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March 04, 2010
Winemaker Cary Gott discusses racking the 2009 vintage wines
This is the first of what I hope will be many updates straight from our winemaker Cary Gott. We're trying something new: since Cary is a busy guy who rarely spends time writing at a desk, he recorded a voice memo on his iPhone, emailed it to me, and I have transcribed it. If you'd like to "hear" more from Cary, please take a moment to click on "Like" or comment. And please let us know if there are topics you'd like Cary to talk about in the future.
From Cary:
I'm going to be racking the '09 Cabernets next week. So what we're doing right now is I've got them [Bin to Bottle -- where we custom crush our wine] set up to have the barrels down on Tuesday afternoon and we're going to rack it on Wednesday. I'll taste every barrel and make sure everything is fine. Once the wine's in tank, we'll take a big sample of it and send it off [to ETS laboratories] for full analysis plus Scorpion [test for wine spoilage microbes] and adjust the SO2 and then go back to barrel. So it's a very gentle process. This will be the first racking for the '09s.
Posted by matchvineyards at March 04, 2010 10:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 11, 2010
Quick update from the cellar
Yesterday we racked both of our 2008 Cabernet Sauvignons: Butterdragon Hill and Baconbrook. The wines are loooooking gooooood. (Try to picture Freddie Prinz -- no, his father, you young whipper snappers -- from Chico and the Man saying that.)
Now back to your regularly scheduled social networking.
Posted by matchvineyards at February 11, 2010 03:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 26, 2010
Support relief efforts in Haiti and win a mag of 07 Butterdragon on Wineberserkers.com
On Wednesday, January 27, we will help Wineberserkers.com celebrate its one year anniversary. Wineberserkers is a fun, friendly, irreverent, highly informative, online community of folks who share a passion for wine. It also has one of the highest numbers of wine industry folks participating. They all, like us, are donating prizes and helping make the 27th a special day for this community of almost 2000 folks who have gone berserk over wine.
What is Match Vineyards doing? We are raffling off six magnums of the soon-to-be-released 2007 Butterdragon Hill. To enter this raffle you must be a registered member of WineBerserkers.com AND have made verifiable donation(s) totaling at least $135 (the retail value of the wine) to a charity or charities doing work in earth quake ravaged Haiti. This donation needs to have been made from 1/12/10 through 1/27/10. You also, of course, have to be at least 21 years of age. Complete details of how to enter will be on Wineberserkers.com.
So come on by WineBerserkers right now and join in the community. And on the 27th, it can really pay off.
Posted by matchvineyards at January 26, 2010 07:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 13, 2010
Do these symptoms sound familiar?
- Difficulty sleeping?
- Difficulty concentrating?
- Obsessive compulsive behavior?
- Irritability?
- Mood swings?
If so, you may be, as I am, a wine collector during wine release season.
Every year my fellow sufferers and I make our wine-related New Year's resolutions. "I'll buy less wine in 2010." "I'll buy more wine in 2010." "I'm going for quality over quantity." "I need to concentrate more on daily drinkers." "I'm going to collect a wider variety of wines." "I'm going heavy on the 2007 vintage from Swavobia." Whatever. By this time, if you're still reading, you are either nodding your head in understanding, or shaking your head thinking I'm crazy.
If you are disciplined and able to easily follow your wine resolutions, well, my hat's off to you.
This year I planned to continue last year's trend of buying fewer bottles, spending less money on wine, and buying wines that are a better value. Notice that those last two are not necessarily the same thing. I've pretty much stopped chasing points -- a bad habit new wine collectors can get in to -- and am buying what I either know I like, what I suspect I will like, or wines recommended to me by trusted sources. That has ruled out many new wineries. Just because Mr Superstar Winemaker makes it or Mr Superstar Winereviewer says it is good will not make me pull the trigger on something, especially as the price starts approaching and then surpassing the century mark. And unfortunately, a lot of new wineries, especially those from my own beloved Napa, have surpassed $100... by a lot.
But I've got to admit I've got a collector's (or hoarder's) mentality and the potential loss of a coveted mailing list position does still strike "fear" into my heart every time I shred one of these new offers. Will I be sorry later?
Note to self: you are almost never sorry later with the exception of passing on Kosta Browne back in the very beginning.
The other day, I received a snail mail and email that the order window for a great winery was going to open. I've bought for quite a few years so had a large allocation initially including even the chance at a magnum. But now, the price that was about $60 per 750ml just a few years back, has risen to $125. For most of you, that is waaaaay too much to spend on a bottle of wine. It's more than I should spend as well, but that didn't make the decision any easier. This wine has garnered lofty scores from the Wine Advocate for many years and is in very high demand. If ever there was a wine that deserved such a price, this is it. So I started looking over my own notes on past vintages. They were good, but not stellar. I pulled a 2003 out of my cellar to do a little liquid research. Even after a few hours in the decanter, the 2003 was disjointed and a confusion of flavors and structure. All the elements were there, but it was too young. I recorked and waited a day. Day two it was much, much better. It made me feel confident that in 3-4 years, this would be a great bottle of wine, but right now, our own 2003 Match Butterdragon Hill is a better wine and a more enjoyable experience.
So what to do? If I go ahead and pay the $125 for this offer, I'll be buying wine that probably won't be worth the money to me until 2017 or later. How many special occasions do I celebrate each year that are worthy of such an expenditure? And this won't be the only time I am tempted this year by a wine this -- or even more -- expensive. If I wait long enough, the decision will be made for me. They'll sell out. Already the mags are gone. But each day I suffer from those symptoms I described, distracted by the temptation -- or is it a fixation -- to order.
I know other wine collectors face similar dilemmas this month. How are you deciding?
Posted by matchvineyards at January 13, 2010 09:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 07, 2010
Buy a bottle from your local wine store this weekend
Today I noticed that what used to be my Local Wine Store (LWS) in the Montclair district of Oakland is now going to be a self-serve yogurt place. I guess it is a sign of the times, but let's see if you can make a little blip on the sales charts of your favorite LWS. Show them that you appreciate them adding value to your wine passion. Please pass this on. Share it on Facebook or post comments here. Tweet it and tag #wine. But most importantly, buy a bottle of something at your LWS this weekend.
