Let's Do the Twist

Morning ya'll,

      Well, I believe everyone would agree in wanting this rain to get out of here!  The weekend looks like it will be beautiful.  I am looking forward to seeing the sun.  The upcoming week will be warming up, but it looks like the chance of rain will still exist.  It is still early in the growing season but all vineyard manager's and winemaker's want sun!  
      The guys in the vineyard continue to remove suckers and put the first wire up on the trellis.  We put wire on the trellising to provide support for the vines and to minimize damage to the vine as various equipment travels down the vine rows.  In addition to support and minimizing damage the trellis allows the canopy to grow vertically maximizing the amount of sun each vine will capture.  The more sun exposure we have the greater amount of sugars and flavors are developed.  The vine does turn Sunlight into Wine.  An industry book has been written titled this and it is truly amazing what occurs in a grapevine.  
      At the winery we are pulling the 2007 reds out of barrel and prepping for bottle.  We have some new label designs for the reds and look forward to getting these on the bottle.  The labels promise to keep us on the cutting edge of packaging.  The new packaging is simply stated and elegant.  We hope that all will like it!
      I was quoted in the local paper regarding screw caps this past week.  There is a growing interest and understanding of screw caps in the industry as well as by the consumer.  It is unfortunate that many consumers were taught that "cheap" wines went under screw caps because this is no longer true.  There are the hold outs in the wine industry that may never convert, but there are always those people out there.  However, when it comes to consistency of wine quality for the consumer no comparison exists.  Many studies have been conducted involving the bottling of a particular wine under screw cap and cork.  The results time and time again are conclusive that screw caps help preserve freshness in a wine not to mention eliminate cork taint.  Hopefully more people will be doing the twist! 
      In any event I look forward to seeing some of you tonight.  As always feel free to send in your questions!  Talk with ya'll soon.