2010 Wines are Put to Bed

Tue, 2 Nov 2010 22:37:38 -0400

The winery is quiet now. With the rush of this year’s harvest finally complete, the 2010 reds are now in barrel undergoing malolactic fermentation and the Viognier has been moved to stainless steel where it will rest until springtime. Despite reports that the 2010 California wine grape harvest will go down as one of the most challenging in recent memory as a result of cold weather, the European Grape Vine Moth and vineyard quarantines, and the long harvest time frame exposing grapes to potential rain and rot, I couldn’t have been more pleased with the quality of the grapes we received.

This year, we processed enough grapes to produce nearly 100 cases of finished wine. It may not sound like much, but considering it’s about a 400% increase from our first release, we’re happy. This year, we sourced our grapes from the following appellations:

            Pinot Noir        75% Iron Oaks Vineyards, Russian River
                         25% Beckstoffer Vineyards, Carneros (Napa)

            Syrah           100% Lanza Vineyards, Suisun Valley

            Grenache        100% Sierra Ridge Vineyards, Amador

            Mourvedre       100% Sierra Ridge Vineyards, Amador

            Viognier         100% Sierra Ridge Vineyards, Amador

So, for now, our focus is back on the 2009 wines which are really showing nicely in recent barrel tastings. In addition to gearing up for bottling, which will take place in the next month or so, we are working on increasing our distribution and visibility throughout the state. If anyone has a favorite restaurant or wine shop in mind, we’d love to hear from you!

2010 Harvest Begins

Thu, 7 Oct 2010 22:06:06 -0400

The 2010 growing season in California has been a challenging one. With a cooler than normal growing season in California, grapes are being harvested about two weeks later than last year. However, this lag times suggests that as long as the grapes can be harvested before the rainy season begins, we can expect nicely concentrated flavors, intense color and low to moderate sugar levels. This should make for a really great vintage.

We received our first delivery of grapes from last week – about a half-ton of Grenache from the Amador Valley, and things are really starting to speed up around here! The grapes looked great upon arrival and needed no adjustment to the sugar level (Brix) or acidity. Grape growers worry about birds eating their grapes…I have my son Miles to contend with — the kid wouldn’t stop! Off the stem or sneakily grabbing directly from the fermenter, he was hungry. The Grenache completed a quick five-day primary fermentation, and was pressed last night. The wine was transferred into stainless steel to settle and will then be transferred into barrel where it will undergo malolactic fermentation.

Now, with my hands stained purple from last night’s pressing, I can enjoy a very brief break until the next wave of grapes arrive. Next week, we will be receiving the Amador Syrah, Mourvedre and Viognier, but I am particularly excited about the Russian River Pinot Noir, as the Russian River is arguably the finest growing region in the United States for this varietal.

Last Call

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:52:40 -0400

It's been an amazing summer for Salmon Falls Winery! While our first commercial release in June created a buzz in and around South Berwick, sales have been steady, and word has travelled to restaurants and customers as far as the West Coast. The response has been so great, that we are nearly sold out at this time. We won't be releasing any more wine until next June, but production of our 2009 wines are twice what the 2008s were, so hopefully we won't be running out so soon.

The 2009 wines continue to age in barrel, and are progressing beautifully. In the next month or so, I will be conducting bench trials on the different wines and coming up with the final blends.

This coming month is going to be a busy one, as we are getting ready for the 2010 harvest. By the end of August, I will be contacting several new vineyard owners and finalizes our grape sources. This fall, I am planning on introducing a Pinot Noir and either a Viognier or Sauvignon Blanc to our list of wines.

At this time, we are sold out of the 2009 Grenache Rosé and 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, but have 15 bottles of the very popular 2008 Milestone. These last few bottles are available on a first-come first-serve basis, so if you're interested, please call or email the winery to place your order.

Remember, we are on Facebook! Be sure to "like" SFW to keep up to date on general news, release dates, and upcoming events.

