David Coffaro Winery and Vineyard Winemaker's Diary 2006 Weeks 11-12

David Coffaro Vineyard and Winery Winemaker's Diary

Weeks 11 - 12

March 26, 2006 to April 8, 2006

Monday March 27, 2006
9pm: Tonight at midnight my time or 3am East Coast our new offer for the Pre-Harvest 2006 vintage will be up loaded. We have incurred a few problems, but I am confident it will be up no later than tomorrow morning. Seriously I am not expecting a big rush. You do not have to hurry..... The only wine for the 2005 pre harvest futures offer that was sold out was the 2005 Aca Modot otherwise all wines offered last April are still for sale at slightly higher prices. I am really happy with my 2005 wines and I have confidence that I will produce great wines each year.
Tuesday March 28, 2006
Check out our new newsletter written mostly by Pat and Matt. The new Pre-Harvest 2006 offer is up also. Now I have to start getting ready to order our labels for the 2005 wines that will be labeled in July. I have to present the files to the printer about two months in advance. Also I have to get the labels approved by the TTB before we can use them. Both these steps will take a long time. I'm back to work!!
Thursday March 30, 2006
Our sales in the first two days of the 2006 Pre-Harvest Futures Offering are up 40% over the last several years. As Elvis used to say " Thank you very Much". I am dedicated to make the best wine I can and I am amazed how well the screwcaped wines for the 2003 vintage are showing. I am extremely happy and confident that I will produce superior wines over my lifetime.
Check out that we are offering a new wine for the 2005 Vintage. It is called a Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley from the Price Family. We had someone here today who tasted it for the first time and is the first customer to order this intriguing new addition to our many 2005 wines.
Pat and I are finalizing our plans to Chicago at the end of July. I will be at Restaurant Aliena. Check out their website, incredible pictures. Next I have been looking into Las Vegas restaurants. Alex is on my A list.
Tuesday April 4, 2006
It is supposed to be Spring time here in Dry Creek Valley. Most years Spring time starts about the middle of March, but this year we have had at least 20 days of continuous rain. According to my records we have had rain in 36 of the last 38 days. The vines are barely growing, but I know from past experience this cold spell will not effect the quality of our grape harvest. The real critical time on quality is during bloom which usually occurs at the end of May.
We are blending this week so I will have more to say tomorrow. AND our sales have continued to be up about 40% over the last few years. As Elvis would say "Thank you very much".
I have decided to give up on Manly Honda. I am getting the impression that they do not care about me. Maybe I should buy a new BMW.
Friday April 7, 2006
I told Pat about the new 530i bmw. We may pick up one in Milwaukee.
Blending is always an adventure. This week has been no exception. Matt did not show up Wednesday morning until 9:30am. He was scheduled to appear here at 7:00am. Since Matt is the second child I did not have, I had to step up. I sent him home and told him if he did not show up on Thursday mooning at 7:00am he would not have a job. Matt did show up yesterday on time. We will keep him.
We always have surprises during a second rack in April. We never know how much wine will be left in a barrel (sediment can vary from barrel to barrel). The first rack in January (or blend in more understandable terms) is even more unpredictable since we do not know what is in the barrels. Sure we know there is zinfandel, cab, carignan or what ever in a barrel, but we do not know how much. Yes a barrel contains 60 gallons, but how much is sediment (lees to winemakers) and how much can we recover in clear wine. Each time we rack I am trying to achieve the clearest wine I can. We put a wand with a stainless screw at the bottom of the barrel. We can adjust the screw to a height of zero to three inches. At three inches off the bottom of the barrel we will leave about 3.5 gallons of wine left in the barrel. In the second racking I want to leave about 2 inches which may lead to 2 gallon left in each barrel. This sediment left in the barrel is not clear. Actually this cloudy wine (sediment) has been producing one of our most popular wines: ZP2C a blend of all barrels. This sediment is left to stand for three months and then the clear wine is racked off into clean barrels. The thick sediment left in the ZP2C barrels (which can be as much as half a barrel at second racking) is taken out in the vineyard to give some character to our soil hopefully adding to the wines we produce in the future. The clear wine now ZP2C further settles and is combined with the next racking. The barreled wine making up the other main blends contains little sediment after the second racking and each time the wine in the ZP2C barrels gets clearer. Each time we shorten the screw. Gravity is a wonderful thing unless you are older.

