Its been a busy fall. We enter the season thinking one of us will have plenty of time to add regular write ups on how the harvest season is progressing, but then reality sets in & the race is on to get the harvest in and the wines produced.

Yesterday marked the last day of harvest and crush for us. The final grapes to come in were a batch of delicious riesling. The pear, apple and lush flavors of a crisp fall day are amazing in this grape. I can’t wait to taste the wine that evolves from this fruit!

I have managed to take a lot of photos of various days in the winery this fall. As things continue to mellow out, we’ll add more of them to the site.

Another early day. Jason gets up early and starts the prep for crush and I meet him about 7:30am. We actually crank through our setup and get things going quite early…ready to go by about 9:00am, well ahead of our projections.

The crush goes very well and we are done relatively quickly, finishing early afternoon.
– Bob

Taking a Break - 1/2 Way Done

Fuel for the Troops

Cleaning the Crusher

Jason and I got up early and I drove him down to the truck rental pick-up. Got the keys to the truck and then inspected the white truck which was not the yellow truck that Jason had previewed a couple of days earlier for size and usability. Turns out the white truck, although newish and quite nice, is a little skinny and we are both very concerned the harvest bins won’t fit. We measure twice and even look at the yellow truck parked next to our white truck. We talk with the rental truck manager and unfortunately all the yellow trucks are rented. Technically the bins should fit but it will be extra work to get them to fit and in the back of our minds we are a little worried they might not. They apologize, offer a discount and then Jason is on his way… almost.

First we must put the pallet jack in the back so Jason can move around the bins after they are loaded. We lower the lift gate and Jason and I both look at each other and say, “where is the lift gate? What’s this tiny half gate?” The lift gate is a little short, about half the size we hoped and about 1.5 feet shorter then the width of the bin. Long story short and note to self - make sure to rent the yellow truck not the white truck :-).

Jason makes it to Alder Ridge vineyard in good time and picks up 4 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon, 1.5 tons of Cabernet Franc and some bins for our friends in Sodo. It takes a little doing but he is able to pallet jack the bins in the truck side by side. It’s tight but our friends have a fork lift and they might be able to help us re-arrange the bins after we drop off their grapes. After dropping off a few bins for our friends Alex and Jim, follow Jason back to the winery to help us unload.

Now the fun… Jason calls and tells me he is close and gets back to the winery about 6pm. The first bins to come off are just singles and Alex and Jim have figured out a system to get them off with the small lift gate. The bins hang off the end of the gate about a foot and a half, and if we lower the gate slowly, there are no problems. Then we get to the the stacked bins.

Jason, Alex and I maneuver the double bins weighing a ton or just over a ton slowly on to the lift gate. Easing the set out a few inches at a time. We do this partly because of the weight and limited sight but also because the pallet jack keeps getting stuck on the uneven truck bed and lift gate connection. As we have the double bins finally on the gate and clear of the bed, Jason and I hold on to the top bin pulling slightly back into the truck. We are all worried as the gate lowers and moves away from the truck slightly, that the top bin will come tumbling down. But with a little luck all works out.

After more man handling and a few mini heart attacks, we get all the bins off the truck and loaded neatly on the crush pad for tomorrow’s work…
–Bob

As Robin said Friday night I drove out to Alder Ridge and picked up 1 ton of merlot (enough for about 50 cases.) Thursday Bob, Jill, Robin and I crushed. Thank goodness there were 4 of us here as there were a few hiccups with the new setup but that is to be expected and now the must is quietly waiting for us to pitch yeast in the morning. Everything looks and tastes great. The Snipes Merlot will probably be ready next week following by Cab Franc not to long after that. The cool weather is giving us some extra hang time for all of the fruit still in the vineyard which is great.

Getting Ready for the crush

Loading the Grapes

The Crush going to the Fermenter

Clean Up!

Just a quick update that Jason is picking the first bins of Merlot today. We’ll be starting the 2007 crush tomorrow morning bright and early. It feels like autumn has truly arrived! The skies are grey. The air is crisp. Ripe scents abound.

More on the crush coming soon…

-Robin

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.

Sunday Sept 9th Baker and I took a load of bins over to Snipes and then stopped by the vineyards. With the warm days and nights we have been experiencing it looks like the Merlot harvest will begin soon. Luckily I have been in contact with the Vineyard Managers so was not shocked with how sweet the fruit was at Snipes, we are about 2 weeks ahead of last year. Alder was very close as well. If the weather continues to hold like this we might end up picking next week. Cab Sav, Cab Franc, Petite and Riesling are all looking like Oct. harvests. For those interested in numbers here are some for Merlot. (Brix, PH, TA)

Snipes 24.2, 3.72, .51,
Alder Ridge 24.4, 3.28, .62

- Jason

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!