Monday, April 27, 2009

Bud Break in Time for Spring Release




Well the vineyard is officially reawakening from the winter. The stretch of warm days that we had here in Walla Walla a week ago seems to have done the trick, bud break has begun in the Pepper Bridge Vineyard. The little baby leaves have just barely begun to unfold but it is still very exciting because this is the beginning of the 2009 vintage! Of course after all of the sunny warm days that got the plants going, we have since cooled off a bit. We are dipping back into some cold nights and windy days but it is still a beautiful spring here in the valley. The warm weather seems to have gotten more than just the vineyard going. The apple orchard that borders Pepper Bridge is in bloom. The dogwood trees and lilacs in Walla Walla are just getting started and local asparagus is appearing on restaurant menus. In my opinion, spring is definitely the most beautiful time of year in Walla Walla. How perfect for everyone coming to Spring Release Weekend. Not only is it going to be a great wine weekend but a scenic weekend with a forecast for sunny and warm weather. We are very excited to be releasing our 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines from 2006 are lush and rich and the Cabernet is not exception. Jean-Francois is very excited about the 2006 vintage because it is the first time that he has had Cabernet Franc from the vineyards to add to the blend. The 2006 Cabernet is a first for Pepper Bridge in that it is made up of all five of the traditional Bordeaux blending varietals, Cab, Merlot, Malbec, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot. We will be tasting the 06 Cab along side the 06 Merlot for the Spring Release. They are both delicious as usual. It should be quite a party.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Tasting 2005 Reserves



One of the many fun perks that comes with working at Pepper Bridge is all the great wine that we get to taste. We get to sample all of the fantastic wines that Jean-Francois makes, of course, but we do get the opportunity to taste wines from other producers and other regions too. The PB staff recently had a tasting of 2005 Reserves from various producers in the area. 2005 was such a great vintage for Walla Walla and Washington in general, lots of wineries decided to make special blends. Pepper Bridge produced a Reserve in 2005 as well, only the second time that Jean-Francois has made a Reserve. So we tasted the Pepper Bridge Reserve along side the Reserves from Abeja, Leonetti, Five Star Cellars, Canoe Ridge Vineyard, and Boudreaux Cellars. It was a very interesting comparison of wines that have alot in common while still being very different from each other. All of the wines are Cabernet Sauvignon based blends with Merlot, Malbec, Petite Verdot, and Cab Franc making appearances. The Abeja and Boudreaux being the monsters with 100% Cab. Pepper Bridge, Leonetti, and Five Star are 100% Walla Walla Valley fruit while Abeja and Canoe Ridge are 100% Columbia Valley, and Boudreaux is a mix of both. Of course I am not going to spill the beans on who was the big winner, that is a staff secret. I think that it is safe to say that our staff does have a bias for Walla Walla fruit, but that is probably due to our volume of consumption. I will say that all the wines were delicious even though most of them are built to age and are still very tight. It would be loads of fun to taste these wines again in 5 years and see what has happened. I will schedule it on our company calendar for April of 2014.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Spring!?!






It is now about half way through April and is it spring? It has been trying to be spring here in Walla Walla for the last two months but it has not had much luck. The vineyard is pruned and ready to start growing, it has just been waiting for some warm weather. The vineyard crew has been hard at work since January pruning the vines and preparing for the 2009 growing season. All their cold, early morning work is finished and so we are just waiting for the vines to come alive. There is the littlest bit of white fuzz on the buds here at Pepper Bridge Vineyard, and I did notice a few vines weeping on the driveway the other day, both of these being signs that bud break is on its way. It will be very interesting to see what happens when we do get bud break. We had a chilly couple of days in December when we dipped a little below 0, which is not great for the vineyard. We were lucky that the cold came with a blanket of snow which may have insulated the vines a bit. Sections of the Pepper Bridge Vineyard may have experienced some bud damage none-the-less. So this year the vineyard crew left more buds on each cane just in case some of the buds are damaged. The only catch being that if there isn't damage then Arturo and Gustavo will have a busy time thinning out all the extra growth. Each year has its own variables in the vineyard, but that is what keeps things exciting right? We will keep our fingers crossed that it will be another excellent summer here in the Walla Walla Valley. If we can just get a few more warm days we can commence with the 2009 vintage!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Bottling 2007 Merlot








After a very gray, long winter, spring seems to have finally arrived in Walla Walla! And what announces the arrival of spring in Walla Walla more than seeing the bottling truck pulled up to Pepper Bridge? Every spring, like the return of robins or the blooming of daffodils, it is time to bottle wine in Walla Walla. After spending the last 18 months resting in barrel, the 2007 Merlot is in the bottle and ready to go. Well, not really ready to go. It will have to stay put in bottle for another 6 months before we have a chance to start drinking it. We will have to be patient, but it is going to be difficult. I have been hearing rumors about the 2007 vintage since 2007, whispers and hints that it is the best vintage yet. When Jean-Francois tells you that a wine is going to be great it is best to take his word for it. Still, as a non-winemaker it is exceedingly difficult to gauge how a wine is going to taste when it is brand new and two years away from being a finished product. I do much better at tasting the finished product, and let me tell you the finished 2007 Merlot is delicious. For the most part I don't care for tasting wine as it is being bottled. When the wine passes through tanks and hoses and into the bottling truck and into a bottle, and then you taste it right away, for me it tastes an awful lot like all of the above, tanks, hoses, bottling truck. I prefer to wait until the wine as had a chance to chill out and recover from bottling before I taste it. However, the 2007 Merlot tasted amazing even through the bottling. It is rich and earthy and complex. I can't wait to taste it again. I thought that 2005 was my favorite Merlot but I think it has been dethroned by the 2007. The only trouble being that we have another 6 months to wait till we get to start drinking it. Patience...