Test the power of your sniffer

We are bringing back Wine Aroma Exploration!

Open to anyone who wants to come explore and learn about the different aromas of wine and chat with our winemaker. These community education workshops encourage people to be curious and get engaged in the world of vino.

We will be featuring them on wine club pick up weekends in the Toscano Room (upstairs tasting room). So if you are in town during Grape Stomp, come test out your sniffer!

Sep 29, 2011 at 3:18 PM Permalink

Crush Syrah

We just got a call from Mark Skenfield who manages the Canterbury Vineyard where we get our Syrah. He thinks we could have the fruit Monday by 9:30 AM. I think that date would be a good one for us since rain is predicted Wed and Thurs. I will check the sugars, etc, Friday and let you know for certain. 

Sep 28, 2011 at 8:03 PM Permalink

Sampling again

I was out sampling grapes yesterday.  What a beautiful time of year.  As I go from vineyard to vineyard, the roads take me into the back country that few see and I only see once a year during crush.  I have a great job.  It looks like the Sangiovese and Grenache have a while to go.  We will probably crush the Syrah next week.  I will sample it again on Friiday

Sep 27, 2011 at 9:33 AM Permalink

Crushing Grenache

I sampled the Grenache from Vallecito Estates today. The brix was 24.2, Total Acidity 7.05 and pH 3.23. It looks like Thursday, Sept. 22nd is a go if Steve Collum can get the pickers. This wine is for the rosato so we will have to sort grapes, crush and press on the same day, which is a pretty daunting task. I also sampled the Syrah and Malbec from Canterbury Vineyards. The Syrah is a couple of weeks away and the Malbec more than that. I'll keep you informed.

Sep 19, 2011 at 2:55 PM Permalink

Grape Sampling

I sampled the Grenache at the Vallecito Estates today (9-16-11). We are going to be using this Grenache to make a rosé so we pick earlier than for a red. The brix was at 23.2, total acidity at 7.65 and the pH at 3.24. I hope that the brix will go up a bit but I still think we will be ready to pick on Thursday, Sept 22. I will sample again on Monday, Sept 19th for a last check and will let you all know if it is a go.....And we're off.

Sep 16, 2011 at 11:59 AM Permalink

Question of the week: What is THAT?

We've been getting a lot of "What is THAT?" questions in the tasting room this week. And by "that," people are referring to our fancy new Nitrogen system (made with love by Gary). Check out the picture above.

Why did we go this route? Well, this way we can guarantee that every bottle we open for you will be the best quality we can offer. Essentially, a layer of Nitrogen sits on top of the wine so that no oxygen is coming into contact with it.

Bummer for all of us working the tasting room though, no wine leftovers for us to take home. Ha!

Sep 14, 2011 at 1:35 PM Permalink

The BEST weekend to visit Murphys

Grape Stomp is right around the corner and so is your next wine club shipment.

If it's not already on your calendar, make plans to join us in Murphys the weekend of October 1st. Not only is Grape Stomp one of our best (and silliest) festivals of the entire year, but we'll have your next wine club shipment ready for pick up too. Mmmm, Barbera and Rosato.

If we normally ship your wine club bottles, but you know you'll be in town that weekend, just let us know before Thursday, September 15th that you'd like to pick up instead and you can save on shipping this month.

Not in the club yet? Secure your bottles of 09 Barbera,10 Rosato and all your other Zucca favorites and sign up here.

Sep 13, 2011 at 11:00 AM Permalink

More about crush

Chrissy Cooper thought the Barbera and Zin from Dick Cooper's vineyards won't be ready until the end of October.  The Brix is very low and the acids are high.  This is very typical for Barbera and grapes from Amador County this time of the year.  What is nice is that it spreads the crush out over a few weeks and gives us some breathing room.

Sep 9, 2011 at 2:26 PM Permalink

Harvest still 3-8 weeks away

Sep 8, 2011 at 12:31 PM Permalink

Crush Update

As of now, I have sampled Syrah (brix 21) and Malbec (brix 17) from Canterbury Vineyards and the brix and acids are about where they were at this time last year. I think this means that we won't have an exceptionally late harvest but the grapes should ripen in the end of Sept and during October. So still a bit later than what we would think to be usual. The late summer warmth has speeded up ripening so I doubt we will have to worry about the temperatures dropping to a point where we won't get the flavors we want. Thus all is well. We will not be leaving for Europe or SoAM, so no worries if crush lasts a little longer. I will be sampling the Syrah and other grapes in a couple of week and can give you more info then. Talk to you soon.

Sep 8, 2011 at 11:26 AM Permalink