Beer 101: Ale vs. Lager

At its most basic level, beer can be categorized into two types: Ale and Lager. Both are "beer," but they are very different from each other and it comes down to yeast and fermentation.

Ales have been brewed for centuries and centuries. The type of yeast that's used in ales is called top-fermenting, meaning that it sits on the top of the liquid as it ages, which doesn't take very long for ales. Generally ales are aged in a matter of a few weeks (some ales are ready to go within 7 days, even). The temperature at which these special yeasts ferment is warm, as high as 70 degrees for some ales. The type and length of fermentation produces what's called "esters," which are compounds caused by the chemical reactions going on in fermentation. They result in strong flavors that are often fruity, spicy or flowery. Esters make ales complex, with a multi-layered flavor profile. They're higher in alcohol than lagers, and should be served cool, rather than cold. Some countries even serve ales at room temperature. Types of beer that fall under the ale umbrella are Pale Ale, Amber Ale (all the "Ales," naturally), Stout, Porter, and Wheat beer, among others.

Lager comes from the German word "lagern," which means "to store." Lagers typically ferment much longer than ales do, typically for many months, and at much colder temperatures, as low as 50 degrees. Fermenting the yeast at such a low temperature results in increased sulfur production (rather than esters), but the increased length of storage allows the sulfur to integrate into the beer. As strange as it sounds, the added sulfur results in a crisper, cleaner flavor. Where ales's flavors are complex and multi-layered, lagers have one dominant flavor that comes through. Also unlike ales, lagers are best served cold, but not colder than 38F, as the lager will lose its flavor. If you see, in addition to "lager," of course, words like Pilsner, Bock, Helles or Oktoberfest, you're looking at a lager-style brew.

Joe Canal's Now Stocks Coppola Presents Moscato!

We're pleased to welcome into our extensive Moscato selection a great Rose out of California: Coppola Presents Moscato!

Those who’ve never tried Moscato (and Moscato lovers alike) are in for a delicious surprise. Highly fragrant and lusciously fruity, Moscato is akin to drinking a light fluffy apricot cloud! Our debut vintage offers a beautiful perfume of pears, pineapple and orange blossoms followed by light, delicate flavors of apricots, lime and clove. Fermented and finished in stainless steel to capture pure, sweet fruit impressions, this unique rosé can be enjoyed as an apertif or with a variety of hors d’oeuvres as well as after dinner sweets, soft cheeses or fresh fruit.

"In days gone by, my grandfather Agostino Coppola made wine for the family from grapes shipped in boxcars from the Napa Valley. In the concrete fermentor at 1747 Lexington Avenue in East Harlem, he mixed Moscato with Alicante Bouchet – the “baby grapes” as he called them – known for the intensity of the red color they gave, in proportion to their tiny size. Our Moscato is made in this same spirit – a rosé wine for everyday life." - Francis Coppola

Pick up a bottle (or three!) of this great new Moscato for only $8.99 in our Bottle Club!

The Finger Lakes: A New York state of wine

In the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, there's a growing excitement, literally. Grapes! Wine grapes, to be more specific. The sloping hillsides, lake breezes and a steady summer sun have always provided the picturesque Finger Lakes region with a healthy grape-growing climate. But until recently, the land was primarily used to grow local Concord grapes that were sold to juice companies.

In recent years, younger generations have taken over the family farms and begun experimenting with wine grape varietals. While the yield can be more profitable, the arduous and artistic process is all the more intensive and comes with a higher risk factor. But with continued growth and a respected product that has gained praise and earned prizes all over the world, the shift seems to be working. Now with 109 wineries, the Finger Lakes have helped make New York the third largest wine producer in America.

Even though the area is known for its cabernet francs, chardonnays, pinot noirs and ice wines, it's riesling that reigns supreme. With a climate similar to its German origins, the varietal has found a second home here. Ranging from dry to sweet and anywhere in between, each vineyard in the area produces at least one style of Riesling -- some make several -- and many have won worldwide Gold Medal honors.

