In the previous blog I mentioned the name Autumn with out saying what Autumn is. I know some if you were puzzeled. I will explain. At the beginning of summer 2009 some friends of ours, Chris and Robyn Parker were preparing their sailboat for a cruise from Seattle to Alaska. They stopped in one evening to have dinner at a restaurant in PortTownsend and started talking with the manager about wine. One thing led to another and they talked about Sierra Vista. I never felt my ears burning so it must have not to bad. Now fast forward to September when Clyda, a long time family member at Sierra Vista told us that she wanted to retire in 2010. A couple weeks later we received an email from Autumn Berry requesting a job interview. She listed her experience in her letter and resume. She was working for a Napa winery as the hospitality manager, sales rep and assisted withe the wine blending before bottling. She was graduated from the Cullinary Academy at Hyde Park NY and has passed the ecamt to be a certified sommelier. We asked her to come for an interview and Barbara and I were impressed. We asked her to come back for another and made her an offer which she wanted to think about. We went to Napa for lunch and had a third interview where she accepted our offer. After lunch we went to see our daughter and grandson. It was a great day!!!!!!!!!!
We are delighted to have Autumn as onw of our family at Sierra Vista. Come meet her.
I will have a picture one of these days.
John
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Harvest is over
It is a long time since I posted a blog but in the future Autumn and I will post blogs so they should come twice as often at least.
Harvest started with the picking of Sauvignon Blanc in late August. It was not ready when the owner called. After we destemmed it we pressed and then cleaned all equipment. After cleaning the destemmer we tested it and it was frozen. No go. Stopped. The next day I took it to Santa Rosa to be fixed. About a week later the repaair facility said they would deliver it. OK so I waited, waited, waited and then called the shop. They had delivered it to the wrong winery. What a pain. If I had a flatbed truck or trailer it would have been easy to get load it and bring it here. It was difficult to get it in the pickup and just as difficult to get it out. I managed, turned it on. It worked. The next morning we started harvest at Sierra Vista.
It was a great harvest with some big, full bodied, reds with alcohols less than 14% which is what we aim for. And of course our whites will be concentrated also because we dry farmed the whole vineyard except 1 watering to the Roussanne.
More tomorrow,
John
Harvest started with the picking of Sauvignon Blanc in late August. It was not ready when the owner called. After we destemmed it we pressed and then cleaned all equipment. After cleaning the destemmer we tested it and it was frozen. No go. Stopped. The next day I took it to Santa Rosa to be fixed. About a week later the repaair facility said they would deliver it. OK so I waited, waited, waited and then called the shop. They had delivered it to the wrong winery. What a pain. If I had a flatbed truck or trailer it would have been easy to get load it and bring it here. It was difficult to get it in the pickup and just as difficult to get it out. I managed, turned it on. It worked. The next morning we started harvest at Sierra Vista.
It was a great harvest with some big, full bodied, reds with alcohols less than 14% which is what we aim for. And of course our whites will be concentrated also because we dry farmed the whole vineyard except 1 watering to the Roussanne.
More tomorrow,
John
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Harvest is here
To day I received a call from the Sauvignon Blanc vineyard owner. He said the grapes are ready to pick. So Tyler and I went down to Amador to sample. Our sample showed that the sugar is perfect but the acid is too, too high and the ph is too, too low. We will not pick when he scheduled, next Tuesday. We will sample again Monday.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
GENERAL HAPPENINGS
On June 4th I left California for a week+ sales trip to NC and MD. I had a wine tasting with some of the staff of a new distributor we acquired in NC as a result of wine tasting with a bunch of sommeliers here in Pleasant Valley. It was on Friday the 5th that was supposed to be the conclusion of a vacation that Barbara and I were going to spend sailing on the Chesapeake with friends but we had to cancel at the last moment due to a sprained back Barbara suffered as a result of a tumble at her exercise class. She is getting better all the time.
After visiting with the new distributor I drove through some very heavy rain in NC to a small town just west of Raleigh to visit a cousin and her family. I stayed over night and then headed up to Md where I stayed with our MD broker. A lovely place right on the Chesapeake with 300 ft of water front. Sunday they arranged an outing with a business associate. His father took us on his 36 foot power yacht across the Chesapeake to have lunch at a waterfront restaurant. He ordered ahead of time 3 jumbo sized blue crabs for each of us plus a crab cake. The crab cake was the best I have ever had and the crabs were really sweet, caught that morning. A great experience.
Monday we started selling wine and covered much of MD and over 4 days visited more than twenty accounts and most of them bought something. A good sales trip.