Posted by matchvineyards at January 07, 2010 06:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 05, 2010
Robert Parker rates our wines
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate Issue #186 (Dec 2009) is out and the big man himself reviewed some of our wines:
2007 Match Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Baconbrook
Revealing the most opaque color of these offerings, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Baconbrook’s abundant notes of blue and black fruits, forest floor, graphite, and vanilla are followed by a tannic, rich, backward wine with undeniable minerality. It should turn out to be outstanding after 3-4 more years of bottle age. It will last 20+ years. (90-93 pts) Release Fall 2010
2007 Match Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Butterdragon Hill
The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Butterdragon Hill possesses attractive, fleshy black currant, crushed rock, cedar, spice box, and tobacco leaf characteristics. This broad, savory, pure, moderately tannic 2007's overall impression is one of elegance, with a Bordeaux-like framework to the tannic structure. Give it 3-4 years of cellaring and drink it over the following two decades. (90-92 pts) Release Spring 2010
2006 Match Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Baconbrook
The impressive 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Baconbrook does not possess any aggressive or rustic tannins. It offers pure red, blue, and black fruits intermixed with notions of crushed rocks and flowers. Medium to full-bodied with excellent balance, ripeness, depth, and length, it will benefit from 1-3 years of cellaring, and should easily last 15-18 years. (90 pts) Available Now
2006 Match Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Butterdragon Hill
The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Butterdragon Hill reveals plenty of plum, spice box, floral, cedary, black cherry, and black currant notes, elegant, medium to full-bodied flavors, and well-integrated wood, acidity, and moderate tannin. This graceful Cabernet should be enjoyed over the next 15-18 years. (90 pts) Available Now
We're pretty proud of these notes. He describes our wines in very similar ways to how we would hope folks would perceive them. "Graceful." "Pure." "Elegant." Wines that you can confidently age for 20 years. These are characteristics we are going for. As always, one can follow how our customers are enjoying our wines at Cellartracker.com.
At the end of the day, however, what really matters is how you like our wine. To receive information and the opportunity to buy our wines on release, please join our mailing list. The 2007 Butterdragon Hill that Mr Parker reviewed will be offered in just a few short weeks at a price of $60 for new customers. Repeat customers will receive their customary discount.
Posted by matchvineyards at January 05, 2010 04:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 25, 2009
Video blog by Judd Finklestein will make you chuckle
The Finklestein Family is Napa Valley wine royalty. Okay, perhaps they're more like the wine court jesters. They are fun, funny, eccentric, and make life in wine country just a little bit more interesting. Art and Bunny Finklestein created Whitehall Lane and then moved on to found Judd's Hill. Their son, Judd, follows in their footsteps running the winery now. Check out Judd's off-the-wall video blog: Judd's Enormous Wine Show. I especially like Episode 2. I'm ready to order tshirts for every kid I know.
Posted by matchvineyards at December 25, 2009 05:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 03, 2009
Holiday Offer #3 - I've pried some 02 Butterdragon out of my family's clutches
It was our very first release. It was dedicated to my late father-in-law. We started with 500 cases but only a few are left which we've been storing for personal use. It hasn't been available to the public for years, but I've managed to grab 10 cases for this offer. I'm pleased to make this final holiday offer a rerelease of our 2002 Match Vineyards Butterdragon Hill Cabernet Sauvignon.
Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV was "completely blown away" by this wine and scored it 96+.
Wine Spectator Magazine said the 2002 Butterdragon Hill is "[r]emarkably plush and opulent, impeccably balanced, with rich, soothing layers of ripe currant, blueberry, blackberry and plum, scents of cedar, anise, herb and dusty berry. The tannins are ripe and polished and the finish sails on and on."
We just say yummy.
With the exception of our personal library, the initial release of this wine sold out at $72 a bottle. We are offering these 10 cases at our new, lower price of $60. Plus, for shipments of six bottles or more, we'll pay for shipping. Eligible repeat customers may use their individual discount. This offer expires midnight PST 12/4/2009.
Posted by matchvineyards at December 03, 2009 10:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 02, 2009
Holiday Special #2 - GaryVee said 93. So will we.
Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV scored our 2005 Butterdragon Hill 93 points when I was a guest on the WLTV Thunder Show. We're not big in to points, but 93 sounds good to us, so for this Holiday Special we're offering magnums of 2005 Match Vineyards Butterdragon Hill Cabernet Sauvignon for $93. That's $67 off the original release price!
Tasting notes on Cellartracker.com indicate that with a few hours in the decanter, this big bottle will be a great addition to your holiday table.
This offer expires Midnight PST on 12/4/09 or until the small supply is gone.
No additional discounts apply.
Posted by matchvineyards at December 02, 2009 04:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 01, 2009
Holiday Special #1
We're going to do a little test of social media. Let's see what kind of response we get to some very special offers which last only a extremely limited time. These deals will be promoted via Twitter, our Facebook fan page, and Facebook advertising. The rest is up to you. Please spread the joy.
Holiday Special #1: three 2004 Butterdragon Hill for the price of two AND free ground shipping. That works out to $40 bucks a bottle delivered to your door, BUT it only lasts until midnight PST on Friday, 12/4/2009. Orders placed now will be delivered prior to the holidays.
If you'd like to know how the 2004 Butterdragon is drinking, check it out on Cellartracker.com
Limit 4 three packs per customer.
Eligible repeat customers will receive their appropriate discount as well.
Posted by matchvineyards at December 01, 2009 04:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 19, 2009
Credit Card companies attempt an end run around new regulations
Earlier this year, Congress passed credit card reform with the aim of preventing card companies from predatory and unfair practices. The changes were scheduled to take effect February 2010. One can guess why the companies received such a long lead time before the regulations started. They are big contributors after all.
The credit card companies are rushing to jack up rates and tack on additional charges ahead of these new regulations. This week I noticed that both Chase and Citi had jacked my interest rates on personal cards to above 20%. This is in spite of exemplary payment history. In fact, it's extremely rare that I even carry a balance. Nevertheless, as a business owner, when it gets more expensive for consumers to shop, it hurts me. What a stupid thing as we approach the holiday season when we hope the American consumer is able to return to the stores.
Fortunately, the House of Representatives has voted to rush implementation of some of the regulations and freeze rates by December 1. The Senate should do the same. The Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, has a form letter than you can fill out to be sent to your Senators or you can find your Senator on your own and voice your opinion.. Let him or her know how you feel about the delay in credit card reform and urge them to join the House in pushing up enactment.
And watch your mailbox. Don't be surprised if you get a little notice from your credit card company that you're getting screwed too.
Posted by matchvineyards at November 19, 2009 11:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 17, 2009
Cary Gott tastes through the barrels.
Here's a brief report from winemaker Cary Gott after tasting through the barrels today:
I just tasted all of the wines we have that are in barrel. Very nice wines.
