Join us for “La Paulée de Carlton”
First off – huge thanks to everyone who came to our winemaker dinner in Sisters on Wednesday night with Cork Cellars and Jen’s Garden – it was a really special night, and a good time was had by all! I’d love to make it an annual event…
We are all so excited for our 3rd annual La Paulée de Carlton celebration tomorrow. We’re having an Open House in the tasting room from 11-4, with a bunch of the newly arrived ’06 Burgs open for tasting, and the unveiling of our 2007 Audrey Pinot Noir – which can be purchased as futures in the month of November, while they last. Every release of Audrey has been one of the top-rated wines of the vintage, and we’re way happy with the 2007 – it is a beautiful example of everything we hope to achieve with our wines – elegance and beauty, grace and finesse, and natural balance. So please join us tomorrow for your first chance to get a taste.
Normally, we’re finished with crush and everything is resting quietly in barrel by the time the first Saturday in November rolls around – but due to the late harvest this year we’re still in the middle of it all. I don’t know how they’ve done it, but Kelley Fox and her crew have managed to get the winery magically transformed and ready for our La Paulée dinner tomorrow night. Fortunately the weather has turned pretty chilly, so we can safely move some of the remaining fermenters outside onto the covered crushpad for the evening. If you’re joining us for dinner tomorrow night – you will find yourself in the middle of what is truly a “working winery”!
I so look forward to our “La Paulée” dinner every year – with a lot of our neighboring vintners and friends and customers joining us to celebrate the harvest, and everybody bringing some treasured bottles from their cellars to share with the group. It’s a great tradition, and I truly love the spirit of it. (The event is sold-out for tomorrow night – but mark your calendars for next year – Saturday November 7th). I can hardly believe that a week from Tuesday I’ll be off to Burgundy for their Paulée, as well as the Hospices de Beaune auction and an intense 10 days of tasting in all of our producers cellars.
Here are a few shots from this year’s crush – we’ve been blessed not only with a fantastic vintage, but an amazing team in the cellar as well!
Winemaker Kelley Fox with journalist Condé Cox
Sean on punch-down duty
Harvest at Ribbon Ridge