Monday night my host invited several of her friends over for a salmon and halibut and wine tasting dinner. Had a good time with them. Then Tuesday night she bought 2 1 lb lobsters each that were just great. Fresh lobster and an ear of corn for dinner. Wednesday we had a wine pouring so ate dinner at the place we poured and Thursday our last stop of the day was at an account in Annapolis that had previously ordered quite a bit of wine. We did a short pouring there and then took with the wine buyer out to an Italian restaurant. The food was good but the thing I remember most was the fried mouzzarella he ordered. It was different than any he had had before and I had never ordered it. It was deep fried I think in 1" thick large triangular chunks and then covered with a most delicious mushroom sauce. I ate most of his second one. That was wednesday night so on the way back to Middle River where I had stayed we had to go right by BWI where I was to fly out of the next day. He just let me off at a motel near the airport and I flew home on Friday the 12th.
VINEYARD and WINE
All the vines are growing like weeds. We have had to thin the Viognier, Roussanne, and Mourvedre. We still have to thin some of the Syrah. We actually took off more grapes than we left on. I actually got out there and did some myself and as a result next year we will do our prunning differently. We have cordon trained and spur prunned everything but next year we will cane prune the three I just mentioned and maybe some others.
In 1974 we planted 5 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon on their own roots, not grafted to root stalk that is the industry standard. That Vineyard is now 35 years old and qualifies for old vine status. There are not many Cab blocks that old in California because most vineyards are replaced after 25-30 years because of lower production. Its interesting what the old vine and own roots give to a vineyard, more intensity character, and depth. One Master of Wine who tasted our wine at a tasting in San Francisco asked if our cab was on its own roots. How did he know because not very many vines in the world are planted on their own roots. He said the wine had the character of French Bordeaux(Cab Sauv) prior to the French having to change their vineyards to rootstock plantings.
When in MD I found that many buyers expressed dis satisfaction with the high alcohol wines being promoted by the wine press and were interested that we have wines many of which ware less than 14% alc. A plus for us but still not able to get high ratings in the press because the high alc wines dominate any tasting.
That is all for now. Looks like I will be able to do a blog a month rather than one a week.
John
After visiting with the new distributor I drove through some very heavy rain in NC to a small town just west of Raleigh to visit a cousin and her family. I stayed over night and then headed up to Md where I stayed with our MD broker. A lovely place right on the Chesapeake with 300 ft of water front. Sunday they arranged an outing with a business associate. His father took us on his 36 foot power yacht across the Chesapeake to have lunch at a waterfront restaurant. He ordered ahead of time 3 jumbo sized blue crabs for each of us plus a crab cake. The crab cake was the best I have ever had and the crabs were really sweet, caught that morning. A great experience.
Monday we started selling wine and covered much of MD and over 4 days visited more than twenty accounts and most of them bought something. A good sales trip.
Monday night my host invited several of her friends over for a salmon and halibut and wine tasting dinner. Had a good time with them. Then Tuesday night she bought 2 1 lb lobsters each that were just great. Fresh lobster and an ear of corn for dinner. Wednesday we had a wine pouring so ate dinner at the place we poured and Thursday our last stop of the day was at an account in Annapolis that had previously ordered quite a bit of wine. We did a short pouring there and then took with the wine buyer out to an Italian restaurant. The food was good but the thing I remember most was the fried mouzzarella he ordered. It was different than any he had had before and I had never ordered it. It was deep fried I think in 1" thick large triangular chunks and then covered with a most delicious mushroom sauce. I ate most of his second one. That was wednesday night so on the way back to Middle River where I had stayed we had to go right by BWI where I was to fly out of the next day. He just let me off at a motel near the airport and I flew home on Friday the 12th.
VINEYARD and WINE
All the vines are growing like weeds. We have had to thin the Viognier, Roussanne, and Mourvedre. We still have to thin some of the Syrah. We actually took off more grapes than we left on. I actually got out there and did some myself and as a result next year we will do our prunning differently. We have cordon trained and spur prunned everything but next year we will cane prune the three I just mentioned and maybe some others.
In 1974 we planted 5 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon on their own roots, not grafted to root stalk that is the industry standard. That Vineyard is now 35 years old and qualifies for old vine status. There are not many Cab blocks that old in California because most vineyards are replaced after 25-30 years because of lower production. Its interesting what the old vine and own roots give to a vineyard, more intensity character, and depth. One Master of Wine who tasted our wine at a tasting in San Francisco asked if our cab was on its own roots. How did he know because not very many vines in the world are planted on their own roots. He said the wine had the character of French Bordeaux(Cab Sauv) prior to the French having to change their vineyards to rootstock plantings.