09 Butterdragon, a deep rich wine, a wow!, just finished ML [ed: malolactic fermentation]
09 Baconbrook, clean/fresh- firm texture, will need the extra aging as in past years, just finished ML
08 Butterdragon, beautiful barrel and Cabernet note in the nose and mouth, complex
08 Baconbrook, high structure, nose is developing, flavors are full and round/firm, nice
07 Baconbrook, elegant complex nose, as usual for Baconbrook, plenty of age worth structure, very nice
Posted by matchvineyards at November 17, 2009 03:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 05, 2009
Does serving order trump flavor?
According to research cited in the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail recently, it does. Study participants were given 3-5 identical -- though they didn't know it -- glasses of wine to taste and then asked to indicate which glass they thought was the best wine.
It's commonly accepted, and supported by past research, that the attitude "first is best" is prevalent. This again proved to be the case: When subjects were given only 3 glasses, they preferred the first glass.
Heck, it could be for other reasons. I almost always think the appetizer was the best part of a meal.
I know anecdotally from pouring our two wines that approximately 3/4 of folks prefer Butterdragon over Baconbrook. This isn't because Butterdragon is better, but it is more approachable young -- and all our wines are still young -- plus it has more mass appeal than the brawny mountain fruit of Baconbrook. However, in side-by-side "horizontal" tastings, if I lead off with the Baconbrook, that 3/4 preference for Butterdragon goes down. It doesn't work out that the first poured wine is always the favorite, but the crowd-pleasing popularity advantage of Butterdragon is minimized. My experiences seem to mimic the study results.
Back to the study cited in the Globe and Mail article.
When the the number of wine samples went up, and particularly as the wine experience level of the test subjects went up, the preference started to be towards the last sample glass. Researchers had a theory about why this order preference changed:
"Wine geeks thrive on discovering new and ever-better drinking experiences, so they're more likely to give subsequent options a chance... [T]hey will keep looking and they will give themselves even more of an opportunity for something later in the sequence to beat the current favourite."
Here's where my experience seems to be different than the study. When I am pouring multiple vintages of both of our wines, no matter what serving order I pour, tasters usually gravitate towards the wine that is currently drinking the best and the 3/4 Butterdragon preference holds true. One thing to also note is that tasters in this setting with me, like in the study, are usually fairly experienced in wine. Without a public tasting room, my vertical tastings are with my customers accustomed to buying $60+ bottles of Cabernet.
According to the article, "The results have an obvious implication for the wine industry." If trying to sell an overstock or high-profit wine, serve it first. If trying to impress a sophisticated buyer, save the best for last. At your own dinner party, they also recommend saving the best for last as the first wine will shine anyway. Really? At least according to my experiences, it's not so "obvious." While I can see the advantages of organizing a tasting so that it builds to a crescendo, I don't think sophisticated palates are so easily swayed. One also runs the danger of your tasters suffering from palate fatigue before they ever get to the wine you really want to shine. Just because a study using identical glasses of wine shows an order preference doesn't mean that it will translate to real-world enjoyment of wine.
I'd like to see a bit more information about this study. The article does not say how the subjects indicated their preference. Did they try each wine and in the end just say which they liked best? Or did they write notes -- and perhaps even score -- the wines as they went along and use those notes and scores to determine the preferred wine? I think the results could be different.
Posted by matchvineyards at November 05, 2009 12:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 08, 2009
10/7/09 Harvest at Butterdragon Hill
We harvested yesterday at Butterdragon Hill. We brought in just over 6 tons for our own crush. The fruit looked wonderful. Mild weather really paid off and rewarded patience. It was time to bring it in though... rain is in the forecast for next week. My camera was a bit late to the party, but here are a few pics:
Posted by matchvineyards at October 08, 2009 10:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 04, 2009
What to get a winery who has everything.
Here are some pictures and comments from our winemaker, Cary Gott. He took these the other day while visiting an unnamed high-end winery that was using their new Bucher Vistalys grape sorting machine. It can process 8 to 10 tons per hour and is a programed sorter that sorts by flying the grapes over a computer/optical controlled air-blast rejector. Cost $150,000 for the machine. It is capable of selecting raisins and dehydrated grapes (and trash)... an ultimate / luxury piece of winemaking equipment. It does work.
Today this winery handsorted as well. Cary mentioned that with this new machine, this seemed like a worthless exercise.
Mostly leaves hand sorted out.
The clusters are elevated to de-stemmer and fall on spreader belt below.
Destemmed grapes fall on spreader belt on the way to 'the machine'
The machine. Grapes come in from the right, sorted and exit on lift-belt to the left
Grapes enter the machine, whi;e belt is moving fast towards the right, feeding the machine sorter
Grapes enter the machine and are speeding up, getting ready to fly over optical reader and air sorter
Looking from the other end of the machine this is the action zone. The optical selectors have selected what to eject
as the high speed grapes fly from one area to the next the air-blasts from 100+ little nozzles blow the trash grape downward and discard.
Grapes that have been sorted
What has been sorted out by the system -- wrong color grapes, misc. size shriveled & raisins grapes, trash
the grapes are crushed and fall into the tank below
Posted by matchvineyards at October 04, 2009 10:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 30, 2009
SF Gate article on Dick Grace
"We have to get over what I call the trophy mentality"
-Dick Grace
Our neighbor, Dick Grace, created what could justifiably be dubbed the first Napa Cult wine back in the in the mid-80's. His wines at the time were some of the most expensive and still are. Release price is $225. BUT, Dick Grace, is not your average high-society, new money, big party throwing winegrower. His profits, after what he admits supports a very comfortable lifestyle, go toward supporting charities world wide.
Read more: SF Gate (the San Francisco Chronicle) article
When you spend a lot of time and money on a passion like wine collecting, there can be the tendency to get that trophy mentality. We strive for the next big wine prize. It certainly happens to us winegrowers. We strive for recognition from our customers, peers, and the press. Times are tough and we're all watching what we're spending. Charitable organizations are having a heck of a time with most facing reduced giving and funding. If it comes down this year between supporting a charity and buying our wines, give to the charity.