Dave

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	*Monday March 27, 2006* *9pm:* Tonight at midnight my time or 3am East Coast our new offer for the Pre-Harvest 2006 vintage will be up loaded. We have incurred a few problems, but I am confident it will be up no later than tomorrow morning. Seriously I am not expecting a big rush. You do not have to hurry..... The only wine for the 2005 pre harvest futures offer that was sold out was the 2005 Aca Modot otherwise all wines offered last April are still for sale at slightly higher prices. I am really happy with my 2005 wines and I have confidence that I will produce great wines each year. *Tuesday March 28, 2006* Check out our new newsletter written mostly by Pat and Matt. The new Pre-Harvest 2006 offer is up also. Now I have to start getting ready to order our labels for the 2005 wines that will be labeled in July. I have to present the files to the printer about two months in advance. Also I have to get the labels approved by the TTB before we can use them. Both these steps will take a long time. I'm back to work!! *Thursday March 30, 2006* Our sales in the first two days of the 2006 Pre-Harvest Futures Offering are up 40% over the last several years. As Elvis used to say " Thank you very Much". I am dedicated to make the best wine I can and I am amazed how well the screwcaped wines for the 2003 vintage are showing. I am extremely happy and confident that I will produce superior wines over my lifetime. Check out that we are offering a new wine for the 2005 Vintage. It is called a Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley from the Price Family. We had someone here today who tasted it for the first time and is the first customer to order this intriguing new addition to our many 2005 wines. Pat and I are finalizing our plans to Chicago at the end of July. I will be at Restaurant Aliena. Check out their website, incredible pictures. Next I have been looking into Las Vegas restaurants. Alex is on my A list. *Tuesday April 4, 2006* It is supposed to be Spring time here in Dry Creek Valley. Most years Spring time starts about the middle of March, but this year we have had at least 20 days of continuous rain. According to my records we have had rain in 36 of the last 38 days. The vines are barely growing, but I know from past experience this cold spell will not effect the quality of our grape harvest. The real critical time on quality is during bloom which usually occurs at the end of May. We are blending this week so I will have more to say tomorrow. AND our sales have continued to be up about 40% over the last few years. As Elvis would say "Thank you very much". I have decided to give up on Manly Honda. I am getting the impression that they do not care about me. Maybe I should buy a new BMW. *Friday April 7, 2006* I told Pat about the new 530i bmw. We may pick up one in Milwaukee. Blending is always an adventure. This week has been no exception. Matt did not show up Wednesday morning until 9:30am. He was scheduled to appear here at 7:00am. Since Matt is the second child I did not have, I had to step up. I sent him home and told him if he did not show up on Thursday mooning at 7:00am he would not have a job. Matt did show up yesterday on time. We will keep him. We always have surprises during a second rack in April. We never know how much wine will be left in a barrel (sediment can vary from barrel to barrel). The first rack in January (or blend in more understandable terms) is even more unpredictable since we do not know what is in the barrels. Sure we know there is zinfandel, cab, carignan or what ever in a barrel, but we do not know how much. Yes a barrel contains 60 gallons, but how much is sediment (lees to winemakers) and how much can we recover in clear wine. Each time we rack I am trying to achieve the clearest wine I can. We put a wand with a stainless screw at the bottom of the barrel. We can adjust the screw to a height of zero to three inches. At three inches off the bottom of the barrel we will leave about 3.5 gallons of wine left in the barrel. In the second racking I want to leave about 2 inches which may lead to 2 gallon left in each barrel. This sediment left in the barrel is not clear. Actually this cloudy wine (sediment) has been producing one of our most popular wines: ZP2C a blend of all barrels. This sediment is left to stand for three months and then the clear wine is racked off into clean barrels. The thick sediment left in the ZP2C barrels (which can be as much as half a barrel at second racking) is taken out in the vineyard to give some character to our soil hopefully adding to the wines we produce in the future. The clear wine now ZP2C further settles and is combined with the next racking. The barreled wine making up the other main blends contains little sediment after the second racking and each time the wine in the ZP2C barrels gets clearer. Each time we shorten the screw. Gravity is a wonderful thing unless you are older.
	Dave

	Home \| Buy \| Read \| Diary \| Public Forum \| Tell Us What You Think of Our Diary! \| Last Week \| Next Week