When in MD I found that many buyers expressed dis satisfaction with the high alcohol wines being promoted by the wine press and were interested that we have wines many of which ware less than 14% alc. A plus for us but still not able to get high ratings in the press because the high alc wines dominate any tasting.
That is all for now. Looks like I will be able to do a blog a month rather than one a week.
John
Monday, May 18, 2009
Vineyard happenings
The vines are growing like weeds so that we are having to hand thin the Viognier, Roussanne, Mourvedre, Zinfandel and tuck the new canes of the syrah up under the catch wires all at the same time. It is a time consuming job and only so many hands to do it. I have been out there and found that I will change my pruning method next year.
This coming weekend is Rocks and Rhone, a celebration of Rhone style wines by Sierra Vista, Holly's Hill, Miraflores and NarroGate. Come join us for some good food and drink. We are releasing our first Reserve Syrah and our first ever Rhone white blend made with Grenache, Viognier, and Roussanne.
On the 27th Barbara and I will leave for a week of sailing on the Chesapeake bay in Maryland.
Then we will visit a new Distributor in North Carolina and our current distributor in Md. Some work and some pleasure.
We are looking forward to a little time away from the vineyard because it is the only time we are not working.
Come see us and try our 2 new wines.
John
This coming weekend is Rocks and Rhone, a celebration of Rhone style wines by Sierra Vista, Holly's Hill, Miraflores and NarroGate. Come join us for some good food and drink. We are releasing our first Reserve Syrah and our first ever Rhone white blend made with Grenache, Viognier, and Roussanne.
On the 27th Barbara and I will leave for a week of sailing on the Chesapeake bay in Maryland.
Then we will visit a new Distributor in North Carolina and our current distributor in Md. Some work and some pleasure.
We are looking forward to a little time away from the vineyard because it is the only time we are not working.
Come see us and try our 2 new wines.
John
Thursday, April 23, 2009
kudos
Hi all,
A couple weeks ago we received word that our 2007 Roussanne received a Double Gold medal at the San Diego Wine competition. It is a great wine and deserves the recognition.
I fully expect that our 2008 Viognier will be very well received because it is the best we have had since '98 when it received a 98 rating and called one of the top in Cal.
Yesterday Mike Dunne posted the following in the Sac Bee:
Mike Dunne's Wine of the Week pick - 04/22/09
By Mike Dunne
Published: April 22nd, 2009 12:00 AM
Sierra Vista Vineyards & Winery 2006 Reeves Vineyard Zinfandel ($18)
The view from aptly named Sierra Vista Vineyards & Winery is so sweeping it can be seen as either intimidating or inspiring. John and Barbara MacCready, who bought the ridge top property in 1972, have been far more inspired than intimidated by the grand landscape before them.
They arrived knowing that the hills were celebrated for zinfandel, but in looking around they saw in the mix of exposures and soils other possibilities. They planted cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay, though the Mother Lode never has been recognized for doing well consistently by either. Not until the MacCreadys applied their scientific and artistic touches to the varieties, that is.
And while just about every winery in the region today produces wines based on varieties traditionally grown in France's Rhone Valley - syrah, mourvedre, viognier, among others - the MacCreadys were among the first, and possibly the very first, to see the gleam of gold in those unsuspected veins.
But doggone it, the Mother Lode is zinfandel country, and the MacCreadys didn't ignore the variety that continues to be most closely identified with the area.
They make a couple of zinfandels, and the one that most recently caught my attention was the meaty, firm and peppery Sierra Vista Vineyards & Winery 2006 Reeves Vineyard Zinfandel, which in equilibrium and resonance delivers more authority than many zinfandels at double or more its $18 suggested retail price.
The MacCreadys' fondness for grape growing and wine making in the foothills must be catching. The fruit that went into the Reeves zinfandel came from a neighboring vineyard just to the west owned by John MacCready's sister and brother-in-law, Enid and Doug Reeves.
They caught the MacCready infection early on, planting the vineyard in 1976. While the resulting wine consistently has been solid vintage to vintage, it looks to be getting even better, perhaps because the vineyard gradually is being replanted to another clone from a century-old plot that no longer exists. The 2006 Reeves is a mix of both the original clone and the new.
By the numbers: 14.1 percent alcohol, 359 cases, $18.
Context: John MacCready likes the Reeves zinfandel with just about anything dressed with a red Italian sauce - lasagna, spaghetti, ribs and so forth. He recommends drinking the wine over the next two years, but suspects it will continue to live and deliver six more years.
More information: Visit www.sacwineregion.com or Sierra Vista Vineyards & Winery, 4560 Cabernet Way, Placerville.