Posted by matchvineyards at September 30, 2009 07:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 26, 2009
Comparing vintages of our Butterdragon Hill Cabernet
A fellow member of Vinocellar.com asked me recently if I've ever posted a vertical tasting note on our Butterdragon Hill wines. I haven't. In fact, the only time I write a tasting note on a Match wine -- or even think about it in that way -- is for the particular wine's release letter. Still, I am constantly trying our wines and, when hosting folks for tasting, usually get a chance to try a vertical. I make mental notes about how a wine is developing, what would be the optimum decant time, drinking windows, etc. I also make a mental note that I should post such thoughts either here on the blog or, probably even better, on a web page on the site. That mental note seems to always get filed away and never done.
Anyway, here are some current thoughts on the Butterdragon Hill vintages:
2002 - the first vintage, the highest score from Wine Spectator, very popular, currently my least favorite. While the fruit is delicious, big, round, and sweet, I always thought this wine was a bit too heavy and stylistically simple. Not really where I wanted to be but a full throttle Napa Cab for those looking for it.
2003 - currently drinking the best (I'm hearing this from a bunch of folks as well) and ironically, on release it was definitely the most worrisome and the least popular. It seemed a bit thin while barrel aging and on initial release but continued gaining heft to where now it is an awesome wine. I think one of the biggest initial stumbling blocks for us business-wise was that the 03 (from a cooler vintage) followed the 02 in a different style. I know this caused some confusion as distributors and brokers tried to follow up the 2002 with the 2003 in placements. It also didn't help that 2003 Napa vintage was generally damned by the press. Very elegant and drinking wonderfully right now.
2004 - Fruit and flowers. This was the first vintage, in my opinion, where the vineyard really started showing its character and we could start to see the Butterdragon HIll style. It sort of combines the roundness of 2002 with the elegance of 2003. Lovely candied fruit aromas fill the glass and yet it doesn't seem to be all about candy. I love the complexity we're able to get from this cooler side of the Valley. Depending on how many you have in the cellar, it wouldn't be a crime to open one now with about an hour in the decanter though I'd say the perfect time will be in two years.
2005 - Spicier. This vintage shows much more traditional cabernet flavors... currant, green herb, tea leaves, pepper. Reminds me of old world more than new. Although it is far from ready to drink, this is one of my favorites so far. This is the wine Gary Vaynerchuk gushed over to the tune of 93+ points. My favorite way to serve this wine right now is to just open the bottle a couple of hours before serving and pour right from the bottle. It could use a few more years in the cellar too.
2006 - More like 04 but everything is a bit bigger on this wine... the fruit is more lush, complex undertones are there and will develop further, tannins are not overbearing but promise long-term ageability. Just a baby, but 3-4 years from now should be an awesome wine. Definitely needs time.
2007 - The younger the wine, the harder it is to evaluate and we just bottled the 2007 Butterdragon Hill in July. I think it is going to be incredible.
Posted by matchvineyards at September 26, 2009 12:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 23, 2009
9/23/09 Harvest at Baconbrook
What a great day! We started harvest at 6:45 this morning. Temperature was about 57. The crew jumped right to work and by 11 were just about done. The temperature by then might have been 70. So much for the feared and predicted heat storm. The grapes were down at Bin to Bottle for crushing by 11:30 and, as they only had one other vineyard scheduled to come in today, we didn't have to wait. Crush began and was over by 2. Sometimes everything just works according to plan.
Bins were coming in light, but the fruit looked and tasted great. Our ten full 1/2 bins weighed 4.2 tons which means we will probably end up with 225-250 cases of 2009 Baconbrook. Of course, it will be a long time until that starts reaching you. Look out for the fruit of today's labor in October 2012.
Winemaker Cary Gott
We estimate the juice will soak out to about 25.5 brix.
Additional pictures of harvest and the crush are on our Facebook Page.
Posted by matchvineyards at September 23, 2009 09:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 17, 2009
Congratulations CellarTracker!
CellarTracker just reached 1,000,000 user posted tasting notes. What Eric Levine began 5 years ago as a way to track his own wine collection has grown to be among the most influential and in my opinion the most useful wine website out there. I, along with 82,000 other registered users, manage our own wine collections, record our thoughts on the wines we're drinking, and research other wines using this website. A good measure of CellarTracker's range is, according to a press release from CellarTracker, leading wine magazines Wine Spectator and the Wine Advocate each publish about 1000 reviews per month. CellarTracker users post on average 1100 tasting notes a day.
I think this milestone represents more than just the success of one website. It, and certainly some other sites (even Facebook), are giving wine lovers the tools to learn more about their passion and decentralizing the information available. The influence of any one critic has been reduced. While some may argue that "amateur" tasting notes and reviews are not of much value, I think that when you get enough of them, you really start to get a feeling for what a wine is like. This, in my opinion, is the greatest value of CellarTracker. 30 positive reviews on CellarTracker are far more influential to me than one guy's experience on one particular day, even if that guy was dubbed the emperor of wine.
I may be just preaching to the choir as I know that many folks who will read this already use CellarTracker, but those who aren't, give it a try. It is based on the shareware model. It is free to register and use but there are suggested donations based on the size of cellar you are tracking. Donations also turn on some additional value added features like links to professional reviews and wine auction values. Note: I don't have any commercial or other interest in CellarTracker. I'm just a very enthusiastic user.
I'd love to hear about your favorite feature or discovery on CellarTracker. Feel free to also post the negatives and suggestions too. Anything constructive, I'll pass on to Eric Levine.
Search CellarTracker for notes on Match Vineyards' wines.
Posted by matchvineyards at August 17, 2009 07:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 30, 2009
Special Summer Offer expires tomorrow
Hi Friends.
First, my apologies to folks who are on our mailing list, AND read our blog, AND are our Facebook fans. You'll see this message at least 3 times. However, I wanted to -- as they say at auctions -- give fair
and final warning that the Match Vineyards Special Summer Offer is about to expire July 31. It contains some of the lowest prices ever on our wines.
2004 Butterdragon (reg $72), 2005 Butterdragon (reg $72), and 2005 Baconbrook (reg $75) are all priced at $65 per bottle with just $5 per bottle ground shipping (in autumn) anywhere in the continental USA.
But it gets better...
Buy any combination of 6-11 bottles and pay only $60 a piece and get free ground shipping.
Or buy any combination of 12 or more bottles and now pay just $55 a piece with free ground shipping.
Special pricing is also available on these wines in magnum format. Any number of magnums receive free ground shipping.
Repeat customers will still receive their earned discount off these already reduced prices. That means customers at the maximum discount level can pay as little as $44 a bottle.
Refer a new customer and earn a free bottle of the soon-to-be-released 2006 Baconbrook.
The Order Form can be found here.
Thanks for your continued support.
