Author: Judi Scherrer

The devastating wild fires in the north coast these past two weeks has affected everyone in the area more than any event I have seen. In the early aftermath, we find some things to be grateful for, personally. First off, our family is safe. The long-time family house where my parents and sister live is[…]

Myself, I like puzzles. Spatial puzzles are the easiest. Rubik’s cube, I didn’t dig so much after staying up most of a night thinking I was so close to solving it (I wasn’t). Some puzzles are easily solved and others are long-term projects that require years to see the consequences of choices made. This is why winemaking suits my personality: I like some things to move slowly so I can ponder them.

It is interesting that in the English language our term for producing wine implies a very active role on the part of the people involved. I remember when studying French in college, I was frustrated by the lack of literal translation of the English word ‘winemaker.’ There were French terms that translated to ‘manager’, ‘cellar[…]

Each year when I write this particular newsletter, we are either still buried under a pile of grapes or as in this case, mostly finished with the heavy work load. It is a great time to reflect upon what the vintage has given us and how we responded to it.

I feel very lucky to have ancestors who purchased agricultural land well over a century ago, to have a family whose successive generations commit to living and working with the land. It’s not an easy path. But it is the one I have chosen and have tried to honor the efforts of those that have toiled before.

The most recent trend of the popular style inching toward higher alcohol/higher ripeness beginning in the 1990’s led to a natural and expected reaction of favoring lower alcohol/lower ripeness wines in certain quarters. However, rather than the pendulum gently swinging back thru the happy & balanced middle where we have been, it looks like a quantum leap from one extreme to the other.

It is a question I ask myself a lot lately. Our stylistic choices are not ‘stylish.’ Our marketing is not ‘slick.’ But we know what we are trying to do and for whom we are doing it. So thank you. You clearly get it!

Just as I love each of my two children for who they are as individuals, the same applies to a degree for each of my wines. There is normally no one ‘favorite’ because they are all unique and special. The challenge of parenting and winemaking is to guide and help each of your children and wines to let their best qualities shine as brightly as possible. Then it is time to stand back and appreciate the results.

I look at wine balance in a general way, as having an equal presence of ‘angles vs. rounds.’ Structure from tannins and acids [angles] lessen as the fruit ripens and the counter-balancing glycerol [round] is produced [in lock-step with alcohol/initial sugar level] which ameliorates and balances these two opposing forces creating a ‘sweet spot’.