That is all till next time.
John
A couple weeks ago we received word that our 2007 Roussanne received a Double Gold medal at the San Diego Wine competition. It is a great wine and deserves the recognition.
I fully expect that our 2008 Viognier will be very well received because it is the best we have had since '98 when it received a 98 rating and called one of the top in Cal.
Yesterday Mike Dunne posted the following in the Sac Bee:
Mike Dunne's Wine of the Week pick - 04/22/09
By Mike Dunne
Published: April 22nd, 2009 12:00 AM
Sierra Vista Vineyards & Winery 2006 Reeves Vineyard Zinfandel ($18)
The view from aptly named Sierra Vista Vineyards & Winery is so sweeping it can be seen as either intimidating or inspiring. John and Barbara MacCready, who bought the ridge top property in 1972, have been far more inspired than intimidated by the grand landscape before them.
They arrived knowing that the hills were celebrated for zinfandel, but in looking around they saw in the mix of exposures and soils other possibilities. They planted cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay, though the Mother Lode never has been recognized for doing well consistently by either. Not until the MacCreadys applied their scientific and artistic touches to the varieties, that is.
And while just about every winery in the region today produces wines based on varieties traditionally grown in France's Rhone Valley - syrah, mourvedre, viognier, among others - the MacCreadys were among the first, and possibly the very first, to see the gleam of gold in those unsuspected veins.
But doggone it, the Mother Lode is zinfandel country, and the MacCreadys didn't ignore the variety that continues to be most closely identified with the area.
They make a couple of zinfandels, and the one that most recently caught my attention was the meaty, firm and peppery Sierra Vista Vineyards & Winery 2006 Reeves Vineyard Zinfandel, which in equilibrium and resonance delivers more authority than many zinfandels at double or more its $18 suggested retail price.
The MacCreadys' fondness for grape growing and wine making in the foothills must be catching. The fruit that went into the Reeves zinfandel came from a neighboring vineyard just to the west owned by John MacCready's sister and brother-in-law, Enid and Doug Reeves.
They caught the MacCready infection early on, planting the vineyard in 1976. While the resulting wine consistently has been solid vintage to vintage, it looks to be getting even better, perhaps because the vineyard gradually is being replanted to another clone from a century-old plot that no longer exists. The 2006 Reeves is a mix of both the original clone and the new.
By the numbers: 14.1 percent alcohol, 359 cases, $18.
Context: John MacCready likes the Reeves zinfandel with just about anything dressed with a red Italian sauce - lasagna, spaghetti, ribs and so forth. He recommends drinking the wine over the next two years, but suspects it will continue to live and deliver six more years.
More information: Visit www.sacwineregion.com or Sierra Vista Vineyards & Winery, 4560 Cabernet Way, Placerville.
That is all till next time.
John
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
It's time to start writing again
This last weekend was passport time with the El Dorado Winery Association wineries. Both weekends were blessed with great weather, especially compared to the snow sleet and rain we have had some other years. At Sierra Vista Winery we server salmon Provencale, rosmary pork medalions in a cream sauce and wild mushroom pasta. All prepared by Christian and Jennifer Masse of Allez. Several attendees said it was the best food they had had any where.
The last station for tasting was manned by Keith Boston pouring our 2005 Five Star Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a highly concentrated 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. It is the first time we have bottled one since 1999 and our introductory tasting of the 2005.
We paired the salmon with our 2006 Viognier which was a great hit.
The people in the distance are checking in and the gal in pink on the left is getting the salmon and Viognier.
The n
ext pairing was the pork and pasta that went very well with the Fleur de Montagne, a Rhone blend. As shown here the pasta is being served by Enid Reeves, in the yellow, of the Reeves Vineyard Zinfandel fame.
ext pairing was the pork and pasta that went very well with the Fleur de Montagne, a Rhone blend. As shown here the pasta is being served by Enid Reeves, in the yellow, of the Reeves Vineyard Zinfandel fame.
The last station for tasting was manned by Keith Boston pouring our 2005 Five Star Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a highly concentrated 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. It is the first time we have bottled one since 1999 and our introductory tasting of the 2005. Speaking of the 99, we had one last Sat night that was great. Opening an hour before dinner and aerating it by pouring from one decanter to another 5-6 times and then letting it sit for an hour gave us a real treat. One would be hard pressed to find afirst growth Bordeaux that would be better.
At Sierra Vista we grow figs for our pleasure. Following is a photo showing the tree after pruning. By this fall it will be almost doubled in size. I will try to remember to show it to you when fully grown and when the leaves are turning next fall.
Until next time, so long.
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