Be well,
Randy Sloan
Match Vineyards
t/f 707-968-9040
Posted by matchvineyards at July 30, 2009 07:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 26, 2009
Walking into my work...
This entry was originally published in June 2005 but I liked it so much, I wanted to move it forward in time so it doesn't get lost as I relaunch the blog. I had asked, Cary Gott, our very talented winemaker, to jot down a few thoughts for the Vintner's Journal. Here was his first post.
------------------------------
Walking into my work...
In an interesting lifetime of making wine from lots of vineyards at many different wineries (Inglenook in 1969 was the first) I have learned to entertain myself with a few special experiences I get to enjoy as a winemaker. Some are in the vineyard and usually relate to driving tractors in the spring. Another is the design phase of a new winery when the architect in me puts a new design on paper, a cellar where I would like to make wine. There is always the opening an old bottle from my winemaking past and enjoying again the work I did many years ago. And there is one at the conclusion of a winemaking project that occurs just a few times a year...
Last week I created the blend of the Match Vineyards 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. In the caves at Rombauer two different lots of Cabernet and one of Merlot were racked from barrel, blended and returned to barrel (my unique mix of mostly new French oak barrels). Eleven barrels of clone 15 Cabernet, nine barrels of the clone 7 Cabernet and three barrels of Merlot. All three, very, very nice wines and just eight months old. I always worry that a new blend might not be as expected after the work is done. Maybe something unexpected happened or it just doesn't go together as planned. Usually about a week after the blend is made I make myself go taste the wine, usually with a little fright in my mind but also there is excitement to see what I have created (especially when I'm working with wines as interesting and complex as the 04 lots from Butterdragon Hill).
I waited until the end of the day when the winery was closed. It was a rather warm day, the first day of summer. Beautiful outside, cool in the winery. I found a wine thief and a glass in the lab. Next, a zig zag walk through a room packed with barrels to the shut cave door and a fumble feel along the wall to find the light switch once inside. Lights on and the winemaking fun begins. The floors are shiny wet, everything is damp, the smells are a heavy complex mix of wood, cave walls and years of winemaking. The walk between two rows of barrels seems to be a gliding-on-water experience that does not require effort, just absorbing what is around me. Two turns into other tunnels and now here are the Match barrels that were just racked. My random selection machine is turned on and a barrel is chosen to taste. Bung out. I always amaze myself (I guess it is from doing this so many times) that I am able to to get the thief to go in the bung hole without hitting the sides since I cannot see the hole as it is hidden in the shadows of the barrels stacked above.
Half a thief-full is slightly splashed into a rather large bowl glass. One big swirl. I'm not concerned about the color, just the nose and the taste. I'm by myself with a wine I just made. Talk to me. I never had a large learned vocabulary of words to describe a wine. I have few friends I use all too often, but they work so well for my purposes. Big, rich, full, elegant, deep, stylish, long-finish, complete, nice, wow!.
After a smell and a taste (with a well executed and accurate spit, a fun talent) and then one more taste, I'm thinking this wine is better than I expected. All of those words I so often use are this wine. And now I say out loud in a rather large voice, "wow, this is great wine". I'm speaking to the cave. I'm speaking to the other barrels of the wine. I do a 360 in place and have a last taste. I am so pleased. Do I take the credit (in my mind)? No. It's the vineyard. I just finished the vineyard's work. Great wine. Thank you vineyard.
Then I do a quick tasting of the 03 Cabernet. Just as expected the nose is getting spicier, complex and the body is silky and elegant. A wine doing its thing correctly and beautifully. But I was really here to taste the new blend of 04 and give myself peace of mind on the work we just did. Touchdown ! I now have two great wines aging.
I don't remember my quick exit from the cave. Later I try to remember if I turned the lights off, I can't. What I remember is the first smell and taste of what I think will be an excellent Cabernet Sauvignon. Big, rich, full, elegant, deep, stylish, long-finish, complete, nice, wow!.
2004 Match Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon from Butterdragon Hill.
Cary Gott
June 23, 2005
Posted by matchvineyards at July 26, 2009 01:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 15, 2009
7/17/09 Tasting at Wine on Piedmont
Just a reminder, I will be pouring our Match Vineyards 2004 Butterdragon Hill Cabernet and the soon-to-be-released 2006 Baconbrook Cabernet from 4-7PM on Friday 7/17/09 at Wine on Piedmont, 4183 Piedmont Avenue (across from the Piedmont Theatre) in Oakland, 510-595-9463. Your $5 tasting fee will be donated to the Alameda County Food Bank.
Posted by matchvineyards at July 15, 2009 10:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 09, 2009
2007 Butterdragon Hill bottled
Yesterday we bottled 584 cases of our 2007 Match Vineyards Butterdragon Hill. This was the first time we've used a mobile bottling line. There are always a few false starts on bottling day as everything gets set "just right" but I was very impressed by the mobile line crew and the Bin to Bottle staff in support. By the way, this '07 Butterdragon is going to be killer!
The whole bottling line is inside this small trailer.
Final bottling count breakdown:
1122 x 6 packs 750 ml
24 x 23 packs 375 ml
9 x 6 packs of 1.5L
4 x 3.0L
Posted by matchvineyards at July 09, 2009 01:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 06, 2009
Special Summer Offer
Order when it's Hot, Ship it when it's Cool
Take advantage of the lowest prices of the year on these small production Napa Valley wines.
Sometimes shipping weather and a winery's release season don't coincide with when you may want to buy wine, so we are offering this special deal for those of you who are sitting on piles of cash, are staring at an empty wine celler, or those who just can't wait until the mailers start arriving this fall
| 750ml | Magnum | Wine |
| $65 (reg $72) | $135 (reg $150) | 2004 Butterdragon Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Read Cellartracker.com Tasting Notes |
| $65 (reg $72) | $135 (reg $150) | 2005 Butterdragon Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Read Cellartracker.com Tasting Notes |
| $65 (reg $75) | $140 (reg $155) | 2005 Baconbrook Cabernet Sauvignon Read Cellartracker.com Tasting Notes |
| Or Mix and Match 6 to 11 x 750ml bottles and get them for $60 each | ||
| Or Mix and Match 12 or more 750ml bottles and pay just $55 each | ||
| From this total, repeat customers can still deduct their discount. If you'd like to find out your current discount level, email us. For new customers, taking advantage of this special summer offer will establish your discount status for our upcoming fall 2006 Baconbrook release. | ||
| As is our custom, we will pay for ground shipping in the fall of all magnums and orders of 6 x 750ml bottles or more. Ground shipping to everywhere in the continetal USA on orders of less than 6 bottles is $5 per bottle. We will hold your wine until cooler weather allows safe ground shipping but if you are in a hurry to receive your wines right away, we will credit you what we would pay for ground shipping and charge you our actual cost for air shipping. | ||
| The above offer expires 7/31/09. Download Order Form | ||
Share the news about our wines!