Camaraderie over competition

With a wine trail marked by road signs, vineyard tours and tasting rooms, tourism in the Finger Lakes is increasing. And with several wineries adding inns and high-end restaurants to their properties, many are calling the Finger Lakes the next Napa Valley. Vineyard owners in the area, however, are quick to point out a monumental difference — a unified sense of community. Here it’s camaraderie, not competition, since in this region the vineyard owner is often the farmer, the marketer, the salesman and sometimes even the deliveryman.

“If someone needs a forklift, we let them borrow ours,” says Ted Marks, proprietor of Atwater Vineyards. “And they would do the same for us. People come from all over the world to work here and can’t believe that we want to help each other succeed. We do what we do well. And we do it without pretension.”

A Frank history of the area

The very existence and continual growth of vineyards in New York state can all be attributed back to the bold and successful experiments of Dr. Konstantin Frank. Emigrating from the Ukraine to avoid Stalinism in 1951, Frank revolutionized sustainable growing methods for vinifera (vines imported from Europe) in the 1950s and proved that the region’s crops could not only survive the extreme winters, but could also produce a world-class wine year after year. Opening Dr. Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars in 1962, the family-run business is celebrating its 50th anniversary and is heralded as New York state’s most award-winning winery.

To get a true taste of the Finger Lakes, join us at our Woodbridge location this Friday from 4pm - 6pm as we welcome Barbara Frank from Dr. Frank! Taste some great New York wines and ask her any of your winemaking questions.

This article was written by Nolan Gawron and was originally published on metro.us.

Spirit Feature: Two New Single Malts from Tomatin!

Just in from the Tomatin Distillery: Tomatin Decades and Tomatin 21yr!

Tomatin Decades has been crafted to celebrate one man's lifetime commitment to the Tomatin Distillery. Native to Tomatin, Douglas Campbell had worked for the distillery since 1961 in a number of positions before taking on the role of Master Distiller in 2008. In his current role, he spends much of his time assessing the thousands of casks that lie maturing in the vast warehouses of Tomatin or travelling around the world promoting the distillery's single malt.

In recognition of his 50 years service at Tomatin, Douglas has created a Single Malt using whiskies distilled in each of the 5 decades he has worked at the distillery. Starting with a 1967 cask and moving through each of the subsequent decades to the year 2005, Douglas has chosen whiskies that not only have very distinctive individual characteristics but are also versatile enough to marry together to create a single malt that is a genuine one-off.

Called simply 'Decades', this single malt is a marriage of maturity and youth. It is a coming together of sherry and bourbon influenced whiskies, of differing ages, to create a single malt that has great depth of flavour but also a youthful charm that helps to invigorate the taste buds.

Add Tomatin Decades to your single malt collection for $100.99!

Also available is Tomatin 21yr. This unique single malt has been crafted using Tomatin malts whiskies which have been aged for between 21 – 24 years. The use of both North American and European oak casks help to give this whisky a lovely balanced feel. The master distiller has selected whiskies matured in re fill casks as he wanted this superb 21 year old to display all the natural characteristics associated with Tomatin.

This is a unique product, bottled in limited quantities and once the stock is gone the consumer will never get the chance to taste it again!

Tomatin 21yr can be yours for $89.99!

Craft beer finds growing U.S. fan base

We're totally seeing the craft beer explosion in our Joe Canal's Woodbridge and Lawrenceville stores! And with new breweries and varieties popping up seemingly every day, the end does NOT seem to be near! Be sure to keep your eye on our Growler page @ jcanals.com to keep informed of what we're pouring, and any upcoming specialty or limited kegs! Cheers!

CRAFT BEER: The total number of breweries in the United States now exceeds 2,000 — more than at any time since the 19th century, let alone the prohibition years of the 1930s.

After a long day in the classroom, middle school teacher Melissa Repsch likes nothing more than to sit down to a fine dinner with beer — craft beer, that is.

Like a growing number of Americans, she has developed a passion for full-flavored beers from small-volume, fiercely independent local breweries that are redefining how the United States takes its favorite tipple.

"It's something we enjoy," said Repsch, 37, as she and husband Jake, 38, also a teacher, sampled some of the 149 different beers from 74 craft breweries at this year's edition of Savor, the nation's biggest beer-and-food event.

"The more (varieties of craft beer) we try, the more it seems we're pushing for something unique and rare," she added.

