Pick grapes, Fight fires, Pick grapes...

The rain will arrive today. At Pina Vineyard Management, the troops have been working hard and putting in long hours to get the grapes harvested before the rains come.  It has been a very difficult farming year for Napa Valley grape farmers.  Mother Nature has not been cooperative, but even so, we're wrapping up harvest. Tuesday night, Mother Nature dealt us another blow.  Winds were responsible for causing a fire that burned down a house in the Soda Canyon area of the Silverado Trail.  Efforts to contain the fire involved over 100 firefighters and many of those firefighters are volunteers with jobs in the wine industry.

My brother, Davie, was one of them.  He had worked a long day and was at home when the call came in @ 8:30 PM for the fire. As tired as he was, he got dressed and headed out.  He went to the Rutherford Volunteer Firemen's sub-station (about a half mile North of his house) and drove the Water Tender Firetruck to the fire. The water tender is one of the two firetrucks that was parked at Pina Napa Valley for several years (Hence, our Firehouse vineyard/label). He was released from the fire at 3:45 AM on Wednesday.  Later that day, a KGO film crew caught up to him to record a very brief soundbite.

The interview might have lasted a bit longer if Davie hadn't told them he just didn't have the time. He still had grapes in the field that needed to go to a winery.

Pick grapes, fight fires, pick grapes...

Bottle Shock

We bottled our 2007 Ames, Firehouse, Stone Corral and Wolff vineyard Cabernets in April. Having had barrel samples of these wines, some folks are anxious to pop the cork on these "finished" products. They don't understand that these wines may not be fully recovered from the trauma of bottling, better known as "Bottle Shock". So what is bottle shock? Some wines are so big & powerful, that the flow of wine from the barrel to the bottle generates electrical charges that get confined to the bottle. The wine wants to break free of these confines much like a young high spirited colt wants to get out of the pen. Think of it as a bottled lightning bolt. Over time, this powerful force gets absorbed into the character of the wine and will reward those who wait. But to those who release the "lightning bolt" too soon, they can experience bottle shock that leaves their hair standing on end and smoke coming out of their ears.

Our winemaker, Anna Monticelli, offers a slightly different explanation:

BOTTLE SHOCK
When a wine is bottled, it goes through a temporary phase called bottle shock, also known as wine sickness. The aromatics may be muted, the flavor components disjuncted and the alcohol and tannins can taste sharper and overwhelming. This is thought to be due to the agitation of the wine and it's exposure to excess levels of oxygen during the bottling process. And if a wine is filtered, it needs even more time to come back together. It can take a wine anywhere from a few weeks to several months to recover from bottle shock. Thankfully, wines are generally not released during this period so most people don't taste them in this disjuncted state.

Anna continues:

PINA BOTTLING
The 2007 Ames, Firehouse, Stone Corral and Wolff vineyard designate Cabernets were bottled in April. We will bottle the 2007 D’Adamo and Buckeye Cabernets at the beginning of July. At this time, we will also be bottling our new Mimbre and Cahoots wines. The Mimbre is our new reserve wine. Just as the Piña’s great-grandfather weaved cane into beautiful art, we’ve made the best blend from our single vineyards to make this stunning wine. The Cahoots is a secret collaboration of wine. And don’t ask cause we won’t tell!