Racking the Wine

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 08:55:25 -0400

This weekend was spent racking the 2009 wines. The objective of racking is to clarify the wines and involves transferring the top 90-95% of the wine off any accumulated sediment. In our case, the wine is transferred using pressurized gas to move the wine from barrel to tank. The use of pressurized inert gases, such as nitrogen or argon, gently pushes the wine from vessel to vessel whereas pumps tend to be aggressive on the wine, potentially damaging the wine’s structure.

Once the barrels are cleaned, the wine is transferred back into them. At the end of the day, you're clothes are stained and soaking wet, but at least this is something we do only 2 to 3 times a year. With our next racking, we will be finalizing the 2009 Milestone and 2009 Meritage blends – probably just as the 2010 harvest is kicking off.

Release Day

Mon, 7 Jun 2010 22:21:21 -0400

Last Saturday, we kicked off our premier release with a celebratory tasting event on the Salmon Falls River. Fifty lucky guests had the chance to try our 2008 Milestone, 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Grenache Rose while chatting with the winemaker himself. (For us, the most fun part was when one guest asked Andrew and me, “Are you from the winery?,” to which I replied, “We are the winery!”)

Immediately following the event, guests were invited to tour the winery production room, and to be the first to purchase bottles of the Milestone, Cab and Rose. Everyone was very patient while waiting for the goods.

To all who attended the event, thank you for your continued support. Locals are buzzing about the well-balanced wines being created in South Berwick, Maine., and we know this has much to do with our customers. We couldn’t be more pleased.

-Amy Bevan
The Winemaker’s Right-hand Man

The Finished Product

Thu, 13 May 2010 21:05:03 -0400

Forgive us, friends. Things have been moving so quickly, we’ve forgotten to update the blog. Since our last post, we’ve had our labels approved, printed and delivered. Andrew then affixed them by hand to each bottle - about 300 in total. (So when you think about a small, family-owned winery, and compare us to the big guys in Napa, think of our winemaker lining up and mirroring each front and back label pair, one bottle at a time. Now that’s dedication!)

The bottles are set for our tasting on June 5th. This is the only opportunity to taste the wine in the coming months, as we are currently unable to open a tasting room on the winery premises. The special tasting is being co-sponsored by Brookford Farm and Rollinsford Public Library, both located on the Salmon Falls River in neighboring Rollinsford, New Hampshire. To reserve your spot at the tasting, please email us at info@salmonfallswinery.com. All the details can be found on our News & Events page on this web site.

We’re so excited to release our wines to the public on June 5th! Watch this blog and our Facebook page for updates and information on how you can order (we’re currently working on an online order form). As always, we are here by phone to answer your questions or simply say hello. Don’t hesitate to call us at 207-384-5629.

Labels

Fri, 9 Apr 2010 23:07:22 -0400

As the wine rests safely in the bottles, we are waiting for our Certificate of Label Approval (COLA) from the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. With a number of labeling stipulations, there is quite a bit of back-and-forth with the TTB before they give the final blessing to go to print. While we’re hoping to get the approval by next week, here’s a glimpse of how the Cab will look on the store shelves.

A Big Weekend

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:34:46 -0400

This weekend, we bottled the 2008 wines, and it feels good to have our first vintage safely in bottles. Wine goes through a “shock” when bottled and needs some rest before it’s ready to drink. Now, we will wait approximately two months for the wines to recover.

Here’s the process in a nut shell. We use new bottles so all we have to do is give them a quick rinse and let them drip dry. We fill the bottles using an Enolmatic bottle filler under vacuum and argon gas and we cork using our Italian floor corker. That’s it.

The bottle filler hose connects to the storage tank and creates a vacuum in the bottle that is being filled. The tip of the filler that goes into the bottle neck has two small openings; one lets wine in while the other sucks air out. The filler is that it has an automatic shutoff when the wine in bottle reaches a set level. Overflow goes to the overflow reservoir, which we happily consumed later in the day.

