Beth Mort
Wrappin up.
I actually got to go to the winery over the weekend and finally help bottle! This is great for me because I recently just finished up graduate school and so it felt like a little vacation. The rest of the family – Ma and Pa Sanborn – came out to help also so the bottling went really fast. The best part about doing work at a winery is the additional perks that follow a good strong effort: namely tasting wine.
2009 Cabernet Franc barrel tasting
We got to do some barrel tasting of the 2009 Cabernet Franc and the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot. I also had a chance to taste a blended Pinot Gris and Riesling, Pinot Noir, and a Pinot and Syrah rosé. This last wine, the rosé, was so delicate and subtle; with grapefruit in the finish and the lightest nuance of honeydew melon. The rosé gets its color from a slow press of the grapes with their red skins just to extract color. The skins are then removed so that no fermentation with the skins will occur.
I am no professional taster but did make notes of my experience tasting and the flavors and notes that others mentioned:
2009 Cabernet Franc (barrel tasting)
- cranberry nose
- underlying huckleberry notes
2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot (barrel tasting)
- complexity from the blend making it harder to describe
- softer somehow, overall pleasing and a bit full
- dark cherry
Pinot Gris and Riesling blend
- great summer wine
- fruity, unassuming
- floral – gardenia
Pinot Noir
- raspberry in both nose and mouth
Pinot and Syrah rosé
- strawberry nose and first impression
- delicate and subtle – petite
- grapefruit in the finish – not acrid but pleasing bitter grapefruit
- hint of honeydew melon, more as an undertone
I had a great time but far too short of a stay. The weather was stunning which makes it doubly hard to head back home. I will be savoring the bottles that I brought home over the next few weeks and use them to help me hone in my tasting skills. I am excited to return for more adventures on the vineyard.
Last drop.
