Here in the south end of Washington’s Puget Sound it gets pretty cold in January with days often 35 to 40 degrees and nights dropping to the upper teens and low 20’s. Considering much of the upper mid-west, I shouldn’t complain, as the NFL National Conference Championship game this coming weekend in Green Bay will be played in sub-zero temperatures. Blessings to those with that fortitude, but that’s why I don’t live there! The South still runs in my blood!

It seems hard to believe that it’s over two weeks past New Year’s Day. We had a really fun New Year’s Eve winemaker’s dinner at a very fine restaurant in Olympia called Dockside Bistro & Winebar. Aside from the beautifully prepared courses paired with our wines, there was also some great jazz to bring in the New Year by the Gary Scott Trio, and during dinner, soothingly lovely harp music by Kippy Scott. So we went from the sublime to swing and champagne. I think I’m still recovering!

Now it’s time to get serious and turn to the essence of this … winemaking. As typical this time of year, we’re beginning to review all of the remaining 2006 Syrah barrels which will soon go to bottle as either Boushey ‘Grande Cote’ Vineyard, Ciel du Cheval Vineyard, or ‘Cuvee Orleans.’ This is the fun part, blind tasting each one, then determining its ultimate destination. The difficulty is that they’re all very good barrels, the ‘pick of the litter’, and the goal is to make each of the three wines of equal quality without compromising one for the other. It’s a tough problem, but someone has to figure it out!

The new vintage is looking very good! We had a somewhat different, cooler autumn, with higher acids and lower pH levels than typical, so I look forward to wines with good structure and even better aging potential. Many of the barrels are still gently progressing through malolactic as we prefer it to go fairly slow and steady. However, I was able to taste several of the Ciel du Cheval syrah barrels yesterday and I was very impressed with the depth, concentration and palate weight. If this is an indicator of the vintage, things are looking quite promising.

Our second vintage of the white varietals from the new Boushey site is wonderfully aromatic with intense fruit. I fermented the four (Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Picpoul) in barrel due to the limited tonnage. The barrel fermentation certainly didn’t compromise the fruit’s essence. The debut of ‘Sirocco Blanc’ (2006) received great response (it’s all gone!) and what’s in barrel this year will definately surpass the prior vintage. It’s a really exciting wine and all of the vines are from cuttings of the Tablas Creek Vineyard, planted from the genetic lineage of the renowned property, Chateau de Beaucastle, in Chateauneuf-du-Pope.

New and very cool with the just-released February issue of ‘Wine & Spirits Magazine’, good scores of our wines! The ‘05 Grenache - 90 points, the ‘06 Mourvedre - 90 points , the ‘04 ‘Cuvee Orleans’ Syrah - 92 points, and the ‘05 ‘Amerique’ Syrah - 92 points. I admire the judging protocol with W & S. They bring together a group of tasters comprised of retailers, sommeliers, and various wine professionals, so each wine is evaluated by the palate of several individuals who are tasting blind, thus unbiased by knowing the producer.

So let’s toast the New Year with a glass (or more) of big Rhone red to warm up our spirits and save us from ‘the elements.’ Nothing like some liquid soul food to get us through the deep chill along with a savory bowl of gumbo and a cracklin’ fire.
Imagine, we’re only eleven days from Mardi Gras! Laissez le bon temps rouler!
Happy New Year! Doug