Beer is a $96 billion industry in the United States, dominated by three multinationals — Belgium's Anheuser-Busch InBev, best known for perennial best-seller Budweiser, Britain's SABMiller and Canada's Molson Coors.

But while overall beer sales dipped one percent in 2011, craft beer sales — which account for 5 percent of the entire market — surged 13 percent by volume and 15 percent by sales value.

What's more, the total number of breweries in the United States now exceeds 2,000 — more than at any time since the 19th century, let alone the prohibition years of the 1930s.

"Americans have come of age now, wanting diversity and choice in the beers that they enjoy," said Julia Herz, program director at the Brewers Association, the craft beer industry's trade group.

"No longer does a light American lager satisfy every beer-lover's occasion," she told AFP in an interview.

With 4,000 attendees over two days, Savor -- which takes place amid the soaring Corinthian columns and terra cotta friezes of the National Building Museum -- is an event not to be missed for craft beer aficionados.

With tasting glasses in hand, chic professional women in smart cocktail dresses, and younger men who could have made more of a sartorial effort, put such brews as Curmudgeon Old Ale, Hardywood Mocha Belgique, Rosemary Swamp Fox, Skookumchuck Wild Ale, Idiot IPA and Hop'solutely to the taste test.

"I wouldn't say people are giving up on Budweiser, but there is certainly a trend towards more full-flavored beers," said Steve Kuftinec of Utah's Uinta Brewing, makers of HOP Notch IPA, a "nicely balanced" India pale ale, and Labyrinth, a "ridiculously big barrel-aged Russian imperial stout." IPA, a hoppier version of conventional pale ale, first brewed in England in the 19th century for export to the Indian sub-continent, is far and away the most popular style of craft beer in the United States today.

From distant Hawaii, Garrett Marrero, founder with his wife Melanie of Maui Brewing, brought CoCoNut PorTer and Savrehumano Palena 'ole as novel examples of their penchant for beer-making with quirky Hawaiian flavors.

"We look a lot to fruits and spices that we have locally," such as coconut, guava, mango, papaya, passion fruit and pineapple, Marrero told AFP. "We've even used Maui onions."

The Marreros used to work in finance before they put every penny they had into launching Maui Brewing seven years ago — at one point sleeping on the floor of their apartment because they couldn't yet afford a mattress.

"It's not something for the faint of heart," Marrero told AFP. "It's a lot of hard work... but we had passion and we knew what we wanted to do. We have a very clear vision."

Social networks help spread the craft beer gospel. So do a raft of specialist publications and smartphone apps like Untappd, a kind of Twitter for hardcore beer fiends.

"It's fun stuff," said consultant Rick Silver, who reckons he's tried more than 6,000 individual types of beer — on top of the ones he brews at home — since he started keeping track in the mid-1980s.

From Durango, Colorado, co-owner David Thibodeau of Ska Brewing was still in a celebratory mood after its Steel Toe Stout took a gold medal at the World Beer Cup in San Diego last month.

Considering how sluggish the U.S. economy has been, he said, "it's pretty nutty" that the craft beer sector has thrived as it has.

"This term gets thrown around a lot," he said, "but I would say it's an affordable luxury. It's something that people can treat themselves to without breaking the bank. I think that's what got us through the downturn."

Damian McConn, a Dublin native and master brewer at Summit Brewing Company of Saint Paul, Minnesota, found the American craft beer scene so promising that he immigrated 10 years ago to be part of it. He has no regrets.

"In terms of creativity, and innovation, I think the US is the place to be right now," he said.

"In Germany or Belgium or Czech Republic, you're seeing some of the most technically outstanding beers in the world — but we're not seeing the range of beers that we are now seeing in the United States in the craft brewing sector."

This article was written by Dave Mevoli and was originally published at greatbrewers.com.

By popular demand... Roscato Rosso Dolce!

Joe Canal's is pleased to announce the arrival of Rosato Rosso Dolce! You asked for it, and we've got it, priced in the Bottle Club at $8.99!

Roscato is an irresistible, delicately sweet, gently fizzy red wine from the northern Italian region of Lombardy. Made from three native grape varieties grown in this beautiful region for centuries – Croatina, Teroldego and Lagrein – Roscato makes a wonderful aperitif and is also incredibly food-friendly.

