October 18, 2005
It’s been a great week at the winery, with everything now in barrel save for the Maresh Vyd. lots, and those will be drained and pressed tomorrow. Kelley & Jeremy have the cellar in fabulous shape, and the wines are behaving quite nicely. I have never been so happy with young wine in the barrel – I really feel we have something very special this year…
Now we’re in a holding pattern waiting for final construction permits for the winery/tasting room complex – and we should be on track for a November 1st start. Having never tackled more than adding a bedroom and bath to our old house down in Yountville, this should be quite an adventure, to say the least! Thankfully we are in excellent hands with our architect Ernie Munch leading the way, and builder Marty Knopf on top of it every step of the way. It is becoming clear I will be spending a lot more time with these two guys than any family members for the next year or so…
Check out www.thewineoffensive.com – Maggie Dutton’s tremendous wine & food blog out of Seattle. Interesting and provocative stuff, without all the usual hype and drivel…
I have just finalized plans for a quick trip to Burgundy next month. I’ll be there for the annual Hospices de Beaune auction and Véronique Drouhin’s La Paulée – perhaps the ultimate assembly of Burgundy geeks and amazing wines in one place at any given time on the planet. I promise to take notes and report back…
Orders have been flying in for futures on the 2004 Audrey and La Paulée bottlings – thanks for your enthusiastic support. Futures orders can be placed up until Nov. 15th, and you can also order futures at our Thanksgiving Weekend Open House – we’ll be pouring samples at the Carlton Winemakers Studio from 11-4 Friday-Sunday on the holiday weekend. It is truly one of the best events of the year – with wines from nine of Oregon’s best artisanal producers all in one spot. Please join us!
