Schweiger Vineyards News

‘I have only leaves and apples. Take my apples, Boy, and sell them in the
city. Then you will have money and you will be happy.’ And so the boy
climbed up the tree and gathered her apples and carried them away.And the tree
was happy.
–”The Giving Tree”, Shel SilversteinIt is finished.

–John 19:30b

I once worked with a curmudgeon who said harvest wasn’t over until the last lot was finished with malolactic fermentation.

Well “fudge that”! I’m drinkin‘ tonight!

All the grapes are in! That doesn’t mean harvest is over…but at least it’s more under my control. I will be posting more in coming days about the indoors fun of harvest…but for now…phew@!

“Thunderbolt and lightning-very very frightening me”
–Queen, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
“There’s a threat of rain on the dark horizon and all that’s left is a
quarter moon of light”
–Sting, “After the Rain has fallen.”

The astute weather watcher out there knows that Napa went through a bit of a rollercoaster this past weekend. Saturday morning, 2:30 AM, I’m in my back yard in old wildland gear and boots, monitoring the fire band radio, wondering if we’re going to have to deal with the “Napa Wildfire of ‘09″. Fortunately, the dry lightning stayed well South of us.

Sunday evening had very light sprinkles, great for keeping the dust down. In fact, it was just enough to clean the dust off our solar panels, and our array is back up to 100%, no water or squegee required!The system dropped about 0.16 inch of rain to us here at the top of the Spring Mountain District, giving our red varietals a much needed drink…we dry farm here…so this is the first sip they haven’t had to work for since the springtime. This has resulted in both sugar and acid levels droping fairly uniformly across the vineyard…more waiting.

The only serious concern was our Chardonnay, which is still about a week away from harvest. Although we had no signs of Botrytis going into this weekend, we want to make sure our fruit stays clean and mold free. Fortunately, the sun was out, and a gentle breeze dried off most of the fruit quickly. Chardonnay grows in very dense and tight clusters, and these tend to trap and hold moisture…what we needed today was a really large blow drier: enter the minds of Fred and Andy Schweiger…

What you see below is something quite novel this time of year, my father, driving an empty sprayer…it’s our BLOW DRIER! Our spray rig is equipped with a very large, powerful fan, producing about a 50 mph breeze through the vines. Although you can’t see it in the video, droplets of water are blowing out of the clusters, providing us with clean, dry fruit.

Cheers,

Andy Schweiger, Winemaker and blow dry stylist, Schweiger Vineyards.
 

You can now keep up to date with all the fun of the Napa Valley and Schweiger Vineyards.  Our very own winemaker, Andrew Schweiger will be sharing his thoughts, reflections and the goings-on here at Schweiger.  Join in the fun and visit http://twitter.com/SchweigerWine

After a very dry and unseasonably warm January, it appears that winter has finally decided to return.  The past few days have provided us with over two inches of rain…we’re not out of the drought woods yet, but I haven’t given up hope for many rainy weeks to come. 

As I was driving up to the vineyard this morning, there were small patches of unmelted snow under the trees…our second dusting of snow for the year!  These cold snaps are great this time of year because it makes it harder for mold spores to survive the winter on the dormant vines.  While this wet weather is great for our water table, it is going to make our pruning and cleaning of the cuttings a bit more difficult.  But that’s farmers…never quite satisfied. 

Earlier this week I was experimenting in the kitchen and came up with a great cold weather dish to pair with our Chardonnay and wanted to share it with you.

Truffled Chicken and Veggie Risotto

Ingredients

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 TBSP Olive Oil
• 2 tsp unsalted butter
• 1 tsp olive Oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
• 1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 5 cups fat free chicken broth
• 2 TBSP parmesan cheese
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1 cup sliced carrots

Pour 1 TBSP olive oil into a nonstick pan and heat over med hi heat.  Cut chicken into bite size pieces and cook in oil until cooked through, set aside.

Place peas and carrots in a microwave safe container, add 3 TBSP water, and cover with plastic wrap.  Microwave 2-3 minutes until cooked, set aside.

Bring broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Reduce the heat to low and maintain the simmer.

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the butter and one tsp olive oil.  Add the onions and saute for 8 mins or until soft and starting to brown.  Stir in the rice and garlic and cook, stirring constantly for one minute. 