Roscato seamlessly combines a long-held grape growing tradition with the flair of modern winemaking techniques and style. The result is a wine of enticing character that perfectly meets the surging demand for sweet red blends.

With a low alcohol of 7% and just a touch of sparkle to flawlessly balance the sweetness, Roscato is the ideal complement for today’s cuisine. Serve it chilled and enjoy it with tomato-based sauces, classic Italian dishes, spicy foods and more.

A Toast for any Occasion

Wine Manager Debbie Miller Nelson is always getting questions on her recommendations for gift wines for various special events. She put together this blog for you to help guide you along your way! If you don't see anything here that suits your fancy, see Debbie, Brandon or one of our other knowledgeable managers to help you out with some more suggestions!

Women are doing some cool things with wine. Many of you may have never attended a bridal shower before, since this is largely a female-oriented party for new brides, but I want to share with you a popular gift given to the bride at her bridal shower, the wine poem.

A typical bridal shower poem can be Googled and there are several to choose from that highlight different milestones in a couple’s journey from first kiss to first house, first baby, etc. I wanted to blog about this, because it’s VERY popular and I’m often asked by various female customers to help them select the wines to go with the poem. I’m not a poet, so here is a sample excerpt I found on amazingbridalshowers.com:

Wedding Night
The night you have dreamed of is finally here
The future surrounds you with hope and yet fear
You’ve wanted so long to find your perfect mate
Sip this wine and toast this perfect date
The night is meant for you to share
Enjoy each other – a perfect pair!!

First Fight
When fights occur and tempers get hot
Pour a glass and be thankful for what you’ve got
If you always agreed it would certainly be a bore
And by asking for Krissy’s hand Bernie is surely
in for more!

First Anniversary
Been married a year, where did the time go?
No longer newlyweds, now you are pros
Hope the days found you in good health and good spirit
Keep saying I love you –
one always needs to hear it!
Now toast this first date, it’s certainly not the last
And as you build your future don’t ever forget the past!

You get the idea? Below are some wines I put together to help you with your next poem and to give you new ideas to help write your own, unique and personal poem.

First Kiss: Butterfly Kiss Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Pink Pinot Grigio (California)
Engagement: Little Black Dress Wines (California)
Wedding Day: Monogamy Cabernet Sauvignon (California)
First Fight: Fisticuffs Cabernet Sauvignon (California)
First Winter Holiday: Four Sisters Holiday Seasoned (NJ)
First Anniversary: Chocolate Box Dark Chocolate Shiraz (Australia)
First House: House Red and House White (Washington)
First Summer Vacation: The Beach House Red and White (South Africa) or The Shore Wines (California)
First “Honey-do” List: Tait “The Ballbuster” Red (Australia)
First Baby: Mommy’s Time Out and Dad’s Day Off (Italy)

Let the Joe Canal’s Wine Staff help you pick out some of these selections when planning your next Bridal Shower or other unique selections for the big day!

The five least glamorous aspects of winemaking

Remove those beautiful, grape-stomping virgins from your mind. Same goes for the hunky young winemaker walking through the vineyard, pensively swirling a glass of something garnet.

As thousands of California winery workers currently working the harvest can confirm, wine may have a glamorous, worldly image, but there is nothing even remotely fancy about making it.

Wine is farming. It is hauling. It is sanitizing and resanitizing equipment. It is hard work, and we're here to remind you that these are the images you should conjure up the next time you enjoy a glass of wine.

The 4 a.m. wake-up call: To ensure optimal ripeness, grapes must be picked when they are cold. In hot regions, such as Napa and Paso Robles, that often is at ungodly hours when the rest of the world is asleep. Some large wineries pick by lamplight before dawn.

The clothes: Perhaps the least glamorous thing about winemaking is what you have to wear to pick grapes. Old thick denim, a long-sleeved shirt, work boots, a wide-brimmed hat -- should we go on? This uniform protects you from sharp vines and can withstand all the abuse of a harvest day.

The sticky factor: Working with wine grapes in any capacity -- even for a few minutes -- leaves a sticky film on your hands that quickly turns syrupy, making it impossible to grip the clippers, rakes and stainless steel mashers necessary to harvest the fruit. You find yourself washing your hands more than you did when you brought home that newborn baby.

