Hi folks, Robin here. I’m pitching in this season to bring you updates on the Domanico Cellars blog. The wine makers get awfully busy this time of year, so I’m hoping to bring you photos and updates of my experiences and observations of Domanico Cellars. Perhaps think of me as a librarian or historian and certainly feel free to get in touch with any of us at any time with questions. (Yes, I’m the photographer, so you won’t find me in many photographs.)

Saturday September 15th was a big day for Domanico Cellars. Jason & Bob spent much of the day getting bins ready & loaded on the truck to take out for Merlot harvest later this week. As well, they worked on getting the winery prepped for all of those grapes to come in. That meant cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning. Arranging racks for equipment, moving new machinery into position for use and old machinery into position for cycling out of use. I did manage to get a snap of Jason taking a breather in front of the new crusher.

During the day we also worked on getting tasting sheets together to go with wines we donated to a tasting to raise funds for the Lifelong Aids Alliance. We donated a split case of 2004 Merlot and 2004 Red Wine for the tasting. Both met with rave reviews, and our wines disappeared quickly. It was a very informal tasting, so many at the party were enjoying big pours. Several attending wine enthusiasts signed up for our mailing lists & enjoyed talking with Jason, Bob, Jill and me about the winery and the wines. I really enjoyed noticing that most of the party tried all of the wines offered but ended up settling into Domanico Cellars as their wine of choice for the evening. By the time I left the event at around midnight, there wasn’t much Domanico Cellars left to taste. However, the other tables were still quite full.

It has been an incredibly busy year that has included what seems like and endless number of changes and improvements to Domanico Cellars. With the help of the crew at the Seattle Wine Loft (especially Jim) we upgraded our crush pad with new concrete and a new drain. Those of you who volunteered last year, that means no more gravel to deal with!!! There have also been a number of improvements to the production room that will help with cleanup, organization and well just made the place look better (some how we missed out on getting Robin’s Mom to paint a mural with DC in it, we will sneak her a few bottles of Merlot next year and see what she can do when she visits . We also purchased a new destemer/crusher and must pump. The destemer we purchased is much more gentle than the one we used last year which will help with tannin management. The must pump, well for all you gear heads out there is 5.5hp, 3 inch Liverani head monster! It is made by Chunky and the name pretty much says it all.

We also made the decision to only use Saury for all of our new barrels (on average we use 50% new) and would like to thank Michael for the support and extra attention we received.

Finally we have added two new vineyards to the mix this year to go along with our current rock stars Alder Ridge and Snipes River Canyon:

Lewis Family Vineyards from just north of Prosser will be supplying 2 tons of Cabernet Sav. (Yes this is the same fruit that just got some pretty high scores in the latest Wine Advocate) and 2 tons of Riesling. The Lewis Family is one of the best growers in the state and just cannot seem do anything wrong when it comes to wine grapes! All it takes is a few minutes walking the vineyard with Ken jr. with him telling you he knows nothing about what he is doing to know that is about as far from the truth as you can get. I cannot wait to taste these wines!

and

Chris Camarda (Andrew Will) has offered us 2 tons of his extra Cabernet Franc from the Two Blondes Vineyard. (Yes of course we accepted!) This stuff is amazing and I am sure will end up in our top blend. Thanks to Chris and David for including us on this…WOW

As with last year the weekly visits to Eastern Washington have started so if you are interested in tagging along let us know…. The first load of merlot is not far away!