Winery Events: The BIG NEWS

2008 Le Flirt Release Party February 11th and 12th (yes this weekend)

Valentines Day – February 14th

We will be open from 4 to 9 to help you celebrate Valentines Day.  We are bringing in extra tables for seating and will have complimentary cheeses to accompany your wines.  Also we will have special gift packages which include bag, box of candy hearts and a signed bottle of our 2008 Le Flirt.  As always feel free to bring in dinner or order delivery from our list of local menus.

Phinney Neighborhood Association Wine Tasting February 26, 2011 – 7:30-10pm

Ballard Art Walk – March 12th, 2011 – 6:00 – 9:00pm

Current Tasting Room hours:

Private Events at the Winery – If you are interested in hosting or learning more about hosting a private event at the winery, please contact info@domanicocellars.com.

Cheers!

Jason and Jill Domanico

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Hello and Happy Holidays!

We hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends and have some fun festivities planned during the holiday season. With the late Harvest this year, we were crushing and pressing all the way up to Thanksgiving.  This was the latest we have ever experienced. While we definitely miss the energy and “rush of crush”, it is nice to be getting a little more sleep.

We would like to invite all of you, your friends, family, kids, neighbors to our

Holiday Open House at the Tasting Room This Weekend

Saturday, December 4th – 12:00 – 7:00PM

Sunday, December 5th – 12:00 – 5:00PM

We hope you will have a chance to stop by and join us in some cheer! We will have some snacks, music, work from some local artists, samples of the new vintage, and some prizes.

We will also be offering some Holiday Discounts on wine purchases:

Glass Pours $4 this weekend
5% off purchase of 3-5 bottles
10% off purchase of 6-11 bottles
15% off purchase of a case
As always – tastes will be free

Hope to see you this weekend!

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Wow the fruit is in… Jill and I sat down tonight in our living room for the first time in well we can’t remember.  This has been a crazy fall.  First I thought harvest would never start.  Our cold wet summer kept everything hanging.  Which at the time was very stressful. Once harvest started on the first of October I thought Merlot would be the standout wine.  It is great stuff, but Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and the big surprise, Syrah are really good.  Cab Franc, Petite Verdot and Riesling are still fermenting so it is to early to tell for sure but I am expecting a lot out of them.  Finally we did make a few hundred gallons of Cab Franc Rose and as it finishes up fermentation is coming around. What a great finish, with some amazing wines that are already turning out to be really good.

This Year we increased production 84% to 31.5 tons from 17 tons in 2009.

We would not have been able to do it without the help of our volunteers.  Thank you all, and remember what wine you helped with so we can get you a bottle when they come out!

Jason

Just a short note.  Wow a normal harvest that should have normally taken us 8 weeks has been condensed into 5.  The fruit looks great and this amazing October has turned an average year into a great one.  Also Riesling!  Yes we are going to get Riesling this year!  What a relief, I am not sure I could take another year having to tell people our white did not get ripe More post after this weekends crush of Lewis Cab Sav and Lewis Riesling.

Wow, what a difference a week can make.  Thursday the 23rd I made virtually the same trip as the week before except backwards.  Tannin and I started off at 5:30 heading east with two empty harvest bins.  As we passed Vantage and headed up the hill on hwy 26 they were harvesting mint.  It is one of the great smells of fall with everything smelling like mint gum.  Our first stop was StoneRidge, the Merlot is really moving along and already has deep plum flavors.  These grapes are close and maybe ready by Friday but my guess is will be picked the week of the 4th.  Then over to the Cab Franc.  The franc is taking on some really good flavors but is still 2 to 3 weeks from being ready.

Tannin after a long run resting next to the StoneRidge Merlot

Then it was off to red mountain where I met up with Dick Bouchey.  Dick and I walked our Cab Sav rows and while the flavors are great! the acidity is still a bit out of balance and there are some sight green streaks.  Baring a freeze in the next 10 days this stuff is going to be great.  Then I walked and took samples of the Merlot, if you were at the winery this weekend and were able to try it you know what I am talking about when I say it tastes great.  We are going to pick it on Friday the 1st and crush it Saturday the 2nd.  Big, and sweet with what should make a massive merlot.  Look out le Flirt fans the oh 10 version is lining up to be one of the best.  After dropping the bins off I went north to the Lewis Family Vineyard.  This vineyard made the biggest moves toward ripeness over the week.  The wines are still a month away from being ripe but the flavors are forming.  If we have a nice October and the weather holds I see good things ahead for the Lewis fruit.

