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March 10, 2006
Second guessing...
I was recently asked if there was any advice I was given that I failed to follow that I'm now regretting. Nothing comes to mind, but there were a few bits of advice I took that I now either regret or I'm not sure about the path taken:
Rush to build a winery facility.
When we first started this endevour in 2000 by buying Butterdragon, everyone in the Valley said that if we ever wanted to build a winery, we should plan on doing it quickly because it was getting harder and harder to get those permits. Also, custom crush space was difficult to get. At the time, Napa Wine Company was the biggest and best known provider of custom crush and they had a long waiting list. There were also some horror stories about what could happen when your wine was under another facility's control. So we started the permit process as well as hiring one of the best architects in the area. The resulting design is beautiful but due to how long the whole process took, we ended getting approval AFTER Napa County and California Department of Transportation adopted the policy that all new wineries -- no matter what size or number of expected visitors -- are required to build a left-hand turn lane on Highway 29. This requirement, if we build the winery, will add another at least $250,000 to construction costs. Plus, the approved design, by the world-class architect will take somewhere north of 3 million to build.
Now, in 2006 the voice of reason plus additional knowledge has set in. While I would love to have that beautiful winery on Butterdragon, it seems more prudent to wait and see if it makes sense at some point to build or purchase an existing facility. I also wish the design was "less". We've spent over $170,000 on a winery facility that we may never build and on permits we may never use. Deep pockets aren't always a good thing to have. Also, using Rombauer for custom crush has been a really good experience making the need to have our own space less vital. We've been able to do pretty much what we wanted in regards to winemaking and the cellar and lab staff there are top-notch. The biggest drawback I experience with not having our own building is we are unable to casually host tastings and events at a winery. It's much more difficult for customers to visit us and experience the sense of place of our vineyards.
Maximize production.
From a business or at least accounting standpoint, it makes sense to make as much wine as possible without sacrificing quality. Wine we make turns in to inventory -- an unrealized profit or loss -- which in the end, after we sell it all, lowers our cost per bottle and allows us to have lower prices. Yes, at $72 a bottle it isn't cheap but I am very pleased that I don't have to fight the temptation to be $100 a bottle just to eventually make ends meet. That being said, as long as we remain relatively undiscovered, it means that I have capital tied up in inventory as you can see since we continue to offer the 2002. Although response to this wine has been phenomenal, from 0 to 500 cases is a big jump. If I had it to do all over again, I would have sold more grapes and started production in 2002 at more like 300 cases.
Go under the radar.
I'm not sure if this was a mistake or not. We love our wine. But we initially followed the strategy of being under the radar, trying to get our wine out there without submitting it to national magazines. This seemed especially prudent because right about the time we released the 2002, there was much controversy over how some publications were rating wines. Tastings and scores are a two-edged sword... they can make you or break you and with only one wine in our stable, a luke-warm score would be particularly damning. However, if I had to do it all over again, I would instead have submitted to many reviewers to get multiple ratings and exposure. I would also have joined more industry groups such as Napa Vintners and specific appellation associations that provide additional exposure opportunities.
Posted by matchvineyards at March 10, 2006 11:21 AM
March 03, 2006
Barrel Tasting
As many of you know, we make and store our wine at Rombauer, located on the Silverado Trail between St. Helena and Calistoga. Following crush, fermentation, and extended maceration, the wine goes into around 90% new French oak barrels, undergoes malolactic fermentation and then spends the next two years aging in Rombauer's approximate one mile of caves. Over the course of those two years, the wine will be racked a few times, barrels topped off, and tasted regularly by myself, my winemaker, and our mailing list members who come by.
Barrel tasting is fun. It's also a bit of a gamble for several reasons. Wine in the barrel is a very dynamic thing and I've seen it be really unimpressive one week and knock your socks off the next. Also, not owning our own facility means we are sometimes subject to Rombauer's schedule. I remember one time setting up a tasting with some mailing list members at 3:30 PM, only to discover that the Rombauer cellar staff had taken off at 3:00 that day. Not a problem normally -- we aren't escorted there -- but they had turned off all the lights in the caves and neither I nor anyone in the Rombauer tasting room knew where the lights were. Plan B, implemented quickly, was I invited this couple back to our house, gave them a tour and opened a bottle of the 2002, the only wine we had in the bottle at the time. I thought it went pretty well for an off-the-cuff endeavour, but I guess they didn't. They never bought any wine. Oh well. This thread is about barrel tasting.
Last Friday I checked out our 2004's and 2005's in barrel.
2005 Butterdragon - Already tasty, but still showing signs of the recently finished malolactic fermentation. For lack of a better descriptor, it makes the wine seem a bit "fizzy" in the mouth.
2005 Butterdragon (Skins Lot) - All our wines go through extended maceration but with about 1/2 of Butterdragon we provided an additional 5 days on the skins. This wine seems further along than the other lot showing more floral nose and rounder mouthfeel.
2005 Baconbrook - Monster lurking in the barrel. Tight.
2004 Butterdragon - Scheduled to be bottled in June. Lovely round mouthfeel, dark color, fruit forward with chocolate.
2004 Baconbrook - Also very tight but exhibiting exotic spice aromas, dark fruits, and a touch of eucalyptus. Although this wine is also scheduled for June bottling, we may keep in the barrel for a few more months.
Want to come barrel taste with me? Let me know and I'll do my best to meet up with you at Rombauer. Also, as tastings are scheduled, I'll post here if there are additional slots.
The next scheduled barrel tasting is Tuesday, March 14th at 10:30 AM at Rombauer. Let me know if you'd like to attend.
Posted by matchvineyards at March 03, 2006 04:43 PM
March 02, 2006
New trellis system for Baconbrook
We've decided to change the trellis system at Baconbrook. Right now we have a simple vertical trellis but will be installing a "Y" trellis to provide better canopy management and protect the fruit from sunburn during September heat waves. And that's how you spend $5000 on what seems like scrap metal.
Posted by matchvineyards at March 02, 2006 07:25 PM