Slowly add 1/2 cup of the broth to the rice mixture, stirring constantly.  Continue stirring until the broth is absorbed…continue this process at med-hi heat.  Repeat with the remaining broth, adding 1/2 cup at a time and stirring constantly until each addition of broth is absorbed and the risotto is creamy, but still firm to the bite.  Add cooked chicken and vegetables, then salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in the Parmesan and 1/4 tsp of truffle oil.  Check again to salt and pepper to taste…you may want another few drops of truffle oil.

Enjoy with a nice bottle of 2007 Schweiger Vineyards Chardonnay.

Copyright 2009 by Andrew Schweiger

“Some people say a man
is made out of mud
A poor mans made
out of muscle and blood.
Muscle and blood,
and skin and bones
A mind thats weak
and a back thats strong.

You load sixteen tons
and what do you get?
Another day older
and deeper in debt.
St. Peter don’t you call me
Cause I can’t go.
I owe my soul to the company store.

–Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford

Ok, this is a segment I’m going to call “Fred’s Fun Facts!”

At least once a year for the past fifteen years, Dad has asked me how many stems are in a ton of fruit.  I would usually answer in a hastily fashion, “Enough stems to hold one tone of fruit.”

 Well, this year, the first day of harvest was realatively calm, and as I was destemming Sauvignon Blanc straight to the press, I had a very unique opportunity.  You see, when I make Sauvignon Blanc, I run it through the destemmer first, giving me the opportunity to remove all the stems.  All of the juice, seeds and skins go into the press.  A few hours later, all the juice is in the tank, and I dump all the skins and seeds out.  So…this year, one ton of Sauvignon Blanc is…(drumroll please)

2000 pounds.

Oh, that’s not the answer you wanted?  Ok, here is the rest of the fun trivia.  I weighed 89 pounds of stems (4.45% of a ton) and 337 pounds of skins and seeds (16.85% of a ton).  My juice yield was approximately 170 gallons per ton.  However, there are still quite a few fruit solids in there that would settle out…so after twenty-four hours, the total juice yield was closer to 160 gallons per ton.

Please bear in mind…these are rough numbers and are in no way absolutes.  Different varieties are going to have heavier or lighter clusters and vintage to vintage will have heavier or lighter sets.  However, these numbers are a safe enough approximation that should you wish to appear amazingly witty and knowledgable at your next cocktail party, you could whip the following line into conversation; “Did you know that at Schweiger Vineyards, 5 % of every ton of fruit picked is stems which go right back out into the vineyard for composting?  You didn’t…what’s more, another 20% is skins and seeds which also go out to provide nutrients for years to come.”  I can personally guarantee you that with witty repartee like this, that attractive blonde at the party will be on your arm in no time.

When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls
And the stars begin to twinkle in the sky–
In the mist of a memory you wander back to me
Breathing my name with a sigh…
“Deep Purple” — Peter DeRose, 1923

…and we’re still going!  Even though we were “near the end” of harvest almost a month ago, we’ve been experiencing a virtual water torture harvest the past few weeks.  Back in September when I said, “We’re almost done”, we still had less than a ton each of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc.  Last week, we finally brought in the Malbec and the Cabernet for Port.  This morning I got up bright and early to stop the fermentation on the Cab for Port by adding in a very yummy 143 proof double distilled alembic brandy.  The photo with this post shows the beautiful deep purple color of the Cabernet as the brandy is mixing in.  While pressing the Cabernet, I circulated the wine, dosing in the bandy a little at a time.  As the yeast settles out, the color will become even more intense.

After tomorrow we will officially be done.  Dad and I just decided to pick the Franc!  Are we truly done?  Nope!  There’s still plenty of work ahead…from pressing to barreling down, monitoring of malolactic fermentation, and rackings, there is still plenty of work ahead.

“Sometimes the lights all shining on me;
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip its been.”
-“Truckin’” The Grateful Dead

And I hear tell the road to hell is paved with good intentions
And mama my intentions were the best
-“Good Intentions”  Randy Travis

So, here we are near the end of another harvest.  With the introduction of the Winemakers’ Notebook to our website, I had great intentions to blog at least weekly (or perhaps my original typo of “weakly” is more appropriate) throughout the harvest.  However, harvest came on quickly…not catching us off guard, but darn near close.  Blogging has fallen to the wayside, but I’m back up on the horse, so giddiup, here we go…Dad and I have just been working at a breakneck pace to keep things rolling along.  Fortunately, we had a cool spell a few weeks ago that gave us some breathing room, giving us time to get the first wines picked down to barrel to make room for the next wave, most of which is now inside the winery.