Lewis Cabernet

Here is a picture of the Lewis Riesling.  Many of you have become fans of this wine and while it still needs to hang a while there is a lot of promise here.  It already has good flavor and the acidity is holding.  I was like a kid in a candy store tasting this.

Lewis Riesling

I then met Ken Lewis in Prosser for lunch and we talked about how things are shaping up.  Ken is very enthusiastic about October and of course his great attitude was catchy.  While we were eating it started to rain.  With lunch over I headed over the hill into the Horse Heaven Hills.

the windmill in the Horse Heaven Hills

The last vineyard was Alder Ridge.  As I arrived I was met with a convey of the vineyard crews cars leaving because of course it was starting to rain.  Luke (the vineyard manager) was waiting and we went and looked at the Merlot.  It was close, very close.  In fact a number of other wineries were starting to pick it.  Our rows though still showed they need a few more days if not a week.  Luke and I estimate that we will pick it in 10 days.  Then it was off for home, I put the audio book girl with the dragon tattoo in and took off.

All in all a great trip even though every vineyard manager blamed me for the rain and ask that I return with it to Seattle.  This week we will do the final cleaning and be crushing next Saturday.

Tannin and I woke up early and got on the road.  Our first stop was Alder Ridge.  We will be getting 5 different grapes from Alder this year and the first block we visited was Block 1 Cabernet Franc.  This block sits on top of the vineyard and as you move north has a slight northern slope.  The fruit has a brix of 20 to 21 and is ripening nicely.  Right now this looks to be the latest fruit we will harvest next to Petite Verdot.

Alder Ridge Block 1 Cab Franc

Next was Merlot.  What a difference 10 days makes.  The Merlot is hanging at between 22 and 23 brix and is tasting very good.  There are still some green streaks but I expect 2 more weeks on the vine will clear that up.  We have a tentative harvest date of October 1st.  This will be the latest harvest day for Alder Merlot we have had (in 2006 we harvested on Sept 27th.)  This will be a ongoing theme this year.  Everything will be later.

After a quick chat with Luke who is the vineyard manager it was off to block 14 Cabernet Sauvignon.  We get 6 rows of cabernet that comes off of a very steep slope. The Cab looks great, is at 21.5 brix and has plenty of time to hang.  The flavors of this fruit are amazing.

Block 14 Cab Sav

Finally I drove down to the lower parts of the vineyard to the the Malbec and Petite Verdot.  The Malbec looks wonderful, big dark berries that are already starting to come around.  The Petite, are very small clusters that are still very tart.  The yields have been reduced dramatically to what now looks like 2 tons or less per acre in an effort to speed ripening.  We will see on the Petite but it looks like this will be an end of October grape for harvesting.

After Tannin got a good run and drink off the irrigation we headed back north to Prosser to visit the Lewis Family Vineyard.  The first stop in the vineyard was our Cab Sav block.  It is two acres with a nice southern slope.  The fruit looks good and the last few weeks of nice weather has really moved things along with the brix running in the 17 to 19 range.  This is the latest harvesting block we get and barring any weird weather will harvest this probably the last week in Oct.  While checking the brix I heard a splash and realized Tannin had found the irrigation canal.  That lab definately has a nose for water.

Tannin out for a swim at the Lewis Family Vineyard irrigation canal

Then we moved across the road to the DWL syrah.  The Syrah looks great, considering that most of the states syrah was decimated by frost this spring.  It is lagging behind in ripeness which will result in a very late harvest.  If the weather holds this looks like it could go into November.  While walking the rows I snuck into the gala orchard next to the rows and picked a few apples to snack on.  I love this part of the valley and the healthy snack helped keep me away from the fast food places.  Finally we move to the riesling.  This riesling always makes me worry.  It is a very late ripening block, but today I received a glimmer of hope.  There were berries that tasted like, no longer like granny smith apples but like wine grapes.  It still has a long way to go but I will take any good signs I can get on this.

Then we were back on the road heading to Benton City and Red Mountain.  We made a quick stop a Kiona to drop off a bin for another winery.  If you have not seen the new facility at Kiona it is worth a stop.  Wow what a change from back in the day when you tasting in their basement.  It is beautiful.  After that quick stop it was up to La Coye.  La Coye is a small vineyard between Ciel Du Cheval and Col Solare where we source a small amount of Cab Sav.  The fruit looks great (I brought some home stop by the winery this weekend and you can taste it) and is the closest to harvest of the cab’s.  This could easily come in the 2nd weekend in Oct.  Then with a quick call to Dick Boushey the vineyard manager it was quick stop for gas and then off to Stone Ridge on the Royal Slope.

