Monday, March 24, 2008

March 12, Tasting at Saralee's


On March 12, the Lost Canyon crew drove up to Russian River Valley to Saralee's Annual Wineries tasting. We arrived at 9:15am and there was a heavy fog. We warmed up by the fireplace as we waited for the other wineries to arrive. About 52 wineries buy grapes from Saralee Kunde. This is a great event she does every year, where all the wineries showcases their wines made from her grapes. Everyone takes their seats and the event begins. There are 6 wine glasses in front of each person. There is a lot of coordination going into this event. Once we taste through the 6, then we dump the glasses and another set of 6 is put in front of us again, until we are done. We tasted about 70 wines made from the different wineries using her grapes. Lost Canyon brought: 2007 Viognier(already bottled), then barrel samples of: 2007 clone 37 Saralee's Pinot noir, 2007 clones 115 and 777 Saralee's Pinot noir and 2007 Trenton Station. The winemaker or representative of the winery stands up to give some brief stats on the wine and then moving on to the next wine. We were finished around 12:30pm and headed out to the patio overlooking the vineyards, where we enjoyed a catered lunch. The sun came out right around this time too. It was a great day! Thanks, Saralee!!!
http://www.saraleesvineyard.com/

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Viognier Release Party and Lecture

The world tour of viognier lecture and release of 2007 Catie's Corner Viognier was a success. Thanks to all of those folks who came out! Jack, co-owner and winemaker, gave a lecture that focused on the orgins of viognier, how white wines are processed differently than reds, and stylistic choices the winemaker has and how it impacts the final product. We had 100% viognier wines from France (Rhone region), South Australia, and then 2 CA regions from Lodi and Paso Robles. Of course, we also featured our 2006 and 2007 Catie's Corner Viognier.