Argon gas, which is heavier than air, is pumped into the storage tank to create a protective blanket over the wine. This minimizes air contact with the wine, preventing oxidation.

Next comes the corking - pretty simple, place cork in hole, place bottle on corker and lower the handle to squeeze and push cork into bottle. With a little adjustment in the beginning, you get a perfectly leveled cork every time!

Voila!

* A special thanks to five-year-old Sarah, who couldn’t have been a better “cork girl.”

It's Bottle Time

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:42:00 -0400

It’s been a long time coming, and we can now see the light. After 18 months in process, the 2008 Milestone (our Rhone-styled red wine blend) and the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon will be bottled this weekend. For the past week or so, we’ve been working on the final blends, making the necessary adjustments, and of course, grabbing a few samples to taste.

The Milestone shows brilliant flavor and concentration - blackberry, cherry, and cinnamon notes, as well as earthy pepper and cassis. The Cabernet is high in fruit and rich in texture. The dark fruit aromas show black plums and cherries along with some dark toast character from wood aging.

All of the bottling equipment and bottles have been rinsed and sanitized – everything is in place and we’re ready to go!

Labels are being finalized and submitted to the state of Maine for final approval. Once they are approved, we’ll send them off to a local printer, and affix them to the bottles in a matter of weeks.

For anyone who has ever started a business, you know there is a tremendous amount of blood, sweat and tears that goes into getting it off the ground. This is certainly an exciting time for us here at SFW, and we thank our fans for their support and enthusiasm.

Winter Work

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:07:04 -0500

Although the rush of the harvest is well behind us, there is still plenty going in the winery these days. Generally this is a good time of year for cleaning and moving equipment; topping off and racking barrels; testing to see if malolactic fermentation completed; and checking acid levels to determine how much, if any, acid is need to be added to keep the wine in balance. It’s also never too early to start planning for next harvest.

We have also finalized our label design and are currently waiting on approval from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. We anticipate bottling our 2008 Milestone (our Rhone-style red blend), 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Grenache Rosé within the next month, each of which is slated for release in June 2010. We are beginning to market our wines to restaurants, retailers and other businesses in Southern Maine (Although we border New Hampshire, we are limited to Maine sales at this time due to New Hampshire distribution laws).

If you are a business owner and are interested in carrying Salmon Falls Winery’s debut release this spring, we’d love to hear from you.

Pressing On

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 07:05:37 -0500

The 2009 harvest is officially behind us! Over the past two weeks we’ve pressed Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Friday’s press of the Petit Verdot marked the final step of the process. The wine is now undergoing malolactic fermentation in American and French oak barrels, which will round and balance its quality over the next two to six weeks. The wine already looks and tastes great and we look forward to continually monitoring its progress by barrel sampling every month or so. We expect the wine to be ready for bottling in late 2010-early 2011.

Ah, yes - the hard part is over. But don’t picture us sitting back with our feet up quite yet. Our next task is to finalize the labels and prepare the ’08 varietals for bottling late this year. Every label must be approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and so, the winery will be processing its applications by year’s end.

The Punchdown

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:58:50 -0400

It’s been a busy week. If only we didn’t have “real” jobs to get in the way.....

Some very late nights and early mornings have brought us to where we are today. Fermentation is nearly complete, and we are continually monitoring its progress. During fermentation, the grapes skins that float to the surface of the juice are “punched” (see photo above). If the cap is exposed to the air for too long, the surface can dry out, promoting the colonization of airborne bacteria. Since the rising alcohol levels in the fermenting must are high enough to kill airborne bacteria, submerging the skins helps to protect the wine from spoilage throughout the fermentation. In addition, mixing also promotes contact between the wine and the skins, aiding color and flavor extraction.

