Thanks to the great bottling pump I have, I bottled 53 bottles of 2009 “Cabrillo Bridge” Petite Sirah and 60 bottles of Chardonnay oak trials in just 3 hours.  Too bad the bottling pump doesn’t also clean up everything …

I tasted a little of the unoaked Chardonnay to see what it’s like, I haven’t had this particular Winexpert Chardonnay kit yet.  I really, really liked it, it has lots of apple and a nice fresh, round mouthfeel.  I’m looking forward to tasting my own oak trials side-by-side!  Thanks for the inspiration, Tim Vandergrift!!!

I weighed out the oak chips into the one-gallon jugs before racking, then put airlocks on top of them all:  American oak at 5 grams and 10 grams per gallon, French oak at 5 grams and 10 grams per gallon, and one unoaked control.  Now they will hang out for 4 weeks and then get bottled.  Stay tuned!

Our May SDAWS meeting was held at Milagro Farm today.  Jim Hart hosted us and gave us a tour of the vineyards and told us about his recent wine releases.  He is winemaker for Milagro Farm Vineyard & Winery and also at Hart Winery in Temecula.  Milagro Farm Vineyard & Winery is in the Ramona Valley AVA.

Old Vine Chardonnay

Old Vine Cabernet Sauvignon

The oldest vines on the property are Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.  They started putting in more varietals in the past few years including Sauvignon Blanc, Petite Verdot, Barbera and Pinot Grigio, to name a few.  One of the biggests (almost literally) pests at the vineyard are the wild turkeys — they will eat any wine grapes at eye level, and one year they ate a substantial portion of the grapes before they were harvested!

The Farm itself is a lovely property.  There is a cellar cave build into the hillside next to the winery building, and a pond just down the path from that.  There are also peacocks roaming around the property, as well as the wild turkeys.  They are beginning to build a wine tasting room at the entrance to the property as well.

We tasted a few wines, including the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, 2008 Chardonnay, and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon while Jim told us about his winemaking process for each.  We also tasted the 2009 Chardonnay from the tank, it was lovely — loads of tropical fruits, especially guava and pineapple.  My hubby and I liked all of the wines, they were all very well balanced and really showed great varietal character.  All in all, another great day out at a lovely vineyard in San Diego county.

Australian Chardonnay: A little soon after bottling to taste, but I couldn’t help myself.  Still too young, but nice. Buttery nose, lots of heavy oak in the attack and flavors fall a little short after that. Quite crisp. Lingering finish. Drinkable now, but will be very nice in a few months. Probably not giftable at this point.

Also popped a bottle of Chamblaise, from the first set.  A very nice drinking wine. Definitely changed a lot over time, a lot more vegetal especially in the nose. Very crisp and clean. Worth the work, this one gave me trouble both bottlings this year.

Cab merlot tasting: 6 month tasting (close enough). Very fruity nose, smells and tastes very young still. Flavors rounding out but still not quite balanced, but falling into place. Hopefully will mellow out in a few more months. Slightly sour. No soapiness, no fizz. Definitely improving with age.

Bourgeron Rouge: 6 week tasting! Still very young, but shaping up nicely. Sourness is tamed but still present. Tastes not unlike a Beaujolais Nouveau. Sour cherry in the nose with a little soapiness. Bright fruity flavors of cherry and plums, maybe a little overripe strawberry. A little spice.

I actually got 30 full bottles plus 2 glasses to taste. Had to filter, did not completely clear, although pretty clear, could have bottled. Already pretty well developed. Fruity nose of apples and pears with hint of vanilla. Greenish-gold (and clear) in color. Round flavors of apple with citrus flower and some vanilla, a little tangy. Really very nice for the day of bottling!

The chardonnay is clearing nicely.  This kit gets racked once before bottling time, to give it an extra polish.  I hope it settles out as well as the Pinot Gris did.

I wanted to call my chardonnay “Torrey Pines”, after the state park here where the rare Torrey Pine grows in a protected area.  They are really neat pine trees, they grow near the coast and so tend to have a windswept shape to them.  So, to get a good picture we drove to the park and paid our $8 to get in and took a bunch of pictures.  Of course I ended up using the first one I took.  But, I got a bunch of great ones anyway that make nice desktop backgrounds.