The bees: Insects have really good palates. They love the nectar as much as we do, maybe more. They will hover all over your business, from every bucket of grapes you haul down the vineyard to the first punch-down, buzzing in your ears, in front of your eyes and on your sticky hands.

The liability: Yeah, winemaking is so glamorous that some wineries make you sign a form in case you die during the process. The biggest risk is becoming overwhelmed by carbon dioxide fumes in a poorly ventilated space, such as a vat, stainless steel tank or small cellar. Grapes give off carbon dioxide during the fermentation process.

When I was lucky enough to go on a trip to Sonoma last year, I encountered a few of these non-glamorous winemaking aspects. A lifelong apiphobe, I was astounded by the sheer number of bees and how unphased the workers seemed to be around them. Also, the smell of a tank of fermenting grapes will, quite literally, take your breath away! Thinking about the difficulties of winemaking does, indeed, make a glass taste that much sweeter!

This article was written by Jessica Yadegaran and was originally published on mercurynews.com.

Joe Canal's Presents Courvoisier Gold

The latest offering to the Courvoisier Cognac franchise is now available in our stores! Courvoisier Gold is an exciting blend of Cognac and Moscato wine sourced from the south of France.

“We believe Courvoisier Gold will not only appeal to the many existing fans of our portfolio, but will also give new consumers a reason to try Cognac for the first time,” says Megan Frank, director of Courvoisier at Beam.

“Moscato is the fastest-growing wine varietal and mixed with Cognac, it provides a unique, smooth taste,” adds Frank.

Courvoisier says Gold has "notes of honey harmonizing with the rich and complex aromas".

Try this delicate blend of the signature Courvoisier cognac and Moscato wine. Light and exquisite, it's perfet on the rocks or chilled, and is a stylish complement to any occasion.

Pick up a bottle today for only $26.99 in our Bottle Club!

Winemaker Bruce Taylor Visits Joe Canal's Woodbridge

We had a very special visitor stop by our Woodbridge store yesterday! New Zealand Winemaker Bruce Taylor found time in his busy schedule to come and see us and speak with us about the award-winning Sauv Blanc from TOHU! Check out the video shelf talker with Wine Manager Debbie Miller Nelson, below!

Wine Packaging is Now as Diverse as Wine Blends

In a recent issue of the trade publication Wines & Vines, editor Jim Gordon drew a parallel between politics and packaging: wineries are either liberal or conservative. The conservatives think inside the box, the liberals try anything.

At Clayhouse Winery in Paso Robles, California, winemaker Blake Kuhn uses screw tops ("why wouldn't you?" he asks) and is now filling more and more kegs, in addition to traditional glass bottles. "Screw tops ensure that the wine a consumer pulls of the shelf is exactly the way I wanted it when it left the winery; it's about providing a quality bottle of wine," says Kuhn.

As for kegs, Kuhn says Clayhouse has plenty of restaurant accounts that would rather buy a 20 liter keg of Adobe Red wine than individual bottles. And for wines poured by the glass, buying the wine in recyclable kegs saves restaurants money.

It's less about thinking outside the box than it is about giving the customers what they want.

In fact, Clayhouse regularly considers all sorts of packaging options, including stainless steel kegs, pouches, cartons, plastic bottles, and bag-in-box.

Kuhn buys kegs from KeyKeg. They're fully recyclable, saving the winery the cost of returns, and they weigh less than glass bottles, so shipping costs and the carbon footprint are both smaller than shipping glass.

"I think screw top closures (instead of cork) have opened everyone's eyes to even more alternatives," says Kuhn, "and now wineries are using bag-in-box, plastic, and foil pouches as well as kegs. It's all about packing that maintains wine quality and delivers whatever the customer wants."

Monterey winery Mer Soleil even bottles their unoaked Chardonnay in a ceramic bottle.

Kuhn believes packaging trends show how willing younger wine consumers are to try new things, and how wineries are willing to offer alternatives. Kuhn's Adobe Red competes in the hot blended red wine category, where producers sometimes use a "kitchen sink" approach to get wine on the shelf faster.