Why are the yields so low?  I’m sure you’ll be hearing many different reasons from producers over the coming months…and many of them will be very different.  This spring saw very unique conditions ranging from severe frosts, heat spikes, and high winds from week to week.  So…depending on when your flowering was…maybe the frost got you…maybe the heat got you…and if Mr. Heat Miser or Mr. Cold Miser didn’t get you, then the wind was happy to blow through too!  Our summer was actually fairly mild with no severely long heat spikes.  The harvest did start a bit early, simply because of the smaller crop load on the vine.

The good news, the quality so far has been outstanding.  The downside is that this will be one of our lowest yields to date.  As I write this, we still have about seven tons of Cabernet Sauvignon to bring in and about one ton each of Malbec and Cabernet Franc.  Speaking of which, it’s time for punch downs…so back to work with me! -Andrew Schweiger

“Purple haze all in my brain, lately things just don’t seem the same, Actin funny, but I don’t know why, scuse me while I kiss the sky, Purple haze all around.”
–Jimi Hendrix

Today we hit a significant benchmark in the life of the vine, veraison.  Veraison is that magical time when the berries begin to soften and turn color.  This marks the shift in the grapevine metabolism from berry growth to berry ripening.  We spotted the first of the Cabernet just starting today.  Out of curiosity, I went a little further out and found that it has also started on some of our new Malbec plantings. On any given cluster, about 2-3 berries were suddenly purple-ish, about 8 green/purple.  Over the next few days, they will rapidly all turn deep purple/black as the sugar now begins to accumulate in the fruit and the acidity starts to metabolize out.  According to textbooks…harvest is typically 45 days after the completion of veraison (which, depending on weather, will take 4-10 days after onset)…so…if that is true, based on averages (and those “oh so accurate” textbooks), we will begin harvest in the Gate block, right next to the road on September 9th.  Place yer bets ladies and gentlemen. –Andrew Schweiger

Oh happy day (oh happy day)
I’m talking about the happy days (oh happy day)
C’mon and talk about the happy days (oh happy day)
“Oh Happy day” –Edwin Hawkins singers

“Thank you, Thank you very much”
–Elvis Presely

“Tank you, Tank you very much”
–Andy Schweiger

Today is indeed a happy day!  Our four new fermentors were delivered to the winery this morning.  Visitors to our winery during harvest in years past may recall an odd assortment of dairy bins and harvest bins utilized for fermentation space.  These four new tanks are actually two different sizes, 50% and 75% the size of our existing fermentors.  Not only does this give us a nice variety of sizes, but all of our fermentors are now a 1::1 height to diameter ration, which allows a nice thickness of cap to form up, generating just enough heat to extract supple tannins.  I am excited not only about the increased quality potential these tanks will allow us, but also the ease in emptying these tanks come press time. –Andy Schweiger

“…When your heart’s on fire, You must realize, Smoke gets in your eyes…” –The Platters

“…at the best place around. But some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground. Smoke on the water, fire in the sky” –Deep Purple

For several days now, we’ve been living in a haze, and that’s not because we just finished bottling.  Four days ago, a large wildland fire started in the late afternoon.  With difficult terrain and high temperatures, it’s been a difficult job for the firefighters.  There are literally thousands of acres burning with no resources available.  Finally, there has been almost no wind to speak of…so all the smoke does is sit.  As of right now, the cause of the fire is undetermined.

What’s all this choking smoke mean to us viticulturally?  Not a whole heck of a lot.  There hasn’t been any significant ash fall around here, and even if it did, it would blow off.  In fact, some ash residue might prove to be a natural mildew inhibitor, due to its alkaline nature, and may allow us to skip a spraying or two.  UV radiation is being filtered somewhat, so it may slow ripening down a tad…but not by much.  If anything it’s just an inconvenience…and a smelly one at that.

Fortunately, our property is in no immediate threat from these fires. They are on the other side of the valley at the far southern corner.  However, we are staying on high alert…with firefighting resources stretched so thin, we need to be ready to defend ourselves. –Andrew Schweiger