Hot Off the Presses!

Here we are, it's press time. So after fermenting red wines for around one week the skins are removed and pressed to extract more juice/wine and other flavor components such as tannins. The fermentation process may not be completely over so we may still have a pretty sweet wine on our hands (literally). Anyway the skins are removed from the fermenting bins (the big white one that Eric is about to dive into) and placed into the press. In this process we use highly technical equipment to transfer the skins, as seen in Eric's hand and by his feet. Once the press is filled to the top, it is closed and a bladder inside fills with water creating huge amounts of pressure on the skin which squeezes out a lot of extra juice. What you see above are the Cabernet Sauvignon skins after being pressed and after we've removed the outside of the press. This is probably the messiest job in the winery but possibly the most fun as well! Tomorrow we bottle 2004's Cabernet Sauvignon.

p.s. This weekend we will be in Denver at the Denver International Wine Festival. Stop by and say hi. click here for more info on this festival.

Easy Friday Afternoon

Hey all,

Friday here at the tasting room. Tawny (above) and I are just kickin' it on this beautiful Colorado afternoon. Who wouldn't want to be just taking it easy on Pearl Street? In between your shopping stops come in for a little chocolate and wine. We make it easy with our pairing menus and our knowledgable staff (if you time it right you might just meet the winemaker!). I just wanted to say hi and share this picture (below) I took while I was in downtown Taos, NM. Don't forget to visit us for live music every Friday at 7:30 at 1468 Pearl St. in Boulder.

It aint perty!

So now you get a little behind the scenes view of what happens to those grapes after they've been picked and transported to the winery. The bins in the picture are filled with grapes and represent about half of the amount we crushed this day. Before the grapes are crushed, they are sorted and any leaves, sticks, or MOG (material other than grapes) are carefully removed by well trained experts. The grapes and stems are then fed into the crusher destemmer where the grapes are removed from the stems and then crushed and pumped into the fermenting bins. As you can imagine it is a messy job and quite sticky too. Into the bins we'll add yeast, nutrients, and as needed components to adjust acidity and pH. In about a week, after a lot of punching down, we'll have wine! Then comes pressing. More on that later...stay tuned.

Soon to be wine...

Thanks to our vineyard manager Sam for this wonderful picture! These are some Syrah grapes that were just picked and placed into these bins for transportation. The bins can't be too big though because the weight of the grapes will squash the bunches on the bottom and fermentation will start due to ambient yeasts. These grapes have now been crushed and destemmed in a wonderful machine called a crusher/destemmer! As the yeasts go about their business eating the sugar in the juice and creating alcohol and CO2 as a by-product, a cap forms. This cap is made up of the grape skins floating to the top and creating a solid layer. About 4-5 times a day the cap must be broken up through a method called punching down. This releases all the color and flavors from the skins as well as gets needed oxygen to the yeasts. This process goes on for about a week for red wines and then comes the press...more on that later.

Filtering at BookCliff

Hi all,

Hope you're enjoying this transition into Fall as much as I am. Not only do I love the cooler temperatures and changing colors, but it's harvest and crush time at the vineyards and the wineries. In order to make room in the winery for the new wines, we must bottle some of the wines that are ready to head out. Just a few days ago I filtered our 2006 Chardonnay. We will be bottling it next week so it's time to take the last few steps in the wine making process. We aged our '06 Chardonnay in new French and American oak for about six months. During this process we left the wine on the lees, which are just the dead yeast cells. I know it sounds gross but it really gives the wine a soft creaminess and balance when mixed with the oak flavors. We stirred the wine in the barrels a couple times a week, every week, just to mix up the lees. To remove the lees we filter the wine into a large stainless steel tank. This filtering is what you see in the picture. I can't wait for you all to try this new vintage of BookCliff Vineyards Chardonnay!

It's That Time of Year.

That's right Colorado Mountain Winefest is back. This weekend head up to Palisade to experience the largest Colorado wine festival of the year! What a great time: live music, bike tours through the vineyards, winemaker dinners, and of course wine tasting. Check out the website here for all the info you'll need. As always stop by and say hi. If you can't make it up to Palisade this weekend stop by and see me at the tasting room on 15th St. between Pearl and Walnut.

As for winery stuff we're bottling like crazy to make some room as we will start crush probably next week. Some of the grapes are ready and others are so close to ready that I can taste 'em. The white grapes usually are picked first, that means Chardonnay and Viognier. This year we'll also have our first vintage of Riesling and a couple other varietals, how exciting! What a busy time for us.

Boulder Food & Wine Fest Success!

Hey Everybody!

I appologize for the delay in updating this site, I've been outta town for a while. But here I am.

So the Boulder Food and Wine Fest went off without a hitch. I thought it was a great time (even with the slight showers)! The food was amazing, the wine was fantastic. Thanks to everyone involved for putting on such a great event, all the restaurants and wineries did a great job. Most importantly thanks to everyone who came, we couldn't have done it without you. I'll throw a special shout-out to Jackie, Rickie, and John; good work. I think it was a success so I'm planning on seeing everybody back nest year!

Well, yesterday we bottled our 2005 Cabernet Franc Reserve. We did about one hundred cases, so get it while you can (it's always a hot seller). This is a great vintage with tons of bright red fruit and just a hint of green pepper on the palate and the silky smooth tannins are in perfect balance with the acidity and alcohol. There are aromas that remind you of popping a cherry Jolly Rancher in your mouth while you're sitting next to a campfire in the middle of the forest. Can you tell that I'm a big fan of this wine? So come on by the tasting room so you can tell me your thoughts on this wine. Also check out www.bookcliffvineyards.com to find a liquor store near you. See you soon.

j

ps Don't forget Colorado Wine Fest is coming soon to Palisade!