Not Kuhn: "We're very deliberate," he says. "We're not interested in just blending a bunch of leftover wines together. We actually select specific sections of our vineyard before harvest to make our Adobe Red, and we make it dry, different than most of our competitors who are making sweet red blends."

The bottom line: wineries are looking for packaging alternatives and blending all sorts of grape varieties in order to give their customers what they want, in the way they want it, with the best wine quality and price combinations.

We've got the ceramic bottle mentioned in the article, wine bottles shaped like fish and cats, sparkling wine in cans, wine in unusually shaped boxes, and even wine in a wooden box! What's the craziest wine packaging you've seen?

This story was written by Middleton Family Wines and originally published on sacbee.com.

Spirit Feature: Noah's Mill Bourbon

Our featured spirit today is Noah's Mill Bourbon. Only $46.99 in our Bottle Club, this is sure to be your new favorite Bourbon! Take it from our Purchasing Manager, Dave Carver: "This is one of favorite bourbons. Although it is 114PF, it really is very smooth. I recommend 1 drop of water."

Aged in wooden barrels and bottled by hand at 57.15% alc./vol, Noah’s Mill Genuine Bourbon Whiskey is handmade in the hills of Kentucky.

This is a Bourbon of extraordinary character and smoothness not found among younger whiskies. Its superior taste and flavor characteristics are made possible only from using the very finest quality ingredients at the outset along with the long years and patience necessary for nature to mellow everything to perfection. We bottle this Bourbon at a strength that best compliments its age, and we’re sure you’ll enjoy it like no other Bourbon.

Seasonal Beers: Pumpkin Pickin'

Our resident Beer Expert Tom Broderick writes today on an autumn phenomenon, pumpkin beers.

Pumpkin ales are truly an American invention. Long ago in colonial times when grains were scarce or too expensive, pumpkins were fermented instead to brew beer. Word is our founding fathers brewed their own pumpkin ales! They took it a step more extreme and added apples, squash, and corn to the mash. Unfortunately, pumpkin ales took the back seat for decades until resurgence in the 1980s when craft breweries started to toy around with some recipes.

Each fall, more and more pumpkin beers appear on store shelves. It's a fun game seeing how many different types I can squeeze into our stores without collapsing the shelves. They can range from having little to no pumpkin flavor (see Rock Art Pumpkin Imperial Spruce Stout) to tasting literally like pumpkin pie (see Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale). Typically, spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice are used during the brewing process – but some breweries venture further with non-traditional ingredients like vanilla extract (Southampton Pumpkin Ale) or spruce tips. The great thing about pumpkin ales is that there is sure to be a take on the style that will suit your needs.

There is nothing better for cool autumn nights than a glass of top-notch pumpkin ale. They also pair wonderfully with food or as dessert, especially at Thanksgiving dinner.

Here are a couple of my favorite (and trust me I've tried them all):

Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale
This is the perfect pumpkin ale, in my opinion. Rich and balanced, it never gets too spicy or too cloying. The pumpkin is there in full force but the cinnamon and other spices hold it in check.

Southampton Pumpkin Ale
At only 5.5% alcohol it is truly amazing how much flavor is packed into this beer. Great pumpkin and nutmeg flavors, but the real kicker here is the addition of vanilla extract. It’s a well-rounded and very clean beer.

Rick's Excellent Adventure in Argentina - Part 3

We are off and headed to the Catena Zapata Winery. Once we get there, Pablo Sanchez explains the root stock. He talks about the 145 different clones of Malbec that were planted, and the selection process they went through to narrow down the clones that they wanted to use. After much time, discussions and of course tastings they narrowed it down to 5 different clones.

We had a nice tour of the winery and tasted several different wines from the tanks. The taste difference between the wines at this stage and the finished product is amazing. We then went to several barrels of Chardonnay. We tasted the wine, it was very clear. We then learned how to stir or "rack" the wine with a paddle.


Once this was done, the wine became very cloudy and tasted very different. This process brings the sediment from the bottom and blends it back through the juice. Our next task was to fill barrels from the large tanks. We each had to fill a barrel and the trick is to fill it and not spill it. Well, I failed, but not too badly, only one of our team, Michelle, did not spill a drop.