In addition to our regular Repeat Customer Discount program and the Summer Special described above, we want to thank those of you who help spread the word about our wines. If you are part of our Repeat Customer program and you recommend our wines to a new customer (or a mailing list member who has never purchased), you will receive a very special gift. All the new customer needs to do is put your name in the comments section of our order form when they order. Hint: a new customer can get in on this too. Just send in an order, thus becoming a repeat customer, and then have a friend order as well with you as the referrer. Sorry, two new customers can not refer each other. You'll just have to share the free bottle of 2006 Baconbrook. (Whoops! I told you what the gift was.)
Posted by matchvineyards at July 06, 2009 02:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
NY to out-of-state wine retailers: STAY OUT OF NY
Time and again this Court has held that, in all but the narrowest circumstances, state laws violate the Commerce Clause if they mandate 'differential treatment of in-state and out-of-state economic interests.' This rule is essential to the foundations of the Union. States may not enact laws that burden out-of-state producers or shippers simply to give a competitive advantage to in-state businesses. We have viewed with particular suspicion state statutes requiring business operations to be performed in the home state that could more efficiently be performed elsewhere. - Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy
Sigh. Despite the statement above from a 2005 ruling by the US Supreme Court that states can not discriminate against out-of-state wineries and must treat them as they do their own in-state wineries, the powerful liquor/wine distributor lobby keeps trying to preserve their power to, in my opinion, the detriment of the consumer and the wine industry. A federal appeals court in NY has upheld a ruling that NY can bar out-of-state retailers from shipping wine into NY while NY retailers can ship wine.
This ruling seems, to me, to be counter to the 2005 Supreme Court decision. There are several similar cases coming up in the future in Texas and other states. Unless the Supreme Court steps in and broadens their decision and resolves the apparent conflict between the 21st ammendment (which grants states the power to regulate the sale of alcohol) and the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, we're going to keep seeing this sort of thing happening. The only way around it is to make sure that your state passes laws that are in the best interests of the wine consumer.
Based on a story from Wine Spectator online.
Posted by matchvineyards at July 06, 2009 12:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 26, 2009
Pouring at Goooooogle (includes top secret drawing)
A winery doesn't have to be around for very long before opportunities to pour their wines at public and private events start arriving. Participation in one will probably spur several more invitations. When we first started, I said "yes" as often as possible figuring that we had to get the word out about our wines. Now, 4 years after our first release, I'm still not sure I've got it figured out where it makes sense to invest our time and wine.
I recently posted a poll about this on the wine forum Wine Berserkers. (I like this forum because of the number of ITB -- In The Business -- participants and the welcoming atmosphere by members to folks who sometimes need to talk shop.) Anyway, the general consensus that came out of the poll is that the biggest bang for the buck, particularly for a small winery, is spending money on your existing customers or highly pre-qualified customers. Basically, one is going to sell more wine out of a wine dinner or open house for fans you already have rather than getting additional exposure. In fact, disappointingly, many of the public and private events we pour at result in little or no sales. Don't get me wrong. They're fun. Interacting with wine lovers is my favorite part of the biz, but even when the clientele is well-heeled and really "in to" wine, it is tough to make an impression on many buyers when folks are stopping at 25 different tables and perhaps trying 50 different wines that day.
But that doesn't stop us from trying.
Recently we were invited to pour at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. The tasting was being organized by Wine 2.0. To quote their website: Wine 2.0™ is the innovator in social networking and events in the wine industry. With a focus on the next generation wine consumer, Wine 2.0 breaks down the barriers to learning about, experiencing, and enjoying wine.
Sounds cool, right? I've been trying to get a handle on the whole social networking thing for the business and what better way than working with Wine 2.0 at what many would consider "technology central" -- Google. We were briefed on where and when we should arrive. We were also warned not to take photos or ask probing questions about Google's operations. (No warning necessary here... I didn't want to talk about Google, I wanted to talk about Match Vineyards!) Since I wasn't allowed to take pictures, I did draw myself pouring at Google. I hope I don't get into trouble by publishing the picture above.
It turned out to be a lot of fun. The Google employees were an inquisitive lot, asking many questions about wine, winemaking, and the business. A few showed their engineer side wondering what metrics we used to determine wine quality and success in winemaking. Everyone was gracious and had a good time.
A funny little thing happened while I was there. Several hundred Google employees arranged themselves in the shape of an arrow and held red construction paper over their heads while a plane flew over very high and took pictures. It seems that afternoon they were updating the entry for Google Maps of their own headquarters and wanted a huge man-made icon in the photo. I was next to the arrow (to the right) so when Google maps is ultimately updated -- don't bother to check right now, it's still the old photo -- one might be able to see me. This is especially true since I was holding up the BIG ASS bottle on the right. For giggles, I decided to open a six liter bottle of 2004 Butterdragon Hill for the tasting. I'd never actually opened one of our large formats and it proved to be a quite a conversation starter at the tasting.
By the way, what does one call a six liter bottle? I didn't know. But one Googler asked this question into his phone, some sort of speech to text conversion took place, and a search online was carried out. The answer was a Methuselah -- the equivalent of 8 regular bottles.
Posted by matchvineyards at June 26, 2009 11:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 15, 2009
Shipping... what a pain
Ask any winery to identify their biggest headache and you're likely to get the answer "shipping." Shipping and fulfillment of direct sales cost more than customers think it should. It is tough to get accurate service from 3rd parties. Wineries must depend on mother nature to not freeze or boil the wine in transit. And finally, compliance with all the state and federal laws provides a minefield that is difficult to negotiate without a specialist.
It just got even tougher for over 200 Napa Valley wineries. On June 1, Wine Business and others reported that New Vine Logistics (NVL) in Napa suddenly suspended operations because it had "abruptly gone into a state of financial crisis." Those 200 wineries who depended on them for order fulfillment suddenly were left in a lurch. Not only was NVL not taking any shipping orders, but even orders in process where stopped. Most of those wineries probably even had some level of inventory with NVL too. What would happen to that inventory?