Once primary fermentation is complete, we will transfer the must to the press to separate the wine from the skins. The wine will then undergo a secondary fermentation, referred to as malolactic fermentation or MLF. It is through MLF that the harsh malic acid in the wine is converted to lactic acid, making the wine softer and more approachable. Stay tuned!

The Wait is Over

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:52:43 -0400

The 2009 harvest has begun! Our grapes arrived from Paso Robles (Central Coast) and the Sierra Foothills (North Coast) of California Saturday night. Andrew picked them up Monday at M&M Wine Grape in Hartford, CT, and by that evening, they were back at the winery, ready for immediate processing. The fruit is of excellent quality, with very few raisins, leaves or under-ripe grapes.

The first stage is to crush and destem the grapes, then cold-soak on the skins to extract more color and fruit-forward flavors. The next day, we pitched the yeast to begin the fermentation process, which is now underway.

Because the fermentation process causes the skins to float to the top of the juice, it is necessary to “punch” the skins, or push them back into the juice to extract more color. This is done manually with a stainless steel tool that resembles a long handle with a blunt, flat head.

We are now monitoring the sugar levels (Brix), and will begin the pressing process once the fruit is dry (all of the sugar has been converted to alcohol).

Thanks for checking in - we’re off to a great start!

No News is Good News

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:38:13 -0400

For four weeks now, we’ve been teasing you, promising the grapes were due to arrive in our hands any day. And here it is mid-October, and still, no fruit. As the winemaker’s wife, I can only compare this experience to waiting for our second child to arrive. At two weeks overdue, we were anxious, excited and a little cranky! Checking with our distributor every day, the anticipation of what’s to come is tremendous, but the waiting has made us weary.

But, as with any living thing, nurturing the vine takes patience and care. The longer the grape remains, the higher quality fruit will result and the wine will thank you for it. As any good OB will tell you, “the baby will arrive when he’s good and ready.” And so, we wait.

Industry reports indicate that the 2009 harvest is the best we’ve seen in years. Because the grapes are ripening at a more steady rate, winemakers and consumers will benefit from the additional time on the vine, and so, there is no reason to rush greatness. For more information on the harvest, check out this article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

In other news, Salmon Falls Winery is happy to announce gift certificates are now available. You may purchase a gift certificate in any amount by calling or emailing us directly. Click here to contact us for more information. (We will soon have gift certificates and other products available online - stay tuned!)

A gift certificate has been donated to the Marshwood Education Foundation’s Oktoberfest event, here in South Berwick, Maine. In addition to buffet dinner, beer and wine tasting and live music, the event features a silent auction and a 50/50 raffle to raise funds for our local schools. Click here for more information about the Marshwood Education Foundation and this wonderful upcoming event.

Still No Grapes...But the Crushpad is Nearly Finished.

Sun, 4 Oct 2009 13:44:08 -0400

Another week has passed, and we are still waiting for our grapes to arrive. Andrew is putting the finishing touches on the winery’s new crushpad and is eager to start processing, hopefully by next weekend. Again, the longer the grapes remain on the vine, the better the flavor of the end product. So we’re thrilled with the delay.

In other news, we are now taking pre-orders for the inaugural release in Spring 2010. We took our first official order yesterday, for one case of Cabernet Sauvignon. Quantities are limited, so reserve your bottles today!

Update on Grapes

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:21:14 -0400

According to M&M Wine Grape, our distributor, the grapes should be picked in the next few days, and we expect them to arrive on the East Coast later in the week. With this additional time on the vine, we’re looking forward to some good concentrated flavors!

Getting Ready!

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 09:12:40 -0400

We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of our grapes, due to arrive from California sometime between 9/26 and 10/1.

To prepare for the beginning of the crush, we are busy cleaning and sanitizing all equipment, such as fermenters, tanks and barrels. An improvement to the winery this year includes construction of a new crushpad.

Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog to receive updates as they are posted. Thanks for sharing the harvest with us, and feel free to contact us with questions and comments.

Cheers!