Next we went into the tasting room and learned the history of how and why Malbec exploded in Mendoza, about the different vineyards and growing areas, and learned how and why Laura’s father decided to head for the foothills of the Andes Mountains. Laura talked to us about her efforts working with the government, trying to develop a map showing different appellations.

Next we learned how to blend a Malbec. At each seat was 6 glasses of wine. One of them was the final blend of the Catena Zapata Malbec, and the other five glasses contained wines from different Catena vineyards. Our job was to taste each of the five and determine the flavors in each. We then tasted the Malbec and had to determine what percentage of each was used to produce the final blend. Once completed, Laura would come over and taste your blend. Not to brag but when Laura tasted mine she said that it was delicious. She looked at my blend sheet and said that it was very close to the actual blend. They collected our blend sheet and we were off to lunch.

Another fantastic meal made ever better with Laura, Alejandro Vigil Head Winemaker for Catena and Pablo joining us. We talked and then Laura had to leave for a flight to Buenos Aires. When we went downstairs to the Hospitality Center and there on the table was 11 bottles of wine, and each had personalized label and mine said “Richard’s Blend”. While we were at lunch the winery staff took our blend sheets and produced a bottle of wine for each of us to match our sheet. Wow, I made a bottle of wine! I have yet to open it and taste but Labor Day is coming up so I may open and taste with the family and then take the rest to work to share with my co-workers.


We made it back the house. There was this wonderful little lady that was there to show us how to make Empanadas. God bless her, she was not a day under 90. We each made three and they were taken away to be cooked as part of the dinner. We all went out back to pavilion and had the chance to watch the making of our dinner of Rabbit Stew simmered in Chardonnay. Okay, here I go again, another food that I have never tried. The group would laugh at me at each meal. They called me the "Coors Light and Cheeseburger" guy. But in the end, with the help of my new friends, I did try about 95% of the food and to tell you the truth I liked just about every item I tried.

Sauvignon blanc harvest gets started in Sonoma County

As summer winds down in New Jersey and we switch the wines on our dinner table from white to red, the wineries in Sonoma are already thinking about next year's summer refreshers as they harvest their Sauvignon Blanc grapes.

A strong aroma of grass and hearty grape juice hung in the air Tuesday morning as a truck full of bright green clusters of sauvignon blanc was unloaded at Rodney Strong Vineyards.

The juicy stew of fruit was poured into a hopper and gently urged through a series of conveyors and belts, making its way to the stainless steel press.

The North Coast's annual grape harvest, now in its third week, is expanding into sauvignon blanc and pinot noir used to make still wines.

The sauvignon blanc grapes, freshly picked from a vineyard in Geyserville, ripened about a week earlier than normal, said Doug McIlroy, director of winegrowing for Rodney Strong.

“It's nice to see it start earlier,” McIlroy said. “We've had great growing conditions, and that leads to smooth sailing a lot of the time.”

The North Coast grape harvest began Aug. 10 in Napa Valley, where crews began picking grapes used to make sparkling wine. Since then, about 1 percent of the county's crop has been brought in from the fields, said Nick Frey, president of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission.

“I think when you get an early start, that really gives people a lift, because it gives you a chance to get some things off across the scale,” Frey said. “You don't want to be sitting there with grapes in the field and the calendar clicking by.”

Harvest for still wine grapes begins before Labor Day about half the time, he said. An early start is good news for growers: Grapes that ripen early are less likely to be out in the fields when fall rains arrive, Frey said.

Last year, after a cool summer delayed ripening, rain storms in October spread mold through some of the remaining crop, which came in 17 percent below normal.

But this year's crop is expected to hit the average size of about 200,000 tons or more, he said.

“In what we've picked so far, things are on the heavier side,” McIlroy said. “When you look at last year, we were lucky to pick 50 percent of the crop.”

That would be a welcome change for wineries where inventories were depleted in the last two years.

Although harvest has started slowly this summer, it is about to pick up speed.

In Dry Creek Valley, sauvignon blanc grapes may be ready for harvest next week, along with some pinot noir grapes at the edge of Russian River Valley, said Duff Bevill, founder of Bevill Vineyard Management.

This article was written by Cathy Bussewitz and originally appeared on pressdemocrat.com. Read more...