Ironically, it seemed that New Vine Logistics had been setting the standard on what services to offer a winery, especially to a small one. A winery would have inventory in place with them, NVL would receive orders straight from a winery's online ordering system, accurately process the orders including checking the shipment for legal compliance, and get them out the door via UPS or FedEx. Special and international shipments were supposedly no problem. In fact, NVL even had a service which helped a winery operate "directly" in many 3-tier states. (A 3-tier state is where a winery can only sell through a distributor, i.e.no direct sales.) Note, I don't know the exact details of how NVL accomplished this, but I believe they or their partner served as a winery's distributor in said state and legally (and briefly) took ownership of a shipment before forwarding it on to the customer. NVL would also provide the necessary information back to a winery for compliance reporting or could even completely take care of the legal compliance reporting for a winery. Sounds great, right? I've taken a tour of NVL and heard several presentations from them. New Vine Logistics did seem too good to be true. They have a huge temperature controlled warehouse and much of their process is automated, supposedly reducing mistakes. It's a small winery's dream to be able to concentrate on production and sales and have someone else accurately and affordably take care of fulfillment and shipping tasks. NVL certainly looked very impressive with their computers, scanners, conveyor belts, etc. No wonder Amazon.com selected them to provide fulfillment for their upcoming wine sales venture. NVL must have looked very familiar to the big online retailer.
When we first got in the business, we asked around for suggestions on shippers. I basically discovered it would be a choice not of whom my peers liked, but of whom they hated the least. I was tempted by New Vine Logistics but found their costs prohibitive. I ended up selecting WW Shipping Solutions and have had a love-hate relationship with them ever since. They've made more mistakes than I thought were acceptable, and yet they're always so darn nice and bend over backwards to fix their mistakes, that I've never quite gotten to that tipping point and fired them to make a change. Ironically, the change I would have made was to go to New Vine Logistics.
I can only imagine the sleepless nights of early June for the small winery owners who were depending on New Vine Logistics. Word is they were getting very little information from NVL. What would it be like, especially under already-difficult economic conditions, if your most profitable sales channel suddenly froze?
So how will it all end? Perhaps happily. On June 12 it was reported that New Vine had started shipping wine again because of a deal where Inertia Beverage Group infused cash and assumed NVL debt. Those 200 wineries must be breathing a bit easier but I think we all got a warning on how vulnerable one's business can be if even the most in-demand, cult wine can't get to the customers' hands. I'll keep an eye on NVL and post if there are other interesting developments. Hopefully new management can be brought in to still provide the needed services in a profitable way.
PS. One can't talk about shipping difficulties in the wine industry without at least mentioning the #1 reason it is so complicated and expensive. Many of the laws governing the distribution of our favorite beverage are left over from the days of Al Capone and prohibition. And these days, even though anyone over the age of 21 should be legally able to purchase wine from their source of choice (i.e. our winery) it rarely painlessly works out that way. The federal and various state governments provide many a roadblock to control or limit the sale and distribution of alcohol. In this regard, fine wine is treated no differently than moonshine. Fortunately, the legal situation is getting better. Supreme Court decisions and bold action by some state legislatures and governors over the last few years have made it easier for wineries (and you) to ship wine legally... at least in some states. For more information about wine shipment issues, see the websites Free the Grapes and Specialty Wine Retailers: Wine Without Borders.
Posted by matchvineyards at June 15, 2009 10:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 05, 2007
Bottling 2004 Baconbrook
Today we bottled our first vintage from Baconbrook, our Spring Mountain District vineyard.
122 cases (12 bottle) of 750's
16 cases (6 bottle) of mags
4 x 3L
1 x 6L
Posted by matchvineyards at January 05, 2007 02:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 29, 2006
2004 Butterdragon bottled
Well, we've now done it 3 times...
Yesterday we bottled 650 cases of the 2004 Butterdragon Hill. That's 630 12 pack cases + the rest in equivalent of mags and 375's. The bottling went well. The wine was trucked over to Frank Family from Rombauer on Monday, underwent a light filtration, and the line was set up and ran quickly on Wednesday.
As those of you who had the chance to taste it out of the barrel know, the 04 is great. We are very excited about this vintage. Although we like both 02 and 03, the additional maturity of the vines makes us suspect that the 04 will be our "out-of-the-ballpark" wine.
The 2004 Butterdragon will be released next Spring. We've decided to keep the 2004 Baconbrook in the barrel longer so it won't be bottled until next January. That wine will be released in the Fall of 2007.
Posted by matchvineyards at June 29, 2006 07:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
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 | Comments (0)
February 06, 2006
A peak at the 2003
I had a really good night on Saturday. Sasha was in The City with an old friend so I took Alec (my son) to Pizzaiola, a great pizza and pasta place at Telegraph and 51st in Oakland. It's fun to have a "guys'" night out. I also took along a 375 of the 2003 Butterdragon Hill. It was a good chance for me to sip on our upcoming release.
Just a few informal thoughts...
Elegance and restraint. It is not as fruit forward or primary as the 2002 was at this stage. The wine is regaining some heft as we put some time between it and the bottling last September. The fruit is really nice, but there's complexity showing through that differentiates it from the 02. Oak, spice box, anise, tea, mocha... it's not as big and lush as the 02, but probably a more complete and definitely more complex wine. Probably will age longer. Definitely more sophisticated. Definitely better than the 2002 with a meal. I like the color -- a medium ruby with lovely luster. Doesn't look "big" in the glass... yet. Charming cassis and raspberry ribbon of fruit. Some will like it a lot better than the 2002, some will not. While it also displays the candy aroma in the finished glass that seems to be the M.O. of Butterdragon, it's currently not the "fun" party wine that the 2002 was/is... also lower in alcohol than the 02. I like it. How cool is it to get to know this vineyard.
Posted by matchvineyards at February 06, 2006 12:03 PM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2006
Racking the 2005's
This week we racked our 2005 wines. The process was started Monday and completed today.
For those that don't know, racking is the process where the wines are pumped from barrel to tanks and then the barrels are cleaned out and sterilized with ozone removing all the dead yeast and other solids that have settled to the bottom of the barrel. The wine is then returned to the barrel.
In our short history at Match, we've been racking 3 or so times per vintage over the course of the 22-24 months the wine spends in the barrel. There's no hard or fast rule... the winemaker decides when its needed based usually on smell. This was the first racking of our 2005's.
On the farming front...
Tomorrow we start pruning Butterdragon.
Posted by matchvineyards at January 18, 2006 07:02 AM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2005
Sitting down with Vinography.com
More and more people are hearing about Match.