La Coye Cab Sav Clone 24

StoneRidge, was hit really hard by frost this spring and the vines are really limping along.  The Merlot looks good, and as you move up the vineyard is carrying about 2.25 ton/acre.  The cab franc that Jill will be making sits south of that and will barely make 2 tons/acre if that.  It looks good but almost all of the clusters are small secondary’s that formed after the primary buds were kill by the frost.  It was starting to get late but I wanted to check out the Aglianico which was hit hard by frost and for some reason now looks to be slowing down.  We will let this hang as long as possible and hope that it continues to turn out.  Only time will tell on that.

StoneRidge Merlot

Finally it was time to head home.  We arrived back in Seattle around 9pm after having driven 595 miles and tasting a lot of grapes.

Harvest!  Yes the grapes are finally coming! September, October and part of November, if the weather holds, will be a crazy and a fun time at the winery.  This summer has been one of the weirdest, weather wise, in Eastern Washington with more rain and cool temperatures than usual.  Most of our vineyards are running about 7 to 10 days behind last year, but in the past week or so Mother Nature has kicked it up a notch and we have seen big moves in sugar levels.  Our vineyard trips have been bumped up to weekly and the winery is starting to morph from full tasting room back into a working winery.   All of this excitement has put some extra pep in our steps as we get ready.  We estimate harvesting our first Merlot around the 24th of September – so stop down and check things out.

Merlot vines at StoneRidge Vineyards on the Royal Slope in Central Washington

Big news - Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate has released its 2010 Washington wine report and our wines scored exceptionally well.  Below is the write up:

2007 Domanico Cellars Le Monstre Cabernet Sauvignon 91 points

The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Le Monstre is a worthy successor to the outstanding 2006. The 2007 is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Malbec aged for 24 months in 50% new French oak. A glass-coating opaque purple color, it offers up an alluring bouquet of wood smoke, pencil lead, Asian spices, incense, herbs, and black currant. Dense, rich, and layered on the palate, this impeccably balanced, structured offering will benefit from another 2-3 years of bottle age to fully unwind. Drink it from 2013 to 2022, probably longer.

2007 Domanico Cellars Mesa Rojo 89 points

The 2007 Mesa Rojo is composed of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, with the balance Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. It was also aged for 24 months in 50% new French oak. Purple/black in color, it displays a brooding nose of pain grille, graphite, baking spices, herbs, black currant, and blackberry. On the palate it is structured and still tightly wound. There is plenty of material but whether it will fully harmonize remains to be seen. If it does, my score will appear conservative.

New Places you can find our wines:

Kiss Cafe in Ballard – Located on NW Market street near the locks, in Ballard, is a great place to be part of the local scene and have a glass or our Mesa Rojo while you are there.  Look for a Domanico Cellars Event there in October.

2nd Street Wine Shop – Located, well….as you can guess, on 2nd street in the Whidbey Island town of Langley Washington.  This great shop is a who’s who of Washington wine and a fun place to hang out and speak with the owners.  Look for a Domanico Cellars tasting there in February, 2011.

Winery Events

Caprice Kitchen Wine Maker Dinner – We will once again be doing a winemaker’s dinner with Anne Catherine of Caprice Kitchen on October 24th.  Last year’s event sold out in record time and was a ton of fun.  Don’t miss this year which will include 4 of our wines and, like last year, I usually pull out something special.  For reservations click here  http://www.capricekitchen.com/ournews.html

Volunteers – Many of you have shared an interest in helping during crush. We have started a volunteer email list, so if  you are interested in helping out and seeing what this whole wine making thing is about – please email jason@domanicocellars.com and we will make sure to add you to the list.

Tasting Room hours and Specials:

Open Saturdays – 12:00 – 6:00PM

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Today, Jason and I with a little help from Dave Moore, pressed the first Merlot that we crushed a couple of weeks ago. This was the first time using the new press with the new hopper or “the funnel” as i like to call it. Things went pretty smoothly for the first time minus a small hick up were we blew a small fuse on the press controls and it took us a while and a couple of calls to figure it out and fix.

After the small fuse issue, things went much more smoothly and the press is great. We were able to get a much higher quality pressing that should really add to the quality of the wines. Clean up was also much easier and quicker then in the past. I’d say well worth the money spent..

Since there was just a few of us, I was only able to snap a couple of pictures and movies with my cell phone. Enjoy…

– Bob

Cleaning the Hopper

Starting the Dump into the Press