This is a day to take a breath. We've been so very busy over the past few weeks. The winery is emptying out in preparation for the new vintage. The grape berries are growing at an incredible rate. We put a new plate & frame filter into use in the winery and have started re-plumbling the winery. This is one of the best winery upgrades ever! It is a real productivity booster - and quiet. We finished bottling the China Girl - Over 60 cases. It is our largest bottling ever. We ha

I bottled the first 12 cases of the 2015 China Girl. I noticed some time ago how much lighter it was than previous years. Until today, I didn't realize why there was such a shift in color - from red to pink. It is all about the less time the skins had contact the grapes in 2015 vs previous years. You see, we switched from a 90 liter press to a 250 liter press. Both presses cycle (fill with grapes, press, empty) in about 90 minutes. Because the newer press was able to process