On Thursday, I had the pleasure to sit down with Alder of the popular wine blog Vinography.com and share a bottle of our 2002 Butterdragon Hill and a few of our stories. Check out the story and tasting notes on Vinography and while you're there, bookmark that site. There are so many valuable and entertaining entries, you may find yourself checking it daily.
Posted by matchvineyards at November 19, 2005 12:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 27, 2005
2002 BIG bottles
Very cool. For those of you who like big bottles, you might enjoy these photos of our large formats from the 2002 vintage. The bottles were etched and then handpainted by Bergin Glass Impressions. If you are interested in purchasing these bottles, email us.
3 liter Double Magnum
6 liter Imperial
Both 3 and 6 liters side-by-side
Posted by matchvineyards at October 27, 2005 12:54 PM | Comments (1)
October 19, 2005
Winemaker's Report 10/19/05
Cary:
We are pressing the two tanks of butterdragon today. One tank is in the press now. The lots will be kept as two lots.
Will go to barrels.in a few days. ML in barrel.
The wines look great
Posted by matchvineyards at October 19, 2005 01:01 PM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2005
Winemaker's Report 10/17/05
Cary:
Tank 9 baconbrook. Dark dark dark. Dry deep rich. Not too tannic but round been dry for a few days. Will leave on skins.
Very nice
OT3 butterdragon
OT13
Exotic spices. Dry dark clean deep flavors May press one tank and keep the other on the skins a bit.
Posted by matchvineyards at October 17, 2005 01:32 PM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2005
Winemaker's Report 10/14/05
Cary:
All tanks are almost dry
Look / taste great
Posted by matchvineyards at October 14, 2005 09:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 13, 2005
Winemaker's Report 10/13/05
Cary Gott has been using his Blackberry this season to keep me updated with brief messages. I'll post of few of his reports here. We start off on Thursday, October 13. The grapes from both vineyards were harvested the week prior and Cary is reporting on fermentation progress:
All ferms in opentops are up to temp 83 and smelling good. Sugars are dropping properly.
Posted by matchvineyards at October 13, 2005 07:34 PM | Comments (0)
June 08, 2005
2003 and 2004 Barrel Report
I tasted our 03 and 04 vintages out of the barrel a couple of days ago and thought this would be a good opportunity to report how these vintages are shaping up for us. 2003 will be the last vintage when we produce only one wine as 2004 will see the debut of Baconbrook.
2003 Butterdragon Hill Cabernet Sauvignon (final blend)
03 was a head scratcher – it was really a story of two vintages. An extremely hot September caused the vines at the bottom portion of Butterdragon – where the soil is thinner – to start to shut down. We were losing a lot of grapes to dehydration. Dimpled grapes or “sad faces” were starting to predominate. It was either harvest or loose the crop so we brought in about ¼ of the vineyard earlier than anticipated. The rest we gambled that the weather would break and it would make it until we felt the grapes had reached full flavor ripeness.
That “early” lot made pretty good wine, but it never fit in with what we’re trying to do at Match so we decided not to include it in the final blend. Fortunately, our gamble waiting to harvest the rest of the vineyard paid off and the September 2003 heat gave way to some perfect ripening weather in early October.
The final 2003 blend from Butterdragon – to be bottled September 2005 – is showing remarkable complexity with mature fruit, more earthy characteristics than our 02, and a touch of eucalyptus. The tannic structure indicates that this wine will probably require more patience to reveal it potential.
2004 was a great growing season, but as I’m starting to learn, abnormal is normal in farming. Everything moved up 3-4 weeks in 2004. Spring was early followed by an even, pleasant growing season culminating in hot weather during early September. Many vineyards, including ours, were ready for harvest of Cabernet Sauvignon in early to mid September. It’s still so early, but it looks like 2004 will be a blockbuster year for us at Match.
2004 Butterdragon Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
Our 2004 wines have not yet been blended, so these are comments on the components that will eventually become our 2004 release.
Merlot - Of the 90 rows at Butterdragon, 3 of them are Merlot. 2002 gave us just a tad of Merlot. Those grapes were “field blended” – harvested and fermented in the same tank – as the Cab. In 2003 we got a bit more merlot, fermented separately, but ended up blending in with the Cab. We’re really liking the way about 3% Merlot can soften and round out a Cab.
In 2004, we’ve again kept the Merlot separate up to now. It’s a pretty wine, very floral and bright and would stand nicely on its own. Still, since we have so little of it, we currently plan to use most if not all in the final blend of our 2004 Butterdragon Hill Cabernet Sauvignon.
Cabernet Sauvignon (Clone 7) - Dark fruits, big mouthfeel, really big aromas of berries.
Cabernet Sauvignon (Clone 15) - Brighter fruit, more acidity than the Clone 7, more oak and tannin evident.
We’re really excited about what the above three wines are going to do when they join forces to become our 2004 Match Butterdragon Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
2004 Baconbrook Cabernet Sauvignon
Ah the newcomer… but it’s not arriving quietly. The 04 Baconbrook is going to be a monster. Ever time I try it, I like it more. The pieces are coming together wonderfully with incredibly complex dark fruits, leather, and a huge tannic structure for this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Cary Gott has described this wine as being more like Howell Mountain than its own appellation, Spring Mountain District. This is one of those wines that stains the glass and makes you brush your teeth afterwards. It may be a 20+ year wine.
Posted by matchvineyards at June 08, 2005 06:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 02, 2005
Photo: Bottling line
Freshly bottled 2002 Match Butterdragon Hill Cabernet Sauvignon march along the line towards the labeling machine.
Posted by matchvineyards at June 02, 2005 09:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 19, 2005
Match gets Land Use Permit to build winery
Thursday was a big day for us. We received our Land Use Permit from Napa County to build a beautiful winery designed by Backen Gillam Architects on Butterdragon Hill. Stay tuned. Although we've had nothing but good experiences custom crushing at Rombauer, we look forward to the day when our wine has its own home.
Posted by matchvineyards at May 19, 2005 04:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 05, 2005
Match makes its first sale!
Today was a red letter day in our short history. We made our first outside sales. Although our wine hasn't been officially released [soon!] we made a special exception for a couple of really cool wine enthusiasts who have followed this project almost from the very beginning. And what makes this experience especially sweet: we've had the chance to sit down with both of these gents to swap wine and stories, getting to know them a bit better. We're looking forward to getting to know you too. That's why we're in this business. Thanks, DavidN and Grapefulldead!
Posted by matchvineyards at April 05, 2005 07:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
