking.

So there you have it. Here it is for all to read and see. I hope some of you are embarrassed. You should be. Just remember to keep your expectations for your wine in perspective going forward. Especially when you ask; Why does your wine taste different then mine?

This will be emailed to all members. Any responses to this will be posted here by me since most are too lazy to read the Blog as well.

Happy New Year!